How To Make Tortillas
How to Make Tortillas Video – scroll down for printable recipe
If I were a taco-architect and someone asked me to build a skyscraper out of tacos, I would require the finest, the freshest, the BEST tortillas available on Earth. If I were a budget-conscious taco-architect, (or one that hailed from Siberia or somewhere else where the BEST tortillas are unavailable) I would make those tortillas personally. Well, lucky for you and the people who hired me to make a taco skyscraper (Hint: It was not Jack-in-the-Box), I HAVE made those tortillas personally and now I will spread the gospel of How to Make Tortillas to my fine cooking friends: YOU.
While corn tortillas dominate through most of Mexico, when you get close to the US-Mexico border, you will find flour tortillas much more common. They are usually made with lard, but you can use oil (as I’ve done) or vegetable shortening. In fact, I’d say from my experience eating tacos and tortillas all across this great state, while lard is typical in Mexico and in the border towns on both sides, shortening becomes the preferred fat as you head Northward towards San Antonio. And while corn remains very popular to hold such fillings as carnitas and al pastor, flour tortillas are almost always what you will find cradling your breakfast tacos and accompanying your fajita plates.
How to Make Tortillas – Printable Tortilla Recipe
PrintHow To Make Tortillas
Homemade flour tortillas
- Prep Time: 40 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 10 1x
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (plus about 1/2 –3/4 cup more for kneading)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 Tablespoons oil
- 3/4 cup milk, room temperature
Instructions
- Combine dry ingredients well. Add oil and milk and mix to form a soft dough. Turn dough lump out onto a floured board and knead for two minutes.
- You will need to add more flour a little at a time as you knead. After about a minute, the dough will change from very soft and squishy and easily torn, to slightly firmer and stretchier. At the end of two minutes, it will be a smooth dough ball, no longer sticky, but elastic.
- Put this beautiful dough ball back in the bowl from whence it came and cover it with a damp cloth for thirty minutes. This resting step should not be omitted – the resting allows the gluten molecules in the flour to align themselves perfectly to create a tender, chewy tortilla and also to possibly take over the world.
- After thirty minutes, come back and divide the dough into 10 equally sized balls. Easiest way to do it is to divide in half, then each half again, etc. The balls will be about the size of a golf ball or ping-pong ball.
- Put the balls on a plate and let them rest another ten minutes. Patience.
- Come back and on a lightly floured surface, pat each ball out flat to start it, then with your floured rolling pin, roll into a circle (or as close as you can get it) about 8 inches in diameter. Remember when rolling stuff out: start at the middle of the circle and push out to the edge. Then back to the middle and towards another edge. Keep going around until you have a circlish thing that looks like a tortilla.
- Once you’ve gotten the hang of it, go ahead and turn your cast iron skillet or griddle on high heat. Let it heat up sexy-hot while you continue to roll out tortillas.
- When it’s hot as shit, throw a tortilla on there.
- After about a minute it will start to grow bubble-warts.
- When those bubbles have almost covered the whole surface of the tortilla, flip it over for another thirty seconds or so.
- Put it on a plate and do that with the rest of your dough discs.
And THAT is how you do it.
I think you’ll have fun with this. Make hangover tacos!
Or make your own corn tortillas! They’re even easier!
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Man, those look good enough to eat. I must try making them, and then recommend that you make them, and then I’ll be so inspired by watching you make them, that I’ll try to make them. I’ll be so blown away by the taste that I’ll ask that you make them on your show! And the space-time continuum will forever be in limbo!
Hooray for tortillas!
Have you tried it yet? How was it? Should I make them? Is the world still spinning? I think my watch stopped!
Hola Hilah, hey that’s kinda fun to say! Anyhoo, a quick question about the tortillas, would it work if I used a non-fat milk? of course I know that whole milk is awesome and all, but I’m just trying to save on the calorino’s, if you know what I mean. I know some folks use a non-fat or low fat milk instead of the good stuff and end up eating twice as much, kinda like lite beer, “Oh it’s lite beer, give me two more of those bad boys, I’m on a diet!” lol. And by the way, I made your empanadas, using squash, potatoes, spinach and havarti cheese, three words…”To Die For!” Thanks a bunch, and don’t ever go away!
Hi Stace!
I think that would work just fine and dandy! You can even use water, as a matter of fact. Those empanadas sounds rad-as-hell. I love havarti almost as much as I love beer. Thanks for writing!
May I also suggest a tropical twist to the tortillas? In Guam they use coconut milk to make tortillas and served various braised meats very similar to Mexico in them.
