Tortillas are a very forgiving, basic “bread” recipe that requires very little effort or experience. This traditional Mexican thin flatbread is often used to make dishes such as burritos, enchiladas and baleadas. You can make your own at home for just pennies with this simple recipe . . .
You’ll Need:
4 cups All purpose flour (or half white, half wheat)
2 tsp. Baking powder
1 tsp. Salt
3 Tablespoons Solid Vegetable shortening (Such as Crisco)
2-1/2 cups Hot water
Place the flour, baking powder and salt in the bowl of a mixer, Mix well. Add shortening and mix until the mixture is crumbly. Mix on low while slowly adding water. Mix on low for 90 seconds or until well mixed.
Scrape the dough out of the bowl and onto a floured surface, knead until smooth, then Divide it into 2 equal portions. Cover with plastic wrap, set aside at room temperature for 20 minutes to let the dough rest. Divide each half into 8 equal portions. (If you’re in a hurry, you can skip this step!)
Lightly flour a work surface and rolling pin.
Roll each ball into an 8-inch round. Stack rounds on baking sheet with plastic wrap between each tortilla. The plastic wrap helps keep the dough from drying out while giving it a chance to rest.
Heat a skillet or large frying pan over medium heat and fry each tortilla lightly on each side until bubbles, remove from heat, fill with your favorite filling and enjoy!
Alternatively, once rolled out, these can be cut into small circles with a biscuit cutter and then deep fried to make Tostada Bites, like those used in the Crab Ceviche recipe.
Variations:
- Sun Dried Tomato Wraps– add 1/2 cup sundried tomatoes that have been finely chopped, 1 tsp sweet paprika and 1 tbs oil to the above recipe
© Can Stock Photo Inc. / margouillat
what are you filling them with???
We fill them with tons of different things:
Sometimes we freeze them empty between sheets of wax paper and fill them as we need them for lunches:
i made these today using half white and half whole wheat flour and the sun dried tomato variation. my first time making flour tortillas and is was so easy. the results look “store bought” at a tenth of the price.
i’m filling mine with leftover steak, blue cheese crumbles, lettuce, tomato, and red onion. this with grapes on the side would be at least $8.00 at a restaurant. My cost is less than $1.00.
Now I’m thinking of other variations: spinach, black olive, and roasted pepper come to mind. I know I’ll have to decrease the water, but that’s an easy fix.
the sun-dried tomato tortilla made with half all-purpose flour and half white-whole wheat flour is amazing. i didn’t need to roll it out, just kept patting it out. fresh tasting and somehow tastes” rich”.
can’t wait to make more variations!
you can make mexican grilled cheese (quesadilla) adding any kind of cheese, meat or vegetable combo. i like the veggies cooked first.
quick take along breakfast spread with peanut butter, or nutella. an easy sweet tooth, put in oil and fry a little sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
you can fry them crispy and sprinkle with any seasoning desired to make a sort of homemade dorito, dip in salsa or guacamole.
fresh tortillas seem to dry out quickly, a quick zap in the micro with a damp paper towel bring them back to life.
liss,
i don’t know what i did wrong but my dough isn’t stiff enough to knead or roll. it has the consistency of very thick pancake batter. help!!
this recipe is incorrect the water amounts are wrong, should be 1 1/2 cups maybe??
approx. 1 cup of water to 3 cups of flour. You might want to cut this receipe in half if this is your first time making them.
And I use lard. Your grillet or frying need to be med high heat. You will see the torillas bubble and rise.
They should have brown stops on them. Enjoy.
proud of myself, we are having tacos tonight and i forgot to buy tortillas. and i was not going to run to the store, so we are making these. the dough was way too loose to kneed so we ended up adding another cup of flour.
it’s resting now so we’ll see how they turn out. fingers crossed!
i have never attempted to make tortillas, but i want to try to learn. this is a good recipe to follow.
can i use my tortilla press that i got for christmas, my mom has noticed that i have been trying to do more myo recipes, and she thought that could try my hand at making my own tortillas, can i use a press for the flour ones as well.
tortilla presses are usually used for corn tortillas that use mass and no leavening agent (baking powder). but, this dough is so forgiving, it may work. use a gallon zipper bag as a liner for the press.
otherwise the dough will stick.
This seems like it will be an easy recipe! Thank you. I’ll give it a test this week.
i so want to try this, we love tacos, fajitas, and wrap sandwiches!!!
i want to make these but after reading the comments, i’m worried about the amount of water called for. has anyone made these with the 2.5 c of water and they turned out or did you use less?