Make Your Own Tortillas
Nothing tastes better than fresh tortillas! If you dislike those leathery ones often found in the grocery store that tear when you wrap them and get soggy when you add ingredients to them, then you can easily make your own. Soggy and leathery is not authentic and definitely not worth it. Homemade corn or flour tortillas are much more delicious, and are a smarter choice as you know exactly what is going in them.
Contents
Steps
Flour Tortillas
- Gather your ingredients. This recipe makes 8 tortillas. Here are the ingredients you'll need to make tasty flour tortillas:
- 4 cups of flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 cup of water (many substitute warm milk for a fluffier texture)
- 1/2 cup vegetable shortening or lard
- Mix flour, salt, & baking powder in a large medium/large bowl. Make sure your bowl is big enough to accommodate all your ingredients.
- Cut in shortening/lard until lumps are gone. Use a pastry cutter or fork; don't work the dough too much.
- Make a hole in the center of the dry ingredients.
- Add water, about a half a cup at a time, and work mixture into a dough.
- Knead until smooth. The dough should be slightly sticky but not hard. You can add slightly more water or flour if needed.
- Cover and set aside for 10 minutes. This will let the baking powder work the dough into a fluffier tortilla mix.
- Make the dough into balls about the size of eggs.
- Using a rolling pin, roll each dough ball into about a {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} circle. Flour your work surface before you roll the tortillas.
- Heat griddle or skillet on medium heat. You can apply a little bit of oil, grease, or lard, or you can go without.
- Cook tortilla 1/2 to 1 minute on each side. If it starts to bubble up, that's long enough.
- Flip tortilla to the other side and cook for a few seconds. 20-30 seconds should be enough.
- Continue until all your dough is cooked.
- Experiment with different kinds of tortillas. Some simple touches to this basic recipe can add spice, flair, or sweetness to an otherwise simple flour tortilla.
- Add a little bit of cinnamon and sugar to your basic flour tortilla recipe for a sweet, cinnamon-y kick. Deep fry them if you want and add the cinnamon/sugar mix right after they come out of the oil.
- Add a bit of chipotle peppers and adobo to your flour tortilla recipe for a spicy kick. These tortillas come packed with a kind of salsa already in them!
- Add some chopped sun-dried tomatoes to your flour tortilla recipe for some savory richness. The perfect accompaniment to fish tacos or chicken mole.
Corn Tortillas
- Gather your ingredients. This recipe makes 24 tortillas. Here are the ingredients you'll need to make tasty corn tortillas:
- 2 cups masa harina (preferably Maseca brand)
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- Whisk masa and salt in a medium bowl. Make sure salt is evenly distributed in the masa.
- Stir in water, a little at a time, until dough begins to form.
- Knead the masa until dough begins to form. The dough should have the consistency of Play-Doh: springy and firm but also slightly dry.
- Add more water by tablespoons if the dough is too dry; add more masa if the dough is too wet.
- Measuring out one heaping tablespoon of dough, flatten the dough into small, round tortillas. Remember that corn tortillas are traditionally smaller than flour tortillas.
- Use a tortilla press lined with plastic wrap for even, more uniform-looking tortillas.
- If you don't have a tortilla press, use a rolling pin for more artisanal tortillas.
- Check for the right consistency before you cook the tortillas. If the dough crumbles, it is too dry — add more water. If the dough sticks to the plastic on the press, or to the rolling pin, it is too wet — add more masa.
- This will be your final chance to get the consistency right before cooking.
- Decide whether you want to press all your dough before you cook or press as you cook. The tortillas won't take long to cook, so you may want to have them all pressed before you begin cooking. If you're working with a tortilla press, you should have enough time to press tortillas while you cook.
- Heat cast-iron pan over medium high heat. Cast iron pans distribute heat evenly and quickly, so they are best for cooking tortillas, but any non-stick pan will do the job in a pinch.
- Brush the tortillas lightly with oil and place on the pan to cook. Cook 1-2 minutes on one side, or until slightly charred and edges begin to curl. Flip onto opposite side and cook for 15 more seconds. Remove from heat.
- If using a cast-iron pan, it's okay to cook more than one tortilla at a time.
- Repeat process with remaining dough. Keep the tortillas warm by wrapping them in a clean kitchen towel if serving immediately.
Tips
- Keeping the griddle hot makes the tortillas cook fast. If you find they are burning before they are cooked, turn the heat down slightly.
- Making good tortillas takes practice. Eventually you will be able to get them round.
- If you don't like fluffy tortillas, you can eliminate the baking powder.
- To make fewer tortillas, only use half the measurements of each ingredient.
- If you do not have a rolling pin, you can use a small round bottle or even a broom handle!
- Small hand-operated presses are available in some Latino cooking supply stores, if you want an easy way to shape tortillas.
- Apply some oil over the prepared tortilla and grill it in oven at high temperature for 4 minutes to get a baked homemade tortilla (If you are health conscious).
Warnings
- Traditional authentic tortillas are more often made with masa or ground cornflour. You will need to adjust all the ingredients in the recipe if you are using masa because it has a different texture from wheat flour.
- Store extra tortillas in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. Since they don't have preservatives, they will spoil after a couple of days on the counter.
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