Homemade corn tortillas 101 - easy recipe (2024)

Okay so I used to buy corn tortillas in packets from the store and they are good, don’t get wrong I won’t throw shade at them. However once I started making them at home there was no going back. The recipe doesn’t require a lot in terms of ingredients or equipment. There are a lot of pressure points to keep in mind if you are making corn tortillas at home for the first time, so lets get to it.

What are the types of tortillas?

Before we talk about corn tortillas, let us talk about the different types of tortillas. Now let us understand that a tortilla is made of a flour and liquid. In most cases there are 2 main tortillas, first being corn masa and hot water and second being all purpose flour and water. But there are many varieties using different flours and liquids.

Which is better, flour to corn tortillas?

A lot of recipes based on the type of tortilla you are using. There is not such thing as one being better than the other. They are both good and used for different purposes. However the corn tortillas are gluten free while the flour tortillas have gluten in them hence the corn tortillas are good for allergy based diets. I personally love the corn tortillas as I LOVE corn in general.

What are the main ingredients to make tortillas?

Corn tortillas –

We need masa harina, hot water and salt. It doesn’t need much as mentioned above but these ingredients cannot be substituted.

Flour tortillas –

All purpose flour, hot water and salt. Now, you can make gluten free options using gluten free flour mix cup for cup measure or bread flour, spelt flour as well. They work well but it depends on the recipe you are using.

Here are some FAQs about Homemade Corn Tortillas:

What is masa harina?

Masa Harina is dried corn turned into flour which is then turned into a dough. It is an ingredient essential to Mexican cuisine in many dishes. Sometimes it is referred to as corn flour but don’t mistake it to be corn starch. Masa harina flour is treated with calcium hydroxide or lime which helps make it more easy to digest by releasing niacin in the corn. You can find it online for sure but it is available in large retail supermarkets.

Can I use cornmeal/corn flour instead of masa harina?

To make authentic corn tortillas you cannot use cornmeal or corn flour as it will not have the same texture and over flavor as well.

Do you need a tortilla press to make corn tortillas?

I have been making corn tortillas for over 2 years now and only recently bought a tortilla press. Hence you do not need a tortilla press to make homemade corn tortillas. It is easy and simple to make at home. I would recommend using a glass dish casserole and a heavy bottom pan to press the masa dough together creating a flat tortilla. You could use a heat chopping board, or even a heavy book. You will need plastic wrappers. wax paper or baking paper between the tortilla two the it doesn’t stick to the surface and comes off easily. If you want, you could roll it with a rolling pin just place it between two sheets of plastic so that it doesn’t stick.

How to make homemade corn tortilla?

We add the masa harina in 3/4 of the hot water. Let this sit for 5 minutes. It needs to hydrate before we knead it together. As we start kneading the dough should come together, now if it is to crumbly, add 1/4th of the remaining water little at a time, kneading well until it forms a soft dough. If the dough is to dry add more water, if it is to wet add more masa.

Form them into balls and cover with a damp tea towel while you begin the pressing/rolling process. We don’t want the dough drying out.

How to cook corn tortilla?

To make the tortillas you could use a tortilla press or choose any of the methods mentioned above. Flatten the dough out and place the tortilla on a hot pan. The easiest way to get the tortilla off the plastic wrap(freezer zip lock bags cut at the zip creating two sheets)/baking paper is to lift it in your hand, peel off one sheet and place the tortilla side down on a hot pan, immediately peeling away the other sheet. As the dough is soft it will stick to the pan which will allow you enough time to peel off the wrap. Cook for 30 seconds on the first side and flip. Cook for another 30-45 seconds, it will puff up. But incase it doesn’t, don’t worry. Just let it cook for 2 minutes maximum.

What makes tortillas soft?

There are a few factors to this, ensuring the dough is not dry therefor making sure the tortillas are not dry so the tortillas will stay soft and not get hard. Another factor to keep the tortillas soft is using a damp tea towel to store the dough balls and the cooked tortillas. The steam from the hot tortillas helps keep them soft. Do not leave them open as they will get hard and dry out.

How to store tortillas?

If you are using the tortillas immediately I would recommend using a tea towel to wrap the tortillas as they are made, the steam will keep them hot. You could use a tortilla warmer if you like. Sometimes I have used kitchen paper towels as well. These freeze well and I would recommend freezing them in zip lock bags for up to 3 weeks. They also keep well in the fridge for 1 week. I wouldn’t recommend storing the masa or tortilla dough balls as they have a tendency to dry out.

How to reheat tortillas?

When ready to eat the tortillas you can reheat them over the stove for a few seconds. You could also stack a few and wrap them in foil, place them int he oven at 180℃ and heat them for 10 minutes or so. They also heat up in the microwave for 10 seconds but I feel the microwave dries them out a bit.

Tips to make it perfect:

• Use masa harina to make these corn tortillas.
• The hot water is essential to hydrate the masa before you start kneading.
• Make sure the dough is soft but not sticky. This will help keep the tortillas soft.
• Cook them for no longer than 2 minutes in total as over cooking can lead to tough and dry tortillas.
• Wrap them in tea towels while hot as the steam will keep them soft and prevent them from drying out.

Trouble shooting-

• Why are my tortillas not puffy?
• Why are my homemade tortillas dry?
• Why do my tortillas keep getting hard?
• Why are my homemade tortillas sticky?
• How to keep homemade tortillas soft?

If you have not hydrated your masa well by letting it sit and by kneading it well, the dough will be dry which would look crumbly. This will give you dry tortillas once cooked. So it starts with the dough. Make sure not to over cook the tortillas as they will get hard and tough as they cool down. If you don’t wrap them as they come off the stove they will not stay soft instead they will dry out. If your dough is sticking to the plastic wrap/baking paper your dough it to wet and it needs more flour. If the tortillas are cracking at the edges its fine however make sure it is not very badly cracking.

If you are looking for a recipe to use the corn tortillas check out my chicken shawarma taco recipe. Now that we have covered how to make these Homemade corn tortillas, you can have a look at the recipe video on my socials but let’s get to it. Don’t forget to follow along for more fun recipe inspiration.

If you try this recipe out, don’t forget to share it with me on instagram so I can see how it turned out. I’d love nothing more than to chat with you on your cooking/baking.