Homemade Corn Tortillas

  • Level: Easy
  • Yield: 12 tortillas
  • Total: 1 hr 1 min
  • Prep: 30 min
  • Inactive: 30 min
  • Cook: 1 min
Advertisement

Ingredients

2 cups corn flour (masa harina)

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more for seasoning

2 tablespoons lard

1 1/2 cups water

Canola oil, for frying

Directions

Special equipment:
Tortilla press
  1. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt. Cut in the lard. Stir in the water. Mix to incorporate. The dough should be slightly wet. Form the dough into a smooth ball, cover with a towel and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
  2. Divide the dough into 12 even pieces. Place a little water on the hands and form the dough into golf ball-size balls. Take 2 pieces of waxed paper or plastic wrap from a plastic bag and cut them to the shape of the surface of the tortilla press. Open the tortilla press and lay one piece of waxed paper on the press. Place the masa ball in the center. Place another piece of waxed paper over the masa ball. Gently close the press and press down, until the dough has spread to 6-inches in diameter. 
  3. Heat a cast-iron griddle or a large nonstick skillet on high heat. Working with 1 tortilla at a time, hold a tortilla in your hand, carefully removing the wax paper on each side. Allow the tortilla to rest half on your hand, and half hanging down, and gently lay the tortilla down on to the hot skillet. Start working on pressing the next tortilla. Cook the tortilla on the hot pan for 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side. The tortilla should be lightly toasted and little air pockets forming. 
  4. Heat 2-inches of canola oil in a heavy-bottomed medium skillet until it reaches 370 degrees F. Add the tortillas, 1 at a time and fry, turning once with tongs, until crispy, about 30 seconds. Remove to a baking sheet lined with paper towels and lightly season with salt.

Let's Get Cooking!

Sign up for the Recipe of the Day newsletter to receive editor-picked recipes,tips and videos delivered to your inbox daily. Privacy Policy

Thanks for subscribing to the Recipe of the Day newsletter. Check out all our other great newsletters from Easy Recipes, Healthy Eating Ideas and Chef Recipe Videos.

We're sorry, there was an error signing you up. Please try again later.

Advertisement

Anonymous

Turned out perfect. Excellent recipe.<br /><br />Pro-tip: If you don't have a tortilla press, try cutting a Ziploc bag down one side, dusting the inside with masa, placing a masa ball inside, and then flattening the ball with the bottom side of a skillet. Put your weight into it, and of course perform this operation on a stable countertop surface, and you can get a result close enough to that of a press and that will cook up perfectly, all without the upfront investment of purchasing a press.

See All Reviews