Tortillas are really easy to make! You only need 3 ingredients, a bowl, a spoon, your hands and a frying pan. That's all!
This recipe is gluten, dairy and soy free and it's also vegan. The ingredients are really easy to get: cornmeal, salt and water. So cheap and easy!
We love Mexican cuisine and of course tortillas! But we prefer homemade tortillas. They are so much better than store bought, because you can choose the best ingredients and you make sure there are no chemicals, preservatives and additives in your food.
Authentic Mexican tortillas are made of a special cornmeal called masa harina, but here in Spain it isn't easy to get, so we use cornmeal. If you can use masa harina, lucky you!
These tortillas are perfect for tacos. If you want softer tortillas you can add 40 grams or 1,4 ounces of oil (we use extra virgin olive oil).
We recommend adding the water gradually because it's possible you're gonna need more or less water than us, it depends on the cornmeal you use.
In this photo you can see how we make tortillas, it's sooooo easy. If you don't have a tortilla press don't worry, we used a glass roasting pan.
You can make a lot of wonderful recipes with tortillas, our favorite recipe is baked tortilla chips, they are amazing! And we eat tortilla chips with our vegan cheese, yummy!
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Corn Tortillas (Gluten Free)
Ingredients
- 12 ounces precooked white corn flour
- 2 cups water
- 2 teaspoons salt
Instructions
- Combine cornmeal and salt in a bowl. Add warm water gradually, you maybe need to add more or less water (it depends on the cornmeal you're using). It's important to use warm water, because if the water is cold, tortillas will break and if it's hot the dough will be very chewy. If at any point through the tortilla making process the dough seems too dry or too wet, add a little more water or cornmeal to the dough. You can mix the ingredients with a spoon first, and then you can use your hands. You should knead at least 3 or 5 minutes, or until dough is ready (look at the picture above).
- Take a piece of the dough and shape it into a ball the size of a plum. We made 15 balls from the dough.
- Take two pieces of plastic (we used a freezing bag). Place one piece of plastic on the table, place your dough ball, place another piece of plastic on top and press the tortilla with the glass roaster (or whatever you use). Make tortillas as thin as possible (1 or 2 millimeters or 1/10 inch thick).
- Place each tortilla on a medium hot skillet. Cook for about 1 to 2 minutes on each side, or until the tortilla does not look doughy.
Penny_meads says
i too live in Australia, and recipe failed, second one this week, all because of FLOUR & MEAL saga!i if its flour then I think we know how fine a consistency that is, if it's anything courser then it's meal, or is it?
Culprits here are:- Almond, potato, corn, etc., I have decided. Never to take for granted if the recipe says flour again, it's hard enough being gluten intolerant without so many disappointments.
Iosune says
I'm sorry the recipe didn't work 🙁 I'm not gluten intolerant, but I eat gluten-free most of the time and it's not hard at all, there are so many amazing recipes that work, you just need to find those that work for you!
Francis says
Hi, if this is of any help I used Fioretto Cornmeal, a very fine yellow cornmeal used to make polenta. It worked perfectly even though I didn't pay much attention about the water temperature and they are delicious.
Iosune says
Thanks a lot for your comment Francis 😀 I'm glad you liked the tortillas!
melanie says
Hi, just making your recipe. I live in Spain and have been searching for masa harina. Just found it!! Carrefour is selling it, (I went to the one in Benidorm) and they had it in the specialty food section under the header "South American" in the back. Carrefour is a chain so likely they will have started selling it in all of them. The cost is a little under 3 euro's for a kilo. Hope this helps and thanks for the recipe!
Iosune says
Thanks a lot Melanie!! I'll buy it 😀 Have a nice day!!!!
dario says
I tried this seemingly easy recipe and... it was a complete waste of time. The dough resulted in a pile of unworkable crumbs of different size. More or less water made no difference. About 40, 60 or 80 degrees water made no difference either. It would either be to watery or crumble, with no middle ground. And no sign of the flour turning too elastic with too hot water either.
You need to specify exactly the grain of flour you use. I have "medium size meal" flour here, and it was a complete waste of time.
Iosune says
Hi Dario! I’m sorry to hear that! I’ve made tortillas hundred of times with this recipe, probably it was because of the flour. I use precooked white corn meal. This is the brand I use 🙂
Laura says
Hi Iosune - love the look of your tortillas 🙂 Can I just ask for clarification - you say you use "corn flour" - by that do you mean corn meal? (Here in Australia, corn flour is the starch
Iosune says
Hi Laura! I mean corn meal, not corn starch. Sorry but English is not my first language 😛
lorna says
Hi, could I suggest that you change the wording of the recipe so that people know to use corn meal and not actual cornflour? We call the starch cornflour here in the UK too. Wish I'd read the comments before I tried to make these and wasted my cornflour - but it was an interesting experiment! I'll try again with cornmeal and let you know how it goes. I have used mada harina successfully, but it's expensive and I have to get it online, so I'd love to find an alternative. Thanks!
