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These really are the best ever homemade flour tortillas, no one can believe how easy and delicious they are! They're perfect for enchiladas, soft tacos, burritos, quesadillas, wraps... Check out the over 700 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 flour tortillas, it's different. They totally live up to their name - Best Ever Homemade Flour Tortillas!
I LOVE the results, and I think you will too. These homemade flour tortillas are tender, soft and flavorful. Because they keep well, they can be made in advance and warmed in the microwave or on the stovetop, just before serving.
How to make flour tortillas from scratch - easier than you 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. You can also easily mix it together without a mixer (using a wooden spoon, sturdy spatula or Danish whisk), which is the way I usually make them. But whether you use a mixer or not, it's super important to give the dough a little rest after mixing and dividing the dough. This helps relax the glutens, in order to make rolling the tortillas much easier.
Just portion the dough, give it a rest, then roll each piece nice and thin and give them a stint (one-two minutes!) in a medium-hot, dry pan. Voila! Once you take the first taste, you'll NEVER want pre-packaged tortillas again
Ways to use these Homemade Flour Tortillas...
- These flour tortillas will make any South-of-the-Border meal extraordinary. Burritos, enchiladas, tacos, quesadillas ... it all tastes better!
- 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!
- I've used these homemade flour tortillas for wonderful sandwich wraps.
- It's fun to 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.
You can either make these tortillas with a stand mixer or by hand. I find it's just as easy to put them together without a mixer. You'll find directions for both ways in the recipe below but we've created a video to show you how easy they are to make by hand:
Café Tips for making these Homemade Flour Tortillas
- Roll the tortillas fairly thin. You want them about 6-inches in diameter and to look somewhat 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 and melted butter for this tortilla recipe with good results. I don't recommend coconut or peanut oil as the tortillas will take on 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.
- It's also important to allow your tortillas to steam each other. Stack them up directly after cooking and keep them covered with a kitchen towel. This help them steam each other and get nice and soft.
- 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.
- These tortillas keep well in the refrigerator for 5-7 days. They will feel stiff though when they're cold. When you want to use one or two, just place them in a slightly damp paper towel and microwave for 10-20 seconds. They'll be nice and soft again.
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!
The BEST Pico de Gallo!
If you make these Homemade Flour Tortillas, you DEFINITELY want this fabulous Pico de Gallo to serve with them. This fabulous pico pairs perfectly with chips, grilled proteins and any Mexican entreé. It's so fresh and delicious you'll want to eat it with a spoon!
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 kosher salt I use Morton's
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil, vegetable oil or other fairly neutral flavored oil
- 1 cup warm water
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Combine flour, salt and baking powder in a medium-size bowl. Using a sturdy silicone spatuala or a sturdy wooden spoon, mix dry ingredients until well combined.
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Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the oil and water. Stir well from the bottom up, until all dry ingredients are incorporated and the dough begins to come together and form a shaggy ball.
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Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 1-2 minutes until the dough is nice and smooth. Proceed with step number 3 below for the remainder of the recipe.
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Combine flour, salt and baking powder in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the dough hook, mix dry ingredients until well combined.
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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.
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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.
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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. (I like to separate my tortillas with parchement paper.)
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When the pan is hot, place one dough circle into the pan and allow to cook 45 seconds to 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.
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Remove from pan with tongs and stack in a covered container or zippered bag to keep the tortillas soft.
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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.
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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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Yasmin says
OK so I finally made this recipe today (it's Taco Tuesday ya'll) and it's PROPER.
I knew when I pulled the dough out of my mixer it was going to be a winner because it was very elastic, the way tortilla dough should be.
And upon the email advice of Chris, I fiddled around with the heat of my stove until I got the right temperature (which is apparently #4 on my Whirlpool Induction hob, which is quite low but induction is known for pumping all the heat straight into the base of the pan so yeah, good to know).
They are great. In fact, the only thing I can fault about them is my own rolling technique (one of them looks like an apple), but that's something I've always needed help with.
