These really are the best ever homemade flour tortillas, no one can believe how easy and delicious they are! Over 500 5-star reviews!
This recipe has been a long time in coming, years actually. I’ve been trying out recipes for homemade flour tortillas for what seems like forever – but I’ve never been thrilled with any of them. Definitely not thrilled enough to blog them – too dry, too sticky, too crisp, too bland, too soggy, too complicated. This time, with these Best Ever Homemade Flour Tortillas, it’s different. They totally live up to their name!
Way easier than you might think!
They’re also EASY, super easy! If you have a mixer with a dough hook, you can have the dough made in less than five minutes (if not, maybe ten at the most). After mixing, it’s super important to give the dough a little rest. This helps relax the glutens, in order to make rolling the tortillas much easier.
Then just portion the dough, roll each piece nice and thin and give them a stint (one-two minutes!) in a hot, dry pan. Voila! Once you take the first taste, you’ll NEVER want pre-packaged tortillas again
Flour tortilla pizzas – so delicious!
These Best Ever Homemade Flour Tortillas will make any South-of-the-Border meal extraordinary. But this is the REALLY cool thing; they also make fabulous, super thin crust pizzas. Just brush them lightly with olive oil and top with your favorite pizza ingredients. I love pesto, a bit of fresh mozzarella, smokey bacon bits and a sprinkle of pine nuts and/or fresh herbs. Pop them in a piping hot (450˚F) oven for 4-5 minutes or until crispy golden brown.
Imagine coming home after a busy day and having a stash of these tortillas (aka pizza crusts) in the freezer. Throw together a fresh salad and an individual pizza for each family member and they’ll be “WOWING” you all evening long!
More ideas for these Homemade Flour Tortillas…
I’ve also used these Best Ever Homemade Flour Tortillas for wonderful sandwich wraps and I’ve even spread them with a bit of butter and a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar for a quick sweet treat.
They make fabulous, shatteringly crisp chips too. Just brush one with a teaspoon of olive oil on both sides, then sprinkle lightly with kosher salt. Bake for 5 minutes at 450˚F. and you won’t even believe how delicious they are on their own or broken into irregular pieces and used to dip hummus, salsa etc.
Can you tell I’m excited about these guys? You will be too and I have a feeling, once you try them, you won’t want to be without a cache of these tortillas in your freezer. They’re almost too good to be true! Almost.
Café Tips for making the Best Ever Homemade Flour Tortillas
- The recipe calls for using a stand mixer, but you can also make them by hand. Just mix up the dough in a medium size bowl with a wooden spoon or sturdy spatula. Then turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead the dough until it’s nice and smooth (about 2 to 3 minutes) and then proceed as directed in step 3 below.
- Roll the tortillas pretty thin. You want them to look almost translucent if you held them up to the light. Thick tortillas won’t be tender.
- If you try rolling out these tortillas and the dough keeps shrinking back, let it rest for another 15-30 minutes. The gluten just hasn’t had enough time to relax.
- I’ve also used olive oil for this tortilla recipe with good results. If you use coconut or peanut oil the tortillas will take on a bit of the oil’s flavor.
- If your tortillas feel stiff after cooking, you’ve cooked them too long or the heat was too high. Cook them only long enough to get some nice bubbles on the surface and a few light brown spots on the underside. Then flip them for another 15-20 seconds.
- A tortilla warmer is a nice accessory to have when making tortillas, as you can stack tortillas after cooking to keep them soft. It’s also perfect for serving the tortillas at the table. It’s not necessary to have one though. Just use a pot with a cover that’s slightly bigger than the tortillas. Place each tortilla in the pot after removing from the pan and cover with the lid. The steam from the just cooked tortillas will keep them all soft and pliable – same way a tortilla warmer works!
- Readers have asked if it’s worth it to have a tortilla press. I honestly don’t think it’s necessary for these flour tortillas, as they’re easy to roll out.
- Wipe out the pan in between tortillas with a damp paper towel if flour is starting to accumulate.
Note: This recipe was originally published back in August of 2013. The photos were terrible but in spite of that, this recipe is by far, the most popular recipe on the blog. It has over 800 comments and over 370 5-star reviews. I’ve gotten emails from people all over the world who have made and loved them. We’ve re-taken the photos and tweaked the post a bit.
Make them! I think you’ll love them too!
Another wonderful South of the Border recipe
Do enjoy South-of-the-Border cuisine? If so, be sure to check out our Mexican Chopped Salad. It’s another super popular recipe on The Café. It’s fantastic with just about any Mexican or Tex-Mex entree. Pair it with these Best Ever Homemade Flour Tortillas for a meal that’s sure to bring rave reviews!
