Tortillas are thin and flat round Mexican pancakes, made of corn or wheat flour, which can be used in the preparation of various Mexican dishes. The traditional recipe originated in the region of Oaxaca, dating back to 1500-500 BC, when tortillas were prepared in the traditional way with a special flour called masa de maíz. From the time of the colonization of Central America until today, tortillas are also prepared with wheat flour, these are often found in northern Mexico, and of course in the United States and elsewhere. Tortillas are prepared by hand or with the help of a special device, i.e. tortilla press or tortillas. At home, we often organize a Mexican tacos evening with homemade tortillas, especially for some celebrations or when we get friends over for a visit. Tacos and other dishes prepared with tortillas are an ideal social food, since the whole family can participate in the preparation (our Lu likes to help in the kitchen too), and we also put all the ingredients in little cups, including sauces, on the table so that everyone prepares their own food. In this way it is often easier to please the taste buds of many guests, plus it is a fun thing to do. So in this post, we are sharing our recipe for homemade tortillas, which are of course much better than those from the supermarket, and we added a few ideas about which kind of dishes you can make with the tortillas as well.
As mentioned above, tortillas can be made from corn or wheat flour. The recipe for Mexican corn tortillas is very simple, as you only need corn flour, warm water (you add the water slowly to the flour until the mixture thickens into a dough), and a pinch of salt. But since we often don’t have corn flour in stock at home, we usually prepare our tortillas with ordinary wheat flour, to which we add a couple of ingredients for a better taste. So here’s our version. The recipe is for 4 people.
INGREDIENTS
- 500g wheat flour
- 200g canned corn (without the water)
* you can replace canned corn with a bag of tortilla chips
- 1/2 squeezed lime juice
- 1 table spoon of olive oil
- salt
- approximately 200g lukewarm water
PREPARATION
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drain the corn from the can and mix it with a blender (if you use Mexican tortilla chips grind it well too)
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mix flour, mixed corn or chips, lime juice, salt and olive oil in a larger bowl
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slowly add warm water and knead the dough continuously until it has a good consistency
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take the dough out of the bowl, knead it well and let it rest for an hour to an hour and a half at room temperature
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form a sausage / baguette from he dough and cut it into smaller pieces, which you shape into balls – the size of the latter depends on how big tortillas you want to prepare.
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leave the dough balls to rise for 1 hour
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roll the balls thinly with a roller or use the so called tortilla press
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place the rolled tortillas in a flat hot pan without additional fat, max 1min on each side, just enough to bake
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stack the baked tortillas on top of each other and cover them with a kitchen towel if necessary
TIPS & IDEAS
Both corn and wheat tortillas can be used to prepare a variety of Mexican dishes. You can try making one of the most popular and know ones for example:
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BURRITOS: wheat tortilla wraps stuffed with meat, cheese, guacamole sauce and vegetables
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QUESADILLAS: a version of tacos made from corn flour, stuffed with a lot of cheese and, if desired, with extra ingredients such as meat and beans – quesadillas, including the stuffing, are baked in a pan until the cheese melts well.
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ENCHILADAS: rich filling (usually a mixture of meat, beans, potatoes and vegetables), wrapped in corn tortillas and covered with spicy cheese, chili or mole sauce
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TAQUITOS: stuffed and fried small cylinder rolls of (usually) corn tortilla served with guacamole sauce
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FLAUTAS: slightly larger stuffed and fried rolls of (usually) wheat tortilla, also served with sauce
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TACOS: a popular street food snack made from small corn or wheat tortillas, which can be stuffed and folded in half if desired
Tacos (pictured above) are also our favorite Mexican food, and we often prepare them at home. The recipe for tortillas above works great with tacos – our favourite version includes shrimpa, vegetables and guacamole sauce, but we have also tried many other delicious versions. So, there is also a recipe for our tacos coming up soon on the blog.
If we have too many tortillas left over from dinner, we can use them in different ways the next day. You can easily prepare the following Mexican dishes from the leftover tortillas:
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TOSTADAS: roasted or fried smaller tortillas, coated with anything you like or as a stand-alone dish, for example instead of bread
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MIGAS: a popular Mexican breakfast dish made from small pieces of torn tortilla baked in a pan to which you can add eggs to make a kind of omelette
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CHILAQUILES: roasted or fried quarters of tortilla, topped with red or green salsa, shredded chicken, cheese, onion, avocado, beans and also eggs
If you want to make a more western-style dish with your tortillas, there are some options too. Try the following two for example:
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PIZZA: you can prepare larger tortillas, or use the leftovers of smaller ones, coat them as you like and bake them quickly in the oven just like pizza
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WRAPS: popular rolls with any meat, fish or vegetable fillings for the preparation of which we recommend very thin wheat tortillas
We hope you got some new ideas and will try out our Mexican tortillas recipe at home – in case you have some questions feel free to drop us a message in the comments below.