Thanks for the awesome recipe! No more spending 15 minutes crumbling up the shortening into my flour with my pastry cutter. Woo!
Yasmin says
I wanted to add that I put the ingredients in my bread machine last night and put it on the "pasta dough" setting (14 minutes of mixing and kneading) and that seemed to be just perfect. They rolled out and fried up a treat.
Yasmin says
I usually make my tortillas with vegetable shortening. They have a great texture but as soon as they start to cool they crack at the bends, which makes it impossible to use them for burritos etc.
And since I live in South Africa, I can't just run down to the local Kroger and buy tortillas like I used to. :/
So I'm going to give this a try and see if the oil and warm water make a more pliable tortilla, because sometimes you just NEED a bean burrito. Rather, sometimes *I* just need a bean burrito. 😀
Will comment back again once I make them, God willin' and the creek don't rise....
Del says
Hi Chris,
I just made the tortillas! Thank you!!! They are fantastic and so easy!
Susi says
Tortillas are so easy and can be used for so many differnt things. I just made a whole stack using the same ingredients that you have here...and I turned them into mini pizzas for my children. Delicious. Since I live down in tortilla land, I can get the homemade ones even in the local grocery store, but I don't much like the bland flavour of the dough...so, I have doctored it up a lot by adding garlic/onion/oregano and at other times rosemary in there....it has a fantastic flavour that is truly worth trying once. If you do decide to try it, do let me know what you think.
Brooke says
These are great!! Thank you for sharing! I have only attempted to make homemade tortillas once before with another recipe and they were more like pita bread... these are just perfect!
Melissa says
Looked for a Tortilla recipe the other day and this was the winner. Tried it tonight and everyone loved it 🙂 thanks so much for posting this.
Colleen says
I love this recipe. Can I sub 1/3 cup lard for the oil? I have so many idea's in my head for these. I want to add some fresh herbs to a batch also!!
Sofia says
I made this recipe twice already and they are great!! Family loves them. I wish I could post a picture as they look (and taste) wonderful.
Michele says
I have made this recipe once a week for the past month and tweaked it a little. I sub out 1 cup of the bread flour for white wheat flour and I use either lt olive oil or melted organic coconut oil, instead of the vegetable oil.. I also like them bigger, so I divide into 12 portions instead of 16. It works out to cost about 75 cents for the batch. Always looking for healthy and cost friendly recipes for my family of 7. Thank you, it's definitely one of my regular recipes now 🙂
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks for your feedback Michele! Glad you enjoy them.
Liz W says
I also use olive oil, and works a treat!
Kelly says
Thanks. Can't wait to try these tonight. Cuz sometimes I gotta eat some carbs. Lol.
Kimberly A says
Thanks so much for the recipe! We made them over the weekend when we were craving tacos, but didn't have any tortillas in the house. We'd tried a few other recipes in the past, but none were as easy to work with or rolled as thin as yours. We made the recipe as directed, using King Arthur AP flour measured by weight (12 3/4 oz). The dough was a bit sticky coming out of the stand mixer, but once it was turned out on to a well-floured countertop, portioned, and rested, it was a dream to work with. We just used as much flour to dust the worktop, dough, and roller as needed. This is definitely our new go-to tortilla. Can't wait to try your other suggestions with these (pizza, crackers, etc)! Thanks again. 🙂
Chris Scheuer says
So glad you enjoyed them!
Chris Scheuer says
I'm so glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for the kind words.
Dawn says
I can't wait to try these. My daughter has some severe food allergies and I need to make anything that is baked from scratch and she's been begging for something with a tortilla. A question, though: If you freeze them how do you go about re-heating? Microwave? Oven? Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Dawn, You could just set them on the counter to thaw, it won't take long because they are so thin. A few seconds in the microwave at 50% power should work as well. Enjoy!
sabriena says
I just made these, actually still in the process of cooking the last three., and they are great. I kneaded it by hand for about 5-8 minutes before it all came together but they taste real good. This is the second time making these, the first time I didn't knead it enough and they didn't turn out so well.. My four year old even likes these, he's not picky but he's a normal four year old! Anyway, this is a good recipe. 10/10 would make again. Maybe next time I'll trying putting some garlic in.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks Sabriena!The garlic sounds great!
