I’d always assumed that flour tortillas were difficult to make because no one I know knows how to make them. Even our neighbours downstairs, who are from Mexico have no idea how to make flour tortillas.
I did a little quick research and found an easy recipe in my trusty copy of the Joy of Cooking and went from there. And by easy, I mean easy–by the second time I made them I was making soft, thin and round tortillas. Not only that, but flour tortillas are one of those things that, like bread, have no particular season. Interestingly enough, I find that the preparation method determines the seasonal appropriateness. A pan fried tomato and cheese quesadila makes a great summer main while a nice warm burrito fits well on a cold fall or winter day where you need something heartier.
This recipe will make 8 equal sized tortillas. Once you get good at it, it can take as little as 30 minutes (including the time the dough takes to rise).
As I said, it’s very easy and has only a few steps:
2 cups unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup lard, butter or vegan substitute (room temperature)
3/4 cup hot water (I found near boil worked best)
1. Mix together the dry ingredients with a whisk or fork, then add the wet ingredients. Mix the dough together by hand until very consistent, making sure to work the lard/butter/other in very well. Then, on a lightly floured surface, knead the dough by hand for 5-6 minutes.
2. Roll the dough out into a long cylinder-shape and cut the dough into 8 equal pieces (more or less). Roll each piece of dough into a round ball and cover with a tea towel or inverted bowl. Let sit for 20 minutes.
3. Heat a medium-large sized skillet at medium heat. If you don’t have a cast-iron frying pan, it’s highly recommended at this point. DO NOT grease the pan. Take a single ball and press it with your hand into a flat circle. On your lightly floured surface, take your rolling pin and flatten the dough into a nice large circle, so the dough is about 1/8 of an inch thick. You can flatten all of the tortillas at once and spread them out as long as you have the space. If not, flatten and cook the tortillas one at a time.
4. Place your flattened dough on the hot skillet, spreading out the dough with your hand (careful!) so you don’t have any folds or bumps. Wait 30 seconds and flip it over with a spatula–you’ll notice nice little brown spots all over. After you flip, let it cook for 15 seconds and pull the tortilla off the pan. Repeat with each flour tortilla until done. Serve warm.
The trick now is how you choose to serve it. The easiest recipe is probably a quick fried ground beef, chicken or pork filling topped with grated cheese, sour cream and hot sauce or salsa. Don’t let those suggestions limit you–I’ve even tried it with mashed black/pinto beans with a kind of barbecue sauce! You can easily store unused tortillas for a few days in the fridge in a large ziploc bag. I’ve noticed that tortillas that I’ve overcooked a bit soften if left in a bag in the fridge overnight. You can also freeze them for later if you like.
If this recipe worked for you, or if you have suggestions on how to improve it, don’t hesitate to send us your comments at tips@newresilient.com. If you have a recipe that’s even better send that along, too! We love to hear your feedback.
{ 1 trackback }
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Made these yesterday and was very impressed. Faaaaar easier than I ever imagined it would be. AND, delicious. I preferred these to the flat, boring, cardboard-ish ones available at the multinational distributor.
I also feel that making fresh, warm tortillas for essentially nothing with ingredients readily available in the house instead of buying a pack for four or five bucks is a deeply political act. Sadly, sharing skills like this through the web instead of needlessly spending credit to take care of ourselves has become radical politics.
I’d highly recommend giving these a try.
try melting shortning the hot water __It would be faster but maybe the texture woul not be as good
Excellent, Thank you, I may never buy tortillas again! These were so simple and MUCH tastier than the stuff at the store. I do recommend a VERY hot pan… my cast iron was smoking hot before I had really good results… the even better news is that I threw the less than perfect ones back in and they browned up nicely! I suspect I have corn tortillas and whole wheat tortillas in my future! Thanks!
Please could someone tell me what the metric measurements for the flour, butter and water are? thanks
google will convert anything you want, just type it in the search bar like this:
4.5 miles in km
3400 usgal in Litre
60 lbs in kg
and vice versa…
My sister and her husband use your recipe all the time, I find myself going over just to eat their falafel.
These were super easy, but I think maybe the salt is a little overpowering. I will use less than the recipe says next time. Otherwise, it's pretty mindboggling how inexpensive and easy these are to make. I ended up rolling mine out quite thinly (maybe 2 mm) to get nice large ones, and it worked out just fine! thanks!