That sounds fantastic! Thanks for the suggestion, Christopher
Those look delicious. Who knew it was so easy? Definitely going to try this. I do kind of feel ripped off at not getting the full 2 minutes of breathless kneading, though.
Ha! Sorry about that! I guess Chris is less interested in sultry breathing than he is in not perving people out.
Ummm coming from a long line of Mexican ladies…we Never have used milk to make tortillas. We have always used hot water…smh…
I have this marinated chicken taco recipe that I’ve been dying to make….I’m glad you posted this cause I think it will be so much better with my own fresh-made tortillas ! 🙂 Love your videos!
Yes! Then share your chicken taco recipe with me, please!
Hey Hilah, I made your tortillas today! I used water instead of milk cuz I’m a vegan, but they tasted awesome. Of course mine looked a bit ridiculous, more like amebas, and I didn’t get the hang of rolling them thin enough till the last three or four, but they tasted like MORE!
Thanks for trying it with water and letting everyone know it is possible! Wacky-shaped homemade tortillas still taste like delicious homemade tortillas!
Hi Hillah, I have made many tortillas in my life and tried many recipes, but WOW!!!! these are the BEST tortillas ever……I made your recipe last night and filled them with mushrooms fried in an extra lite margarine, mixed salad leaves, onions, red peppers, tomatoes, avos and smoked chicken breast ham, absolutely AWESOME!!!! my husband who normally has one large tortilla, ate three!!! definitely a favourite by me, and I will be passing this recipe on to family and friends with absolute confidence. Thanks a stack for this GREAT recipe. Kindest Regards
That is GREAT news, Teresa! Makes me so happy to hear that!
Just made these this weekend and they’re amazingly simple and amazingly delicious! Love your mad skills and non-professional terms, too. I laughed out loud numerous times during your show. Ha!
wow, now im going to make a breakfast steak burrito with this!!!!!!!!!!
Hellz yeah! Sounds good, Austin.
Holy moly, I made these and now I’ve got big problems…my husband and son won’t eat the store bought ones any more. What to do?
Oh, Alison! I feel your pain, girl. Maybe you could teach your husband and son how to make them? 😉
Hey hilah thx so much for the recipe my husband loves them,it’s so nice knowing that all the ingredients are just in the kitchen …my kids had so much fun making them such a nice way to enjoy family time!!! Thank you again
I’m a bad food blogger I guess, cause I had never heard of that Bitchin Kitchen chick. Went to her site and watched a video but she’s just too kitchy for me. You’re 10x funnier. I’d like a Hilah Cooks show on the Cooking Channel, please. Get on that!
Shelley, you’re great! I’m gonna get right on that!
Thanks to you now I know how to make Mexican flour tortillas. I can say they´ve already become a success within the members of my family. I wanted to learn how to make corn meal tortillas. But I can´t get masaharina here. Polenta is popular. I´ve tried once to make a dough with polenta, and of course, I failed. I did it because I had tried taco shells which I could get at the only Walmart there is in my hometown and they tasted like polenta, I didn´t know about masa harina.
If you say Tacos, people will understand “high heels”because that´s the meaning at least in Argentinian Spanish hahahaha. Funny, isn´t it? If you say tortilla (pronounced “tortisha” here), people will think of a Spanish tortilla, which is an egg and potato omelette. So most people have no idea about Mexican food in my country. I became Mexican food curious because of the American movies.
Thanks again for your book and your videos. They´re great fun!!
Hi Daniel! I’m so glad you had success with the tortillas! Corn tortillas are a little trickier, just because the dough is more fragile. You should be able to order masa harina online if you are still interested.
That’s funny about the taco = high heels! I love how words change meaning over time and space.
Thank you for writing! I enjoy so much hearing about people’s kitchen experiences.
-hilah
Nah, they’re not real tortillas unless they’re made of corn!
Ummmm…Stephen?
You’re kidding, right? You can’t have a breakfast taco without a flour tortilla! 🙂
OK, OK, I give you breakfast!
Deal!
Long time fan, first time writer… So I just made these and yup they are great! My question is if I want them to brown but not crisp up on the griddle, would I add more oil? I just like them slightly chewier… Also, there was residual flour on them I couldnt brush off after rolling out and it gave ’em that flour coated texture I’d prefer wasn’t there… Do yours? Ideas for next time to help me out? Am I just over flouring the board when rolling?
Again, thanks for the inspiration!
John
Hi John! It’s great to hear from you!
I’m happy to hear you like the tortillas. For browning without crisping, try using less oil, on a slightly lower heat, for a longer time.
I don’t have a problem with the extra flour on the outside, but that could just be me. It could also be that you’re overflouring. It’s easy to do that when you’re starting out and worried about the dough sticking. You could also use some parchment or waxed paper paper, one sheet underneath and one on top, and roll the tortillas out between and you’d need very little flour.
