Homemade Flour Tortillas

These homemade flour tortillas are soft, tender, and easy to make with simple pantry ingredients. Olive oil keeps them flexible and flavorful without using lard or shortening.

Course Bread, Dinner or Appetizer, Lunch

Cuisine Mexican, Tex-Mex

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Resting Time 20

Total Time 50

Servings tortillas

Calories 97kcal

Author Renee

Equipment

Ingredients

3 cups flour
1 teaspoons Kosher salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 tablespoons olive oil
1⅛ cups warm water not HOT

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder.
Drizzle in the olive oil and mix with your hands or a fork until the flour mixture looks crumbly.
Add the warm water a little at a time, mixing until a soft dough forms.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes, until smooth and soft. If the dough feels sticky, add a small amount of flour as needed.
Form the dough into a ball, cover with a towel or plastic wrap, and let it rest for 20 minutes.
Divide the dough into golf ball–sized pieces and roll each into a smooth ball. Keep covered while working.
On a lightly floured surface, flatten each dough ball and roll into a 5–6 inch circle, turning occasionally to keep the shape even.
Heat a dry skillet or griddle over medium heat. Cook each tortilla for 20–30 seconds per side, until lightly browned with a few bubbles forming.
It takes about the same amount of time to roll out a tortilla as it does for to fry one, so after you roll the first few, it is easy to get into a rhythm of cooking one and rolling the next at the same time.
Transfer cooked tortillas to a tortilla warmer or wrap in a clean kitchen towel to keep warm and soft.

Notes

The dough should feel soft but not sticky.
Letting the dough rest helps the tortillas roll out more easily.
Don’t overcook the tortillas or they can become stiff.
Stack cooked tortillas together right away so the steam keeps them soft.
Homemade tortillas freeze well for up to 2 months.

The cook time listed on this recipe is the collective time it will take to cook all of the tortillas. A single tortilla only takes about 1 minute to fry up.

Nutrition