Nothing comes close to fresh, homemade corn tortillas. Follow our corn tortilla recipe with step-by-step photos, tips and tricks that will forever change taco night.
Corn Tortillas
Updated Sep. 24, 2024
Tacos, quesadillas and enchiladas are all weeknight favorites. Up the ante on those quick-to-fix dinners by learning how to make corn tortillas.
Think you can’t make homemade corn tortillas on a weeknight? Think again! This three-ingredient corn tortilla recipe proves that good food doesn’t have to be complicated.
Corn Tortilla Ingredients
- Masa harina: To make homemade corn tortillas, you’ll need a kind of flour called masa harina. It’s a flour made from dried corn (also known as masa). Most supermarkets and grocery stores carry masa harina, but if you can’t find it there, stop by your local Mexican market.
- Salt: A little bit of salt brings out the corn’s natural flavors.
- Hot water: Hot water rehydrates the masa harina. We want to use just enough water to get it to a Play-Doh consistency.
Directions
Step 1: Make the corn tortilla dough
In a large bowl, combine the masa harina and salt, then stir in the hot water. Add additional hot water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough is firm but moist.
Knead the dough until it comes together, two to three minutes. Cover the dough with a clean towel and let it rest for one hour.
Editor’s Tip: Masa takes time to absorb water and hydrate, so it needs one hour of rest time. Don’t skip this step!
Step 2: Divide the dough and flatten
Divide the dough into 12 equal portions and roll into balls.
Gently flatten one dough ball between two pieces of waxed paper, using a tortilla press.
Test Kitchen Tip: You can use a large flat-bottomed pan in place of the tortilla press.
Step 3: Cook each corn tortilla until dry, yet soft
Remove one piece of the waxed paper and transfer the tortilla, paper side up, to a preheated skillet or griddle over medium-high heat. Carefully remove the remaining piece of waxed paper and cook the tortilla for one minute until it’s slightly dry. Flip the tortilla and cook one minute more until dry and light brown but still soft.
Step 4: Keep the corn tortillas warm
Transfer each tortilla to a tortilla warmer or wrap them in foil to keep warm. Repeat the flattening and cooking process with your remaining dough balls.
Corn Tortilla Variations
- Upgrade the usuals: Once you learn how to make corn tortillas, you can use them to level up your tacos, tostadas (we love these lime chipotle carnitas tostadas) and enchiladas (try these sweet potato and black bean enchiladas).
- Use for taquitos and casseroles: Swap in homemade corn tortillas when making your own taquitos, or use the tortillas in zesty casseroles like a chicken tortilla bake or individually portioned chicken tostada cups.
- Make tortilla chips: If you want to bust out the air fryer, make air-fryer tortilla chips with the corn tortilla recipe. For more inspiration, here are some of our favorite recipes with corn tortillas.
How to Store Corn Tortillas
Keep cooked tortillas wrapped in foil in the refrigerator for up to three days. If you want to make a double batch and save some for a later date, you can freeze tortillas. Just wrap your cooked tortillas (that have cooled to room temperature) in storage wrap and foil, transfer them to a resealable zipper-lock bag and freeze them for up to four months. Thaw the tortillas overnight in the refrigerator before using.
How do you reheat corn tortillas?
Right after you’ve made your corn tortillas recipe, you’ll want to keep the tortillas warm until they’re served—they taste best that way. You can use a tortilla warmer (on our list of handy Mexican cooking tools), or wrap them in foil or a clean towel until the rest of your meal is ready to go.
If you’ve made your corn tortillas ahead of time, take them out of the refrigerator and put them, one at a time, on a hot cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Once each tortilla is a little toasty and has brown spots forming, flip it over and toast the other side.
If you don’t have time to heat them one by one, you can wrap a few corn tortillas in aluminum foil and pop them in the oven until they’re warm. Keep them wrapped in the foil after you take them out so they’ll stay warm until dinner is on the table.
Corn Tortilla Tips
Do I need a tortilla press to make corn tortillas?
Using a tortilla press makes easy work of flattening the dough balls when you’re making a homemade corn tortillas recipe. Not sure if you want to buy a kitchen gadget just for tortillas? Understandable, but on the plus side they range in price from less than $10 to $30. If you’re skipping the press, you can flatten the dough using a heavy flat-bottomed pan.
How do you make white, yellow and blue corn tortillas?
Making colored corn tortillas is as easy as buying different kinds of masa. To make white corn tortillas, pick up white corn masa; to make yellow corn tortillas, look for yellow corn masa; and to make blue corn tortillas, go for the blue corn masa.
Experiment with all kinds of masa to find your favorite for tacos, enchiladas, taquitos and more. Each kind of masa has a slightly different flavor, and you’ll quickly learn which kind you prefer for your homemade corn tortillas.
Can you make corn tortillas without masa harina?
Unfortunately, no—you really need masa harina to make corn tortillas. It’s not interchangeable with cornmeal or corn flour because masa harina is soaked, rinsed, dried and then ground. Cornmeal and corn flour don’t go through that whole process. Luckily, you can typically find at least one kind of masa harina at most grocery stores.
When should you use corn tortillas instead of flour tortillas?
Have you ever seen a burrito or quesadilla made with a corn tortilla? On the flip side, have you ever made taquitos or tostadas with flour tortillas? Probably not!
Since they’re thicker and sturdier, flour tortillas are necessary for recipes that need a little more support. They have the strength to hold all the fixings you love in a burrito (hello, extra guac) and the ability to stabilize whatever you like in your quesadillas as you pick up each cheesy triangle.
Corn tortillas are perfect for recipes that need a more pliable tortilla. For example, taquitos and enchiladas require a tortilla that’s easily wrapped around the fillings. Corn tortillas also crisp up a lot more nicely than flour tortillas, which is why they’re better for making tortilla chips and tostadas.
Homemade Corn Tortillas
Yield
1 dozen
Ingredients
- 2 cups masa harina
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1-1/2 cups hot water
Directions
- In a large bowl, combine masa harina and salt; stir in hot water. Add additional hot water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough is firm but moist; knead until dough comes together, 2-3 minutes. Cover and let rest 1 hour.
- Divide dough into 12 portions; roll into balls. Gently flatten one dough ball, between two pieces of wax paper, using a tortilla press or by pressing with the bottom of a large saucepan or skillet.
- Remove one piece of the wax paper and transfer tortilla, paper side up, to a preheated skillet or griddle over medium-high. Carefully remove remaining piece of wax paper and cook tortilla for 1 minute until it’s slightly dry. Flip the tortilla and cook 1 minute more until dry and light brown but still soft.
- Transfer tortillas to a tortilla warmer or wrap in foil to keep warm; repeat the flattening and cooking process with your remaining dough balls.
Nutrition Facts
1 tortilla: 69 calories, 1g fat (0 saturated fat), 0 cholesterol, 99mg sodium, 15g carbohydrate (0 sugars, 1g fiber), 2g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1 starch.
