I’ve always wanted to try my hand at making flour tortillas from scratch. It’s quite surprising how few ingredients there are and how easy they are to make. It’s a little time consuming, but well worth the extra effort. Nice to know you can actually make homemade flour tortillas without having to run off to the store either! Here’s a step by step guide for you.
Tortillas are a flatbread, or unleavened bread, meaning there’s no yeast. So there’s nothing to be afraid of, these are very easy.
I used a combination of wheat and white flour. You can use all white flour if you prefer, just substitute exact amounts. A neighbor of mine ground the wheat flour herself and gave it to me, so this was the perfect opportunity for me to try it out.
There are quite a few recipes out there for flour tortillas. The general consensus is that you will need flour, some water and a fat. Some add salt and either baking soda or powder. I developed mine by looking at probably 15 different recipes and combining all of these ingredients and lowering the fat content considerably. Many recipes include either lard or shortening, but then I read on several that vegetable oil can be substituted without a problem. I also ran across a couple that used considerably less oil and more water. So that’s what I did. Instead of moistening the dough with a lot of fat and some water, I used a lot of water and a small portion of fat.
The results are great, perfect for wrapping around some tuna salad for lunch or warming it to have with tacos. Keep in mind though, lowering the fat also lowers the flavor since fat does add flavor to your final product. my oldest son commented last night when we had tacos “these are good but they have no flavor”. This coming from someone who is used to eating full-white flour store bought tortillas. So if you prefer, you can up the fat a little and lower the water, totally up to you. For us though, these are a great way to enjoy tacos and sandwiches with a lot less fat and a little more grain.
Oh, one last note. When you get to the part where you roll the dough balls in your hand, follow my tip about running one of your hands under the faucet first. Get your hand wet, shake off the excess water, then roll the ball between your two palms. This adds just enough liquid to keep the dough moist which will result in an easy to roll out dough. Be sure to keep the dough covered so that it doesn’t dry out.
Full printable recipe instructions are below.
After forming the dough, divide it into 18 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and place on cookie sheet, not touching each other, and cover with a towel.
Remove one dough ball from under the towel and place on the floured counter. Press gently with your hand then use floured rolling pin to roll into a circle.
Tortilla will be very thin.
Repeat this process until cookie sheet has a single layer of tortillas (about three), then place another layer of foil on top and continue the process until all 18 tortillas are rolled out.
Cook, one at a time, for about 30 seconds per side.
After the first 15 seconds you will see bubbles begin to form.
Place cooked tortillas on a foiled lined baking sheet in the same fashion as when you rolled them out.
Low Fat Homemade Flour Tortillas
IMPORTANT - There are often Frequently Asked Questions within the blog post that you may find helpful. Simply scroll back up to read them!
Print It Rate ItIngredients
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 – 1 1/4 cups warm water
Before You Begin
Total Fat 1.9 g
Saturated Fat 0.2 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.5 g
Monounsaturated Fat 1.0 g
Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Sodium 235.0 mg
Potassium 15.0 mg
Total Carbohydrate 20.5 g
Dietary Fiber 2.0 g
Sugars 0.0 g
Protein 3.2 g
Instructions
- Whisk the two flours, salt and baking powder together in a large shallow bowl. Add canola oil and 1 cup of the water and mix to form a dough. Add enough additional water until the dough comes together. Knead 10-15 times then let the dough rest, covered with a towel for five minutes.
- Divide the dough into 18 equal pieces. Run your hand under a running faucet and shake off the excess water. Wetting your hand will keep the dough moist as you roll. Roll each piece into a ball and place on cookie sheet, not touching each other, and cover with a towel. Allow dough to rest five minutes.
- Line a cookie sheet with foil.
- Keep the dough balls covered with the towel as you work. Sprinkle counter with flour and keep rolling pin floured as well. Remove one dough ball from under the towel and place on the floured counter. Press gently with your hand then use floured rolling pin to roll into a circle.
- Roll dough, flip it, roll it, flip it, and roll again until circle is about 7-8? in diameter. Tortilla will be very thin. Place tortilla on foil lined cookie sheet.
- Repeat this process until cookie sheet has a single layer of tortillas (about three), then place another layer of foil on top and continue the process until all 18 tortillas are rolled out.
- Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place tortilla in preheated pan and cook, one at a time, for about 30 seconds per side.
- After the first 15 seconds you will see bubbles begin to form.
- Place cooked tortillas on a foiled lined baking sheet in the same fashion as when you rolled them out.
- Use tortillas immediately or allow them to cool completely, then store in a plastic zipper storage bag in the refrigerator for up to one week. To reheat, remove from zipper bag and place in a dry skillet over medium-high heat. Heat one side, then flip and heat the other, just enough to heat through.
Nutrition
Amanda Davis
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Barbara Herzfeld says
Hi Amanda. I didn’t know whether I was going to like them (I do) and honestly my arms were tired… so I made 6. Should I refrigerate or freeze the other 12 doughballs?
