There are few things better in the world than a fresh-cooked flour tortilla. The aroma alone is reason enough to make them at home. The feel of a warm, flour-dusted tortilla against your lips, the soft, chewy bite, and the taste of a touch of charring is an experience you won’t get in any other food. You definitely won’t get it with a store-bought tortilla, but you will with this authentic flour tortilla recipe.
Tortilla Memories
I grew up in a small mining town in central Arizona. Stepping into a friend’s house to find her mother flipping the day’s tortillas on the stove was one of my greatest joys. Inhaling the tummy tickling fragrance of charred flour on an heirloom comal, I prayed they would give me one. Which, of course, they did – plain or slathered with butter and honey. Certainly, it was the look of longing in my eyes that made them do it. It was probably pretty pathetic, the truth be told.
My best friend’s mother taught me how to stretch tortillas by hand when I was thirteen. As a result, I got pretty good at it. Even though, I made a lot of wonky, hole-y tortillas, at first. I don’t stretch them by hand anymore. It’s easier to roll them with a rolling pin. Believe me, they still taste as good, even if I don’t look as impressive while I’m making them.
Different Flour Tortilla Recipes
Flour tortillas are made in different sizes and textures. Some are made with baking powder and are relatively small, thick, and a bit bread-y. They’re good for scooping and dipping beans, eggs, and other foods. This is the type of tortilla I encountered most often when I lived in New Mexico. It was actually quite a shock to my senses when I first saw them. Who makes fat tortillas? But, they quickly found their way into my heart and stomach. (I’ll post a recipe for those soon.)
This flour tortilla recipe is for my favorite type – my first love so to speak – the large, thin, unleavened tortillas. Tear and fold them to scoop food or use them to make burritos, chimichangas, and quesadillas. Drizzle them with honey or slather on butter with sugar and cinnamon for a quick treat that you and your family will love. I serve them with creamy refried beans and green chile meat or use them to dip into salsa verde. That’s always a hit at my house. (I’ll post those recipes soon, as well.)
Tortillas are not hard to make, but it’s important to follow the recipe, exactly, to get the best results. If you need help troubleshooting, please let me know in the comments below. I’ll do my best to help you.
Love this flour tortilla recipe? Let me know below! And, please, pin this recipe and share it with your friends.
Check out my How to Make Chili con Carne with Beans recipe. These tortillas go great with chili! Or, if you have a hankering for tacos, but hate the boxed shells, I show you how to fry your own in How to Make Fried Taco Shells.
Best Burrito-Sized Flour Tortilla Recipe
Course: Sides, BreadCuisine: MexicanDifficulty: Medium12
servings30
minutes12
minutes190
kcal50
minutesAuthentic recipe for scrumptious flour tortillas large enough for burritos and quesadillas and good enough to eat on their own.
Ingredients
4 cups all purpose flour (plus extra for dusting)
3/4 Tablespoons Salt
1/4 cup lard or shortening (plus extra for greasing the dough)
1 1/4 cups warm water
Directions
- Mix flour and salt in a large bowl or the bowl of a standing mixer.
- Using your fingers or a pastry blender cut lard or shortening into flour mixture until the lard is evenly distributed and the mixture looks crumbly with some pea-sized chunks. This gives the tortillas their flakiness.
- Gradually add warm water to the flour mixture and mix with your hands or in a mixer using the dough hook attachment on low speed just until a soft dough is formed and it pulls away cleanly from the bowl. It should not be sticky. If it is sticky, add a little bit of flour. If it’s too dry, add a few drops of water at a time until a soft, non-sticky dough is formed.
- Knead the dough for 10 minutes by hand or for two minutes in a stand mixer on the number 2 setting using the dough hook attachment. Be careful not to overwork the dough, if using a mixer.
- Shape the dough into a ball and grease with a thin coating of lard or shortening to keep it from drying out. Place the dough back into the bowl and cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap. Let the dough rest for 15 minutes to relax the gluten.
- Repeat steps 4 and 5.
Please note: These kneading and resting periods are critical to the texture, strength, and stretchiness of the dough. They make the dough much more forgivable and the texture of the tortillas just right, so don’t skip them. - Divide the dough evenly into 12 balls, each weighing approximately 76 grams. (A kitchen scale is really helpful for dividing your dough evenly. See notes below for tips on how to use the scale for this purpose. Or, you can just do it the old fashioned way and eyeball it.) Grease each ball with a thin coating of lard or shortening and place back in the bowl. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Preheat a 10 to 12 inch comal or griddle on the stove using medium heat. Make sure the comal is centered on your heat source. It is ready when a drop of water dances on its surface.
- Working one at a time, pat the dough balls flat keeping their circular form and lightly dust with flour. Roll the flattened ball with a floured rolling pin on a floured surface until very thin and about 11 to 12 inches in diameter. (This non-stick pastry mat with measurements is an excellent tool to help roll tortillas out round and to the right size.) Here is a great tutorial from Cook’s Illustrated on how to roll dough into a circle.
- Once rolled out, carefully place the tortilla on the comal, making sure it is flat, and cook just long enough for bubbles to form in the dough. This may only take seconds, so don’t walk away.