Gnei Binthan says
Hi am from Sri Lanka...... I am going to try my hand today and keep u guys posted as to how it turned out...
Thanx
Kathy says
Unless I missed this on a previous comment, have you ever tired these using corn flour? I can't wait to try your flour version! It looks easy to reproduce aboard our little boat and Captain does love his bread in all forms.
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Kathy, I haven't tried using corn flour. I think it would be a whole different recipe but I'm going to start experimenting!
Isabelle says
It was my husband's birthday today and lately we are short on money, so couldn't afford a restaurant for his birthday dinner. He is a big fan of Mexican food, so I looked up for a tortilla recipe. This is my first time making tortillas, but it is the best tortillas we ever ate. They were a little thick, but we didn't mind! We filled the tortillas with soy chicken, homemade salsa, homemade chipotle aioli, and some lettuce and it was amazing. Thank you for this recipe!
Chris Scheuer says
That's awesome that you made his birthday so special from your own kitchen!
Paul says
Was looking for a homemade option as I want to get away from the store bought ones since they are full
of chemicals (in one brand I counted 17 extra ingredients on top of the basic 5).
Just made a batch, they are fantastic. Looks just like your photo, they are moist, stretchy and tasty. Tried other recipes before and was never successful, so glad I found yours. I had to adjust the heat setting as you mentioned, in my case down to medium heat. They puff up beautifully as they cook. I like the idea of no oil in the pan and used a cast iron pan, worked just great. Also didn't need to wipe the pan as there was no accumulated flour since I pre-rolled the tortillas and separated them with wax paper, by the time I started cooking them the surface flour was absorbed by the tortillas.
Thanks for the recipe and the instructions for perfect tortillas.
josh says
amazing.. thank you! looking forward to trying. i encourage you however to look at any of the thousands of published papers on microwave use. stored tortillas can just as easily be steamed or thrown right back into a warmer or covered pan. it's just as quick,they'll actually taste better than microwaving and what's more, the body will still recognize them as food. 😉
cheers
josh
AJ says
Made tortillas for the first time with this recipe, and it was incredibly quick and easy. The taste and texture were on par with the store bought tortillas that I usually get. Great recipe! Will be using it again.
Janet says
I don't understand. I did the recipe verbatim yet my tortillas look nothing like the picture...nor we're they pliable. Major disappointment.
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Janet, not sure what went wrong. If they weren't pliable perhaps you cooked them too long or didn't roll thin enough. So sorry, I hate wasting good ingredients.
Katie M. says
You guys are awesome! These were my first attempt at making tortillas and they were a complete success. They were great to make with my 3 year old. She rolled out the dough like an old pro:)
Day one of them gave us great Philly Cheese Steak Wraps.
Day two gave us great Tortilla Pizzas. Check them out here
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks for your review Katie, so happy you enjoyed them. Love your pizza, it looks great!
Kolohe says
I'm thrilled to try this. I just made the dough and separated it into flattened balls. They look terrific but, unfortunately, my time management skills are lacking and I must leave the house for several hours. How long can the dough rest before cooking? Thank you.
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Kolohe, they could probably sit, covered with plastic wrap or in a zippered bag for an hour or two.
John says
I feel like mine are floury when I'm eating them. Any suggestions?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi John, not sure why they're floury. Might be a difference in flour or a bit too much flour when you're rolling them out.
Traci says
My 9 y.o. daughter's home school co-op beginner's cooking class made this recipe last week and used them to make quesadillas. I heard so many good comments about it that I decided to try it myself this morning. It was so easy and they're quite good! Will be serving them with flank steak and jalapeno-lime slaw tomorrow...can't wait!!! Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Chris Scheuer says
Oh how fun, thanks for letting us know!