If you enjoy this recipe, please come back and leave a rating and review! It’s so helpful to other readers to hear other’s results and ideas for variations.
These Best Ever Homemade Flour Tortillas are so simple and unbelievably delicious!
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil, vegetable oil or other fairly neutral flavored oil
- 1 cup warm water
Combine flour, salt and baking powder in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the dough hook, mix dry ingredients until well combined.
Add oil and water with mixer running at a medium speed. After about 1 minute, or when mixture comes together and begins to form a ball, decrease mixing speed to low. Continue to mix for 1 minute or until dough is smooth.
Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface. Divide into 16 equal portions. Turn each piece to coat with flour. Form each piece into a ball and flatten with the palm of your hand. Cover flattened balls of dough with a clean kitchen towel and allow to rest for at least 15 minutes (or as much as 2 hours) before proceeding.
After the rest period, heat a large pan over medium heat. Roll each dough piece into a rough circle, about 6-7 inches in diameter, keep work surface and rolling pin lightly floured. Don’t stack uncooked tortillas on top of each other or they will stick together.
When the pan is hot, place one dough circle into the pan and allow to cook about 1 minute or until the bottom surface has a few pale brown spots and the uncooked surface is bubbly. If browning too fast, reduce the heat a bit. If it’s taking longer than a minute to see a few pale golden brown spots on the underside of tortillas, increase the heat a bit. Flip to other side and cook for 15-20 seconds. The tortillas should be nice and soft but have a few small brown spots on the surface.
Remove from pan with tongs and stack in a covered container or zippered bag to keep the tortillas soft.
Serve warm or allow to cool for later use. When ready to use, place a slightly damp paper towel in the bottom of a microwave-safe container (with a cover) that will hold the stacked tortillas. Microwave uncovered for 15-30 seconds (start with 15) or until warm, then keep covered to hold heat while serving.
Store in an airtight container or zippered bag at room temperature for 24 hours or refrigerate for up to 1 week. To freeze, separate tortillas with parchment paper or waxed paper and place in a zippered bag before placing in the freezer.
See Café Tips above in post for additional instruction and tips.
Recipe adapted from Genius Kitchen
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Jo D Hertel says
I made them last night – and they tasted great, but maybe I overmixed the dough or something but I couldn’t get them very big. The dough was so stretchy and would shrink. So they came out thicker than normal.
Chris Scheuer says
Yes, don’t overmix them. You can even do it by hand. The other secret is to let the dough rest so that the glutens can relax.
Marie says
Easy to make and everybody loves these tortillas. I use a big electric skillet and can cook 3 tortillas at a time!
Chris Scheuer says
Great idea, Marie! That would save a lot of time!
bernice gyabaa says
i tried them but came out hard
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Bernice, if they came out hard, they were cooked too long or at too high a heat. They don’t need much cooking. Also, be sure to stack them between parchment or waxed paper, after cooking. The steam will keep them nice and soft.
Hope you get a chance to try them again. They’re so… good!
Christi Dea says
Finally! This recipe was very easy to understand and my tortillas came out exactly as pictured in your article. I had been struggling with making thin and flexible tortillas even though I had a cast iron skillet and a tortilla press. Your recipe is radically different than the others though and the dough was so amazing I didn’t even have to dust it with flour. I did however let my dough rest for one hour before I separated it into 16 pieces and then pressed them. Thank you so much for this fantastic and economic recipe!
Chris Scheuer says
You’re welcome, Christi! I’m always thrilled when I find “the one”!
Lexxie Dugan says
These are awesome! 1st time I made tortillas and it was so easy. My question is about freezing them. Do I freeze them after I cook them or just throw the dough in the freezer? Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Lexxie, I freeze them after they’re cooked. I just layer them between parchment paper and put them in a large ziplock storage bag. It’s easy to take out however many you need.
Lindsey J says
We live in South Texas. My husband was born and raised in San Antonio, so he grew up on good tortillas. I’m Italian, from the East Coast, and I made these for the first time last night. So simple and delicious! We were all in love! I’ll never buy tortillas again!
Chris Scheuer says
That’s wonderful Lindsey! Thanks for sharing your results. That’s a high compliment from a San Antonio man!
Frank Edadiz says
The tortillas sound wonderful, but I didn’t see the recipe that showed the amount of flour,salt,baking powder and oil or lard to use.
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Frank, scroll down to find the recipe.