- Lift the edge of the tortilla with a spatula or knife. Grab the edge of the tortilla with your fingers and flip to cook the other side, just browning the bubbles. (The bubbles may not all brown. That’s ok. Don’t overcook it.) It will not take as long for the second side to cook as the first side. So, be ready to remove promptly.
- Place the cooked tortilla on a plate and cover with a towel to keep it warm and soft while you finish making the rest of the batch. You may also place the tortillas in a tortilla warmer.
- Serve immediately or, after cooled, store in an airtight container or a zippered plastic bag. (See notes below.)
Notes
- The cooked tortillas will keep for 2 – 3 days in the cupboard or a week in the refrigerator. If keeping in the refrigerator, try to store rolled or flat so they won’t break. Tortillas can also be frozen for six to eight months.
- Raw dough balls can be kept in the refrigerator for up to three days or in the freezer for six months. Bring to room temperature before rolling out and cooking.
- For best flavor and maximum softness, rewarm cold tortillas before eating by placing on a warm comal just long enough to restore flexibility and to be warm to the touch. Some new bubbles may appear. Flip and repeat.
- To use a kitchen scale to divide dough: Place an empty bowl large enough to hold all of your dough on the scale and use the zero function to zero out the scale. Place the entire dough ball in the bowl to get its total weight. It’s easiest if you use the metric function and measure in grams. Divide the total number of grams by 12. The result will be how much each of your 12 dough balls should weigh which will probably be around 76 grams.
- These tortillas are vegan when made with vegetable shortening.
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Nutritional information is an estimate based on information from online calculators.
Nutrition Facts
12 servings per container
Serving Size1 servings
Calories190
- Amount Per Serving% Daily Value *
- Total Fat
4.6g
8%
- Saturated Fat 1.74g 9%
- Cholesterol 4mg 2%
- Sodium 437mg 19%
- Amount Per Serving% Daily Value *
- Potassium 45mg 2%
- Total Carbohydrate
32g
11%
- Dietary Fiber 1g 4%
- Sugars 0.11g
- Protein 4g 8%
- Calcium 1%
- Iron 14%
- Vitamin D 2%
- Thiamin 30%
- Riboflavin 15%
- Niacin 15%
- Vitamin B6 1%
- Folate 61%
- Phosphorus 6%
- Magnesium 3%
- Zinc 3%
* The % Daily Value tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
I noticed this recipe doesn’t use baking powder like the others I’ve tried — did I miss something?
Hi. Flour tortillas with baking powder are thicker. They’re just a different type. More for eating at the table than rolling into burritos.
This is one of two flour tortilla recipes I use regularly. The other is more Tex-Mex style that I use for breakfast tacos (I grew up in San Antonio).
Spending the second half of my life around the Southwest, this recipe is great for everything else!
Note: my wife can’t digest pork products, so instead of lard we use a butter substitute called Melt. It works like shortening, but adds flavor.
Awesome! So glad you like it. 😊
Instead of butter, I used olive oil, and followed the rest of your recipe and instructions. The tortillas tasted great, albeit not perfectly round! We used them to make build-your-own bean burritos at the table. Both fun and delicious, thank you for the recipe. I especially appreciate that you thoughtfully responded to my question about substituting lard for butter.
Anytime! I’m glad the change worked out for you. Thanks for letting me know!
May I use better instead of lard?
I’ve never tried using butter, only lard or vegetable shortening. I’ve heard it can be done, though. You’ll need to use more butter than lard, since butter has less fat than lard. Try using about 25% more butter. So, to replace 1 cup of lard, you’d use 1 1/4 cup of butter. Let me know, how they turn out!
You mention here “to replace 1 cup of lard” but the recipe calls for 1/4 cup. Which amount is correct? thanks! 😉
Hi Will,
Follow the recipe. It’s just that to replace the lard, you need 25% more butter. I was using a ‘round” number in my comment. I should’ve been more specific. You would use about 1/3 cup of butter to 1/4 cup of lard.
Excellent flour tortillas! This is the fourth recipe for flour tortillas that I’ve tried recently, all of them a bit different. And, this one is the winner! This recipe made the big, soft tortillas I have wanted for making burritos. The recipe is simple and anyone should be able to make these delicious, fresh tortillas. Just follow the directions, as written. The resting of the dough is important, And, get your skillet hot, but don’t cook them too long. We’re having these warm tortillas with picadillo tonight and the remaining ones will be used for burritos another day. ¡Que rico!
So happy you like them! I’ve been using this recipe for 40 years and it’s never let me down. 🙂
If I am repeating steps 4 and 5. That means taking all the balls of doe and mixing again for ten minutes, then die balls again? I’ve never made tortillas. I want them perfect. Thanks
Hi Janet. No. You repeat before you break them down into the smaller balls. Hope this helps. 🙂
I don’t have any vegetable shortening, do you think it will work if I use refined/unflavored coconut oil?
I’ve never tried it, but it should be fine, as long as it’s in its solid state and unflavored. Swap it 1:1. Let me know how it turns out!
Awesome tortillas! Thank you Kim.
You’re so welcome, Debbi! Glad you liked them!