My husband and I both grew up in Southern California. As a result, Mexican food is as much a comfort food to us as anything else. We love the spicy flavors and the fresh ingredients that are characteristic of well-prepared Mexican fare. And one of the best and the simplest menu item is the freshly made corn tortilla. Oh my!
One of our favorite places to go when we were dating was La Superica’s on Milpas Street in Santa Barbara. There they made the tortillas fresh before your very eyes. While a dinner out was certainly fun, it wasn’t always convenient or economical to get our tortilla fix as often as we wanted to. So, imagine my surprise when I headed over to Fish’s house after class one day to find him making corn tortillas himself!
He decided he would teach himself, so he had bought a bag of Maseca from the grocery store and a tortilla press
At the risk of having my Mexican-American friends laugh at me, I’m going to offer up a tutorial of how we make them at our house. I am positive that connoisseurs will find a fault in our method, but that’s okay. This works.
Homemade Corn Tortillas
a bag of Maseca or instant corn masa flour
salt
warm water
a ziploc bag and a tortilla press
a hot griddle
Once you get the hang of it, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to make your own corn tortillas. These are great filled with carnitas or shredded beef or chicken. And they make out of this world enchiladas when filled with roasted chiles and cheese and topped with a green sauce.
For more DIY Inspiration, visit A Soft Place to Land.
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After many years, I bought another bag of masa….the package directions are not complete (not enough water and rest time not clear)….I will try again with your terrific instructions. A homemade tortilla is so much tastier! And cheaper than $3 a bag.
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Just did this last night!!! So yummy- but mine were ugly as I don’t have a press. I just rolled them out.
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I got a tortilla press for Christmas and can’t wait to make our own corn tortillas! Do you ever freeze them? If so, how to package them for the freezer? Thanks!
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Jessica Reply:
January 2nd, 2011 at 10:25 am
@Domestic Nerd, no. We don’t freeze them. I have found that they are really only good the day of making.
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Jessica, do you use an electric griddle? If so what kind? I can never get mine to get hot enough, and so my tortillas don’t puff up with air when i try to make them on there. I’ve been having to make them on a small stovetop pancake griddle which takes forever! Thanks!
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Jessica Reply:
January 12th, 2011 at 8:00 pm
Mine don’t puff as much as I would like, either. I guess you would say that my bargain griddle is to blame.
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I love the good, clear pictures and directions for the corn tortillas. I’ve finally got the hang of making flour tortillas, will definitely have to try these!
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I have been wondering and trying to find out for a while if corn tortillas are healthier than whole wheat tortillas. Do you have an idea which it healthier? I have made whole wheat tortillas and they take 4 c of white wheat flour for 10 medium tortillas. That is a lot of carbs. It is surely better than using all-purpose flour, but I don’t know a lot about the nutrition value of corn tortillas. I would love any insight you can share.
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Heather Reply:
August 7th, 2011 at 4:15 am
@Heather,
I actually figured out my own question. I had a hard time figuring it out from google searches in the past, but figured out a new way to search. Most sites compare white tortillas with corn. Corn tortillas are much lower in calories and carbs. They don’t have as much protein, but we usually add protein to the inside. I have never made these before and will have to give it a try. Is a tortilla press necessary, or just nice to have? Thanks for posting the recipe.
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Jessica Reply:
August 7th, 2011 at 7:57 am
A press is very nice to have, but in Honduras I watched a woman press the dough between two pyrex dinner plates.
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Do you know if Maseca is GMO or not? I was very inspired to try your tortillas when you talked about them a while back. I looked at the prices for organic masa and the prices are outrageous. I even went looking for a tortilla press which I could not find locally (big latin population here too, weird!) I’m sure they are way better than store bought.
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Jessica Reply:
April 23rd, 2012 at 2:47 pm
Yeah, I have been wondering about that myself. I’m going to guess that it is not GMO-free.
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