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Easy to make, budget-friendly, and preservative-free flour tortillas. Homemade flour tortillas are delicious, chewy, and have a taste incomparable to a store-bought tortilla. Perfect for burritos, quesadillas, chimichangas, wraps and more! They’re also healthier than store-bought tortillas since they contain no preservatives or additives. Making them is also a great way to save money since they’re much cheaper than buying them at the grocery store.

Some say the origin of the Flour Tortilla was Northern Mexico and this is why so many plates are made with flour tortillas like Quesadillas, as well as Burritos, Chimichangas, and Fajitas, served with flour tortillas.

Oldest found tortillas date back as far as 10,000 years BC and were made of native maize with dried kernel. It was the principal food of the Aztecs who lived in Mesoamerica.

Tips on Making Flour Tortillas:

Crafting homemade flour tortillas is akin to perfecting a hidden recipe. During my teenage years, my initial endeavors led to a comical blend of square shapes and cracker-like outcomes! The valuable lesson I learned was the importance of patience. Hastening the process, neglecting the kneading, and overlooking the dough-chilling step led to my tortilla mishap!

Follow each step, and make sure the ingredients are fresh.

Flour tortillas will firm up when stored in the refrigerator, just warm up again on the comal or skillet.

Rolling out tortillas: I lightly flour the surface and flour the rolling pin. Pat down the dough ball, roll up and down, turn the dough right, roll again, turn… repeat…

If your tortilla is not round, you can carefully stretch it to be round.

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Cost of Making Homemade Flour Tortillas

Homemade flour tortillas cost approximately 5 cents each, $.60 – $.90 a dozen.

Store-bought tortillas are approximately 25 cents each, $3 a dozen. (prices according to regions)

How to make Homemade Flour Tortillas:

Following all the steps to making a flour tortilla is the secret to succeeding in creating a delicious soft tortilla.

Let’s start

Mix dry ingredients until well blended (give your flour a quick stir before measuring)

Cut in lard or shortening ( I use a pastry cutter, but you can use your hands). Add water, a little at a time. cleaning the bowl with the dough as you go. (You may need less or more warm water)

Knead the dough for about 5 minutes (do not skip), until soft and smooth but not sticky. (picture below)

Do not use flour on the surface to knead. Kneading in the same bowl is okay, but no extra flour unless sticky.

Place dough on the cutting board, cut in half, then cut halves into halves, and keep cutting until you have 16 dough pieces (7-in tortillas) (my way of achieving equal size balls)

Shape into 16 balls; Place on parchment paper cover with a dishtowel and let stand for 20-30 minutes (do not skip this part) Allowing the dough to rest lets any of the liquid absorb into the flour, this step will give you a soft tortilla after cooking.

Roll out each ball on a lightly floured surface (too much flour will turn out a dry tortilla)
If you don’t feel comfortable rolling out tortillas, this tortilla press will make it easier for you. Get the tortilla press here

Place each on a hot comal or cast iron pan, the tortilla will start to bubble up, then flip.

Homemade Flour Tortilla cooking in skillet

Tortillas should be lightly brown on both sides (if tortillas are showing dark spots right away put the heat down a little).

Cover tortillas as you cook them in a clean dishcloth, or tortilla warmer.

What do I use to cook Tortillas?

Cast-iron Pan – Cast-iron pans provide even distribution of heat properly all around and are perfect for fajita-size tortillas.

Comal – Nonstick Carbon Steel Round Comal 13 inches is what I use for large burrito-size tortillas, or for smaller tortillas this comal is the perfect size

Storing Tortillas

Refrigerator: Flour Tortillas will be stored for up to 2 weeks in the fridge. Store them in sealable plastic storage bags.

Freezer: Store tortillas in freezer storage bags, and squeeze all the air out. Tortillas will be good for up to 3 months.

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