Homemade Corn Tortillas Recipe

PLEASE note: for those who are having trouble with sticking, add a bit more masa... your masa is to wet. Here's how; Mix the masa and water with your hands until it does not stick to your hands or the large bowl you mix it in. Continue to kneed at least 3 minutes or longer THEN let it rest and hour or so covered with a damp towel. Make small balls, (golf ball size), and use parchment paper to flatten in a press. Enjoy, for these are wonderful and a delight to eat. I accidentally bought MASECA corn mix one day and now use it exclusively. I hope this helps those who are having trouble.

My husband is Mexican and I "home make" tortillas every night. He taught me how many years ago. I have a tortilla press, and I use a frozen sotrage bag cut to the size of the press circle. I just throw a couple cups of the Maseca in the bowl, add warm water (warm makes a difference) and about 2 TBSPN. of flour, and mix together until it doesn't stick to your hands or the bowl. Add Maseca or warm water until the desired consistency. We use an oblong electric griddle and can cook 6 at a time and I have a tortilla storage tub you can buy at any Latino food store. We also take the raw (uncooked) tortilla, add leftover cooked chicken and cheese, fold over, press together to seal and cook in a little grease in a frying pan on both sides until golden brown. They are delicious. You can add veges, or any meats or any ingredients you want. These are to die for!!

I've tweeked this recipe to finally make what I consider to be a perfect corn tortilla. First, I add 1 teaspoon of seasoning salt to the masa harina. Without it, they smell wonderful, but taste like a frisbee. I also add about one tablespoon of shortening (or bacon fat) to the hot water and let it melt before adding it to the masa harina. Then I divide the dough into about 12 balls - and use a tortilla press. This makes a perfect sized tortilla. I used to go crazy with the dough sticking - I tried plastic wrap, ziploc bags, parchment - they all stuck and I'd end up swearing way more than I usually do when cooking. What works is a tip I saw in the insert that came with my tortilla press - two circles cut out of plastic grocery bags (don't use the side with ink, or your tortilla will have writing on it). Press your tortillas between those, and they NEVER stick. Also, my corn tortillas NEVER used to puff (but I do like the brown spots that come from puffing). If you pull the dough balls apart and re-roll them right before pressing them, it seems to aerate the dough, and they'll puff and bubble nicely.

Using the Maseca brand corn flour (not an easy find in France!) I followed the recipe as is except for the addition of a bit of salt. I don't have a tortilla press and found just using my hands and pressing the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap worked great. The plastic wrap was used so I could transfer them from the counter to the pan. If I found that the dough was breaking, I just sealed the cracks with some water on my fingers as I used my hand to press the dough balls into their final tortilla shape. I used my nonstick crepe pan, since I don't have a cast iron pan, to fry them. When done, I transferred them to a plate, covered that plate with another plate flipped upside down, and added a slightly damp paper towel to keep them pliable and warm. I have made them twice and both times they've come out great!

I made this recipe twice today! It was very easy & relatively quick. I did add chicken bouillon to the water and 1 tsp of salt. I figured out the correct consistency of the dough is similar to that of play-doh. I found if the dough dried out I sprayed it with a little water from a spray bottle to rehydrate without making it sticky. I used a freezer Ziploc bag for my rolling sheets of choice (I tried parchment paper, but it pulls moisture from the dough). I don't have a tortilla press, so used my small cutting board for first press of the dough, then finished with my rolling pin, turning the tortilla after each roll which gave me an end result of a nice (fairly round) tortilla. I began the cooking process with a hot dry skillet, cooked 25 seconds, flipped & cooked 25 seconds, flipped again, lightly pressing the tortilla just until it started to fill with air cooking 25 seconds (got that air pocket many say is important), then one more flip for 25 seconds more & set on a plate covered by a bowl to keep the heat and moisture in (I also put a damp towel on the plate to wrap the tortillas in). The tortillas were soft and had a wonderful taste. I wrapped & stored them in the fridge. I made a couple of empanadas (small fried meat pies) with the dough. One with some shredded left-over Asian pork & one with some thick chili. My husband liked them so much, he asked if I would make some more for our dinner that night. I served them with a nice tossed salad. Great recipe!

