How To Make Tortillas: Corn Tortilla 101

Have you ever wondered how to make homemade tortillas?

Whether it’s for wrapping around your favorite taco filling, homemade quesadillas, or just snacking right off the griddle, making a corn tortilla is a lot easier than you’d think!

Homemade Tortillas From Scratch

There are two different ways to make a corn tortilla recipe.

The first is to use fresh corn masa, which is simply nixtamalized corn that has been finely ground with warm water into a dough.

If you’re like nixta-what?! Read up on this ancient process of softening and getting nutrients from the hard corn—super interesting.

What we’re going to talk about today is a super easy homemade tortillas made from masa harina which is the masa dough mentioned above that has been dried and ground into a corn flour.

Scroll down for my three favorite masa harina flours.

Masa Harina 101: The Most Important Part of a Corn Tortilla Recipe

Seeing that it only takes three ingredients to make homemade corn tortillas— masa harina, hot water, and salt—the masa harina that you use is pretty important.

Here are my top three picks:

1. Masienda’s Chef-Grade Masa Flour Masienda sources traditional maize from Mexico to produce a superior masa harina. Plus by supporting them, you are supporting their efforts to protect valuable native varieties of corn that exist nowhere else in the world.
2. Gold Mine Masa Flour This has the convince of being available on Amazon, is organic and comes in white, yellow, or blue corn varieties.
3. Bob’s Red Mill Masa Harina Flour Bob’s Red Mill is a great option for picking up at your local grocery store. This organic masa harina is widely available in stores (and also on Amazon as well).

The Method

Here’s my 10-step method for making soft corn tortillas:

1. Place 2 cups masa harina flour in a mixing bowl and toss with a teaspoon of salt.
2. Slowly mix in 2 cups boiling water with a wooden spoon. As a general rule I like to use equal parts masa harina and water but this will depend on the type of masa harina you use and how dry it is in your kitchen.
3. The masa is ready when it is soft but neither sticky or crumbly. You can always add more masa harina or water as needed. Roll some dough into a golf ball-sized piece. It should be smooth and not crack when you roll it. If it sticks to your hands, add more masa harina. If it cracks add more water. Cover bowl with plastic wrap.
4. Heat a cast iron skillet, comal, or non-stick frying pan over high heat. Don’t add any oil or fat.
5. Cut a large, gallon-sized resealable plastic freezer bag (Ziploc) in half so it opens flat. Line the tortilla press with the bag (you can also use plastic wrap). If you really love making tortillas you can use the same pieces of plastic many times, just wipe clean and reuse.
6. Roll masa into a ball. Start with a small walnut-sized ball and work your way up to a bigger one. The smaller the tortilla, the easier it is to work with.
7. Place dough in the middle of the tortilla press on top of the plastic. Fold the top half of the plastic over the dough ball, then close the tortilla press gently. Press down to make a 1/4-inch to 1/8-inch thick tortilla. 
8. Gently lift the lid of the tortilla press. Remove tortilla inside the plastic bag. Hold tortilla in your right hand and lift the top of the plastic with your left hand. Flip tortilla onto your left hand and then remove plastic from the bottom. 
9. To cook the tortillas, carefully but swiftly flip tortilla onto the hot comal. Don’t touch! Let cook for 30 seconds. Flip with a metal spatula (or your fingers) and cook on other side for 30 seconds or until it starts to get toasty with golden brown spots. Repeat, flipping two more times.
10. Remove to tortilla warmer and repeat with remaining dough. 

The Tools

There are two very important tools you will need to make the perfect tortilla recipe:

• A Tortilla Press
• A Comal or Cast Iron Skillet

How To Make The Most Of Your Tortilla Recipe

So you’ve made this tall stack of beautiful corn tortillas, now what?

• Of course you have to eat a few right away, because there’s nothing better than a warm, fresh tortilla right out of the pan.
• Then keep a few in a tortilla warmer or clean kitchen towel to wrap around your favorite Mexican tacos.
• To Store Them: spread them in a single layer on the counter to cool.
  • Once cool, stack and store in a plastic bag for 3 days in the refrigerator or 1 month in the freezer.
• To Reheat Them: Rewarm one at a time on dry, hot comal or skillet until soft and pliable.

The Best Easy Tortilla Recipes

Now that you’ve mastered the basic corn tortilla recipe here are a few variations I love:

• Himalayan Pink Salt Tortillas
• Sprouted Lentil Turmeric Tortillas
• What about a Flour Tortilla Recipe?

Mexican Food Fans Unite!

If you make Mexican recipes at home on a regular basis, check out my Ultimate Mexican Pantry Guide to see what you need to have on hand.

You’ve Got Homemade Corn Tortillas and I Want To See Them!

Once you’ve got that perfect tortilla technique down, I want to see it! Tag all your tortilla creations @holajalapeno or #holajalapeno on Instagram whether it’s tacos or quesadillas, I want to know how it goes.

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