My family loves my easy homemade tortillas that only need 5 ingredients — and that's including water (2024)

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The ingredients are as basic as they come.

As I said, I usually already have all the ingredients I need to make tortillas in my kitchen on any given day.

For one batch, you'll need:

• 3 cups of all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon of baking powder

• ½ teaspoon of salt

• 6 tablespoons of olive oil

• 1 cup of lukewarm water

As far as equipment goes, you can make these tortillas with just a large mixing bowl, a spoon, a rolling pin, and a frying pan. But I like using a stand mixer and a flat electric griddle to make things easier.

Start by mixing the dry ingredients.

Combine the flour, salt, and baking powder in the stand-mixer bowl and use a large spoon or the dough hook on low to mix them together.

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Run the mixer on low and add the wet ingredients.

Once the dry ingredients are combined, I like to turn the mixer on low and add the olive oil followed by the water.

Run the mixer at its low speed for one to two minutes, stopping as soon as a cohesive ball has formed.

If a lot of powder is still sitting at the bottom after about a minute, you can dribble a bit more water down the sides of the mixing bowl.

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Form the dough into balls and let them rest on a floured surface.

Once you have a cohesive dough, it's time to make lots of little dough balls.

This recipe makes about 16 small tortillas (great for tacos), eight larger tortillas (for burritos or wraps), or five or six huge burrito wraps.

Either way, form even dough balls and set them out on a lightly floured, nonporous, hard surface. Turn the balls to coat them and gently press them into thick discs.

Cover the dough with a clean kitchen towel and leave it alone for 30 minutes.

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Roll out the tortillas to prep them for the pan.

Once the dough balls have had time to rest, uncover them and prepare a new lightly floured surface.

Using a rolling pin, roll each ball into a thin, round sheet. To preserve the round shape, it's best to roll in four directions — start by rolling away from yourself, then roll perpendicular and to the left, then roll toward yourself, then roll perpendicular and to the right.

The tortillas should only be about 2 or 3 millimeters thick.

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The cooking process goes by really quickly.

I've made this recipe enough that I feel comfortable rolling and cooking simultaneously, saving me some extra time. But it's probably easier to get everything rolled out first if you're a beginner.

Regardless, each raw tortilla goes into the pan or onto the griddle for one minute before getting flipped. Then the other side cooks for less than 30 seconds.

I always aim for some brown spots, but I don't want the exterior to be crisp (unless I'm making chips). Keep a close eye, every batch cooks slightly differently.

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Let the tortillas cool and enjoy them while they're fresh.

Move the cooked tortillas to a cooling rack, a stack of paper towels, or a plate, and enjoy them as soon as possible.

If you're saving them for later that day, don't stack them in a tortilla warmer — that can make them gummy. Instead, layer them with parchment paper or paper towels and place them on a plate in the fridge.

You can quickly reheat them on the stove or in the microwave, or you can enjoy them cold as a wrap.

These tortillas are best when fresh, but they will keep in the fridge for about five days and can freeze for months. Just make sure to put parchment paper layers between them.

I also like changing things up a bit sometimes by swapping out 1 cup of flour for masa (corn flour). With either recipe, you can also let them cook a little longer and make homemade chips.