How To Make A Homemade Tortilla
Today it’s all about how to make a homemade tortilla. I have made tortillas for years for my family. I taught a class at The Kitchen Corner right here in St. George, Utah several years ago on how to make whole wheat flour tortillas. Mack, my friend who worked there asked me if I knew how to make spinach tortillas.
I said I’ll know how to make them by this Saturday when I teach the class. That was 6 years ago. LOL! One thing about making tortillas, you can make them fairly quickly and they taste so much better than the processed ones at the stores.
How To Make A Homemade Tortilla
Whole Wheat Tortilla Recipe
- 6 cups freshly ground whole wheat flour (I use hard white) or white flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 cups warm water
- 2/3 cups olive oil
-
Place all the ingredients into a medium size bowl and blend together. Begin kneading for about 5-6 minutes. Immediately form into balls. Cover with greased plastic wrap. Let dough rest 30 minutes. This recipe makes between 18-24 tortillas (depending on the ball size). You can roll them out by hand or use a tortilla press. Cook the tortillas on both sides until cooked as desired on a hot griddle or a tortilla cooker.
I mixed up this recipe ahead of time by hand with a spoon (no mixer needed) and rolled the dough into balls and covered them with greased plastic wrap.
This recipe makes between 18-24 tortillas (depending on the ball size). You flatten the balls in your hands and place them on the tortilla maker, then the griddle or frying pan. They look like a chubby pancake. The next step is to turn the tortillas and “pump” the handle. This is how you make them nice and flat. Do not push down hard on the handle or the edges of the tortillas will “explode”. You gently turn the tortilla and push the handle down until they are cooked the way you want them. I like mine golden brown.
I am using a CucinaPro 1443 Flatbread and Tortilla Maker
in this picture. You can also just roll them out with a rolling pin and use a frying pan or griddle. I love the tortilla maker though because it’s fast and makes a perfect circle.
Corn Tortilla Recipe
- 2-1/2 to 3 cups Maseca (Mexican Corn Flour)
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- 3 cups warm buttermilk
-
Combine the dry ingredients (start with 2-1/2 cups Maseca) then the warm buttermilk and add to mixture. Mix by hand until everything is wet. Cover and let sit 10-15 minutes. Knead lightly and add Maseca until a finger pressed into the ball of dough comes out mostly clean. Make the balls about two inches in diameter with the dough. Use some plastic wrap or parchment paper to roll out the 2 inch balls of dough. You need to roll them out according to how big you want them to be. Obviously the bigger the circle of dough the thinner the corn tortillas will be. This recipe makes about 12 tortillas. Cook each side of the tortillas 50-60 seconds. Press, heat, and serve!
Have you ever wondered how some restaurants make those amazing handmade corn tortillas? Well, I know how to make them now and I am sharing my friend’s recipe. I know I have talked a lot about Melissa Richardson co-author of “The Art of Baking with Natural Yeast”. She is an amazing young mother who is teaching the world about natural yeast.
Yes, I had to email Melissa to have her send me a picture of the Maseca Mexican corn flour bag because I had never made real corn tortillas! I have attended several of her classes and I totally love her. I met her, along with some other awesome bloggers, at Honeyville’s SLC Grand Opening. If you haven’t purchased her book, I highly recommend buying it. The Art Of Baking With Natural Yeast. I have her corn tortillas ingredients shown below. You basically combine the dry ingredients and slowly add the liquid and start kneading the dough. By hand, no machine required to mix it together.
Spray The Plastic Wrap To Roll Out The Corn Tortilla
Here is another trick, I am famous for not reading directions, well you need to spray the plastic wrap with vegetable spray or you won’t be able to get the tortillas off the press! You can see I flattened the balls with my hands before placing them on the tortilla press. You do the same thing with my whole wheat or spinach tortilla recipe as well. Tortilla Press
This is The Bread Geek, Melissa Richardson’s corn-garlic-chili powder tortilla recipe. No mixer needed, just dump and stir, then knead a little. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 10-15 minutes. Roll the dough into balls and start pressing, then cook these fresh corn tortillas!
- 5 cups raw packed and chopped spinach
- 1 tablespoon water (cook spinach in water 5 minutes stirring it and drain the spinach-cool-then finely chop it)
- 2+ cups freshly ground whole wheat flour (I use hard white)
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt and a dash of pepper
- 1/4 cup olive oil
-
Combine the spinach with the flour, sugar, salt and pepper, and olive oil (I call it my crumbly mixture). Begin kneading for about 5-6 minutes. Immediately form into balls. Cover with greased plastic wrap, let rest 30 minutes. After 30 minutes or so start flattening the 2 inch balls and sprinkle with water if you need to if the balls/patties start to dry out. Okay, you are now ready to “press and release”, “press and release”, etc. with the tortilla baker machine. You turn the tortillas a ½ circle a few times. You actually cook the tortillas with the lid open with the machine I have. You can close the lid but sometimes they dry out and then they are too crispy. I like moist, soft tortillas. This recipe makes between 8-10 tortillas (depending on the ball size). You can roll them out by hand or use a tortilla press then cook them until they are golden brown on both sides.
Finished Product
This is the finished spinach whole wheat tortilla below. After cooking them, I filled the spinach tortillas with chicken salad for lunch. I really think you can substitute just about any veggie(s) for the spinach shown below. Here are some substitutes you can try: hydrate your freeze-dried spinach-I would drain it though. You can use one package of frozen spinach-just thaw (it’s already been blanched) and drain it. This recipe is so easy to just add carrots, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, etc. in place of the spinach. The possibilities are endless!
