Soft Flour Tortilla Recipe

This freezer-friendly homemade soft flour tortilla recipe is without lard and excellent for everyday dinner or Mexican theme night.

Tortillas are very popular and is a staple in most households. Most of us will have tortillas once a week in our meal planning. It is a fantastic option for a quick and easy meal. I love the variety of main dishes that can be made with tortillas. We enjoy making tacos, breakfast burritos, enchiladas, quesadillas, and many other sandwiches with this wrap.

Making soft flour tortilla at home takes time, however worth the effort when you have got tortilla in the freezer ready to go. First, when I made these, I had various-shaped tortillas that did not look like a tortilla at all. Now I can roll a decent circle after some practice. So, I would say not to worry about trying to get a perfect circle.

How to make soft flour tortillas without lard

I am sure most of you must be having your favorite tortilla recipe, which is a keeper. Homemade soft flour tortilla recipes have common ingredients like flour, salt, baking powder, lard/oil, and water. Today, I love to share my go-to recipe with some tips to make a soft flour tortilla.

Some recipes use lard, shortening, and few use oil. I have tried with sunflower oil and olive oil, which works very well for me. When I tried making these, I noticed a few things that did not work. At times it turned out dry or crisp up after cooking, and sometimes it was difficult to roll the dough. It just springs back. With trial and error, I came up with my version of the tortilla recipe.

How to make soft flour tortilla

Let me share with you some tips that helped me to make a better tortilla 

1. Flour absorbs water differently – the water measurements might vary according to the flour that you are using and the climate you are in. So add 1 ½ cups of water first and knead to see if you require to add the other ¼ cup. Sometimes you might need more water. The result should be very soft (not very sticky) dough. If you get a slightly sticky dough, keep kneading for few more minutes. Avoid adding more flour as this yields a dry tortilla. 
2. If the dough is difficult to roll, that is because you have not let it rest enough after kneading or handling the dough. Resting the dough at least for 30 minutes makes it easier to roll. Use less flour as possible to roll the tortillas. More flour makes it dry.
3. You could roll all of them at once to make it easier to cook. For this, you will have to place an 8-inch square parchment paper/grease-proof between each tortilla and then cook them in one go. Use the same greaseproof paper for freezing tortilla. 
4. Roll the dough as thinly as possible. Remember to let the dough rest for 30 minutes after kneading and 10 minutes after shaping them into a ball.  
5. The heat of the griddle and to cook the tortilla – first heat the griddle on medium-high for 2 minutes, then slowly reduce the heat to medium and cook them for 30 seconds on both sides until you see light golden spots. 
6. Place them on a plate, and cover it with a tea towel to keep warm and soft. To freeze them, you need to cool them completely while they are covered. Cooling them without covering will dry the tortilla.
7. Once it’s cooled, reuse the same greaseproof paper to place between each tortilla and put them in a freezer zip lock bag and freeze.
8. Frozen tortillas can be reheated on the griddle/skillet. Heat the skillet on medium-high and cook each tortilla for 20 -30 seconds on each side. Place them as mentioned on point 6 to prevent them from drying. 

Hope this helps you. If you have any tips, please share it under comments. I would love to hear your tips for making a good tortilla. 

More bread recipes

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• Savory Carrot Swirl Bread
• Paneer Stuffed Buns
• Sri Lankan Egg & Seeni Sambol Buns

Flour Tortilla Recipe

Recipe by Ruwani Ravin KumarCourse: Lunch, Dinner, Breakfast, BrunchCuisine: Mexican

Servings

12

servings

Prep time

45

minutes

Cooking time

25

minutes

These freezer friendly homemade soft flour tortilla recipe is without lard and excellent for everyday dinner or Mexican theme night.

Ingredients

• 5 cups/ 640g of all-purpose flour

• 1 ½ tsp / 7g salt

• 1 ½ tsp/ 7g baking powder

• ½ cup/ 118ml + 1 tsp sunflower oil for coating the bowl /regular olive oil

• 1 ½ + ¼ cup / 354ml + 60ml warm water

Directions

• In a large bowl add flour, salt, baking powder, and mix well to combine.
• Add the ½ cup of oil to the warm water. Next, add the oil and water mixture into dry ingredients and mix well until it forms a soft dough.
• Knead the dough for 5 minutes. Place the dough in a bowl and coat the dough with the 1 tsp of oil to prevent from drying.
• Cover the bowl with a cling wrap and let it rest for at least 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes, place the dough on a working surface. Cut the dough in half and roll half of the dough into a log and cut it into 12. Do the same to the other half of the dough. Each piece of the ball will weigh about 50g.
• Roll all the pieces into a ball and place them back in the bowl and cover them to prevent from drying. Rest the dough balls for 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat a griddle on medium-high heat. Now take one dough ball at a time and roll them as thinly as possible into circles.
• Reduce the heat to medium and cook the tortillas one at a time. Each side takes about 30 seconds to cook. When you see light golden spotting, flip the tortilla. Cook that side until you see light golden spots. Take it out from the griddle and place the tortilla on a plate and cover it with a tea towel. Serve warm with your own choices of filling.

Notes

• If using for a later date, you can freeze these. To freeze them you need to cool them completely while they are covered. Cooling them without covering will dry the tortilla.
• Once it’s cooled reuse the grease proof paper to place between each tortilla and put them in a freezer zip lock bag and freeze.
• Frozen tortillas can be reheated on the griddle/skillet. Heat the skillet on medium-high and cook each tortilla for 20 -30 seconds on each side. Place them as mentioned on point 6 to prevent them from drying.