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Homemade Flour Tortillas (+Video)

Homemade Flour Tortillas are very easy to make! Just a small amount of ingredients and no special equipment are needed! So tender and soft!

SOFT AND TASTY TORTILLA RECIPE

Ever since I started making these homemade flour tortillas, my family doesn’t want to go back to the pre-made ones at all. Once you’ve made tortillas yourself and tasted them fresh, you really start to see the big difference.

light and fluffy homemade flour tortillas shown stacked on a white plate.

TIPS FOR MAKING TORTILLAS:

  • Fresh tortillas have such a soft and fluffy texture and they just add so much flavor to your tacos or burritos. And they are surprisingly easy to make. You don’t need a tortilla maker either. The key really is to roll them out super thin. Thinner than you would think they would need to be because they puff up nicely as they cook.
  • The rolling out part is probably the longest part of this recipe. But do yourself a favor, try these. You will not be disappointed! This would make a great addition to any Cinco De Mayo party. Have a taco and burrito bar and let guests serve themselves. And you can have more fun!
Homemade Flour Tortillas recipe from The Country Cook, flour tortillas shown stacked on a white plate.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST)

  • all-purpose flour
  • baking powder
  • salt
  • lard (recommended) or vegetable shortening (like Crisco)
  • hot water

HOW TO MAKE FLOUR TORTILLAS:

In a large bowl add the flour, salt, baking powder and shortening.

vegetable shortening, flour, baking powder, salt in a bowl.

Using your fingers or a pastry cutter, cut in the shortening (or lard) until the mixture resembles pea-sized pieces.

cutting vegetable shortening into flour with a pastry cutter in a bowl.

Add the hot water and mix together using your hands or a wooden spoon until the mixtures starts to form. Knead on a floured surface for 5 – 10 minutes or until the mixture is smooth and elastic. Form the dough into a ball. Place the dough into a covered bowl and let the dough rest for 10 minutes.

flour tortilla dough rolled into a ball in a glass bowl.

Pinch off the dough into 12 equal pieces and roll each piece into golf ball-sized balls. Preheat your griddle, nonstick pan or cast iron pan on medium high heat. Flatten each dough ball a bit and then roll out on a floured surface forming a circle.

To make a round shape roll out the dough and then make a 1/4 of a turn of the circle and then roll and make another 1/4 of a turn. Keep doing this until the dough is rolled out to 1/8 inch thick. You really want these to be very thin, almost like tissue paper because they do puff up while cooking.

rolled out homemade flour tortilla dough on a wooden cutting board.

Place onto the hot skillet, and cook until bubbly. Flip and continue cooking the other side. Each side should cook about 30 seconds.

cooking homemade flour tortillas in a nonstick skillet.

Keep the cooked tortillas warm while you continue rolling and cooking the remaining tortillas (I just put mine in between paper towels or clean dish towels.)

Homemade Flour Tortillas staying warm in between clean white dish towels.

Cook’s Note: I highly recommend you use lard (or manteca) for these. Shortening will work great but the lard is just a bit better, in my opinion. These really are the best the day they are made. If you have any leftover, put them in a ziploc bag and pop them in the fridge. The next day, just fry them up and make tostadas or cut them into triangles and fry them for chips to have with salsa or sprinkle a little cinnamon and sugar on them for a sweet treat.

easy light and fluffy homemade flour tortillas shown close up on a plate.

CRAVING MORE? GIVE THESE RECIPES A TRY!

light and fluffy homemade flour tortillas recipe

Homemade Flour Tortillas (+Video)

Homemade Flour Tortillas are very easy to make! Just a small amount of ingredients and no special equipment are needed! So tender and soft!
5 from 36 votes
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
Servings: 12

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 5 tablespoons lard (recommended) or vegetable shortening (Crisco)
  • ¾ cup hot water

Instructions

  • In a large bowl add the flour, salt, baking powder and lard (or shortening.)
  • Using your fingers (or a pastry cutter), cut in the lard until the mixture resembles pea-sized pieces.
  • Add the hot water and mix together using your hands or a wooden spoon until the mixtures starts to form.
  • Knead on a floured surface for 5 – 10 minutes or until the mixture is smooth and elastic.
  • Form the dough into a ball.
  • Place the dough into a covered bowl and let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
  • Pinch off the dough into 12 equal pieces and roll each piece into golf ball-sized balls.
  • Flatten each dough ball a bit and then roll out on a floured surface forming a circle.
  • To make a round shape, roll out the dough and then make a 1/4 of a turn of the circle and then roll and make another 1/4 of a turn.
  • Keep doing this until the dough is rolled out to 1/8 inch thick. You really want these to be very thin, almost like tissue paper because they do puff up a lot while cooking.
  • Preheat your griddle, nonstick pan or cast iron pan on medium high heat. Place one tortilla onto the hot skillet, and cook until bubbly. 
  • Flip and continue cooking the other side. Each side should cook about 30 seconds.
  • Keep the cooked tortillas warm while you continue rolling and cooking the remaining tortillas (I just put mine in between paper towels or clean dish towels.)

Video

YouTube video
Course: Breads
Cuisine: American

Nutrition

Calories: 123kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 5g | Sodium: 98mg

Nutritional Disclaimer

“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.

Did you make this recipe?Share it on Instagram @thecountrycook and mention us #thecountrycook!

Originally published: May 2011
Updated and republished: May 2022

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Recipe Rating




42 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    These are great ! I ran out of crisco and forgot to put it on the grocery list so I figure since you add hot water to the lard or crisco, it will melt it, So I use vegetable oil and they also came out fantastic. Family said they were really good. I use the vegetable all the time now just because I think it blends in the dough easier. but not adverse to the crisco as that is good to.

  2. 5 stars
    These were great, and as this was my first time trying to make tortillas, I’m pleased with the results. The only thing I would say is, unless you’re just making these for one meal only and a small family, DOUBLE the recipe. Or triple or even quadruple. I rolled these as thin as they would go without tearing holes and they seem like the right thickness, but they were still around the size of fajita/taco size tortillas. When you’re going to all that effort, I want large-ish tortillas and I want leftovers! Glad I decided to double it! I ate three right away and had to put them away before I ate more.

  3. 5 stars
    A cast iron griddle would have been better to cook it on. I have on old one handed down to me from my mother. It is a burner from an old time stove. I call it my comal. Love how you put lard as first choice.

  4. 5 stars
    Its been so many years that I hadn’t made them, I did and now my husband wants them everyday even if they’re shape do look like the map of Texas. I’ll get the hang of it again.

  5. 5 stars
    Like you I MADE tortillas when my boys were wanting fajitas and we were out of store bought…the END of store bought in this house! He HAS learned that if he wants em he rolls em and I cook em. He has never argued the point. My recipe is a little different than yours but yummy.

  6. 5 stars
    I love the idea of homemade tortillas, and your recipe looks delicious! Thanks for sharing. You have a beautiful blog and I'm going to explore more of your recipes. 🙂

  7. 5 stars
    I recently made homemade tortillas as well and my family loved them! So much better than the premade kinds, but then again I'm not a machine 😀

  8. 5 stars
    I love homemade tortillas, and these look really good. I'm having a craving for them now that I've seen yours. 🙂

  9. 5 stars
    Brandie, I bet these are FABULOUS! So much better than what I've been buying at the grocery store. And I have lard in my freezer 🙂 You're amazing, my friend!!!

  10. 5 stars
    OMG. Homemade flour tortillas? I'm not even going to tell the husband this is possible or he'll never let me buy the ones at the store again. These look too good!