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Learn the secrets to making authentic, homemade flour tortillas with this easy recipe and step-by-step video tutorial. Impress your family and friends with delicious and fresh tortillas straight from your own kitchen.
Homemade flour tortillas are easier to make than you think! We have 3 simple secrets that will have you cranking out the most deliciously soft and tender tortillas.
“These are incredible! I have tried for years to make tortillas and they have never turned out better than the store bought ones you cook at home. I followed the recipe exactly and I couldn’t be happier with the end result. Trust me, this recipe is the only one you will ever need for soft, pliable and delicious tortillas.”
-OSB Reader
Table of Contents
Easy Tortilla Recipe
I’ve always loved tortillas, but I didn’t realize how much better they could be until I tried my friend Shelly’s recipe. She grew up in Mexico and makes the softest, chewiest tortillas I’ve ever had. Now I’m hooked!
These flour tortillas are perfect for tacos, burritos, fajitas, or a good old-fashioned cheesy quesadilla! And if you really want a treat? Spread one hot off the skillet with butter, roll it up, and thank me later.
Flour Tortilla Ingredients
One of my favorite things about this flour tortilla recipe is that it uses normal pantry ingredients. Just 5 simple ingredients are all you are going to need!
- Bread flour: Gives the tortillas a slightly chewy texture and helps them hold their shape.
- Baking powder: Adds a bit of puff and softness without yeast.
- Salt: Enhances the flavor and balances the dough.
- Oil: Adds richness and helps keep the tortillas soft and pliable.
- Water: Brings the dough together and activates the flour.
This is meant to be an overview of the ingredients for this recipe. For the detailed measurements, scroll down to the recipe card at the end of this post.
How to Make Homemade Tortillas
These are soft, chewy, and way better than store-bought. Follow these simple steps, and you’ll have warm, fresh tortillas ready to serve in no time.
- Combine: Add the flour, salt, baking powder, and oil (see secrets #1 and #2 below) to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix on low speed until the mixture resembles slightly wet sand that holds together when squeezed.
- Hydrate: Slowly add the water (see secret #3) ½ cup at a time, keeping the mixer on low. Once the dough comes together, let the mixer knead it for 2–4 minutes until the dough looks satiny.
- Portion: Lightly flour your work surface and pinch off dough balls slightly smaller than the palm of your hand. Cup the dough in your palm and use your other hand to pinch the dough into the center to form a round top and flat bottom.
- Rest: Return the dough balls to the bowl, cover with a warm, damp paper towel, and let them rest for 10–15 minutes. (They can sit for up to an hour, but no longer.)
- Pro Tip: Resting relaxes the gluten so you can roll out smooth, tender tortillas.
- Roll: Once rested, heat a griddle or cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Roll each dough ball on a lightly floured surface until very thin, but not tearing.
- Cook: Place the tortilla on the hot skillet. When bubbles form, flip it and cook the other side until golden brown spots appear. Remove from heat and serve warm.
All of the detailed instructions can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.
Our 3 Secrets for the BEST Flour Tortillas
Secret #1: Flour
Bread flour is a must! It adds the right amount of gluten and allows the dough to be rolled out perfectly thin without tearing. All-purpose flour just doesn’t get the job done quite right.
Secret #2: Oil
Oil, NOT shortening, makes for a more elastic and moist (goodbye dry flour tortillas!) tortilla. You don’t need lard or anything fancy. Just good ol’ vegetable oil does the trick perfectly!
Secret #3: Water
Boiling hot water totally changes the texture of the dough. It will be smooth and silky! Your stand mixer will be doing all the work when it’s still super hot, so you don’t need to worry about handling the dough and burning yourself.
Homemade Tortilla FAQ
When we are cooking the tortillas, we love our tortilla warmer. We got ours from Winco, but this one is great too. You can cook your tortillas in the afternoon, and they are still warm at dinner!
To store extra handmade tortillas that are leftover after dinner, place a paper towel in a ziploc bag, stack the tortillas that have cooled to room temperature, and then place another paper towel on top before sealing the bag shut.
