How to Make Homemade Flour Tortillas: Soft, Thin and Flaky

Not every proper Mexican taco begins with corn. I have spent a lot of time talking about nixtamal, masa harina and the importance of a freshly cooked corn tortilla. And I stand by every word. Corn tortillas are one of the foundations of Mexican cooking, and learning to make them properly completely changes the way you understand tacos and taco craft.

But Mexico is far too large and regionally diverse to have only one tortilla story.

Travel north towards Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango and Sinaloa, and wheat flour tortillas become an essential part of the local food culture. Here, a soft, buttery tortilla wrapped around carne asada, machaca, beans or cheese is not an international adaptation or a concession to European tastes. It is northern Mexican tradition.

And for anyone cooking Mexican food in Europe, homemade flour tortillas offer another advantage: the ingredients are wonderfully accessible. You do not need to locate masa harina or start your own nixtamalisation experiment. You need flour, water, salt and fat.

The technique is simple, but the details matter. Roll the dough very thin, cook it quickly and avoid developing too much gluten. Do this properly and you get a tortilla that is tender, flexible, lightly flaky and incomparably better than the heavy supermarket wraps that have unfortunately given flour tortillas a rather boring reputation.

My test version was served with avocado crema and berenjenas a la Veracruz enriched with lentils. See my aubergine a la Veracruz recipe in the Tortas post. It’s rich, tangy, fresh and properly satisfying. Delicious.

What Is a Flour Tortilla?

A flour tortilla is a thin Mexican flatbread made primarily from wheat flour, water, salt and fat. The traditional fat is often lard or vegetable shortening, although I think butter or coconut oil also produce excellent results.

In English, the terms flour tortilla and wheat tortilla generally describe the same thing. “Flour tortilla” is the more widely searched phrase, while “wheat tortilla” helps distinguish it from a tortilla made with nixtamalised corn.

Wheat arrived in Mexico after the Spanish conquest, and Mexican flour tortillas probably began developing during the second half of the 16th century. They became particularly established in northern regions where wheat cultivation was more practical and where corn tortillas did not already occupy quite the same dominant cultural position as they did in Mesoamerica.

The result was not simply European bread copied into Mexican cooking. Wheat was transformed into something compatible with the existing tortilla culture: a circular flatbread cooked rapidly on a comal and used to accompany food, fold around fillings and become tacos, quesadillas and burritos.

Flour Tortillas in Northern Mexican Cooking

Flour tortillas are particularly associated with northern Mexico, but there is no single universal northern tortilla.

In Sonora, tortillas can be exceptionally large, fine and almost translucent. Some traditional Sonoran tortillas reach around 50 centimetres across and are folded for storage or sale.

In Coahuila, they are often smaller and slightly thicker.

In Chihuahua, some cooks include baking powder, creating a softer and more inflated tortilla.

Baja California also has its own large, thin versions, particularly around Puerto Nuevo.

That diversity is important. There is no need to argue that a tortilla must always be exactly 15 centimetres wide, completely round or made from one particular fat. Regional Mexican food rarely works like that.

My preferred version sits somewhere between a small taco tortilla and a larger Sonoran-style tortilla. It is thin, soft and buttery, but sturdy enough to hold a generous filling. And when it puffs, the tortilla becomes flaky and so delicious!

Which Mexican Tacos Traditionally Use Flour Tortillas?

Corn remains extremely important throughout Mexico, including in the north. Carne asada tacos in Sonora, for example, may be served with either corn or flour tortillas depending on the cook, taquería and local preference.

However, several northern dishes are particularly closely connected with flour tortillas.

Carne asada tacos

Freshly grilled beef, chopped and served with onion, salsa, guacamole and lime, is one of the most natural partners for a flour tortilla. In Sonora, carne asada is not merely a filling but part of a wider social ritual built around fire, family and sharing food. Tacos de carne asada with flour tortillas are widely associated with Sonoran cooking.

Machaca and machaca con huevo

Machaca is dried, pounded or shredded meat, often cooked with tomato, onion, chilli and sometimes eggs. It may be served beside warm flour tortillas or rolled inside them as a breakfast taco or small burrito. Machaca, carne seca and handmade flour tortillas are central elements of the food traditions of Sonora, Chihuahua and neighbouring northern states.

Discada tacos

Discada is a generous mixed-meat preparation traditionally cooked on a large metal disc. Recipes may combine beef, pork, chorizo, bacon, onion, tomato and green chilli. In northern Mexico it is commonly spooned into flour tortillas and served with a punchy salsa.

Tacos caramelo

A Sonoran taco caramelo combines a large flour tortilla with grilled beef, melted cheese and green chilli. It is rich, smoky and a good example of how naturally flour tortillas work with grilled meat and cheese.

