Healthier Homemade Flour Tortillas
These healthier tortillas are soft and chewy, made with better ingredients and without the additives in store bought tortillas.
I think homemade tortillas are way better than store bought and these really satisfy. Not only do they taste great, but making them at home allows you to control the ingredients they’re made with, so there’s no binders, refined seed oils (like the typical soybean or canola oil) or other additives. These tortillas are perfect for meal prep because they keep well in the refrigerator or freezer, so you’ll have them whenever the craving for taco night hits (which, if we’re being honest, is always).
It’s a life saver to have good tortillas on hand to fill with any taco combination you’re wanting. Our go to is chicken Tinga but recently I made a blackened salmon taco with a mango chipotle slaw that was so so good. These tortillas really hold up, and don’t break or split apart as you eat.
This easy flour tortilla recipe can be customized based on your preferences, but I’ve shared the healthier version I’ve been making. I don’t add baking powder to this recipe because I like them thinner. When I added baking powder I felt it made them less soft and pliable, and thicker, more like lavash. Even though this recipe is for easy flour tortillas, there’s a bit of work involved and various steps required to make tortillas. If you want to use all AP flour you can, I’ve made them this way in a pinch and they still turned out great.
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Is it better to roll or press flour tortillas?
I’ve never used a tortilla press for flour tortillas and always roll them out with a rolling pin. I think rolling the dough by hand makes for thinner tortillas. Hand rolling also pulls the dough, so they’ll have a chewier texture.
How To Make Homemade Flour Tortillas Soft
There are three important tips to get homemade tortillas soft rather than brittle. One is having enough fat in the dough. This is a soft flour tortillas recipe because there’s enough fat in the dough to make them pliable. Another strategy to make them soft is how you cook them. You want a hot pan on high enough heat that the tortillas cook quickly. The longer they are in the pan, the more they will dry out, making dry and brittle tortillas. The last tip is to stack the hot tortillas on a plate after cooking and keep them covered with a cloth towel to steam while they cool.
Ingredients For Flour Tortillas
Flour
In this healthy homemade tortillas recipe, I used a mix of all purpose flour (for the neutral flavor and chewy gluten) and all purpose Einkorn flour (a delicious ancient grain whole wheat flour that has lower gluten, protein and fiber), which pair really well together. You could in theory use any whole wheat flour, but I haven’t tested it in this recipe. If you want to make fully homemade whole wheat tortillas, they won’t be as soft or chewy. I’ve tried it and got a more brittle result. I’m all about balance, so I do half and half.
Fat
You have some flexibility in the fat you want to use for a healthy flour tortillas recipe. I opted for a mix of extra virgin olive oil (for health benefits) and butter (for flavor). If you want to make homemade flour tortillas with butter, then you can definitely use all butter for the fat. Some recipes also use lard for the fat. You could also use coconut oil but it will have a stronger flavor.
Water
You need a liquid to bring it all together, and simple water is all it takes. I use the microwave to make it warm/hot before stirring into the dough. (Update: I used room temperature water in recent batches and it works perfectly too)
How Big To Make Flour Tortillas
Homemade Burrito Tortillas
I have the yield at making 12 taco sized tortillas, but if you want to make burrito sized tortillas, you can instead cut the dough into 6 pieces.
Wraps
If you want to make handmade tortillas in the size for wraps, you can cut the dough into 8 pieces, instead of 12.
Tacos
For taco sized tortillas, cut the dough into 12 pieces.
Recipe for ‘Healthier Homemade Flour Tortillas’
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Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Yields: 12 Taco tortillas
Ingredients
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup of Einkorn all purpose flour
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1/3-1/2 cup of warm water
3/4 tsp fine sea salt
Directions
Add the flours and salt to a mixing bowl and stir to combine.
Add the olive oil and butter to the bowl and mix with hands, grinding mixture between your fingers, until combined.
Add the 1/3 cup water to the mixture and stir with a spoon until it starts coming together. If the mixture is too dry, add a bit more water until it comes together well.
Empty bowl onto a lightly floured counter and kneed for 3-4 minutes, until it forms a silky nice dough. If it’s too sticky, add more flour.
Separate the dough into 12 even pieces and form them into balls. Cover with a towel to let them rest for 10-15 minutes.
Heat a cast iron pan, not oiled, on high until it’s hot but not smoking. Start rolling out the balls of dough to your desired thickness. I prefer them really thin but not see through.
Place the rolled out dough gently into the pan. When it has bubbled, you can flip over. I’ve done this process by myself but it goes faster if you have a helper flip them in the pan while you roll the next one out. You only cook it for maybe 30 seconds per side, just to get a little color. If you leave them in the pan too long or the heat isn’t hot enough, they will dry out.
Through the process, you can lower the heat if the pan gets too hot. You’d know if it starts smoking, or the tortillas are getting too browned before bubbling up.
Once each tortilla is done cooking, I stack them on a plate under a kitchen towel. The steam after cooking helps the tortillas become soft and super pliable.