I hope that helps you next time! Let me know if you have any more questions!
-Hilah
Made these wundrous torillas Sunday morning, which lead to breakfast burritos with corn and black bean salsa, which lead to bloody mary’s. We had a very happy New Years Day! Hope yours was great too!
Sounds like a PERFECT New Year’s Day, Linda! I’m so glad to have been a small part. 😉
We had a great day, too, just quiet at home with the dog and some whiskey-sodas. Happy 2012!
When I was growing up in SE Iowa in the 1970s, we used to eat what we considered authentic Mexican food from restaurants owned by descendants of Mexican workers that came through with the construction of the Santa Fe railroad. The tacos of my youth were wrapped in dough that we called a tortilla and pan friend with ground beef filling inside and then opened up and topped with the requisite lettuce, tomato, cheese and salsa. Is this just an Iowa thing?
Hi Ronda!
That’s a great question. And I’m not sure I know the answer. I’ve never seen anything like that here. If you had described them as being filled with cheese, I’d say it sounds like a quesadilla, which in Mexico are made with cheese wrapped in raw dough and the whole package is cooked at once, rather than the American-style two-tortillas-stacked-with-cheese-inside.
Unless… I was imagining flour tortillas. If they were corn, then maybe what you had was a version of a pupusa or an arepa? But those are more South American than Mexican.
I’m really curious about this now. I’ll ask around to my Mexican friends and get back with you if I find anything out.
Thanks for writing! I love hearing about new foods.
-h
Hilah
When I made the tortillas in to dough balls it stuck to my hands, what did I do wrong? Johnny.
Hey Johnny!
Sounds like your dough was a little wet. If it happens again, try kneading a little more flour into the dough, or just flour your hands well before rolling the balls.
Another great looking recipe! I am dying to try this but I prefer to cook with whole wheat flour (do I even have white flour in the house?). Do you have any suggestions for converting this recipe to whole wheat?
Hi Veronika!
If you want to substitute whole wheat pastry flour for the white flour, it should work fine. That’s the type of ww flour I use and I’ve always just swapped it out with no problemos!
Amazing recipe. I absolutely loved them.
Hilah,
The tortillas are amazing. I did cheat a bit, rolling pins just don’t like me. So I placed plastic wrap over the dough ball and smushed it with a dinner plate. Perfect round tortillas.
Hey Linda! Thanks for that bit of genius kitchen-witchery! Perfect solution for someone who might not even own a rolling pin.
So, I found your video on youtube and just tried making these, but they came out really thick….like pita bread. I rolled them out really thin too, but I did use a regular pan instead of a skillet. Any ideas why they would come out so thick? Is it cause of the pan?
Hmm. I’m not sure, Nicole. When they’re rolled out thin enough, they’ll be about 6-7 inches across – does that seem about right? If that part was okay, I wonder if you could have maybe added more baking powder accidentally? I don’t think the pan would make a difference. Homemade tortillas are usually a little thicker than store-bought, but not quite pita bread thickness. Hope you could still use them!
Lol Hilah i think i love u thanks for your wonderful recipes
what do the salt and baking powder do in the recipe?
Hi Danie! The salt makes them taste better and the baking powder makes them light, tender and fluffy.
The baking powder can be left out. Maybe the tortillas will not be as light, but with the baking powder missing, you can still make the dough and still roll and cook the tortillas, and they will still be able to wrap.
An afterthought—-
Tender, I am unsure yet. The tortillas I made and sampled so far seem tender already and without any baking powder. I’ll have to make a couple batches more, with and without baking powder to be more sure.
Thanks for experimenting and letting us know how it’s working! 🙂
Puffy, yes. Tender, not seem so. Thickness is hard to measure, but certainly puffier than without baking powder. The tortillas seem drier than without the baking powder, but this may have been from misjudging the amount of fat and water to be needed. I tried a simple tortilla recipe, 2 and 1/4 cup flour and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder.
Hi Hilah!
I just made these using whole wheat white flour. Oh my goodness – it is ridiculously delicious!! Not to mention easy it is to make.. I don’t think I’ll ever have to stop by tortilla section at groceries again. Thanks for an awesome tutorial. I recently discovered your site, and I feel like I found a little treasure on the Internet 🙂
Yum! Thanks, Julie! I’m so glad you had success. It’s very rewarding to eat homemade tortillas, is it not? 🙂
Hi, Hilah! Thanks SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much for this recipe! Because of our allergies our family has to eat dairy and citrus free and tortillas are a real pain. Having a basic recipe that I can play with is going to be so helpful! I am actually writing a dairy and citrus free cookbook and an altered version of this recipe will probably appear in it in some form (with proper credit of course) if that’s ok. Please can you do corn tortillas? There are plenty of recipes to make corn tortillas – that of course all use masa harina, which has lime in it. Is there a way to make them from cornmeal instead?
