Corn tortillas are easy to make and taste delicious. You only need pre-cooked cornmeal or masa harina, salt, and hot water.
Homemade corn tortillas have a rich corn flavor and are soft and fold well.
They are perfect for making delicious Mexican dishes like tacos and tostadas.
What are corn tortillas?
Corn tortillas are small, round, unleavened Mexican flatbreads made with nixtamalized corn (hominy) ground into corn flour (masa harina).
Nixtamalization was developed by the Aztec and Maya people over 3000 years ago to improve corn nutrition.
Nowadays, you can make corn tortillas with several readily available cornmeals, such as PAN and Bob’s Red Mill.
We listed our favorite brands in the ingredients section below.
Unlike wheat tortillas, corn tortillas have a wonderful corn flavor that pairs perfectly with most Mexican dishes.
For example, use them to make tacos or tostadas with colorful veggies, salsa, and queso fresco.
Or dip them in guacamole, refried beans, and pico de Gallo.
You can also have them with black bean soup, sweet potato hash, black bean salad, or tortilla soup.
They are so easy to make, tasty, and healthy that it’s hard to return to the store-bought stuff.
Ingredients for corn tortillas
Quantities are in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.
Corn Meal or Masa Harina
You can make corn tortillas with masa harina (traditional) or pre-cooked corn meal.
We tested and can vouch for the following brands:
- Bob’s Red Mill golden corn flour masa harina.
- Maseca instant corn masa flour.
- PAN pre-cooked yellow corn meal.
- PAN pre-cooked white corn meal.
In this blog post, we used PAN pre-cooked yellow corn meal because it’s the most widely available.
While PAN was developed to make arepas, it’s also excellent for corn tortillas.
It’s easy to work with, has a gorgeous golden color, and a distinct corn flavor.
You can use the flours listed above interchangeably.
Remember that since precooked corn meal is ground more finely than masa harina, it will absorb slightly more water.
Water
You’ll need hot water.
We recommend boiling the water and letting it cool down for a minute before mixing it with the flour.
Salt
We recommend adding some sea salt to bring out the flavor of the corn.
How to make corn tortillas
1. How to make the masa (dough)
Mix the corn flour and salt in a mixing bowl.
Add hot water and stir with a wooden spoon until a dough forms.
Let it cool down for a few seconds, then when you can handle it, knead the dough in the bowl for about a minute or two until you can form a dough ball.
Transfer the dough onto a clean worktop and cut it into eight pieces.
Shape the pieces into balls and cover them with a kitchen cloth.
2. How to shape corn tortillas
Before you start: Our advice is to shape the next tortilla as the previous one is cooking because corn flour dough dries quickly.
The most traditional method to shape corn tortillas is to roll them out with a rolling pin.
We recommend doing so on a lightly floured surface or parchment paper.
Corn tortillas are shy of 2mm thin (less than 1/10-inch) or the height of a quarter-dollar coin.
The diameter should be between 4 to 5 inches or 10 to 12 cm.
ALTERNATIVE METHODS:
Tortilla press: Position an 8-inch (20 cm) square of parchment paper in the press. Put the dough ball in the center and flat it with your hand. Cover with a second 8-inch (20 cm) square of parchment paper and press until flat.
Dutch oven + rolling pin: Position an 8-inch (20 cm) square of parchment paper on a sturdy worktop. Place the dough ball in the center and flatten it with your hand. Cover with a second 8-inch (20 cm) square of parchment paper. Press down with a Duch oven, remove the top parchment paper, and finish rolling out the tortilla with a rolling pin.
3. How to cook corn tortillas
Corn tortillas can be cooked on a comal (Mexican skillet), a cast iron skillet, or a non-stick pan.
Heat the pan on medium heat. Cook the tortilla for 1½ to 2 minutes per side.
Keep warm and moist, wrapped in a kitchen cloth.
Serving suggestions
Corn tortillas should be served warm shortly after they are cooked. They are soft and pliable and have a delicious corn flavor.
As they cool down, the starch loses moisture and becomes stiff, chewy, gritty, and rubbery.
You can use homemade corn tortillas to make tacos or tostadas, or you can serve them as a side dish alongside most Mexican foods.
Try them with sweet potato chili, black bean soup, black bean salad, lentil chili, vegetarian chili, or sweet potato hash.
Or dip them in refried beans, guacamole, or pico de Gallo.
Storage
Room temperature: Keep leftover corn tortillas in a plastic bag at room temperature for a couple of days.
Freezer: Transfer the tortillas to a freezer-friendly bag and freeze it for three months.
Reheat: Warm them in the microwave for 1 minute.
Similar recipes
BREADS & FLATBREADS: Piadina (Italian flatbread), pita bread, flatbread pizza, focaccia pizza, quick pizza dough, naan bread, focaccia, wheat tortilla, roti, and chapati.
Corn Tortillas
Ingredients
- 1 cup masa harina or pre-cooked corn meal like PAN
- 1 cup hot water almost boiling
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- MAKE DOUGH: Mix the 1 cup masa harina and ½ teaspoon salt in a mixing bowl.Add 1 cup hot water and stir with a spoon until a dough forms.Let cool for a few seconds, then when you can handle it, knead in the bowl for about a minute to form a smooth dough ball.Transfer onto a clean worktop and cut it into eight pieces.Shape into balls and cover with a kitchen cloth.
- SHAPE TORTILLAS: Roll out dough balls with a rolling pin, on a piece of parchment paper or on a lightly floured surface.Corn tortillas are shy of 2mm thin (less than 1/10-inch) or the height of a quarter-dollar coin.The diameter should be between 4 to 5 inches or 10 to 12 cm.Alternatively, you can use a tortilla press.
- COOK TORTILLAS: Heat a comal, cast-iron skillet, or non-stick pan on medium heat.Cook the tortilla for 1½ to 2 minutes per side. You might have to lower the heat to medium-low.Keep warm and moist, wrapped in a kitchen cloth. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Bob’s Red Mill golden corn flour masa harina.
- Maseca instant corn masa flour.
- PAN pre-cooked yellow corn meal.
- PAN pre-cooked white corn meal.
- Room temperature: Keep leftover corn tortillas in a plastic bag at room temperature for a couple of days.
- Freezer: Transfer the tortillas to a freezer-friendly bag and freeze it for three months.
- Reheat: Warm them in the microwave for 1 minute.