Amanda Davis says
Either way is fine!
Barb says
Love it
Bill Nunamaker says
One thought – for more flavor use fat-free vegetable or chicken broth in place of water. You’ll need to adjust the salt content, and probably refrigerate them after they are cooked – just a thought. :)
Jane says
Thank you for a wonderful recipe- a huge success and a delightful dinner!
Amanda Formaro says
Wonderful!
Tammy Hoye says
Sounds like a great recipe..can you use 3 cups of whole wheat flour and 1 cup of white flour instead of 2 cups of each?
Amanda Formaro says
Hi Tammy. I haven’t tried them that way but I am sure that you can!
Gail says
I grew up in New Mexico and my mom made everything from scratch. Friday nights was Mexican — enchiladas, tacos, etc. and we would just salivate when she made homemade tortillas. Making some this weekend with a big crock pot of beans. Will be making cornbread too — so I can mix it up during the week so I don’t have the same thing all week for lunch and dinner. Besides, love to awe and inspire my co-workers.
Amanda Formaro says
Fantastic Gail, love the story too! I hope you enjoy them :)
Tina says
Hi, I’m going to try this with gluten free flour and olive oil. Thanks for the recipe.
Amanda says
Great! Hope you enjoy it :)
Brittany Canchola says
Trying these tonight!I am in LOVE with my grandma’s homemade tortillas! She doesn’t use lard or any type of grease, but she does use white flour. Hers aren’t high in fat either but I still want to try to make this wheat version. I am also going to use olive oil in the mix!
Thank you,
~Brittany
Amanda says
Awesome, hope you enjoy them!
pasquinel cobra says
Amanda I didn’t notice anywhere a mention of how many calories are in this item. Is it half of what store bought tortillas contain? Can you give me a fairly accurate idea of calorie count.
Amanda says
per tortilla:
Calories 109.6
Total Fat 1.9 g
Saturated Fat 0.2 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.5 g
Monounsaturated Fat 1.0 g
Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Sodium 235.0 mg
Potassium 15.0 mg
Total Carbohydrate 20.5 g
Dietary Fiber 2.0 g
Sugars 0.0 g
Protein 3.2 g
C says
I substituted chickpea flour instead of wheat flour – great wrap!!
Some people us cut-outs for a circle – like a lid.
Nena says
Oh, I am so glad you posted your experience with chickpea flour. I use whole yellow pea flour a lot and had thought of using it. Since I also use chickpea flour a lot, and actually often combine the two flours…I may just try that out. Did you end up with a soft tortilia? How did you roll it out with a lid? Just roll out as expressed in the recipe and use a lid afterwards to cut it out. Thanks again…
Deborah says
I just tried these, and so far they’ve turned out great! I’m waiting to see if they’ll end up hard by tomorrow or if I got it right :)
Any tips on how to roll them into actual circles? Mine always end up odd shaped!
Amanda Formaro says
I actually like the less than perfect circles :) I call them rustic!
chipper says
It is much easier to make them by hand rather than rolling them out, also much quicker.
SteveofCa says
This sounds so good, funny thing is that I bought a press years ago and have yet to use it. No excuses now that I have a real easy recipe. Now if anyone could help me with one thing, how to cook lengua. I have tried cooking in the oven like a roast and I have boiled the lengua, however the meat comes out mushy. I have tried increasing/decreasing cooking times… No luck. I would really like to bbq or smoke a lengua… Any help is greatly appreciated!
Amanda Formaro says
I’m afraid i can’t help you with lengua, I have never made that, let alone heard of it. Have you tried googling for recipes and tips?
steveofca says
Amanda…
Yes, i have googled lengua (cow tongue). And i have cooked it probably 10 to 15 times, but im doing something wrong so i thought i would try asking on chat rooms and boards. It doesn’t turn out bad, im just trying to improve on my techniques. Im also wanting to try smoking or bbq’ing the lengua… I need to find an old school, Mexican cook, or solemnes great grandma willing ROM,share family recipe secrets ..
Any help is appreciated.
Sincerely,
SteveofCaataoldotcom
Amanda Formaro says
Hi Steve :)
I asked some blogger friends of mine and someone gave me the link below. It’s a blogger that she knows and said this post went up recently
http://www.mexicoinmykitchen.com/2011/10/beef-tongue-barbacoa-tacos-recipe.html?m=1
Deb says
I made this last night and boy was it easy! The only thing I didn’t like was that it made 18 “small” tortillas. I just couldn’t get them to roll out any bigger than 5-6″. So I just doubled them up and made bigger ones. I made sandwiches with them by just making them like a “taco” and not trying to “roll” anything up. YUM!!! It is time consuming but if I got ahold of a tortilla press, it may speed things up a bit? Thanks for the recipe!!!
Amanda Formaro says
Glad they turned out for you! Not sure why you ended up with less that I did, but I do know you have to roll them pretty thin :)