That’s wonderful, Heather! So glad the recipe works for you. Take it and do what you will with it. 🙂
As I understand it, the corn used for making masa is first treated with lime (calcium hydroxide) which is an alkaline compound similar to lye. So, same word, totally different meaning! I think I’ve seen some pre-made corn tortillas (definitely some tortilla chips) that also have lime juice added, but if you buy the dry masa harina there shouldn’t be any citrus in it.
However… corn tortillas have been on my list of recipes to demo so I’ll try to move them up in the queue. They are fun to make.
Your recipe can be made with water instead of milk, and the results will work great. I made tortillas for the first time, just a few days ago with a recipe almost identical to yours, but with water instead of the milk, so I know.
Thank you, Joseph! That is good to know.
Hilah,
I know how to make homemade tortillas its called ( White Wings ) , just add water…Ha, Ha, Ha…the easy way and quicker. But I have been looking at your other recipes they sound yummie….
I’ve actually never tried making them with White Wings. 😉 Thanks, Julio! Hope you try some other recipes on here.
Hi Hilah. I made these last night for fajitas and they were delicious. Tasted just like restaurant tortillas. I made a point to save a few to make breakfast tacos in the morning and I put them in a ziplock on the counter. But come morning, they were dried out and tasted like cardboard. I even heated them up a little in the microwave with a sprinkle of water until they were pliable but it still tasted horribly stale. Help! What should I do in the future to save my tortillas?
You should be able to store the dough refridgerated for 4-5 days. I know that requires you to do the rolling and cooking part on the second day, but you’re guaranteed a better result (in my opinion).
Thanks for the tip, Katrine!
Lynda,
I’m not Hilah, but my response is, a better way to store the tortillas after freshly made is in a ziplock bag refridgerated. The next day, when you want to make the tortilla flexible again, use a pan or griddle; sprinkle a bit of water or spray a bit of water, and heat on both sides using the pan or griddle until warm. This may take about 2 minutes one side and one minute the other side. So far that’s the way I’ve done the reheat and this has not made the tortillas dried. Also, my tortillas were (almost) all used before 4 days after making.
Microwave may be okay, but the flat pan or griddle is better.
Thanks! I will try this out.
Thank you thank you THANK YOU for this recipe! It’s the only one that works for me, since I live in Asia with limited kitchen equipment or ingredients. Saves me a ton and allows me to make the things I miss (:
Hooray! That’s fantastic, Gigi! I’m so glad you’ve had success with this. 🙂
I made a test run tonight halving the recipe to make 5 tortillas–pretty easy to make and much better than the store bought ones. I like the slight smokiness they get from the hot cast iron pan. So now I’m ready for the weekend when I make your chili dog chili (yet again!). Anyway, with this test batch I made peanut butter and grape jelly “tacos” for lunch at work tomorrow!
PB&J tacos sound good, Steven! I want that for dinner now instead of my dumb fish and salad. 😉
Thanks for the update about halving the recipe, too. That is good to know!
I think I must be your newest fan! A couple of days ago I searched youtube for a fried fish recipe since that was my hubby’s request for a dinner this week and I’m terrified of frying things. Your fish and chips video was towards the top of the search and I watched it and knew I needed to make that recipe. That recipe was awesome. Since then I’ve been perusing all of your older recipes and found so many amazing things! My favorite pancake recipe is extremely close to yours, the only difference is the addition of lemon juice. However, I couldn’t get them to cook up just right even on my cast iron. Today I got them to turn out perfect using a few pointers I learned from you. And I always make home made tortillas-at least once a week. Tonight was burrito night at our house and again I decided to watch your video for some pointers. I grew up in NM (but a TX transplant for the time being as my hubby is AF), so home made tortillas are commonplace. But mine always turned out too thin and not soft enough. I do olive oil instead of lard. I was beginning to wonder if that was the problem. But I discovered I was leaving out the baking powder. I must confess that these tortillas were so good that I ate three of them tonight. I love that I’m able to learn how to perfect my existing recipes by watching your videos. I think you’re amazing and I look forward to learning more techniques and recipes from you! Thank you for sharing your talent with the world.
Hello Elizabeth!
You have no idea how happy this message makes me! 😀 I am so so glad to hear that you’ve picked up some new tricks from my videos.
Thank you so much for writing and I hope to hear from you again!
