Freshly-made flour tortillas are really incredibly tasty. These flour tortillas from scratch are made with just 5 ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen. It’s a pretty small batch of them, too, and you can multiply the recipe by how many times you like. These are far superior to store-bought tortillas. Fresh homemade tortillas are soft, flaky and perfect to use in your favourite recipes. Also, unlike corn tortillas, you don’t need a tortilla press to make these. A rolling pin is more than enough to roll them out thinly.
What are the ingredients in a flour tortilla?
This flour tortilla recipe uses simple ingredients that you’re likely to have at home and easily find at your local grocery store. And what’s best, you only need 5 ingredients! First, you need flour (duh), and all-purpose flour is perfect. You’ll also need salt, baking powder, olive oil and hot water (not warm water). I told you it was straightforward! Here is the ingredient list you need to make them plus a few variations you might be interested in:
- All-purpose flour: You can swap all-purpose flour with 1:1 gluten-free flour. My favourite is 1:1 baking flour by Bob’s Red Mill.
- Olive oil: I like to use olive oil but you can also use vegetable oil or even vegetable shortening.
- Baking powder: A bit of baking powder helps the tortilla puff up in the pan and generates those lovely air pockets that we look for.
- Water and salt will be the two ingredients you will keep no matter what.
- Spice it up: you can easily switch the flavours in the flour tortillas by adding spices like paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, turmeric, etc.
How to make flour tortillas from scratch
Let me show you how to make flour tortillas from scratch. It’s a very easy recipe, really:
- Mix the ingredients: You take all the ingredients and mix them in a large bowl. First, you will add the dry ingredients and then add the wet. The water is boiling so I usually start with a spatula and when that becomes useless, I go in with my hands. By that moment, the flour tortilla dough should have cooled down enough to handle.
- Knead: You want to knead only enough so that the dough looks smooth and uniform. You can do this by hand or place it in the bowl of a stand mixer and use the dough hook attachment to knead the dough.
- Rest: Let the ball of dough rest for 1 hour at room temperature. This allows for the gluten to relax before shaping.
- Divide and shape: Divide into 8 equal pieces, or 6 equal portions if you want larger flour tortillas. Flatten each piece and then fold the edges in, like wrapping a parcel. Then turn over and roll against the surface to close the seam.
- Once you have all your balls of dough, starting with the first piece you shaped, roll them out on a lightly floured surface using a rolling pin until they’re very thin. If you hold it flat on your hand, you should be able to see it through the dough.
- Cook the first tortilla on a preheated large skillet at high temperature, 1 minute on one side and another minute on the second side. Repeat with all the flour tortillas.
Tips for making the best flour tortillas
Fresh homemade flour tortillas are very simple to make. However, I know that many of you love a good tip! So here you have my favourite ones that help me while making fresh flour tortillas:
- Use high heat rather than medium heat or medium-high heat. High heat makes the tortilla puff up quickly with air bubbles, making it very flaky and creating golden brown spots that are pretty and also delicious. You can use a non-stick pan or go for a cast-iron skillet instead. This is very similar to when we make Naan.
- Don’t add too much flour to your surface when you roll out the tortillas. This dough isn’t sticky at all and many times it’s not even necessary to add any flour at all. Excess flour will burn in the pan as you cook the tortillas so just dust the bare minimum amount.
- Keep the tortillas warm. As you cook the tortillas, you can keep the previous ones warm by wrapping them in a clean kitchen towel.
Frequently asked questions about these easy flour tortillas
Now that you know how to make your own delicious and soft flour tortillas, I’m sure you must have lots of questions. Here are a few that I find are most common and I tend to get the most. If you have any other questions please leave them in the comment section so that I can include them in the list if necessary. I think you will love this recipe and even enjoy making it constantly for yourself and your family. They are honestly so much better when they are fresh!
- How long do they last? Since these are homemade, they don’t last that long outside of the fridge or even in the fridge. You want to refrigerate them if you won’t eat them 2 hours after making them. A good place to store them is in an airtight container or bag. In the fridge, they will keep for up to 5 days.
- Can you freeze flour tortillas? Yes, you can! This is a very good way of preserving homemade flour tortillas for a longer time. You can freeze them for up to 3 months in an airtight container or bag, divided by baking paper. To reheat, remove them from the freezer and give them 5-10 minutes to thaw. After that time, reheat them in a hot pan.
- Are flour tortillas vegan? Yes, flour tortillas made from scratch are vegan. Some recipes use butter rather than oil and those wouldn’t be. However, here we use olive oil so it’s fine.
- How to heat flour tortillas? My favourite way of heating flour tortillas is in a hot pan. I know that many people are fans of microwaving them. However, in my opinion, microwaving flour tortillas results in a chewier tortilla. Heating them for 1-2 minutes per side over high heat in a pan is perfect for getting a hot tortilla that stays flexible.
What can I make with these homemade tortillas?
Tortillas are an extremely versatile ingredient. You can use them for burritos, fajitas and every wrap you can think of. My favourite way to make a creative wrap is to take your favourite salad recipe and just wrap it up in freshly made soft flour tortillas. Here are a few recipes you can find here on my blog:
Flour Tortillas From Scratch Recipe
Ingredients
- 200 g all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 40 g olive oil
- 120 ml boiling water
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix the flour, salt and baking powder.
- Add the olive oil and boiling water and mix. First, use a spatula to prevent getting burnt. Once the spatula isn't helping anymore, switch to your hands.
- Knead until the dough comes together, about 2 min.
- Let the dough rest, covered and at room temperature, for 1 hour.
- Weigh the dough and divide it into 8 portions.
- Flatten each portion with the palm of your hand and then fold the edges in, like making a parcel. Turn it over and roll it on the surface to close the seam.
- Flatten out each ball with a rolling pin until very thin. You should be able to see through it.
- Preheat a pan to high heat and give it at least 5 minutes. It should be smoking.
- Add one tortilla at a time and cook for 1 minute per side. It's completely normal if they inflate.
- If not used in the next 2 hours, refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months in an airtight container or bag, separated by baking paper.
