Tacos are a staple meal in our home for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I love that you can take any cuisine and make it into a delicious taco. So this weekend, I started wondering, why haven’t we tried making our own tortillas? I mean we successfully made homemade tamales this past Christmas, so I thought, we should definitely be able to make our own tortillas.
Turns out, I was right! Once you have made tamales, almost anything seems easy in comparison.
First off, let’s mention, they only require 3 ingredients! Two of which you definitely have in your home and one that once you buy, you will forever have in your pantry… Masa Harina.
Now my first concern was needing a tortilla press and warmer, which I wasn’t really wanting to buy and find storage for in my kitchen. Turns out you don’t need either to make these corn tortillas.
Here are my swaps:
Tortilla Press: No need, just grab your cast iron dish and this will perfectly flatten your tortillas. Don’t have a cast iron either? No problem, use any large frying pan and press down with your body weight.
Tortilla Warmer: No need, grab any clean kitchen dish towel to keep your tortillas warm.
These traditional Mexican-style corn tortillas are naturally gluten-free, vegan, and full of delicious toasted corn flavors. Beyond their amazing flavor, the best thing about homemade corn tortillas is that they are soft and easy to fold…no cracks! Never again do I have to start my meal as a taco and end it with a spoon scooping up all the pieces that fell out of the tortilla.
So today, I am sharing this simple 3-ingredient recipe for making your own corn tortillas and never looking back!
Masa Harina: This translates in Spanish to “corn flour” but don’t be fooled into thinking you can substitute corn meal. Masa harina should be easy to find in your local grocery store. I picked mine up around the corner at my local walmart.
Salt: I use Himalayan pink salt because it is minimally processed, but any salt will work.
Hot Water: Simple enough ingredient, heat up your water in your microwave or tea kettle, until hot, but not boiling.
Is your mouth watering yet??? Mine is. I’m ready to whip this recipe up again!
Homemade Corn Tortillas
Ingredients
- 2 cups masa harina
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1.75 cups hot water
Instructions
- Mix the Dough: In a large mixing bowl stir the salt into the masa harina. Then stirring with a wooden spoon, gradually add in the hot water until the dough begins to form. Using your hands knead the dough for about 2-3 minutes until smooth. This should form one large ball. The mixture should have a bit of spring, and not stick to your hands. If the dough feels too wet, sprinkle a few tablespoons of masa harina. If it feels too dry, add in a few tablespoons of hot water.
- Rest: In the large bowl, cover the ball of dough with a damp paper towl and let it rest for 10 minutes.
- Portion: This recipe should yield about 10 tortillas. Using your hands grab about 3 tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball, it should form about the size of a golf ball.
- Press: Line your kitchen counter with a 12-inch piece of plastic wrap. Place one dough ball in the center of the plastic wrap. Pull out the second sheet of 12-inch plastic wrap and place it on top of the dough ball. Using your cast iron dish or frying pan, press down on the dough and slightly swivel. Remove the pan and you should have a perfectly flat, round piece of dough.Here's your test, if the top plastic pulls away from the dough easily, you are good to go! If it sticks, the dough is too wet. Roll the balls back into one large ball and sprinkle with more masa harina.
- Cook the Tortillas: Heat a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Once your pan is hot, peel the first piece of flattened dough away from the bottom plastic wrap. I find it easiest to flip the dough onto my hand, so the plastic wrap is now on top, and peel it away. Cook each tortilla for 1 minute on each side. You will know the tortilla is ready to flip when the spots of brown appear on the tortilla.Don't be alarmed if the tortilla bubbles up when cooking the second side, that's good!Repeat this same steps until all tortillas are cooked. I recommend pressing the next tortilla while one is cooking, that way the dough balls don't dry out sitting on the counter.
- Keep the tortillas warm: After each tortilla cooks, place it in a clean dry kitchen towel and fold the towel over it to keep covered. Add each tortilla to the stack inside the towel as they cook. The tortillas will soften as they warm in the towel.
- Serve: Serve the tortillas as soon as they are all cooked up for ultimate freshness!
- Leftovers: If you have excess and need to store and enjoy later, store in a ziploc back with all excess air pressed out. Tortillas can last up to 2-3 days in the fridge. To reheat, avoid the microwave as they will dry out and crack. Instead reheat on a the stove, in a frying pan, for about 20 seconds on each side at medium heat.