Sonora · 60 min · Meat · Pantry staple · For confident cooks
Tortillas
For 6 servings · US units
Soft flour flatbreads straight from the pan: warm, pliable and dotted with toasty spots
Homemade flour tortillas come together faster than you'd think, and they beat anything from a bag: soft, a little stretchy and freckled with those small toasted spots. Traditionally they're rolled out with a rolling pin, and the moment the first one hits the hot pan, the whole kitchen smells like dinner's nearly ready. Roll them small and they're made for tacos, roll them bigger and they'll wrap a burrito, an everyday recipe through and through.
Ingredients
- 12⅓ ozall-purpose flourall-purpose, unbleached; gluten-free flour possible
- 1½ tspsaltfine
- 3 tbsplardrubbed into the flour with fingertips
- 3½ tbspolive oilas an alternative to lard; avocado oil or soft butter also work
- 1 cupwaterwarm, for the dough
- 1 tspbaking powdermakes the flatbreads slightly softer and puffier (optional)
- 4 tbspinstead of lard, adds smoky flavor (optional)The rendered fat of smoked bacon, smoky and salty.Substitute: Lard gives the same richness but none of the smokiness; lard with cracklings, or lard with a little smoked bacon fried in it, comes closer.Read more
- 4 tbspmixed into the flour; alternatively chipotles in adobo (optional)Smoked, dried jalapeños packed in a dark, sweet-sour sauce of tomato, vinegar and spices, smoky and properly hot.Substitute: Dried chipotles, soaked and blended with a little tomato paste and a splash of vinegar, come closest; at a pinch, smoked paprika and a little cayenne with tomato paste give smoke and heat, but not the fleshy texture or the sweet-sour depth of the sauce.Read more
Method
- Mix the flour and salt together well in a bowl. If you like your tortillas a little softer and puffier, add the baking powder now.
- Add the lard and rub it into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture looks crumbly. If you're using olive oil instead, pour it in and stir it through.
- Pour in the warm water and stir everything roughly with a spoon until a shaggy dough forms.
- Tip the dough onto your work surface and knead for about 5 minutes, until it's smooth and supple. Cover it and let it rest for at least 30 minutes.
- Divide the dough into golf-ball-sized pieces and roll each one into a ball between your palms.
- Set a dry pan or comal over medium to medium-high heat. Meanwhile, roll the first ball out thinly with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface, to about 13 to 15 cm across.
- Lay the tortilla in the hot pan and cook for 30 to 60 seconds per side, until light brown spots appear. While it cooks, roll out the next ball, and you'll soon find a nice rhythm.
- Stack the finished tortillas in a kitchen towel or a bag straight away so they stay warm and soft. They're best served right away, but they'll keep in the fridge for a few days.
Tips and variations
Instead of lard, olive oil, avocado oil or soft butter all work, and bacon fat gives the tortillas a gentle smoky note. If you like a little heat, mix chipotle powder or chipotles in adobo into the flour. Gluten-free flour works too; in that case, flatten the balls between sheets of plastic wrap or use a press rather than a rolling pin. For a paleo version, whisk a runny batter from tapioca flour, coconut flour, almond milk and eggs and let it spread out in the pan. For burritos, simply roll the tortillas larger, to 20 to 25 cm. And the one serving tip that matters most: bring them to the table wrapped in the towel so everyone can help themselves to a warm one.
Allergens
Contains: Cereals containing gluten
Not every ingredient in this recipe has been checked, so nothing is promised as free from.
These notes follow from this recipe's ingredient list. Ready-made products and brands may contain further allergens — please check the packaging yourself.
Something not right?
This recipe was put together from independent sources and checked before publishing. Even so, a mistake can slip through — an amount that does not add up, a step that does not work as written. If you spot something, write to us: we will look into it and put it right.
