Easy Flour Tortilla Recipe With 3 Flavour Variations - Home Grown Happiness (2024)

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This easy flour tortilla recipe is perfect for tacos, quesadillas or wraps.

Vegetables and herbs can be added to this easy flour tortilla recipe for fun colors and flavor variations.

Easy Flour Tortilla Recipe With 3 Flavour Variations - Home Grown Happiness (1)

Soft flour tortillas are so versatile.

They’re a great sandwich substitute in a lunchbox, delicious when turned into quesadillas, or use as quick pizza base.

I think everyone should have a basic tortilla recipe under their belt. The number of times whipping up a batch of these has gotten us through a ‘there’s nothing for dinner!’ situation, I can’t even count!

Easy Flour Tortilla Recipe Ingredients and Method

The tortilla ingredients are simple – flour, hot water, salt, oil, and baking powder.

It’s all mixed into a soft dough and left to rest for 5-10 minutes while the dough cools down. The hot water softens the dough so it’s easy to roll out.

This batch of dough makes 6 medium or 8 small tortilla wraps

Easy Flour Tortilla Recipe With 3 Flavour Variations - Home Grown Happiness (2)

Rolling Out Tortillas

Roll one tortilla out at a time. If you roll too many at once they’ll soften and start to stick.

Roll each circle out on a floured bench until it is about 2mm thin. That’s really thin, but not so thin that it becomes see-through.

Easy Flour Tortilla Recipe With 3 Flavour Variations - Home Grown Happiness (3)

Preheat A Cast Iron Pan

While you’re rolling, preheat a cast-iron pan or a similar heavy-bottomed pan. This will keep the heat consistent while cooking the tortillas.

The pan needs to be hot which creates those little pockets of air in the tortillas but also cooked through enough without burning the tortilla.

A little like the first pancake (you know, the first one that’s always a mess because the pan isn’t hot enough, or too hot), the first tortilla may not be your best.

Use the first tortilla as a guide to what temperature your pan is. It needs to be hot but if it starts burning the dough straight away then it’s too hot. Pre-heat an uncreased cast-tin pan on medium high-heat first, then turn it down to medium-low heat and keep it there for the duration of cooking.

Cooking Flour Tortillas

Cook each tortilla for two minutes on one side, then flip it and cook for another 1 1/2- 2 minutes on the other side.

Watch for small bubbles to appear in the dough when it’s cooking for the first two minutes. Flip the dough and check that the bubbles aren’t burnt. If they get too black then the tortilla won’t be as soft to roll up. A medium-dark golden brown is perfect.

Stack them on a rack or plate, one on top of the other, and cover with a tea towel while they cool.

Easy Flour Tortilla Recipe With 3 Flavour Variations - Home Grown Happiness (4)

Then let them cool completely before rolling them up. They may break and crack if you try to roll them before they have cooled.

Store the wraps in an airtight container in the pantry for up to three days or freeze them.

Flour Tortilla Variations.

Use the same basic recipe below for these variations. The water amount will vary as some of the variations use wet ingredients.

Green Tortillas

In a blender add 1 cup of greens (spinach, kale, silverbeet…etc) along with 1/4 cup of hot water. Add this to the basic tortilla recipe though adapt the water so you only use as much as needed.

Yellow Tortillas

To the basic tortilla, dough recipe adds 1 tsp ground turmeric or 1 Tbsp grated fresh turmeric.

Pink Tortillas

To the basic tortilla, dough recipe adds 1/2 cup finely grated fresh beetroot (adapt the water amount so you only use as much as needed) or 2 Tbsp dehydrated beetroot powder.

Easy Flour Tortilla Recipe With 3 Flavour Variations - Home Grown Happiness (5)
Easy Flour Tortilla Recipe With 3 Flavour Variations - Home Grown Happiness (6)

Easy Flour Tortilla Recipe

Yield: 6-8 tortillas

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Delicious to eat and simple to make, this soft tortilla wrap recipe has many variations to include all your flavours.

