Make thick and fluffy flour tortillas with this easy to follow recipe. Requires no special equipment! Enjoy restaurant style tortillas in your own home! This post contains affiliate shopping links which help support this site.
Thick and Fluffy Flour Tortillas
I used to live for trips to Mexican restaurants that made thick, fresh tortillas from scratch. I'd hardly care what I ordered, so long as I could receive a steady supply of stacks upon stacks of tortillas.
Thick, restaurant style tortillas are so very different from the thin, tasteless packaged tortillas you get in the grocery store. That's hardly a tortilla at all in my book.
Some Mexican restaurants are even switching to corn tortillas, like Frontera Cocina down here at Disney Springs in Orlando.
Don't get me wrong; I adore corn tortillas, but there will always be a place in my heart for the fluffiest, thickest flour tortillas.
So, years ago, I looked up a recipe for tortillas made without lard. This was literally almost a decade ago. I jotted down the basics of the recipe and have been working to master it ever since. I wish I knew the original source, but, alas, it's been lost to time.
So although I'm usually very good about citing my sources, I'll have to let this one go. If you happen to recognize it, let me know and I'll give credit. (UPDATE 1/25/2016: A savvy reader recognized this from Homesick Texan! Mystery solved!)
If you like Mexican food, I must also encourage you to seek out one of the great gems of Mexico: Mexican Coca-Cola. Our local grocery stores carry it in 6-packs of glass bottles. It's made with sugar instead of corn syrup, and yes it tastes totally different. It's the champagne of cola!
Please do yourself the favor of finding it, chilling it, and sipping it straight (no dilution with ice, please).
Tips for Making Tortillas
There are a few tricks that will make your tortilla efforts a lot easier. These tips will help keep you from making all the mistakes I've made over the years!
- Measure carefully. It is far better to start with too little flour than too much, because too much flour cannot be corrected once mixed. Too much flour equals tough, hard-to-roll-out tortillas.
- Rest the tortillas for the full period of time suggested in the recipe. Too little rest = too tough to roll out.
- Let your skillet preheat for 5 minutes before cooking. A pan that's not hot enough will not cook the tortilla properly, leaving it pale and gummy.
- Don't leave the balls of dough exposed, or they will quickly begin to dry and become harder to roll out.
- As you cook the tortillas, put the finished ones in a stack on a plate and cover loosely with a sheet of foil. That will keep them warm and moist. Or get yourself a handy tortilla keeper—this one is made in the USA and is BPA-free, melamine-free, and microwaveable (for reheating tortillas as needed).
Thick and Fluffy Flour Tortillas Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour (for gluten free see note)
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil or your preferred vegetable oil
- ¾ cup warm milk
Instructions
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Stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Drizzle with the olive oil and stir again. Add the milk and stir, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl, until dough comes together. It should be a little sticky, but not extremely sticky. If it is extremely sticky, sprinkle on a tiny bit of flour until it is just a little sticky.
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Knead dough for 2 minutes, then form it into a large ball. Place in a clean bowl and cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest for 20 minutes.
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Cut the dough into 8 equal sections and roll each section into a ball. Place the dough balls back in the bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let it rest for 15 minutes.
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Heat a nonstick skillet on medium low for 5 minutes. While you are preheating the skillet, roll out a dough ball into a round shape, as thin as you can manage without making it so thin it will tear.
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Place the tortilla in the skillet. Wait 30 seconds or so until the tortilla puffs up, and the side facing down has little golden brown spots. Flip it. Cook another 30 seconds or so until a few golden brown spots appear. Put on a plate and cover loosely with foil (add your cooked tortillas to this stack as you go, so they stay warm and moist until ready to serve).
Recipe Notes
To make these tortillas gluten free (yes, I've done it many times and it works perfectly), substitute Cup4Cup Multipurpose flour for the all purpose flour.
If you like Mexican food, also try these recipes from my collection:
I really like your recipe. I use it when makes tapas for parties. They are perfect size. My regular tortillas recipe is 1 3/4c flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp (fresh) baking powder, 1/3 c crisco or Manteca, 1 c warm water. I rest my dough 1 hr. Make 8 balls, rest them 15 min. Roll & cook. They bubble beautifully and are soft and flakey. Cheers
Hi Dianna,
I'm so glad you like them! They really are a favorite in my house, too. I will have to give your recipe a whirl. Cheers!
Katie
I am no cook, chef, baker, whathaveyou - but I ran out of tortillas and couldn’t get to the store...had all the ingredients for our burrito-esque dish but no more tortillas! I was in a pinch. Stumbled upon this recipe and took a shot at it. They turned out amazing. Everyone was shocked. 7 perfectly fluffy and yummy tortillas! (I always mess up the first one that goes into the pan...just can’t get the heat and oil right I think) but nevertheless I’ve made these several times since and the family loves them. (Still can’t nail that first one...)