-hilah
I just made these tortillas and I indulged a little bit by using salted butter instead of the oil. I also omitted the 1/2 tsp salt and used skim milk. They turned out perfectly and this will now be my go-to flour tortilla recipe!
Thanks!
Yum! I bet they were deliciously tender, Caitie. Thanks for writing! 🙂
My tortillas don’t bubble… And also, in spite of the fact I follow the recipe, they are a bit dry and tough. What am I doing wrong? Please help! xx
Hi Polly!
You may be overkneading the dough. Try mixing it just until it can roll into a ball. That should take care of the dry/tough problem.
And if they don’t bubble, that’s not so bad, but you might try buying some new baking powder. It can go stale and not work so well anymore if it’s been open for a while.
Hope that helps, dear!
Yup, overkneading was the thing. And it also turned out I rolled them too thinly. Now they’re nearly perfect! They still don’t bubble though, don’t know. Thanks for your help, Hilah 🙂
I guarantee you didn’t need the dough the way Hilah did : )
Do not worry about the baking powder. Roll as thinly as you can work and handle the formed tortilla. Two guesses what might be the non-bubble trouble: too low a ratio water to flower, or not enough heat.
Thank you Hilah for this wonderful recipe! I have tried so many different kinds of tortilla recipes, and I believe this recipe works because of the milk and baking soda. The thickness of how you roll out the tortilla matters. I tried experimenting with different thicknesses and different cooking times – which changed the texture of the tortillas. I would suggest people who are having difficulty getting the tortilla they want to try experiment with the thickness and length of cooking time until they discover the tortilla that will conquer the world! A really hot pan is a must!
Thank you, Winnie! It’s true that experimentation is the best way to learn to cook anything, really!
Hi Hilah!
LOVE these tortillas – I’ve only made them a dozen times and each time get rave reviews. Today I subbed half whole wheat flour and they still turned out perfectly, next time I think I’ll go almost all whole wheat (healthy 2014, what?!).
But I do have a question, I often want to make these when I know my husband and I won’t be able to eat them all. Do you have a tip for storing and/or freezing them so we can have a batch on hand anytime? I can’t stand store bought tortillas now that I know how to make them at home. 🙂
Thanks!
Megan
Hi Megan!
So glad you’re enjoying these! I’ve not tried freezing, but what I suggest trying is to roll them all out, layer between waxed paper, and freeze the stack in a gallon size bag. Pull out as many as you need and thaw them with the paper between, then peel off and cook! Let me know if that works, if you try it. Thanks!
These are awesome. I made them once months ago and subbed rice milk for dairy milk. They were pretty good. Yesterday when I made them, I used water instead. I also realized (hours after we ate them,) that although I doubled the recipe, I forgot to double the oil. They were absolutely awesome! So, if someone doesn’t have enough oil, know that it will work with less! I rolled them all a little bit from the ball phase and let them rest again before coming back and rolling to tortilla size, which helped me to roll and pull them pretty thin. I kept the uncooked ones in a damp towel, (so I could roll ahead.) Thanks again, Hilah!
Another awesome recipe. I don’t have a rolling pin so they turned out 1/4 inch thick or so. They turned out to be the best that I have ever had. Seriously, I can’t wait to get hilah and find a new recipe of yours to make. 😉
Cheers,
Josh
Thanks, Josh! Super stoked you liked the tortillas! And thick, fluffy flour tortillas are awesome, right?
My Mexican lady friend uses evaporated milk in her tortillas. They are so good. May add just a bit more flavor to it. Thanks for this recipe and all the others you post. Very Nice!
Oh yeah, I bet they are softer and sweeter with the evaporated milk. Thanks, JJ!
Evaporated, not sweetened condensed, milk. 😀
Oh I know! 🙂 Evaporated milk is just a little sweeter than regular milk, though.
Your recipe is awesome and easy!Good torillas!LIKE!
I’ve tried a couple of different tortilla recipes with varying degrees of success, but this one is just fab! My top tip is that you really can’t roll your tortillas too thin…as long as they still hold together, the thinner the better as they puff up a little from the heat – my first couple were waaay too thick. I’ve gotten into totrilla making so I can make my own tortilla chips, and let me tell you, this recipe is perfect for these too! The video and recipe is SUCH a great idea. I’ll be visiting your site regularly from now on!
Thank you, Nina! So happy you like this tortilla recipe! Great tip about rolling them out, too.
Hi Hilah,
I have a question that has baffled me for awhile now and I just can’t seem to get it right. I have been using the”just add water” tortilla mix for some time now, cause I thought if all I have to add is water how hard can it be. Now I have made them the long way too all the above ingredients, but this was just faster. My problem is they don’t last for more than a day by the next morning they are hard, they crack and at that point they’re more like chips.