Burritos and burritas

A traditional northern Mexican burrito is usually much simpler and more restrained than the enormous international versions filled with rice, lettuce and half the kitchen.

It is fundamentally a flour tortilla rolled around a filling such as beans, carne con chile, machaca, cheese or stewed meat. Burritos are particularly associated with Chihuahua, Sonora and northern border cooking.

Montados

The Chihuahuan montado begins with a large flour tortilla topped with beans and asadero cheese, followed by fillings such as carne asada, chile colorado or chile pasado. It sits somewhere between an open taco, a quesadilla and a very serious breakfast.

This does not mean that every northern taco must use wheat or that every taco made with wheat is automatically traditional. It simply means that flour tortillas belong to Mexican cooking just as confidently as corn tortillas do.

For the wider definition of a taco and its many regional formats, read my guide, What Is a Taco?

Why Flour Tortillas Make Sense for European Home Cooks

There is another reason I think flour tortillas deserve more attention. For many European cooks, wheat is simply more familiar. We understand flatbreads, wraps, lavash, piadina and thinly rolled doughs. Plain wheat flour is also available almost everywhere, while good masa harina can still require a specialist shop or an online order.

The flavour of a wheat tortilla is mild, buttery and bread-like. This makes it an easy bridge into Mexican cooking, but it also creates room for Mexi-terranean combinations that might feel less obvious on corn.

Think about:

• grilled aubergine, lentils and avocado crema;
• halloumi, charred peppers and salsa macha;
• mushrooms, refried beans and smoky chipotle sauce;
• scrambled eggs, potatoes, greens and salsa roja;
• grilled fish, crunchy cabbage and lime crema;
• roast chicken, herbs, avocado and jalapeño salsa.

The tortilla may feel familiar, but the taco still needs balance. Use my Taco Craft system to consider protein, richness, acidity, crunch, heat and the tortilla itself before adding everything within reach.

Homemade Flour Tortilla Recipe

This recipe makes eight small taco tortillas, approximately 15–17 centimetres in diameter.

You can divide the same dough differently:

• 8 pieces: small tortillas for tacos
• 6 pieces: medium tortillas for quesadillas or larger tacos
• 4 pieces: large tortillas for burritos

The exact size will depend on how thinly you roll them.

Ingredients

• 190 g plain flour, approximately 1½ cups
• 42 g softened full-fat butter, approximately 3 tablespoons
• ½ teaspoon fine salt
• 120 ml warm water, approximately ½ cup, added gradually

Different brands of flour absorb water differently. Begin with slightly less water and add the remainder only until the dough becomes soft, smooth and pliable without feeling wet.

Equipment

• Food processor with a dough attachment, or a mixing bowl
• Rolling pin
• Two pieces of greaseproof paper
• Neutral oil for lightly coating the paper
• Comal, cast-iron pan or non-stick frying pan
• Clean kitchen towel

How to Make Flour Tortillas

1. Combine the flour and butter

Place the flour, butter and salt in a food processor.

Blend briefly until the butter is evenly dispersed through the flour. You are not trying to whip or melt the butter. It should coat the flour and create a soft, sandy-looking mixture.

You can also do this by hand, rubbing the butter into the flour with your fingertips.

2. Add the warm water

With the processor running, gradually add most of the warm water.

Mix with the dough attachment for approximately 15–20 seconds, stopping as soon as the mixture comes together into a soft dough.

Do not continue kneading simply because the machine is doing all the work. Excessive mixing develops more gluten, which can make the tortillas elastic, springy and chewier.

Turn the dough onto your work surface and knead it by hand for only a few seconds. It should feel soft and elastic but should not stick heavily to your fingers.

3. Divide and rest the dough

Divide the dough into eight equal portions for taco-sized tortillas. Each portion should weigh approximately 43–45 grams.

Roll each piece into a smooth ball and keep the portions covered so that their surfaces do not dry out.

Rest them for 15–20 minutes. This resting period allows the flour to hydrate and the gluten to relax, making the dough much easier to roll.

I find a short rest in the refrigerator particularly useful when the kitchen is warm or the butter has become very soft. If the dough becomes too firm, leave it at room temperature for a few minutes before rolling.

4. Roll the tortillas very thinly

Unlike corn masa, wheat dough is elastic. A tortilla press can give you a reasonably circular starting shape, but it will rarely stretch the dough as thinly as required.

For that reason, I recommend using a rolling pin.

Cut two pieces of greaseproof paper and lightly oil the sides that will touch the dough. Use only a thin film of oil: enough to prevent sticking, but not enough to make the tortilla greasy.

Place one dough ball between the sheets and roll from the centre outwards, rotating the paper regularly.

