Easy Homemade Flour Tortillas

Chosen Team

Fill ‘em. Wrap ‘em. Layer ‘em. Dip ‘em in queso. Flour tortillas can be whatever you need them to be. Get our quick and easy recipe below.

homemade flour tortillas

Let’s Talk History


Originally called tlaxcalli by Native Americans, tortillas received their modern name, meaning “little cake,” from Spanish colonials in the 1500s. At some point, someone—perhaps immigrant Jews in northern Mexico—began to make this 12,000-year-old recipe from imported wheat instead of traditional corn. As for who is responsible, we don’t know for sure.

Some speculate it was small groups of Jewish immigrants, but that story doesn’t quite hold water given that back then, flour tortillas required lard (and pork isn’t kosher). What historians can agree on is that wheat entered the region in the 1500s, and by the 1900s, flour tortilla production was widespread in Mexico and the United States. Whether you prefer the OG corn tlaxcalli or the remix flour tortilla, we hope you’ll have fun experimenting with this recipe during #HispanicHeritageMonth.


Easy Homemade Flour Tortillas

Prep Time: 20 min 
Makes: 10-12 tortillas
 
Ingredients
 
Instructions
  1. In a medium-large bowl, add flour and shape it like a volcano. Set aside while you measure the rest of the ingredients.
  2. Dissolve the salt in the hot water. Water should be hot, but not boiling. Add the avocado oil to the center of the flour volcano and start mixing it with your fingers or a pair of chopsticks.
  3. Next, begin to incorporate the hot water while continuing to mix until you have poured all the water into the bowl and the dough is cohesive. Mix until all liquids are absorbed.
  4. If the dough is too sticky, add a teaspoon of flour at a time until the texture of the dough is soft and feels like playdough.
  5. Transfer the ball of dough onto a clean workspace and knead it for about 5-8 minutes, or until smooth and not lumpy.
  6. Preheat a large skillet on medium-high heat.
  7. Divide the dough into 10-12 equal balls, covering the finished ones with a towel while you roll the rest out.
  8. Roll out one disc into an 8-10” circle, making sure the edge has the same thickness all the way around.
  9. Cook each tortilla for 30-40 seconds in the pan, then flip it over and cook for 30 seconds. Flip it again (back to the first side) until little golden-brown bubbles appear. Transfer the tortillas to a warmer or warm towel.

homemade flour tortillas