Hi La Tasha,
I’ve never used the tortilla mix, so the problem might be something specific to that product, but I would first ask how you are storing them. If you have a leftover bread bag or a large ziploc bag, I recommend storing them in that. Press the air out and seal it tight. Sounds like the tortillas are getting dried out from being exposed to air. Hope that helps.
Just made these. They were great. My cast iron pan did start to get a bit goopy and started smoking though. I did not know how high of a heat to use. I figured your description meant as hot as possible. :o)
I would like to make bigger ones so I will probably double the recipe next time. Any issues with doubling the recipe?
Hi Julie!
Yes, my cast iron gets a little smoky, too, after I’ve cooked a few of them. I don’t think there should be any problems doubling it, besides just taking longer to mix the dough (but that was probably obvious!) Glad you had tortilla success!
Dude, this was it.
I’ve been searching for the perrrrfect ‘T’ recepie and you totaly delivered! I’m thrilled that this has been online for 4 years (!!!) and has been making tummy’s all over the world happy.
Thank you
Hooray!!! So glad you had success with this tortilla recipe, Barak 😀
OMG like I should try these like literally they look so yummy!!!
I made these but i had to add and 1tsp of oil and of milk and i had to knead it for ten minutes
Doubled this recipe yesterday to feed a group and they turned out great! By around the 14th tortilla I was kinda over rolling them out and some of those last ones were… interesting shapes. But hey, at least they tasted amazing. Thank you Hilah.
Haha! Who ever said tortillas have to be round, anyway? 😉 Glad y’all liked them. Thanks for writing, Hollie!
Hi hilah its Naomi funny videos my mom let me do baking so I wanted to make these for our family
Hay hilah,,, i looks your video in YouTube and I am very interested and want to practice your recipe,,, why u don’t hot milk?
U only use the room temperature milk,,, whereas in other recipes using hot milk, is there a difference hilah? Thx hilah,,,
I don’t think it makes a difference in the finished tortillas, so I don’t bother with it.
Never used any milk. Flour, water, fat only; and a little bit of salt. All results mostly good, mostly the same.
Milk just adds a little extra flavor.
Hi Hilah, perfect recipe for an amateur cook like myself trying to please his girlfriend post-valentine. It works fine – my only qualm is that it was too crispy – almost like fried tacos, and when rolled will crack. What can I do to improve better?
Thanks and keep up the great work!
Hi Jun!
If they are crispy, you’re likely just cooking too long. Try taking them off the griddle a little sooner next time. Thanks for writing! Let me know if that helps.
Cook time should be no more than about a minute. You could play with stove flame size, setting to try to find what works best. You want a big enough flat surface to do the cooking (the heating) part. Cook on one side until the tortilla bubbles and rises, about 30 to 40 seconds, and carefully but quickly turn it over, and let it bubble, fill with its steam and rise again, maybe another 20 to 35 seconds. Remove it, and store between two plates with the concave surfaces facing each other.
thanks guys for the feedback! so I tried round 2 as per your advice Hilah, but yet despite having cooked it for significantly lesser amount of time on the griddle, it still comes off as crispy. So when I fold it, it’ll crack. Also, in your video it bubbles very nicely – but for my mixture it doesn’t bubble much – could it be the milk/mixture that I’ve been using? I’m using full cream milk; with all purpose flour & baking powder as per the recipe.
I wonder if your baking powder is still good? After time, it does lose its rising power. Has it been open on the shelf for a while?
Wow Hilah…indeed the guru of cooking! You are right to point out and come to think of it, it has been sitting around for awhile, maybe a tad too long. Will try again with new baking powder and see how it turns out – will keep you both posted. Thanks! 🙂
Jun,
Try leaving out the baking powder. Milk not necessary either. Only flour, water, fat, and a little salt needed – nothing else. Maybe a problem in your mixing process. If you are familiar with making bread dough, then tortilla (flour) dough works about the same, and easier. I actually used a rolling pin to role a portion of dough as flat and large as possible, and immediately cooked it.
MAYBE you are over-flouring your dough as you knead it or roll it?
Hi Joseph,
Thanks for the follow up – by fat I’m assuming you’re referring to butter? There might be a possibility that I’m over-flouring as well, will be doing it again this weekend with all your kind suggestions above.
Jun
I mean by “fat”, any or all of clarified butter, bacon drippings, lard, coconut oil, unclarified butter, chicken fat. They all will work. I have actually tried chicken fat. It works as well as any.