Ingredients

  • 300g all purpose flour
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 180-190ml hot water

Instructions

  1. In a bowl combine the flour, oil, salt and baking powder. Add in the hot water, slowly and not all at once. Mix together with a fork to start then start, then once it's not too hot to touch, gently knead by hand until it forms a soft but not sticky, pliable dough. You may not need all the water, especially when adding other wet ingredients like spinach or beetroot.
  2. Leave this dough to sit and cool for 5-10 minutes.
  3. Place the dough ball on a floured bench and cut into 6-8 even sized pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and let them relax for 5-10 minutes.
  4. Preheat a cast-iron pan on medium-high heat.
  5. Roll one piece of dough out into a circle of about 1.5mm thickness. Place in the preheated pan, don’t add any grease or oil. If the dough starts smoking, turn down the heat.
  6. Cook on one side for two minutes before flipping and cooking on the other side for approximately 1.5 minutes more.
  7. Repeat the rolling and cooking process with the remaining dough. Place the cooked tortillas on a wire rack or plate to cool, stacking them on top of each other. Cool completely before rolling up.
Nutrition Information:

Yield: 8Serving Size: 1 grams
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 167Total Fat: 3.9gSaturated Fat: 0.6gUnsaturated Fat: 0gSodium: 149mgCarbohydrates: 28.9gFiber: 1gSugar: 0.1gProtein: 3.9g

Easy Flour Tortilla Recipe With 3 Flavour Variations - Home Grown Happiness (2024)

FAQs

What happens if you put too much baking powder in flour tortillas? ›

However, the version I tested that had more baking powder resulted in a thicker, doughy tortilla that wasn't as pliable and was harder to roll when making a burrito or wrap. I also found that they got harder when stored compared to this recipe and the version that did not have baking powder at all.

Why do my homemade flour tortillas come out hard? ›

She is adamant that the dough should not be tacky. If the bread is sticking to your fingers, add a small amount of flour until it stops sticking. She does warn that going too far in the other direction — adding too much flour during this process — will make the tortillas hard.

What do Mexicans put in their tortillas? ›

Tortillas have hundreds of uses in Mexican cuisine. They can be fried to make chips, which you can dip into salsa, guacamole or queso. They can be filled with meats, cheese and veggies to make tacos or stuffed with beans and rice to make a burrito.

How to add flavor to tortillas? ›

Flavoring and coloring corn tortillas is simply a matter of adding things to the basic dough. This can be done two ways, by adding dried herbs and spices or by infusing the tortillas with a flavored liquid. Use them in any recipe for corn tortillas.

How do Mexican restaurants heat their flour tortillas? ›

Their texture, taste, and smell are incomparable. The secret is in the steam. Mexican restaurants steam hundreds of tortillas at a time in large ovens or special steamers. You can achieve the same results at home — all you need to ...

What does baking soda do to tortillas? ›

TORTILLA BLENDTM Sodium Bicarbonate can specifically target the attributes of height and volume, uniform cell structure, bready texture, toast point color and reduced translucency. Sodium Bicarbonate: Timing of the leavening reaction is key to obtaining the best tortilla texture, height and opacity.

How do you keep homemade flour tortillas from getting hard? ›

Oil NOT shortening makes for a more elastic and still moist (goodbye dry flour tortillas!) tortilla. You don't need lard or anything fancy. Just good ol' vegetable oil does the trick perfectly!

Why use hot water for tortillas? ›

Warm water: Using warm water instead of cold water helps the dough come together more easily and dissolves the salt in our dough. Fat: To make our homemade tortillas soft and pliable, you need some fat in the dough. Use oil, lard, butter, or shortening.

Can you let tortilla dough rest overnight? ›

However, it is best to think of that 15-minute period as a minimum resting time. Some tortilla makers cover their dough and rest it overnight in the fridge, making it even easier to work with.

Do Mexicans use lard in tortillas? ›

Baking powder: Baking powder acts as a leavener, giving the tortillas a slightly pillowy texture. Salt: Salt enhances the overall flavor of the flour tortillas. Lard: Lard, a common baking ingredient in Mexican cuisine, adds flavor and helps create the perfect flour tortilla texture.

Why do Mexicans use two tortillas? ›

Mexicans fondly refer to this as 'la copia' (literally: the copy). If you ask around, you'll be given many reasons for this. But a popular explanation is that the second tortilla can be used to make another taco with any fillings that spill out the side.

What are the three types of tortillas? ›

Soft tortillas are the traditional base for Mexican fajitas or burritos—but, depending on the type of flour or cornmeal used, these thin round flatbreads can vary widely in calories, sodium, and more.

How to make tortillas taste better for tacos? ›

How do you make tortillas taste better for tacos? To amp the flavor up a bit you grill them in a flat pan or heat them up in an oven.

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