Iosune says
Thanks a lot for the suggestion. English is not my first language, so I appreciate your help 🙂
Angela says
Hi Iosune !
I made these with the same flour and they are amazing!!! These are my new go to tortillas. Love your blog!
Iosune says
Hi Angela! Yayyyy! I'm glad you liked them 😉
Jette says
I love your blog so much! The recipes are so simple and all homemade, these tortillas are a perfect example! Minimal Eats has been a big help in eating vegan and gluten free!
Iosune says
Hi Jette! Thanks a lot 😀 Sometimes is hard to eat vegan and gluten-free, but it's totally worth it 🙂
Angela says
These look delicious! What brand of flour do you use in Spain? Is it a white corn meal?
Iosune says
Hi Angela! I use precooked white corn meal. This is the brand I use 🙂
Katharina says
I too was intrigued by the beauty of the pictures and the seeming simplicity of this recipe and now wish I hadn't made a whole batch... Because now I'm sitting on a large ball of unbaked dough (I'm not really sitting on it; it's in the fridge) and I'm racking my brain as to what I did wrong.
My dough was either wet and crumbly or dry and crumbly despite adhering to everything you recommended. I did love the method with the glass roaster. But my problem was that I couldn't remove the tortilla from the plastic; it was extremely fragile and crumbled immediately. I added mor flour, more oil, kneaded it, made a thicker one - then I did get it into the pan but it became hard and brittle instead of soft and pliable like the ones in the pictures that I was after.
I think the answer is probably in the flour like you suggest. Mine is not white like yours; it's yellow (Bob's Red Mill brand) and the dough feels sandy. Yours almost look like the rose a bit...?
Do you have any solutions or ideas? Which brand of flour did you use? (I suppose the brand also really depends on where you live. I think altitude too will change baking results....)
Thanks for any tips.
Kathi
Iosune says
I'll make a video with this recipe soon because it's difficult. You need to add warm water, neither too hot nor too cold. I live in Spain, so I can't recommend you a brand (I think you won't be able to buy it in your country). I've never tried this recipe using yellow flour, so I don't know if it could work. Sorry for the inconvenience!
Anna says
I had the exact same problem! I ended up just going to buy tortillas 🙁 I think this method only works with the specific type of flour that she used...shame.
Iosune says
Hi Ann! I know the recipe works with this type of flour, but I don't know if it does with other flours 🙁 I'm sorry it didn't work!
Laura Legorburu says
Usas Harina Pan?
If the brand she used is Harina Pan you can find it in the United States at every supermarket in the latin isle. If this recipe didn't work for you, make arepas with the dough (google it), if is too wet add more Harina Pan, if is too hard add little water (tiny amounts and knead it well). Harina Pan is precooked corn meal but is not the same as the rest of the corn meals that you can find at supermarkets, used only that brand, is the best
Iosune says
Hi Laura! Yes, it's the brand I use 😀 Thanks a lot for the info 😉
Ashlee says
I was so excited for these when I stumbled upon this recipe and recently went and purchased some genuine masa harina (as suggested in the blog). The wonderful pictures... and the method just sounded SO easy.
Reality: this few ingredients did *not* make a workable dough. I spent nearly an hour having to add wheat flour (more than 1/2 cup!) more corn flour (about 1/2 cup) and a full tablespoon of oil. I had to knead for more than 10 minutes.
In short: this was the *hugest* disappointment, and I am so grateful that I chose to halve the recipe. I think hot water is actually best (the instructions on the masa harina bag uses hot water for tortillas), but I will not use this as a guide for tortillas in the future. Good luck to those who try!
Iosune says
I'm sorry to hear that! We've made tortillas hundred of times with this recipe, probably it was because of the flour.
Shannon says
I've made these tortillas with the same corn flour they used and it worked perfectly for me. Maybe the change in flour changed how successfully they came out?
Paige Kenzie says
The tortillas I buy so often get expensive- I'm excited to try out this easy recipe instead 🙂
Iosune says
Great! I hope you like it 😉
Meg @ The Housewife In Training Files says
Talk about gorgous photos! You can even make tortillas look pretty! I love how simple and few ingredients these call for. I have yet to make my own tortillas but I think I will start here! Pinned!
Iosune says
Haha thanks Meg!!! 😉
Jasey says
Your photos are gorgeous! I'm here from Jasey's Crazy Daisy and totally pinned!
Iosune says
Thanks a lot Jasey! 🙂
Stella says
Hi,
Is there another flour that I can sub for the corn flour ? (I can't consume corn goods)
Thanks
Iosune says
Hi Stella! I've never made this recipe using any other flour, but you could try... Happy new year!
Stella says
No worries - but thank you anyway. Happy new year !
Iosune says
You're so welcome!