Easy Soft Flour Tortillas
- PREP 30min
- COOK 10min
- TOTAL 40min
How to make flour tortillas that are soft, pliable, and perfect for folding or wrapping. Our recipe for the best homemade tortillas uses a few tricks. Dissolving the salt in the warm water helps season the dough. I especially recommend doing this if you are using coarser salt. Rolling the tortillas very thin and dialing in the heat of your pan guarantees bubbles, which create that perfect texture (our video shows just how large these bubbles can be).
You Will Need
2 cups (260g) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
2/3 cup (160ml) very warm water
5 tablespoons light flavored oil, melted shortening, melted lard or melted butter
Directions
Make Tortilla Dough
Add the salt to the warm water and stir together until the salt dissolves.
In a large bowl, use a fork to combine the flour with the oil (or other fat) until it looks crumbly. Pour in almost all of the salty water and stir until a shaggy dough forms. If the mixture seems dry, add a bit more of the water.
When the dough comes together, transfer to a floured work surface and knead until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes.
Cover with a clean dishcloth and leave for at least 15 minutes and up to 2 hours. Resting the dough makes rolling it out easier.
Divide the dough into ten equally sized blobs and shape them into small disks. Use a rolling pin to roll each small disk into 8-inch rounds. The thinner, the better. If you get 9-inch tortillas, don’t worry! We also don’t worry too much about making them perfectly round. (See our video to watch us do it.)
Stack the rolled tortillas with a piece of parchment paper between them. Alternatively, you can roll and cook the tortillas at the same time. Roll one tortilla out, then roll the next tortilla out while it cooks.
Cook Tortillas
Heat a wide, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. When it’s hot, add the first tortilla. Within 20 to 30 seconds, you should start to see it puffing up with bubbles.
When the bottom of the tortilla has some brown spots, flip it and cook until the second side is browned in places and the tortilla looks dry around the edges. Each tortilla will take 1 to 2 minutes to cook. If this is taking a long time, increase the heat. If the pan smokes or browns the tortillas too quickly, turn the heat down.
Transfer the cooked tortilla to a dishcloth and cover it, then continue with the remaining tortillas, adjusting the heat as needed.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Whole wheat flour tortillas: Substitute whole wheat flour for all-purpose flour. The dough might need a bit more water.
- Make ahead: Divide the dough into smaller balls (this recipe makes ten 8-inch tortillas), wrap them very well, and then place them in the refrigerator for up to three days. About thirty to forty minutes before you plan to cook the tortillas, take the balls out of the fridge and let them come to room temperature before rolling them out.
- Storing: Store leftover tortillas in a resealable plastic bag for a day or two or freeze if they need to be stored longer. Fresh homemade flour tortillas are at their softest when warm, so if you have room-temperature or cold tortillas, we recommend reheating them in a skillet until they are warm and pliable again.
- How to freeze flour tortillas: Store them in a freezer-safe bag or container, stacked with a small sheet of parchment paper between them.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. Calculations included vegetable oil.