I love homemade corn tortillas. I often will make these for taco night around here. They are really simple to make at home.
What you need to make Homemade Corn Tortillas
You only need two ingredients to make these Corn Tortillas. Masa Flour and Water. That’s it! I do salt my flour a little bit so I guess 3 ingredients if you include that. It is also handy to have a tortilla press. If you don’t have one, you could use a rolling pin, or even a heavy-bottomed pan to press the dough. You also need a little plastic wrap or plastic food bags to cover your press so that the dough does not stick. I use two freezer bags and save and re-use them for tortillas. You will also need a non-stick skillet and annother thing that is wonderful to have on hand when making these corn tortillas is a tortilla warmer, you can make do with something similar in your kitchen, but they are really affordable and easy to find. The best ones are honestly the styrofoam ones, they work the best. This one on Amazon is what you are looking for –Styrofoam Tortilla Warmer
You can likely shop around for a better price, they are pretty inexpensive and handy to have around for taco nights.
What is Masa Flour
Masa Flour is corn flour that has been treated with lime. You can find it in any Mexican market, or most well-stocked grocery stores sell it these days too. It is a great flour to have around to make corn tortillas, pupusas, empanadas, tamales, etc.
The brand I typically find is this one.
How to make Homemade Corn Tortillas
Pour some of the Masa Flour into a large bowl. Add in a little salt and stir around to mix. Then add in hot water a little at a time and work it with your hands to form a dough similar in consistency to cookie dough. Keep adding water and mixing until you get the right consistency. The flour really absorbs the hot water, so go by feel with your hands until you reach the right consistency. It will kind of look like this. I haven’t included exact measurements, however, there will be measurements usually on the back of the masa flour bag. Go by feel though, that is the best way. Start with roughly a couple of cups of the flour a pinch of salt and add water as needed.
Once your dough is good. Wrap it tightly in cling wrap and let it rest for about 20 minutes.
Once you are ready to roll. Get out your tortilla press, covered with some plastic so that the tortillas don’t stick.
Form a small ball and place it in the center of the press. Like this.
Make sure you keep your dough tightly wrapped as you do this or covered with a damp tea towel as it dries out quickly.
Have a hot dry non-stick pan ready. Keep it around medium heat.
Press your tortilla. Try to get it as thin as you can without it breaking (so you can still handle). If you mess up you can redo don’t worry. It will look like this. This one is a bit thicker than I like to try for. Sometimes my first few aren’t as great as the following. It takes a little practice to get going.
Once you have this done. Carefully remove the tortilla (they are delicate), let your plastic wrap help you. Carefully place into the hot dry pan.
Let it cook on one side for about 2-3 minutes until the edges look like they are starting to dry.
Flip and let cook on the other side for another couple of minutes.
Flip again. Let cook for another minute. If you do it right, your tortilla should poof a little with air (this is a good sign). If it doesn’t don’t worry, sometimes it takes a few tries to get the hang of it. Once that happens, remove and place in a tortilla warmer, this will finish the ‘cooking’ process as it steams a bit further in there to the proper consistency.
Repeat with the rest of your dough until done.
If you like this recipe you should try: Mushroom Poblano Tacos
