4th of July is over and you know what that means.
It’s CORN time!
Well, for me, since I’m still in COVID lockdown…
it’s TIME TO make CORN TORTILLAs!
(I’ll eventually venture out and buy some sweet ears of fresh corn. After all, summer isn’t summer without eating corn-on-the-cob dripping with salt and butter at least once!)
Anyhoo, last year when I was exploring some new plant-based recipes, I realized I love corn tortillas. So I bought a cast-iron tortilla press…
…and promptly left town for the summer.
And I never got around to learning how to make homemade corn tortillas from scratch.
Do you ever do that? Buy cooking tools and not use them right away?
(I bought the Uno Casa cast-iron tortilla press which is currently unavailable. But the Cook & Home cast-iron tortilla press gets great reviews. And IMUSA aluminum tortilla press is Amazon’s #1 best-seller tortilla press.)
Tortilla Making ~ A new pandemic skill
Well, when COVID hit in March, that was my “new skill” goal. Learn how to make homemade tortillas with my tortilla press.
And I did.
Not only did I learn how to make corn tortillas from scratch but I learned how to make them puff when cooking. Because “puffing” (which means they’re cooking with steam from the inside-out) turns “okay” corn tortillas into “oh, my gosh, yum!”
So here is my super simple (oil-free) 3-ingredient recipe.
NO PRESS? NO WORRIES!
And ~ if you don’t have a tortilla press, don’t let that stop you!
Just put the doughball between 2 sheets of plastic on the counter and press with a thick hard-covered book. You can even put the plastic-protected ball of dough between 2 hard-backed books on a chair ~ and sit on it. That’ll press your ball flat!
Now, without further ado…
Homemade Corn Tortillas
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- Plastic bag (Ziplock or sandwich type)
- Measuring cups & spoon
- Spatula or tongs
- Damp towel
- Tortilla press
- Skillet or griddle (preferably cast iron)
Materials
- 1 cup masa harina (not corn meal)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup water (very warm)
Instructions
- Mix masa harina and salt together in a large mixing bowl.
- Add 1 cup of very warm water.
- Mix until dough comes together.
- Knead the dough for 3-4 minutes (until soft but not sticky).
- Cover dough with a damp towel and let rest for 15 minutes. This allows the dough to "absorb" the warm water.
- Once the dough has rested, preheat your skillet (or griddle). Turn on medium-high heat (6-7 on gas stove) for 10 minutes.
- While the skillet is heating, roll dough into small balls (size and number depends on how large you want your tortillas; I usually make 12 walnut-size balls for small tortillas).
- Once rolled, cover balls with damp towel to keep moisture in.
- Cut the sides of a plastic sandwich bag to place over your open tortilla press.
- Place ball between plastic on tortilla press and close the press to flatten the dough. Carefully peel away the plastic.
- Put flattened dough into hot skillet for 40 seconds.
- Turn over and cook for 90 seconds.
- Turn over, tap tortilla with a spatula and watch it puff!
- Cook for final 20 seconds, then remove from heat.
- Place into tortilla warmer.
Video
Notes
Some Final tortilla-making Thoughts…
Now you know how to make home-made oil-free corn tortillas from scratch with my super-simple 3-ingredient “secret” recipe ~ with and without a tortilla press!
I hope you enjoy making (and eating) them.
Until I tried making them myself, I didn’t know how easy they were!
But, to be honest, it took me a couple tries to get them right.
I had to stop diving in with both hands when I mixed the dough. (The one-handed technique works great!)
And I had to figure out what “sticky” meant. After 2 or 3 batches, I got it.
So, if you don’t get it right the first time, try, try again!