Here is the finished product above. This is how I steamed the spinach below, you could microwave it as well.
Combine the wet with the dry ingredients and use a fork or a pastry cutter to blend.
Ready For Hot Griddle
Now you are ready to bake your tortillas on a hot griddle. You can see I pressed the dough into a 6-inch circle, give or take. I carry the plastic wrap with the tortilla over to the griddle and ever so slightly remove it from the plastic wrap and place it on the griddle. These honestly taste like gourmet restaurant corn tortillas. No fat, oil or sugar! Gotta love it!
Flour Tortillas
These are the ones I make more than any other kind. They are fast and easy to make.
- 2 cups white flour (plus a little extra for rolling out)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, soft butter, or lard
- 3/4 cup warm water
-
Combine the ingredients in a large bowl, slightly mix by kneading the dough. It will be a soft sticky dough. Knead for 4-5 minutes. Form a ball and place on a floured countertop. Cover with plastic wrap for 15-30 minutes. Divide the dough into eight sections. Form the sections into eight balls. Sprinkle with flour as needed. Roll out each ball into a 7-8 inch circle. Heat a skillet and cook each tortilla 40-50 seconds on each side. They will puff up as they cook. Store in a tortilla warmer.
Final Word
I’ve made your basic flour tortillas before and they came out great. A much easier way to have a bread product with meals if we’re dealing with a grid down event. If I still have power then I can make bread in the machine or in the oven, but tortillas are just as useful for sandwich type meals.
I’ll have to try your other recipes since they sound tasty too!
Hi Dmwalsh, I fixed up an old post for today. I think it’s critical people learn to make tortillas as soon as possible. They are easy to make and fill the belly. I will do another post with just my flour tortillas soon. This is a busy month for everyone. Graduations, weddings, etc. I will aim for June to get some good pictures of my flour tortillas anyone can make. Life is so good when we cook at home! Linda
Hi Linda,
My Mexican grandmother, my mom, and I have always used bacon grease in place of lard or oil. It imparts a really good flavor to the tortillas.
Jennifer
Hi Jennifer, oh my gosh, I will have to try this! I love this tip!! Linda
Thankyou Linda…love you!!!!
Taught underprivileged families how to make healthier tortillas using your videos and recipes as teaching base….we all watched your site together….so wonderful…keep up the good work!!!!
OH, Kathleen, you made me cry with joy today! You are so kind, it means the world to me that you are teaching others! May God bless you for helping others. Love you so much! Linda
Hi Linda,
When you mentioned yesterday you were going to share more tortilla recipes, I have been thinking about it. This is a perfect medley of tortillas to make all sorts of things. Do the wraps harden after awhile? I can’t wait to make this, especially with your beans. Thanks for everything. Marcia
Linda ~
Love tortillas but I am going low carb now to lose some weight. I have found some low carb recipes for tortillas but they just are not the same! Thanks for the recipes. I will pass them on to my daughter. Perhaps she will start making her own!
I was on a job in Page Arizona years ago and found a tiny Mexican restaurant that I ate at several times. I loved their tortillas. They were completely different than what I knew (store bought) as they were not evenly round and they were thicker than I was used to!! So, I asked about them and was told they were hand made in the kitchen. I said that I would love to learn how to make my own tortillas. Anyway, I was invited back to the kitchen where this little (4’8″) lady was making them. Turned out that she was the owner and made ALL of the tortillas for the restaurant. She did not use a press! She had a length of steel pipe, filled with lead and capped at both end. It was very heavy. She said that once she made the dough and let it rest, she used this pipe to roll them out. The caps kept the thickness of the tortillas even. Then they were cooked on a large flat griddle. I had my husband make one of these tools and made my own tortillas for years.
I don’t know what happened to that tool over the years but it is not necessary now as I won’t be making my own because I’m single and don’t eat enough tortillas in a year to count! Not even the low carb tortillas!
Hi Leanne, oh my gosh, I would love to watch someone at a Mexican restaurant make tortillas! I love it! That’s interesting about the steel pipe, awesome!! Linda
Thank you for the recipes. We eat a lot of tortillas at my house. I have never made them. (But I did buy a press). Is there a difference in the press required for flour or corn tortillas ? I had never thought of making spinach tortillas. They sound wonderful. I wonder if it would be possible to make tomato tortillas, possibly from tomato powder or sun dried tomatoes ? I may have to experiment on a recipe LOL. I also love flat breads and pitas. ( I put both the presser and cooker on my wish list). As for the size of the dough balls, I would use either a number 16 scoop ( for small tortillas) or a number 8 scoop for larger tortillas. ( I use scoops when making rolls). That way I would have equal size rolls (tortillas).Once again, thank you for the recipes. I always print them out in multiple copies for the cook books I am making for the grandkids. Love and God Bless . Judy
Hi Judy, a tortilla press is good for flour or corn. I never thought to use a scoop when making tortillas! Hey, I went to Costco and I was looking for the Pepper Gravy. I couldn’t find it. What am I looking for, a bag or a container? What color? LOL! I wonder if it’s only available in the fall. Yes, you can use tomato powder or sundried tomatoes!! I have to tell you those spinach tortillas with homemade chicken salad or the chicken salad from Costco is so good!! Life is so good, my friend! Hugs! Linda
I was not able to find it at Costco the last time I went either. But they still have it at Sam’s. It’s in a red,white and blue box. And the brand name is Morrison’s ( country style pepper Gravy).
Hi Judy, thank you!!! I’m heading to Salt Lake City, Utah and they have Sam’s Club!! Thank you so much!!! Linda