Love the video Hilah
I like it so mutch
I always forget taco shells or tortillas, I just make these! Love em.
I’m a junior in college and because it’s hell week and I’m trying to avoid studying I made these!! I saw the video a week ago and they have been on my mind ever since. I finally made them today and WOW!!!! They are amazing! I will definitely make these again and again. Thank you so much for sharing!!
Hahaha! That sounds like what I would do during hell week, too, Mariel. So much more fun to make tortillas (or anything) than think about school. Really glad you had success with the recipe! Good luck on your exams!
Hilah! OMG! These made me so HAPPY!!! I just made these and – all by my lonesome – gobbled 4 servings!! I ate the first two by themselves – all nice and warm and delicious… Then forced myself to stop and prepare with taco fillings so that I had some protein and veggies. Feeling SOOO gluttonous but still thinking about the next time I’ll make them!
I tried making all sorts of other tortillas/naans but none have worked. This one did!! Thanks for the recipe and the great video!!
That’s fantastic! 🙂
These are amazing!!!!!!! Miss TexMex so much living in Brooklyn (originally from Houston)!!!! These taste so perfectly authentic, can’t wait to get my fajita and breakfast taco on!
I stumbled across your YouTube video and was intrigued. My girlfriends is Mexican and loves nothing more than a homemade flour tortilla. Despite my countless efforts, I’ve not been successful in making tortillas as good as her grandmothers.
I’ve always made them with lard or Crisco but when I saw your recipes I knew I had to try it. I’m in the process of making them now…impatiently waiting out the first 30 minute resting period.
This weekend we’re visiting her grandmother and I hope to take her a batch and hear her official Mexican Abuela review. so happy I found your video!
I hope they turned out great, Christy! The waiting is really the hardest part 😉
I was told my a elderly Mexican woman to make these all it takes is a hand full of flour and a hand full of lard and a pinch of salt. I watch her do it and they were GREAT!
These tortillas were the bomb.com! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
if I use 1vc flour..what measurements should I Change for the milk,oil,salt,baking powder,etc…..
Hope u answer back ASAP????????
Hi Gabby,
Just cut all the remaining ingredients in half. Multiplying by 1/2 gives you:
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon oil
3/8 cup milk (this is 6 tablespoons)
Half of 3/4 cup is 1/4 cup + 2 TBSP, or as stated 6 TBSP, point is there is no 3/8 of a cup…
Some measuring cup sets have a 1/8 cup measure and three of those equals half of three 1/4 cup measures. Whether or not 3/8 cup is a common measure, I assure you it exists.
So Hilah, I found out about you on my ROKU and the cooking channels. I have been watching every episode of yours and stumbled across this. I made these tonight!!! DELISH!!! Awesome!!! Coolio and all. My family loved them. I took the liberty and put in a few grinds of pepper. Curious though, since it makes 10 or so, could I double the recipe or should I make two at the same time? Seriously couldn’t be easier. Thank you for the inspiration.
That’s great! Fun idea to add black pepper.
You can definitely double the recipe for more tortillas!
These are fantastic – and I love your video. I just whipped them up for lunch – delish. I’ve tried several other tortilla recipes and they are nowhere near as good.
Must get a tortilla warmer so I can put them into regular service!
Can I use corn flour to make them corn tortillas or there is another way to do it?
Hi David,
Here is a recipe for corn tortillas. They are very different. https://hilahcooking.com/corn-tortilla-recipe/
How long will these tortilla last? Can I keep them and cook it on the other day? Thanks!
Hey Jed,
You can refrigerate the dough for a day, or form the balls and freeze them if you want to keep the dough longer. If you cook the tortillas, they will stay good for two days.
How long will these tortilla last? Can I keep them on fridge and cook the other day? Thanks!
I’m making them right now and man my kitchen smells to die I can’t wait to try them they look delicious thanks for the recipe
I currently have my dough resting… I don’t think I did something right.. it doesn’t seem elastic enough… *fingers crossed!*
Hi Suzy! You may need to knead it a little more, but I bet after it rests it will feel more elastic, too.
Hi Hilah!
Just made your tortilla recipe tonight and enjoyed them with mushrooms and jalapeño havarti cheese! They were delicious! So much more substance than the store bought tortillas. They were easy to make and tasted delicious, even on their own. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
By the way, is it possible to freeze leftovers?
Hi Lesley!
You can freeze the tortilla dough (roll into balls first) to thaw and cook later. I imagine you could freeze cooked tortillas, too, as long as they are wrapped really tightly. Maybe wrap and then put into a gallon zip bag and suck all the air out before you seal it.
Super glad you liked them! The tacos you made sound awesome.