I'm from San Antonio but live in Atlanta, and the tortillas available here are trash. Thus, began my search for a recipe for good, thick tortillas. I've used several recipes over the years, but they never created tortillas that were as fluffy as I wanted them to be. This recipe, however, did the trick. They turned out very well! A few comments I have:
1) Make sure to roll out the dough very thin because they really puff up. My first 2-3 tortillas were actually too thick (Who knew that was possible?).
2) The dough is decently sticky, so I had to use more flour when rolling out the tortillas than I recall doing with other recipes.
3) This will now be my go-to tortilla recipe.
This looks good. Interestingly, where I come from we call this sada roti.
I make tortillas at least once a month. I was looking for a way to make them a little fluffier and came across this recipe. I will try these tonight, as I'm cooking beans right now. I place my finished tortillas in foil as well, but even if I only tent them underneath the foil they still accumulate condensation from the steam and get kinda wet. Consequently, I place a small square of paper towel between each one. Problem solved.
I’m from Texas and love Tex Mex. which usually includes fluffy tortillas like this. I tried the recipe and they turned out good. My usual recipe is a lot easier (less wait time & easier to roll) but this recipe may be worth the extra 35 min. The dough was a little tough to roll but I thinknjya just because I’m comparing to my original recipe which includes 1 cup of HOT water. Thank you for sharing!
When I cook my tortillas, I place them on a towel that folds over the top of the pile. Then when all are cooked, and while still warm, I place them in a zip lock bag. This helps keep them soft, and I have never had them get soggy.
Hi! Can evaporated milk be used?
I'd thin it out to the ratio of regular milk by combining evaporated milk and water in a 50/50 ratio.
I have made these once and my husband loved them. I was curious if you have ever froze the dough?
No, I haven't frozen the dough- I'd be curious to know if it works!
hi there, i want to make these vegan. if i use soy milk or oat milk, would that be a fine replacement?
I haven't tried it with tortillas, but I often swap in a nondairy milk (usually unsweet coconut milk beverage) when I make other breads, so it might just work. If you try it, let me know how it goes!
Love that idea! So I tried it with original soy milk. I chose that because it has just about the same sugar content as cow’s milk, as well as a similar amount of protein. The consistency is also similar. Next time I will probably do full-fat oat milk, since oat milk is all the rage these days and it’s great for baked goods. The soy milk was great though! No difference between using that and using milk IMO. Plus, better for lactose intolerant folks and/or vegans! I made two vegan breakfast tacos with vegan egg and vegan bacon and vegan cheese and a spicy green sauce from Taco Deli here in Austin. So good. Then I buttered a third tortilla with Earth Balance and sprinkled it with cinnamon and sugar. The tortillas were super thick and fluffy. Yum!
Dang, that sounds delicious!
After trying several other flour tortilla recipes....this was THE ONE I've been searching for! After living years in Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico and moving to Mississippi past 10 years, I've missed Tex Mex Restaurants that make fresh fluffy tortillas! But, not anymore and needless to say I've stopped buying store-bought tortillas, never going back! This recipe is precisely written for a reason, follow the tipsand directions carefully and you'll be amazed at the wonderful texture and flavor! As for aspiring to roll them into perfect circles, they taste so good, nobody will care what shape they come out!
Can you store these at room temperature?
Temporarily. I'd go with standard food safety limits - 2 hours at room temperature maximum, then store in the fridge.
I have finally found THE tortilla recipe that I LOVE! Thank you! These were so delicious and soft and fluffy! Made them following all instructions and they did not disappoint!!! I can finally make tortillas that would impress my mother-in-law! She makes excellent tortillas, but these are so much thicker and softer. I also feel good about not eating all that lard.
Mexican Schmexican. Nope. Fill with Spam, Potato, and Egg. That there is the A-Bomb Schizzle.
I am about to try this recipe, very excited but I have one question, my grandma, who recently passed, used to make the best tortillas! They were very thick, fluffy and soft. She told me the secret is butter but not sure what the butter would replace in this recipe or can I just add it as an extra ingredient?
I would play it safe by substituting it for half of the olive oil. So, 1 teaspoon of melted butter and 1 teaspoon of olive oil. That way you get some butter flavor but also the liquidity of the olive oil. If it works well, you can try substituting butter for all of the oil next time.
If you're ever in the Des Moines, Iowa area, find your way to one of the Tasty Taco locations and order an original flour taco. I guarantee you will be getting another one! They use a great puffy flour taco, and the combination is a religious experience!
That sounds fantastic!
Yes! I'm from Des Moines, Iowa too and these look like Tasty Tacos before they deep fat fry them yum! Thanks so much for the great fluffy tortillas recipe!
I usually never comment on recipes but I actually can’t believe how good they are!!! Saving this recipe for the rest of my life!! Amazing recipe and so easy. Next time I will add more salt just my preference. I do have a question though after making the balls does it alter them in any way to leave them for more than 15 mins?
They might get drier and harder to roll out - but a few minutes extra probably won't make much of a difference. Hope this helps!
Will a non dairy milk work?
It should work fine. I'd avoid any of the flavored non dairy milks (the ones that taste like vanilla) and stick to the more neutral-tasting ones.