6 Steps to Make Homemade Tortillas by a local Costa Rican Chef

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Wendy, our friend and local Costa Rican chef, is sharing her recipe and process for making tortillas from scratch at home.

This is her family recipe that she uses weekly and has used since she first started making tortillas with her family as a young girl. 

Follow Wendy’s 6 simple steps to make delicious homemade tortillas.

Step 1

Before you get started, make sure you have your ingredients and equipment gathered and ready to go.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups corn flour, otherwise known as “masa harina” (look in the Hispanic section at the grocery store, packaging will indicate for tortillas/tamales) 

  • ½ teaspoon salt

  • 1 ½ cup hot water 

  • 1 cup cold water

  • Cooking spray or oil

Equipment

Step 2

In a mixing bowl, combine 2 cups of corn flour and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Then add 1 1/2 cups of hot water and mix it with a spoon. Add cold water little by little and mix until you have an easy-to-handle dough. You may not use the whole 1 cup of water.

Pro tip: Keep an eye on the consistency of your dough. Add the cold water slowly so that your dough doesn’t become too wet. You want the dough to have the consistency of play doh: soft, easy to manipulate, not crumbly, not sticky. If too crumbly, add a bit more water. If too sticky, add a bit more corn flour.

 
 
 

Step 3

Once you’ve achieved the proper consistency, pull off a large golf ball-sized amount of corn masa and roll it between your hands until it’s smooth and shaped like a ball. Again, it should be about the size of a large golf ball. Repeat this step until all of your dough is rolled into balls. You should end up with about 8-10 balls of dough.

 
 
 

Step 4

Using scissors or a knife, split the Ziploc bag along all the seams so that you have 2 separate pieces of plastic.

Step 5

Put one sheet of your Ziploc bag on top of the counter, place the ball of masa on top, and then place another layer of plastic on top of the masa ball. With your hands smash the ball while at the same time rotating the plastic in circles to form a round tortilla.

Step 6

Heat a pan over high heat. Once hot, spray with cooking spray or rub with oil. Remove the top sheet of plastic, and then with the help of your palm remove the bottom sheet of plastic and drop your tortilla in the warm pan. Let it cook 1 minute over medium heat per side and then remove. Your tortilla is ready to flip when it no longer sticks to the pan, and has darkened a bit. Keep warm in a tortilla warmer, or in between a kitchen towel. Repeat with all balls of dough.

 
 
 

There you have it - Homemade Tortillas with Wendy from Costa Rica!

Looking for the perfect pairing for your homemade tortillas? Check out Taste of Costa Rica, where you can learn to make Wendy’s classic recipe of Gallo Pinto along with experiencing more of Costa Rica’s culture.

Or “travel” to Costa Rica and cook alongside Wendy in one of her live and interactive cooking classes. We offer private cooking classes along with our weekly community classes.

 

Don’t forget to pin this article for future reference!

 
 
 

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