The Best Homemade Flour Tortillas with Lard

You’ll never want to buy supermarket flour tortillas again with this simple recipe. Create your own healthier version of flour tortillas, you will not only taste the difference in flavor but more importantly gain control over what goes into your food. All you need are a few basic ingredients, and you’ll have delicious, fresh, and soft tortillas ready in no time.

Lard plays a significant role in traditional flour tortilla recipes, contributing to both texture and taste. It adds a rich, earthy flavor that complements the corn masa, and helps create a texture that’s both pliable and sturdy, perfect for holding hearty fillings.

While some may consider lard old-fashioned, it’s an essential ingredient that connects generations of cooks and ensures an authentic flour tortilla experience. While I may use lard in this recipe it is by no means the best and only way to make tortillas other types of fat work just as well.

Flour Tortilla Ingredients

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Combine 3 cups of flour, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking powder into bowl of stand mixer.
2. Attach dough hook to mix dry ingredients on stir for about 30 seconds
3. Set mixer on low and add water and lard until dough starts to come together
4. Continue mixing until dough is smooth and no dry bits are left at the bottom.
5. Transfer dough to light floured work surface ( I used a pastry mat with pie stencil)
6. Using a kitchen scale, divide the dough into 6 equal pieces weighing around 112 – 125 grams each to achieve 9 -10″ size desired.
7. Form each piece into a smooth ball for best results when rolling.
8. Cover the balls of dough with a kitchen towl for 30 mins to 2 hours.
9. Using a rolling pin, lightly flour a work surface. For precision use a parchment cutout or a pastry mat with a pie stencil. Roll out each ball slowly rotating the dough clockwise until they reach 1/8″ thin. Trim off any uneven edges with a knife for perfectly rounded tortillas
10. Carefully place flattened tortillas on a plate and separate each so they dont stick with parchment paper.
11. Heat a heavy skillet over medium high heat until warm.
12. Cook the tortillas 30 seconds on each side or until light brown spots start to form. Flip when bubbles start to form.

Freezing and Storage

• Wrap cooked tortillas in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for around 3 days for peak freshness
• If you dont have a microwave like me, you can reheat refigerator tortillas on the stove stop or on the air fryer at around 300 degrees for 1 minute each side.

Variations:

• I tested this same recipe exchanging the lard to olive oil 1:1 and it still came out pretty good.

I created this recipe to accompany my Burrito Recipes as a foundation for the perfect size flour tortilla for wrapping a good size burrito. You can use this Flour Tortilla Recipe to make my Shrimp Burrito with Green Chili Sauce Recipe.