Easy and Delicious Homemade Tortillas

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I am a sucker for street tacos. However, I love them not because of the meat or toppings but due to the authenticity of the tortilla.

The tortillas I love, and the ones I consider genuinely authentic, are made with cornflour. These are not the traditional yellow shells that we typically eat as hard-shell tacos, but rather white tortillas that look very similar to flour tortillas. However, please don’t get them confused; there is a world of difference in taste. I often have to smell homemade tortillas to distinguish between flour or corn. The smell is distinctive, and it is easy to tell the difference. I am looking for the scent of glorious masa harina.

Masa harina is a traditional Mexican flour made with dried corn. You can find it at your local grocer, either on the international aisle or with conventional wheat flour. My preferred brand is Maseca (Check it out on Amazon). You can find fresh masa at Mexican supermarkets, but I have some affinity for masa harina, and it is very convenient to purchase. Masa harina is not made from wheat or corn meals. Instead, it is dried corn flour. Masa harina is used to make authentic tortillas, tamales, and pupusas.

My love of masa harina came from several cooking classes and a trip to Mexico. Authentic corn tortillas are one of my favorite foods in the world. They only have three to four ingredients, so they are very easy to make. The fourth ingredient is usually some kind of fat that binds the flour, which we will use today. However, you may or may not find a fat binder in all tortilla recipes.

Tortillas are extremely simple to make, and if you are like me, it will change your view on the use of flour tortillas forever. These are so simple that I even make them while on camping trips.

I love using masa harina in cooking classes, focusing on Mexican and South American cuisines. However, last year, we took a cruise to Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, and the deal was sealed for me. No more flour tortillas unless I was just in a bind for time.

This happens to be my favorite cruise of all time because of the excursions. The ship was older and had very few amenities, but the tours topped the list of my favorite ever. When on the Yucatan Peninsula, we visited salt evaporation ponds in the town of Dzemul.

Ladies were making homemade tortillas at the evaporation ponds over an open fire. I don’t know if salt crystallization occurred on the cooking surface. Still, that salt taste infused into the tortillas combined with the taste of masa harina led me to believe that there was no better tasting flour product on the planet.

Shortly after our salt pond experience, we stopped in town at a tortilla factory! A line of locals had formed (which occurs daily) to purchase their fresh tortillas for the day. We could eat these delicious tortillas as they were coming off the cooktop.

The culture and immersion that my family experienced on this trip made it one of our best travels of all time! I usually like to explore different islands and countries when we cruise, but I would retake this cruise in a heartbeat.  

When making street tacos or homemade tortillas, we often use the pork recipe found in our Amazing Cuban Sandwich article. Click here for the mojo pork recipe.

I would highly recommend purchasing a tortilla press (Check it out on Amazon). Presses have a way of flattening the tortillas to perfection. Also, tortilla presses are very economical. My friend purchased one from her local grocery store for $7.00, but in my Amazon Prime life, I had one delivered to my door for $13.00. Either way, it is well worth the press as an addition to your kitchen utensils.

Homemade tortillas are cooked with dry heat, so please do not add any oil or butter to your pan before cooking. Also, ensure that your pan can withhold dry heat. I made this mistake!

I have a Le Creuset braiser that I first cooked my tortillas in with the dry heat. If you know Le Creuset, you understand that no pot or pan from the company is cheap. After using my braiser to make tortillas a few times, I realized that the heat was damaging the bottom of the pan. I do not recommend using any enameled covered skillet or pan for fear of damage. These days, I use the Blackstone (Check it out on Amazon) to cook my tortillas, but an iron skillet can take the heat, and it is recommended when cooking on the stovetop.  

This recipe makes 16 tortillas

Easy Homemade Tortillas

3-1/4 cups of masa harina, divided into 3 cups and 1/4 cup

1 teaspoon of sea salt

4 tablespoons of melted butter (or melted Crisco or vegetable oil)

2 cups of hot water, with additional hot water if needed

Prepping

Cover both sides of your tortilla press with large pieces of plastic wrap. Make sure that your sheets of plastic are large enough to tie the plastic on the back of the press. If the humidity in your area is high, also cut two pieces of parchment paper to use as well.

Cover a mixing bowl with plastic wrap and set the bowl aside.

Have a large piece of folded aluminum foil waiting for when you remove the cooked tortillas from the skillet.

Lightly flour a cutting board or other flat surface and set it aside.

Cooking

Pour the masa and salt into a mixing bowl. Combine well.

Add your melted butter and mix well using your fingers.

Slowly pour in hot water and mix the dough with your hands until it forms a ball.

Place the dough ball on your masa dusted, flat surface. Knead your ball until smooth. If the dough sticks to the surface, lightly dust with additional masa.

The smooth dough ball should form within one to two minutes. The beloved chef who taught me how to make tortillas always reminded us that the flouring of surfaces is just a snow dusting, not a snowstorm 😉

Begin by pinching the dough and rolling it into smaller dough balls, approximately 1″ thick.

Lift the plastic on your plastic-wrapped covered bowl back slightly and begin placing your dough balls into the covered bowl. After rolling all of your 1″ balls and putting them in your bowl, seal the bowl up well. You will see the hot water evaporating from the balls steaming the plastic. This is a good sign! Set a timer for 30 minutes and let the dough rest.

Bring your tortilla press to a convenient location close to your stovetop (this is where I take my dough bowl outside and place it next to the Blackstone). When using your stovetop, preheat your skillet from medium to medium-high heat.

Uncover your dough bowl, take out a single ball, and wrap the rest back up. Place the ball on the tortilla press, slightly north of the center. Since our humidity was high, combined with the moisture content in the dough, I placed pieces of wax paper on each side of the press.

If the doughball seems dry, slightly wet your hands with water and dampen the ball so that it may become rehydrated. Use the press to flatten the dough ball. The wax paper will aid in peeling the homemade tortilla off the press.

If, for some reason, the dough cracks, you can use your fingers to smooth it out or reform the ball. Homemade means we accept imperfections. All of the tortillas may not be perfect.

Peel your flattened tortilla off the press and place it directly into your hot skillet or on your Blackstone. Please remember, this is dry heat cooking, so no oil or butter should be added to the pan. Cook on one side until a slight browning occurs, approximately one minute. Then, flip the tortilla and cook for an additional minute.  

Place your tortillas in your prepped aluminum foil. You want to keep the tortillas sealed well in the foil to retain their moisture until they are served.

Repeat for each tortilla. Naturally, on a larger surface, you can cook more than one at a time. This recipe is excellent for the family to make together as some can press and some can cook.

If you have leftover tortillas and want to reheat them, you can use the oven at 350 degrees, or my preference is to use the stovetop and dry heat again, just as you did when cooking.

I hope that you enjoy. Homemade tortillas revolutionized my experience cooking at home. After learning to cook these delicacies, I became more courageous and started trying other new dishes as well. Buen Provecho!

Do you make homemade tortillas, or are you interested in trying the recipe? We would love to hear from you! Please drop us a line in the comment section below!

Are you interested in other great recipes? Check out our amazing recipes for Smash Burgers and Green Beans!