From Scratch Easy Corn Tortillas

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Tacos are a staple in our house and they wouldn’t be complete without some from scratch easy corn tortillas!

Whenever I am feeling uninspired in the kitchen, I go to my list of meals that I know everyone loves and will eat. I shared how this works in my post from two weeks ago, How To Make A Meal Plan for the Week. Tacos are on that list!

For years I would buy big bags of corn tortillas at the store and that’s what we would eat from all week long. Until I found out how easy they are to make at home!

This recipe is perfect for tacos, fajitas, taco bake casseroles, and even breakfast burritos! If you plan ahead you can make a double or even triple batch and will have all your homemade tortillas made for the whole week to use in any recipe.

Making corn tortillas using simple ingredients.

The best part about this recipe is there are very few ingredients that you most likely have in your pantry, with the exception of the main ingredient. You will start with corn masa flour and I usually buy this in bulk on Azure Standard.

If you are unsure what Azure Standard is, check out a video I did on How I Grocery Shop Monthly. You can also find all of my monthly Azure hauls on my You Tube Channel.

The only other ingredients you will need is corn starch, salt, and warm water. That is it!

Helpful tips for successful tortillas:

This recipe is really simple but there is one thing you need to know. The dough turns out the best if you use really warm, almost hot, water. It helps the corn masa flour break down and not be so grainy.

Your corn tortillas will still turn out if your water is not super warm, but the texture will be off.

The tools you will need.

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You can always use this recipe and roll out each individual tortilla with a rolling pen. However, a tortilla press is very inexpensive and they do make your job that much easier. I have a Victoria 8″ cast iron tortilla press and it works great in making perfectly shaped corn and flour tortillas!

The other item you will need is some sort of skillet or frying pan to heat each tortilla up. I use a Lodge cast iron skillet on my stove. You can use an electric skillet or any pan on the stove!

Homemade Easy Corn Tortillas

• 1 1/2 cups Corn Masa Flour
• 2 TBSP Cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 cup Very Warm Water

How to Make From Scratch Easy Corn Tortillas

First, add all your dry ingredients to a medium size bowl. Give is a quick stir to combine.

Add about 3/4 cup of very warm to almost hot water. Mix together and if needed add the remaining 1/4 cup of warm water to form a dough. You don’t want your dough to be too sticky but also not crumbly.

Always start with less water because it is much easier to add more water then to add more corn masa flour to make the dough.

Once you have the right consistency of your dough you will break the dough into roughly 1-2″ balls. The size doesn’t matter too much, it all depends on what size you like your tortillas. Obviously, the bigger your balls the bigger your tortillas.

Before you start shaping your tortillas, you want to turn your skillet onto medium heat so that it is heating up.

In order to shape the tortillas, you can use parchment paper however I like to use a quart size ziploc bag. I cut off the side with the zipper and run my scissors up each side so that only the bottom is attached.

Lay your plastic bag in the tortilla press and open up one side. Put a dough ball in between the ziploc bag, so that you have a piece of plastic on the top and bottom and the dough doesn’t actually touch the press.

Press your dough out into a tortilla. Follow the instructions for your specific tortilla press . If you are rolling them out by hand, simply stick them in between the plastic bag and roll it out until you reach the desired size and shape.

One at a time, put each tortilla on the hot skillet for 30 seconds each side. Sometimes I do it a little longer however, you want the dough to cook but not get crispy. So be careful how long you leave them on the skillet.

Eat your tortillas hot off the skillet or stick them in the fridge until ready to use. You can simply reheat your tortillas, just like store bought tortillas, when ready to eat!

I store my left over tortillas in the fridge to use up within that week. But you can also freeze them for longer storage.

These from scratch easy corn tortillas are a simple way to make a taco night just a little more exciting!