2010? Man, I am late for the party… I have cooked Indian food for years so I am pretty good with flat breads. I have never heard of milk in chapatis, or tortillas. I admit I thought you was crazy! OMG! I just made these and they are wonderful. Well the first one and the last one were bit overcooked, but that is probably not your fault…
I moved from Texas to the Philippines so you know I miss my Tex-Mex. The Filipinos picked up a lot of Spanish culture – but not much of the food. I don’t have a rolling pin, but a brandy bottle works. And you can take a nice break if you get tired of rolling. Next project… make a tortilla pres ha ha
Just made them, resting for 30 minutes, now dying to cook them and eat them 🙂
Hi Hilah,
I found that my mum’kitchen has only yeast, can I substitute yeast for baking powder?
Hope to hear from you soon. Thanks!
(Actually I have not much experience in baking)
Hi Cecilia!
It’s great that you are interested in learning to cook and bake. Yeast can not be substituted for baking powder or baking soda in this recipe. I would advise you to try making the tortillas without baking powder if you still want to try. The tortillas will end up a little thinner and less fluffy but they will still be pretty good.
You can try a recipe to include some yeast, and you may get a flatbread, but what results might not be a flour tortilla. If you get a flexible enough flatbread result, you can still use it to wrap something.
You need no yeast to make a tortilla.
Omg!! I made them today, and they were hilarious. They were soft and easy to chew and ofcourse Yummy and simple to make. I made half your recipe and it made 5, I ate the 1st one and I was like have to eat another, I ate another and then after it was finished I was like, I can have more so I picked up another. Then I look at the 4th taco and tore it in half and ate it. Then after few secs I ate the remaining half and them took a break. After 5 mins I was like whatever I am going to eat it. Best ever recipe. Thanks for sharing
Hooray! 🙂
During saturday making those tortillas n they are so fantastic! Yummy. We eat it with homous, fava beans salad (foul madammas: syrian n lebanese appetizer) n for chicken shawarma. Thank you for such wonderful recipe.
That sounds lovely, Fatima! Great to hear that the tortillas worked for you 🙂
Could I get your help tweaking the recipe?
Of all the tortilla recipes I’ve tried, this was the best! Followed your recipe to a T and they turned out good!
If you look at Tex-Mex restaurants ( uncle Julio’s Rio Grande Café for example ), their tortillas are much softer/pliable – Almost like a hand towel draped over your fingers.
I know this is due to increased moisture, but I don’t know whether to increase The milk or oil or both? Or by how much?
Any ideas?
My tortillas did bubble but didn’t balloon like yours ( which was what I wanted ). My baking powder was relatively fresh so I am thinking of boosting my moisture levels.
Storage tip: As with all Breads, these are best stored frozen then thawed when you need them for optimum freshness.
I bake many types of bread and understand the importance of The water/fat/flour ratios.
Thank you!
Hey Rodney!
I do know the kind of tortilla you’re talking about – the ones that are so thin they are almost translucent, too. They have more fat than these, and I would guess they do not include the baking powder. I think you could safely double the fat in this recipe and use lard or shortening instead of oil. See what that gives you and adjust from there. Hope you find what you’re looking for!
hey hilah, can i use these tortillas to make tacos? will it get crispy?
Hi Christel,
You should use corn tortillas to make crispy taco shells. https://hilahcooking.com/crispy-beef-tacos/
if i use water not milk,if it can???
Yes, Kayla, that should work okay
hi! so what to do with the extra tortillas? should i freeze the dough straight or should i toast them first then freeze?
I haven’t tried that since we usually eat them all in a couple days 🙂 But I think cook first, then cool and wrap and freeze
I Love this recipe. It’s soo easy . I love all your recipes. Are you still gonna post recipe videos on youtube? I miss you so much
Hi hilah I azman from malaysia I Love this recipe. It’s so easy to make but I love all your recipes.I hope I have new recipe from u hilah..so how I can follow u n see what new recipe do cook.. Sorry my English not to good..
Easy recipe to follow, and delicious good- looking TORTILLAS at the end.
Hi Hilah! Quick question.. how long will this last in the fridge? I’ve tried making them with just 2 batches the last time and planning on to make more. I’m glad you posted this, it’s very easy and quick to make.
It’ll last a few days if you wrap it up airtight, I think
I’ve been using your recipe for about a year now and it is a staple in our house! Sometimes I have to lessen the amount of milk and oil depending on the flour I get. I live in the Philippines and we have little stores around the neighborhood where they repack flour and sell it so you never really know what kind of flour you get, but I’ve noticed when I use bread flour they come out extra soft! Thanks for this awesome recipe and your quirky writing!