Roll it as thinly and evenly as possible. A very thin tortilla produces the delicate, lightly flaky texture we want. Thick areas remain doughy and chewy, while thin edges can burn, so try to keep the thickness consistent.

Carefully peel the upper paper away. Turn the tortilla over and peel off the second piece rather than trying to pull the soft tortilla directly from it.

Do not forget to oil the inside surfaces of the paper. I have made that mistake, and separating the tortilla afterwards becomes considerably more dramatic than this recipe needs to be.

5. Heat the comal

Heat an ungreased comal, cast-iron pan or heavy frying pan over medium-high heat.

Allow it to become properly hot before cooking the first tortilla. You want enough heat to produce bubbles quickly, but not so much that the outside burns before steam can develop inside.

There is no need to oil the pan. The dough already contains sufficient fat.

6. Cook quickly and watch the timing

Place one tortilla on the hot comal.

Cook the first side for approximately 15–20 seconds, or until small bubbles begin appearing and a few light brown spots form underneath.

Flip and cook the second side for another 15–20 seconds.

Flip it once more. During this final stage, the tortilla should begin inflating in places and may puff almost completely.

A tortilla does not have to inflate like a balloon to be delicious, but puffing is an excellent sign. It shows that steam has become trapped between thin layers of dough rather than escaping through dry or uneven sections.

Fast cooking on a properly heated surface helps flour tortillas remain tender. Leaving them on the pan for too long dries them out and creates a tougher, more leathery texture.

Let each cooked tortilla air for a few seconds, then place it beneath a clean kitchen towel. This keeps it warm and allows residual steam to soften it without leaving the surfaces excessively wet.

Repeat with the remaining dough balls.

How to Make Flour Tortillas Puff

The puff did not come easily to me at first. I kept wondering what I was doing wrong.

These are the points that made the biggest difference:

Roll them thinner

A thick or uneven tortilla has difficulty trapping steam consistently. Aim for a thin, nearly translucent round with no heavy patches.

Do not overcook the first side

When the first side becomes fully browned and dry, the tortilla loses the flexibility required to expand. Flip early. You can always cook it for a few extra seconds later.

Use the right heat

A cold pan dries the tortilla slowly. An excessively hot one burns it before the centre cooks. Medium-high heat is the best starting point, but every pan and hob behaves slightly differently.

Keep the dough covered

A dry skin can prevent the layers from expanding evenly. Keep all unrolled dough balls covered until you need them.

Do not overwork the dough

When the dough becomes very elastic, it repeatedly springs back while you roll and produces a more bread-like chew. Mix only until combined, then give it enough time to rest.

Which Fat Makes the Best Flour Tortillas?

Traditional northern Mexican recipes commonly use lard or vegetable shortening. Both produce flexible tortillas with good keeping qualities.

For this particular recipe, however, I tested three readily available fats: vegetable margarine, refined coconut oil and full-fat butter.

Vegetable margarine

The texture was acceptable, but the tortillas had a slightly artificial aroma and a more yellow appearance. Different brands will behave differently, but mine did not produce the clean flavour I wanted.

Refined coconut oil

The result was also perfectly usable, and refined coconut oil did not introduce a strong coconut flavour. However, the finished tortillas felt slightly greasier.

It could work as a plant-based alternative, but I would reduce the amount a little and add it cautiously.

Butter

Butter produced my favourite result: tender, lightly flaky tortillas with a clean, rich flavour.

It is not the only valid choice and it is not the traditional fat in every region of northern Mexico. But for a European home kitchen and the type of fillings I am developing, it worked beautifully.

Why Did My Other Flour Tortilla Recipe Turn Out Dense?

I also tested a larger norteña-style formula (as described in the Nortena cookbook) using approximately:

• 500 g flour
• 250 ml warm water
• 100 g fat
• 1 tablespoon salt
• optional baking powder

The tortillas were usable, but the texture was more springy, dense and bread-like than in my preferred recipe.

My best explanation is that several factors were working together.

The larger recipe had proportionally less water, so the dough began firmer. It may also have been kneaded for too long, developing more gluten and making the portions repeatedly contract while being rolled. Baking powder can create a softer, puffier tortilla, but it can also move the texture away from the delicate, flaky style I was trying to achieve.

Regional recipes using baking powder are entirely valid, Chihuahuan flour tortillas often include it, but they create a different style of tortilla.

For my preferred texture, the winning formula was:

• slightly higher hydration;
• plenty of butter;
• very short mixing;
• sufficient resting;
• extremely thin rolling;
• fast cooking.

Filling Inspiration for Homemade Flour Tortillas

Once you have your warm tortillas, the obvious problem is that you will want to eat one immediately with nothing more than butter or beans. That is perfectly reasonable. But here are several more complete directions.

Northern Mexican inspiration

Fill them with carne asada, machaca con huevo, discada, carne con chile, beans and cheese, or grilled mushrooms with green chilli.

