Every couple weeks or so, we send out a little roundup of new recipes, techniques, and tutorials that we’ve recently posted on the site. Occasionally we announce exclusive giveaways to newsletter subscribers as well. We won’t spam you with ads or share or sell your email address. Every email we send has a 1-click unsubscribe link if you decide it’s not for you.
Traditional Corn Tortillas
Corn tortillas are amazingly flavorful and they have more fiber than refined flour tortillas. These tortillas are made with Masienda’s masa harina, which is nixtamalized white olotillo corn. When I opened this flour bag, I was struck by how delicious and potent it smelled, and this was only multiplied when I added hot water to mix the dough or masa. Masa harina can also be purchased at many grocery stores, or you can make wet masa by grinding nixtamalized whole corn kernels. This process is described here: How to Nixtamalize Corn for Tortillas, Tamales, Posole, and More.
[Jump to recipe]
Homemade corn tortillas are quite simple to make and the fresh flavors are more than worth the effort. Tools such as a tortilla press can speed up the process and give you a more uniform shape, but aren’t required.
Masa harina, hot water, salt, tortilla press, and a plastic bag
I made tortillas for several years with a rolling pin and a dough ball placed between two pieces of plastic (cut open the sides of a Ziploc bag, wash, and reuse it). In fact, I developed a recipe for fresh-milled corn and wheat sourdough tortillas before I had a tortilla press.
It was during that recipe creation that I learned about nixtamalization, an ancient Mesoamerican process of soaking and cooking corn in Cal (calcium hydroxide/lime) and removing some of the hulls. This process improves the nutrient composition of the corn and makes the resulting cornmeal manageable for making tortillas.
Future cornbread, spoon bread, posole, corn porridge sourdough bread, and nixtamalized cornmeal for tortillas and tamales.
You can fry your tortillas in a cast iron pan, non-stick pan, or comal, the traditional pan for making tortillas (it’s usually cast iron and sometimes clay). I use two cast iron pans at a time to make the process extra speedy.
Thirty- and fifty-year-old cast iron pans
Bubbles appearing after the flip
Similarly, a tortilla warmer is handy, but I have a decent work-around: I microwave a round glass casserole dish and its lid (with a little water in it) until it’s steaming hot, dump the water, line the casserole with a tea towel or paper towel, and put the tortillas inside. This way they stay warm and pliable until all are cooked and I’m ready to serve them.
With the lid on, this pre-warmed glass keeps the tortillas warm
A favorite in my house: refried black beans, cheddar cheese, salsa, and cilantro on a crispy homemade corn tortilla
Here’s a very helpful video made by Masienda that shows the full tortilla-making process.
Traditional Corn Tortillas
Fresh tortillas made with heirloom corn flour will wow you with their flavor, and the process and ingredients are wonderfully simple. Homemade corn tortillas will add so much to your experience of soft tacos, burritos, enchiladas, tlayudas, tostitos and more.
Ingredients
Instructions
Shopping List
Victoria HD Cast Iron Tortilla Press, 10-inch
$89.99Cast Iron Pizza Stone and Comal by Victoria
$53.00Nordic Ware Tortilla Warmer
$21.00Traditional Corn Tortillas