We like to warm our tortillas up in the oven by heating it to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and wrapping the tortillas in aluminum foil. They heat up in about 5 or 6 minutes. You can also zap them in the microwave for 30 seconds.
If you leave your tortillas at room temperature, they will only last 2-3 days. In the refrigerator, they will last 5-7 days, and in the freezer, they will last for 6-8 months. In all cases, be sure they are in an airtight container.
Yes, homemade flour tortillas freeze great! Store them as mentioned above with a paper towel on the top and bottom of the stack. When you are ready to eat them, allow them to thaw and then warm them up in the oven or microwave.
With the cost of groceries these days, it is hard to say for sure. When I price out the cook and serving tortillas versus the cost of the ingredients for these tortillas, it is probably about the same price. But the taste won’t be nearly as good!
Are Homemade Tortillas Worth It?
In short, yessssssssssss! They are easy to make, and the taste is amazing. Yes, they take more time and effort than opening a bag of tortillas from the store, but hot, fresh homemade tortillas are worth every effort!
Do you feel like you are about to become the best homemade flour tortilla maker in town? Well, you should because it really is so simple! And you won’t ever want store-bought tortillas ever again! The flavor and texture are unmatched. Do it!!
All our Favorite Recipes for Using these Tortillas:
- Roasted Tomatillo Chicken Enchiladas
- Smothered BBQ Beef Burritos
- Teriyaki Chicken Quesadilla
- Secrets to the Best Quesadilla
- Cafe Rio Copycat Sweet Pork
- Pork Carnitas (Instant Pot Version)
- Chicken Fajitas
- Steak Fajitas
- Smothered Honey Lime Chicken Burritos
- Crock Pot Cafe Rio Copycat Chicken
Watch How These Homemade Tortillas Are Made…
Homemade Flour Tortillas
Ingredients
- 6 Cups Bread Flour
- 4 teaspoons Baking Powder
- 3 teaspoons Salt
- 2/3 Cup Oil, plus 2 tablespoons
- 2 ¼ Cups Boiling Water
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl of a standing mixer, add the flour, baking powder, salt and oil.6 Cups Bread Flour, 4 teaspoons Baking Powder, 3 teaspoons Salt, 2/3 Cup Oil
- Using a dough hook, turn the mixer onto low speed, never high and mix until the mixture comes together and looks like moon sand or barely wet sand. You can squeeze it in your hand and it holds together.
- Add the boiling water, about 1/2 cup at a time with the mixer on low speed. Run, adding water as you go until the dough comes together. Allow the mixer to run for another 2-4 minutes until the dough is satiny.2 ¼ Cups Boiling Water
- Very lightly flour the work surface and pinch off balls of dough smaller than the palm of your hand.
- Holding the ball in your palm, use your other hand to pinch the dough into the center over and over as you form a rounded side against your hand and flat side where you are pinching.
- Place all of the dough in your bowl and cover with a warm, damp paper towel or place a lid on the bowl. Allow to rest for 10-15 minutes.
- Heat a griddle to medium heat.
- Lightly flour the work surface and roll out the dough balls one at a time with a rolling pin.
- Cook the tortilla on the hot pan until bubbles grow large, flip over and cook again until light browning shows.
- Remove from heat and serve
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
The recipe say 6 cups of flour and you make only 12 tortillas ??? 6 CUPS OF FLOUR DON’T ONLY MAKE 12 TORTILLAS ???? SOMETHING WFONG?
Hey Lily! That’s right! Give it a try and see if you like them!
Wow! Goodbye hockey puck, frisbees! These are so good. I was in a hurry and didn’t make my all purpose into bread flour and they still came out great. Used my bread machine to mix. My husband is so complimentary!
I love to hear this so much!! Thank you so much Tacy!
Absolutely amazing recipe …. Totally worth it!! Only thing I need to try and do, is roll the wraps thinner, as mine weren’t as thin as the photo shown above. My husband was blown away – definitely a recipe to keep forever!!
