Homemade Flour Tortillas

If you’ve ever have fresh, hot tortillas at a Mexican restaurant, you know how delicious they can be. Nothing tops the real deal. With this simple recipe will you can make these delicious tortillas at home. 

Homemade Tortillas are Best

I don’t know about you, but one of the things I really look forward to at my local restaurant is their homemade flour tortillas. 

One of my favorite restaurants is especially fun because you can actually watch them make the tortillas by hand. 

Another favorite restaurant has a tortilla press (a large machine that presses and cooks the tortillas in front of you). 

You Can Make Tortillas at Home!

I have to confess, I’ve made a lot of breads in recent weeks, but I’ve never actually made homemade tortillas. 

Today, I decided to remedy that! I mixed up a batch of this super easy dough and rolled out 16 tortillas, which I cooked in a hot skillet. 

The result? Well, I’d be getting ahead of myself if I told you all of that. For now, let’s take a quick peek at the ingredients you’ll need to make these, yourself. 

Homemade Flour Tortilla Ingredients

You will find a full printable recipe card at the bottom of this post but here’s a look at the ingredients you’ll need. These are simple, basic ingredients you probably already have in your pantry. 

• all purpose flour
• salt
• baking powder
• vegetable oil
• warm water

How to Make Traditional Flour Tortillas

In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine flour, salt, baking powder, vegetable oil, and water (all ingredients). Mix until incorporated with paddle attachment and then switch to dough hook. 

Knead for three minutes with dough hook attachment. 

Remove dough from bowl and place on lightly floured work surface.

Knead by hand 10 - 12 times. 

Divide dough into 16 equal pieces. Roll each piece in a smooth ball. 

Rest dough balls for 15 minutes, covered with a tea towel or plastic wrap. 

Heat a skillet over medium to medium-high heat. 

Roll dough balls to thin circles using a rolling pin. (You’ll want each tortilla to be 4 ½ - 5 ½ inches). If you need to dust with flour to prevent sticking, do so, but don’t overdo it or you’ll end up with tough tortillas. 

Place tortilla in hot skillet (nonstick pan) over medium heat.

The tortillas will puff up a bit as they cook. These air bubbles are to be expected.

You’ll see some really pretty golden spots on each side. 

Cook one tortilla at a time in hot skillet, about a minute on each side.

It’s best to flip each tortilla with a spatula. (Ask my burnt thumb how I know.) 

Transfer while warm to a plate and cover with a clean kitchen towel to keep warm. 

Serve right away, while warm.

How to Store Remaining Tortillas

Leftover tortillas should be allowed to cool completely before wrapping or storing in an airtight container.

You can store at room temperature for up to a week or in the refrigerator a bit longer.

Once fully cooled you can freeze tortillas up to two months. Place a piece of parchment paper or wax paper between each tortilla so they can maintain their shape.

Note: You can make dough ahead of time. Freeze tortilla dough balls up to six months. Allow them to thaw naturally before cooking. (This is a great way to have homemade tortillas whenever you like!)

What to Expect from These Flour Tortillas

I loved these homemade tortillas. I rolled mine a little on the thicker side because I like them that way. 

They puff up as you bake. You might be tempted to jab the puffy parts with a sharp knife (which is fine) but there’s another way to flatten them. Just stack them up then gently press down on the whole stack at once. 

To me, a cooked tortilla with a little bit of butter on top was perfection! 

I also ate one covered in grated cheddar (melted in my toaster oven). 

Then, for dessert, I put some butter on a hot tortilla, then sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on top. This was delicious! 

I have a lot more empathy for the tortilla maker at my favorite Mexican restaurant. There is a certain art to tortilla-making, but the end result is worth it! 

Hints and Tips for Making Flour Tortillas

• Allow your dough to rest so that it rolls out easily. 
• Don’t add oil to the pan unless you have issues with the dough sticking. If so, lightly brush with oil. You don’t want these to crisp up too much or they won’t be foldable. 
• You can replace the vegetable oil with lard or vegetable shortening if you like. This will make them more like the traditional recipe. 
• If you’re making these for your family or a larger crowd you might want to cook more than one at a time. A griddle would be perfect for this. If you don’t have a griddle, use two separate skillets simultaneously. 
• You can use whole wheat flour if you like.
• You can use olive oil in place of vegetable oil but the flavor of the tortillas will be different. You could add a few Italian herbs to the dough before cooking if you want to further enhance the flavor.
• I plan to invest in a tortilla press from amazon.
• The next time I make these I might eliminate the baking powder (or cut it in half). I think the baking powder over-inflated the dough. I also noticed that some recipes for flour tortillas don't including baking powder.

Other Breads from Out of the Box Baking

Flaky Crescent Rolls: If you love light, fluffy crescent rolls that are crisp on the outside and tender on the inside, you’ve come to the right place! These luscious rolls and so delicious and simple to make. 

Quick and Easy Sopapillas: If you’re looking for a sopapilla recipe that’s simple and fast, have I got a treat for you! These tasty treats come together in minutes and taste even better than the ones you get in a restaurant! 

Soft Butter Rolls from Scratch: They’re light, fluffy, and have a buttery flavor. These soft butter rolls are the perfect dinner roll and so easy to make!

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That’s it for this post, friends! I hope you enjoyed this delicious recipe. 

See this recipe at

Full Plate Thursday 

Weekend Potluck

Busy Monday

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About the Author

Janice Thompson is an author, baker, and all-around mischief maker! She has overcome a host of baking catastrophes, including a toppled wedding cake, to learn more about the baking process. Janice has published over 150 books for the Christian market but particularly enjoys writing recipes and baking devotions. To learn more about Janice or to drop her a note, visit her About the Author page.