Keep the toppings controlled: a good salsa, some onion, coriander, lime and perhaps avocado. Flour tortillas are richer than corn tortillas, so they do not always need a very creamy or overloaded filling.

Mexi-terranean vegetable tacos

Try roasted aubergine, courgette, mushrooms or peppers with beans or lentils, then add something acidic and spicy.

A tahini-chipotle sauce, avocado crema, salsa macha or salsa verde can connect the Mediterranean ingredients with the Mexican structure. See more examples of my favourite sauces on the Salsa Magic page.

Breakfast tacos

Flour tortillas are particularly good with eggs because their tender texture catches all the soft, rich filling.

Try scrambled eggs with potatoes, mushrooms, spinach, beans, salsa or a little cheese. Machaca con huevo is the northern Mexican reference, but the format can easily support a flexitarian breakfast.

Fish and seafood

Use grilled fish, prawns or tuna with citrus, crunchy cabbage and a bright salsa. Avoid excessively wet fillings: flour tortillas absorb liquid differently from corn and can become heavy when drowned in sauce. I particularly like baja fish tacos in wheat tortillas as there is quite enough of crunch in the filling!

My Test: Aubergines a la Veracruz with Lentils

For this batch, I served a properly puffed flour tortilla with avocado crema and berenjenas a la Veracruz, enriched with lentils.

The aubergine brought softness and savoury depth. The lentils added protein, texture and substance. Tomato, capers and olives supplied acidity and salinity, while the avocado crema rounded everything out.

This is exactly where flour tortillas become exciting for my Mexi-terranean cooking.

The filling has recognisable Mediterranean elements, but the tortilla, salsa logic and taco construction pull it firmly towards Mexico. It feels familiar without becoming predictable.

And, most importantly, it eats like a proper taco rather than a collection of healthy ingredients placed inside a wrap.

How to Store and Reheat Flour Tortillas

Homemade flour tortillas are best eaten warm on the day they are made.

Let any leftovers cool completely before placing them in an airtight container. Refrigerate them and reheat each tortilla briefly on a hot, dry pan until flexible and warm again.

Avoid reheating them for too long. A few seconds on each side is normally sufficient. The longer they cook, the more moisture they lose.

They can also be wrapped together and warmed gently in the oven.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are flour tortillas authentically Mexican?

Yes. Flour tortillas are a well-established part of northern Mexican cuisine, particularly in states including Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango and Sinaloa. They have been part of Mexican regional cooking for centuries.

Are corn or flour tortillas better for tacos?

Neither is universally better.

Corn tortillas bring distinctive maize flavour, aroma and structure. Flour tortillas are softer, richer and particularly suited to northern Mexican fillings, grilled foods, breakfast tacos and larger rolled formats.

The correct choice depends on the taco.

Do I need a tortilla press for flour tortillas?

No. A tortilla press works particularly well with non-elastic corn masa. Wheat dough contains gluten and tends to contract after pressing, so a rolling pin normally produces a thinner flour tortilla.

Why are my flour tortillas chewy?

The most likely causes are excessive kneading, insufficient resting, rolling them too thickly or cooking them for too long.

Do flour tortillas need baking powder?

No. Many recipes contain no raising agent at all. Baking powder can create a softer, puffier and slightly breadier tortilla, and it appears in some regional northern recipes, particularly in Chihuahua. My preferred thin and flaky version does not require it.

Can I make these flour tortillas without butter?

Yes. Lard, vegetable shortening, margarine or refined coconut oil can all be used, although each changes the aroma, tenderness and richness. For this recipe, butter gave me the most consistent result.

The Verdict on Wheat Tortillas

Corn tortillas remain essential to my taco craft. Their flavour, cultural importance and connection with nixtamal cannot be replaced by wheat. But I’m not saying that flour tortillas need to replace them. Wheat tortillas represent another important regional expression of Mexican cooking, and an exceptionally useful one for people cooking far away from Mexico. They are accessible, flexible and surprisingly easy to make. They also provide a familiar starting point for European cooks who may feel uncertain about masa, while opening up a whole range of northern Mexican and Mexi-terranean combinations.

There are a few very important things to keep in mind: roll them very thin, do not overwork the dough and flip them before you think they are ready.

And when the tortilla suddenly inflates on the comal, enjoy the moment. That little puff means taco dinner is about to become considerably more delicious.

[Tacos Craft | Tortillas and Masa | Salsa Magic]

Here are my most used and loved tools and ingredients for joyful Mexican cooking:

Masa harina for tortillas: Masienda, Bob’s Red Mill, Maseca

Chillies: Chipotle, Ancho, Guajillo, Tajin

Tools: Tortilla Press, Ninja blender, Global knives.