Yay! Love to hear this! Thank you so much! Rolling them thin takes some practice but you’ll get it!
I’m upset I hadn’t found this recipe sooner, this is my new go-to recipe! These tortillas are so much easier to shape/roll out. They are also much more moist than another recipe I had been using. So happy, thank you for the special tips as well! 🙂
Yay! Love to hear this Kat! Thank you so much for taking time to leave a comment!
How hard is it to get a metric version ?
3cups of flour ?
So many variables can throw that random weight off, possibly leading to a failed recipe and wasted ingredients. Always use scales to measure flour. Cups measures are for liquid volumes.
Another metric tab that refuses to work on this junk apple product. Lucky it was a gift, I will never buy apple products.
Why is it that whenever an American say the words “Authentic” or “Unique”, you know it isn’t.
I can’t believe that a simple recipe for tortilla dough is so hard to find in modern international measures ! 🤕
Hi David! Yes, if you just click the “Metric” button on the recipe card, it will show all the measurements in metric. I got this recipe from my friend who grew up in Mexico, so I’d say it’s pretty authentic.
Thanks. I like real authentic, tastes so much better.
Like I said, stupid Apple won’t load the metric tab, it’s lust locked to cup measures only. Even if I double tap, it just zooms the page size, no metric. I will never buy anything Apple makes, it was a gift phone. More like a booby-prize.
It’s so much easier and more accurate to use scales for dry measures. It is not a problem to convert oz or pounds to metric, but cups are just random measures.
I get why cups are used so much in history, poor people did not always have easy access to scales. But, surely everybody has scales in America these days ?
I agree completely! Using scales is the only way to go! Especially when it comes to baking. That’s so weird that the metric button doesn’t work for you. It works just fine on my iPhone. You could bring it up on a computer and change it to metric and print it from there. Sorry for the hassle!
750 g Bread Flour
16 g Baking Powder
18 g Salt
149.33 g Oil, plus 2 tablespoons
532.32 g Boiling Water
You need to calm down and be kind. This was free to you so you’re not entitled to anything by anyone.
Thanks for the support!
Yes..Yes…Yes finally at my 72 year old age I found a perfect flour tortilla recipes. I can’t even tell you how many recipes I have tried. With every kind of lard there is butter etc..
I did only change one thing . First of all I made half the recipe and came out with 14 tortillas. I like mine a little smaller
The change was I added one Tbs of melted leaf lard to the total fat as the original recipe
Delicious,pliable, tasty as heck almost melt in the mouth a few chews. Hubby said he could eat 5 of them. He said they were the best throw out all other recipes🌝
First time I had tried the boiling water whatever it does it worked
Thank you for a really fantastic Flour Tortilla recipes❤️❤️❤️
Kathleen
Hurray!! Thank you so much Kathy! You’ve made my day!
I don’t have a dough hook for my mixer is ok to use the paddle?
Hi Dawn! Yes, it should work ok.
The best Tortilla recipe I have made. I halved the recipe and used a food processor on dough setting. The only thing I changed was to use very hot water instead of boiling water. I didn’t want to melt my food processor. They came out soft and pliable and delicious.
Thank you so much Pauline!
Tasty recipe, glad it didn’t use lard. They have kept well refrigerated for a week now and heat up nicely in the microwave wrapped in a cloth towel. You just can’t beat homemade tortillas, thank you for a great recipe!
Thank you so much Isabel!
These taste amazing! My only problem is that I cannot get them as thin as yours. I roll them out very thin, but the start shrinking up when putting them in the pan. I followed the recipe as stated. Any idea why this happens?
Hi Renee! They will shrink up a little when you cook them but it shouldn’t be too much. Try rolling them out even thinner to begin with. I like to roll and flip and roll and flip, rotating the tortilla every time I flip it. I hope this helps!
My tortillas tasted good, but they weren’t entirely soft. The edges got a bit crispy. What did I do wrong?
Hi Dee! It sounds like maybe they were over-cooked or cooked on too high of heat.