Make your own harina tortillas, like a Mexican chef!

Wheat flour tortillas (or tortillas) are a staple of Mexican cuisine. Their soft, chewy texture and delicately aromatic flavor make them a perfect accompaniment to a variety of dishes, from tacos to burritos to enchiladas. In this article, we share a simple and authentic recipe for making your own homemade harina tortillas. Get ready to travel to the heart of Mexico from your own kitchen!

Ingredients

1 kg of wheat flour 🌾
250 g of semi-salted butter 🧈
385 ml of water 💧
5 g of salt 🧂

Material

1 large container 🍲
1 saucepan
1 rolling pin
1 pan 🍳

Preparation

Place the flour in a large container.
Add salt and mix with your hands.
Make a hole in the center and add hot water and butter previously melted in a saucepan or in the microwave.

Step 1

Mix everything together until you obtain a smooth, malleable dough.
Make flour balls (testales in Mexico) about 5 cm in diameter and let them rest for about 20 minutes.

Step 2

Roll out the tortillas with a rolling pin, turning them a quarter turn each time, and roll out to the desired size and thickness.

Step 3

Heat a pan and place a tortilla on it, turning it over when the first bubbles appear (about 20-30 seconds). Repeat on the other side.

flour tortillas being cooked

Enjoy your harina tortillas

Your flour tortillas are ready to be used in your favorite dishes. At home, we love them for breakfast with scrambled eggs and a dose of hot salsa, of course! 🔥

A little history 🤓📔

Mainly used in the northern regions of Mexico, notably in Monterrey, tortillas de harina are said to be a recent creation linked to the arrival of Spanish Jews fleeing the Inquisition in the 15th and 16th centuries and then settling mainly in northern Mexico.

Native American populations originally prepared tortillas with corn flour long before the arrival of Europeans.

Upon their arrival, Spanish Jews are said to have introduced the adaptation of the wheat flour tortilla into Mexican cuisine, along with other iconic recipes from northern Mexican cuisine.