My kids went crazy for it! 🥰

I've struggled & struggled to make homemade corn tortillas, even after being taught & watching my Honduran friend make them over and over and over again. This is the basic "recipe" that my friend used, but I found that other's suggestions made it PERFECT. I used chicken stock instead of water and a dash of salt and the flavor was fabulous. A freezer bag cut down the sides and a plate was perfect for flattening the tortillas, although my OCD made me smooth the edges out nice and pretty on each of them, but they've NEVER peeled off so easily before, I ALWAYS tore at least 1/2 my batch apart just trying to peel them off the plastic. One trick that my friend had that was perfect though, was to use a wet paper towel to press the tortillas as they're cooking & use to grab the tortillas and flip without burning ur fingers. Pressing with the damp towel helps make the puffy parts of the tortilla that make the beautiful browned spots. With the adjustments, this is definitely a 5 star, but probably only about a 3 1/2 - 4 stars as it's written.

I added salt. The ratio of the flour and water didn't come out exactly as the recipe said. I had to add more water to achieve the right consistency of the dough. I don't own a press or griddle so I used ziplock bag and a round baking pan and my hands to press and shape the dough. To cook, I tried with iron skillet and non-stick pan. The first batch I made was with non-stick pan. After cooking 30 sec. or if not more on each side, most of them did not puff up and none of them turned brown. They were somewhat dry and tasted like undercooked. I adjusted the amount of the water to the dough and tried the second batch with iron skillet. I don't know if it's because of the electric stove, I had a problem controlling the cooking temperature. Dry, ungreased surface of the skillet didn't help either. So, back to non- stick pan and I tried the 3rd batch. On medium heat(electric stove 5). Making sure the pan is staying pretty hot, throw a tortilla in. And this time, I'm counting time: Cook for about 20 sec, flip, cook for another 20 sec, flip, cook for 10sec, flip, another 10 sec, flip. And it puffs up. Done. Some puffed up after a few flips and I don't know if it has anything to do with the thickness of the dough, but they all came out soft, moist and fully cooked. They just didn't get brown like the picture. Even though this recipe didn't work for me, I did get some really good helpful tips by reading everyone's review so I thank you all for that!

These are so much better than the ones in the store! I dissolved a tsp of salt into the hot water and then mixed it together with the masa. We followed the advice of others and used a cut open gallon ziplock bag to keep the masa from sticking to the press. Absolutely delicious!

So delicious. Make sure you use warm water; cold makes the dough crumbly it seems. As others have said, a freezer bag cut in half makes ideal sheets to press the tortillas between. I don't have a press, so I press them flat with a pan, and then roll them out a bit with a wine bottle (since I don't have a rolling pin). To ensure your tortillas puff, make sure there are no cracks in the dough balls before rolling them, that way there is a seal when the gas inside starts to expand. Right before I press each dough ball, I will put a few drops of water in my hand and smooth the ball to make sure it has no cracks. If it doesn't puff, don't worry - it'll still be tasty, the texture just won't be as great.

I'm so proud of myself! I just bought an 8" cast iron Imusa-brand tortilla press from Amazon (about $23) and it just arrived. I was so afraid my tortillas would be a disaster, but guess what! I'll never buy corn tortillas again! I only made enough for 4 (1/2 c. masa harina, 1/3 c. water, and a pinch of salt.) My "golf-balls") made 5" tortillas, and I devoured them. I didn't even have time to try out my new tortilla warmer! Next time, I'll try for larger tortillas. I used a 1-gal. Ziploc freezer bag, cut in two, but I think a 1-qt. size would have been fine.

I make them all the time. I love them so much I had to make a press.

I only tried this because we had both just bought instant corn masa flour at Aldi with no ideas except corn bread. Glad I read to and used an iron skillet. Even so, I should have read ALL the comments first and still need more practice. I only had to add about 1/8 cup water and turn our electric stove down to 4.5/9 from 5/9. Flour has no salt, lime or sugar. So we will add Tajin or other lime and salt next time.

this recipe can't be right. It is so watery like a pancake batter.

very simple, I guess it needs some more water once its cooked it will be hard, cover them with kitchen towel and will be soft and fixable

I make fresh tortillas every day. This is my favourite recipe for tortillas. If you cook them a little longer in the frying pan to make them a bit harder they make great hamburger buns.

Great tortillas. Easy to make . Definitely no buying tortillas any more!

Perfect tortillas!

My son has Celiac disease and we have NEVER had success with store bought gluten free tortillas of any kind. These were so easy to make and so delicious! Most importantly, they held together when we rolled them into tacos. We will be making these often. Thanks for sharing your recipie.

The tortillas are really good but we had to buy a cast iron griddle. The griddle got too hot on the induction stove top and the stove kept turning on and off due to overheating. So we had to give up. We might buy an electric hot plate but I don't know if I want another appliance to put on the shelf.