Homemade Flour Tortillas are about as comforting as it gets.
Simple ingredients and a simple process make this a universal favorite.
Perfect for steak fajitas, chicken fajitas, and chicken quesadillas.
And these come together in only about 30 minutes! Make these along with our homemade corn tortillas!
How To Make Flour Tortillas
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The Ingredients You Will Need
We find that using pork lard and softened butter for our flour tortillas yields the softest and best-tasting tortilla.
However, you can substitute shortening, if you can’t find lard.
How To Handle the Dough
After a shaggy dough comes together, it’s time to briefly knead the dough.
How Thick to Roll the Flour Dough
After the dough has rested for 15 minutes, grab one of the balls and use the palm of your hand to flatten the dough. Press, then turn the dough 90°, and press again. This will help keep the tortilla round.
Use a pastry roller (small or large) to gently roll the dough out to the thickness of about a dime and a diameter of about 6 inches. NOTE: The tortilla will get thicker once it cooks in a hot skillet.
We like to roll all the dough balls out before we start to cook them. However, do NOT stack the uncooked tortillas because they will stick to each other. We recommend stacking them with a piece of wax paper, or parchment paper, between each layer of dough.
Cook in a hot skillet just until air pockets start to form, usually about 1 minute. Flip and cook for another minute. Small brown spots should appear on both sides, too.
How To Keep Homemade Flour Tortillas Soft
As soon as you have finished cooking each tortilla, transfer them to an insulated tortilla warmer, preferably lined with damp paper towels.
We find that letting the tortillas sit for a few minutes before eating them allows them to soften even more and taste even better.
The homemade tortillas are perfect as they are, but get even better with:
Homemade Flour Tortillas FAQs
- How do you keep the tortillas from breaking? Don’t over-process, knead, or roll the dough. Also, let the dough balls rest for 15 minutes under a damp kitchen cloth. Your skillet should be hot enough so that the tortillas start to get air bubbles along with small brown spots after 1 minute of cooking on each side. All this adds up to soft, tortillas that won’t break.
- How long can you keep tortilla dough? You can keep the prepared dough in the refrigerator for 1 day, and you can freeze it for up to one month. In both cases, let the dough come back to room temperature before rolling out the tortillas and cooking.
- How do you reheat homemade flour tortillas? Simply wrap them in a slightly damp paper towel, or a kitchen towel, and microwave in 30-second intervals until warmed through.
- What can I use in place of lard? Pork lard is the most authentic way to make homemade flour tortillas, and we find produces the best taste and texture. However, you can substitute shortening, and still get nice tortillas. You can also use soft butter, or vegetable oil, though the end result won’t be quite as fluffy.
Looking for corn tortilla recipes? Try our Authentic Tex-Mex Enchiladas, Pork Carnitas, or Mahi-Mahi Tacos! In the meantime, whip up a batch of these incredible homemade flour tortillas! And you might also want to make our amazing Corn Tortillas!
When you make them, be sure to take a picture, post on Instagram, and tag @howtofeedaloon and #howtofeedaloon!
Homemade Flour Tortillas
Video
Equipment
- Pastry roller
- Tortilla warmer
- Sturdy skillet cast-iron or non-stick is preferable.
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 3 tablespoon pork lard or shortening
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup water warm (heat in the microwave)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Use a wooden spoon to make a well (or indention) in the flour mixture.3 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- Fold in the lard and softened butter, and then slowly start working the warm water into the mixture. Continue working the dough until most of the flour mixture has been absorbed. At this point, it will be a 'shaggy' dough.3 tablespoon pork lard, 2 tablespoon unsalted butter, 1 cup water
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Use the palm of your hands to knead the dough until a soft, pliable dough is formed. Place a bowl over the top of the dough and let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 16 pieces and cover them with a lightly dampened kitchen towel. Working one piece of dough at a time, use your hands to form it into a ball.
- Take the dough ball and gently flatten it with the palm of your hand, turning to a 90° angle, and pressing again, to keep the dough round. Use a pastry roller (or a rolling pin) to roll out the dough to about 6 inches in diameter and very thin, about the thickness of a dime.
- Heat a non-stick, or cast iron skillet, or comal pan (flat cast iron griddle), over medium-high heat.
- Carefully place the tortilla into the hot skillet.
- Cook until air pockets, or bubbles, begin to form. Usually about 1 minute. Flip the tortilla. Small brown spots should appear on the cooked side. Cook for about another 15 to 30 seconds then transfer to a tortilla warmer lined with a slightly damp cloth. Repeat with the remaining dough. Allow the tortillas to rest for about 5 to 10 minutes, at least.
- Serve at once, or re-heat the tortillas in the microwave wrapped in a damp cloth in 30 second intervals.
Notes
Nutrition
POST UPDATE NOTE: This was originally posted June, 2017, but was updated with tweaks to the recipe, new photography, and new video in September, 2019.
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