Have you tried making tortillas at home? It is harder than it looks but it’s great fun. And you can save a fair amount of money compared to the tortillas you can buy in shops.
Benefits of Homemade Tortillas:
- They freeze well – makes for super quick meals
- It’s great fun – get everyone involved in the making
- It’s versatile – have the filling of your choice
- It’s perfect for entertaining guests & having a happy family get together
Making your own tortillas is definitely the way forward. You can batch cook a whole load and then freeze them.
I’m going to show you a very simple tortilla recipe at the end of this article – It rocks!
Ideal to quickly whip up a lovely quick meal when you just don’t feel like cooking.
Another clear advantage of homemade tortillas is that you can get the whole family involved.
Kids love making tortillas – and adults do, too ?
There is something incredibly satisfying about kneading dough, shaping it and then seeing it evolve into it’s golden brown and crispy yumminess!
Homemade tortillas are also super versatile. If your hubby loves a hearty portion of meat in his tortilla – no problem. You can, at the same time, enjoy a lighter version, and for instance opt for a vegetarian or vegan filling.
This also makes tortillas perfect for inviting friends or family over, as you can prepare the tortillas & different fillings beforehand.
There’s just something really nice about sitting around a table with lots of different mexican spreads. Nachos, tacos, guacamole, fajitas, salsa, you name it…
I love mexican food!
Contra Homemade Tortillas:
Ok, making tortillas from scratch can be a bit fiddly.
No, actually, it really IS fiddly!
Since you need to develop a feeling for how much water you can add without them sticking to the work top… So inevitably you end up throwing clouds of flour at the dough to get the balance just right…
But kitchen mess & temper outbursts aside homemade tortillas are way superior to the prepackaged ones, because they work out much cheaper & healthier for you in the end (presuming you start making them regularly of course).
Pro Homemade Tortillas:
I find the shop bought tortillas can taste a bit bland. Not to mention that they contain many artificial substances to extend their shelf life. Needless to say that white flour tortillas really don’t contain any goodness whatsoever.
Read My Tips for Ordering Mexican Food at a Restaurant or skip straight to The Making of Homemade Corn Tortillas Further Below…
When Eating Out at a Mexican Restaurant…
- choose guacamole over sour cream
- eat nachos without cheese
- ask for corn tortillas instead of flour tortillas
- avoid white rice & refried beans
- resist the happy hour ?
Ask beforehand or check the menu if they have corn tortillas.
I found that most Mexican restaurants generally only serve flour tortillas because it’s cheaper for them. Some good Mexicans also offer a couple of dishes with corn tortillas though. And it’s worth double-checking, so if in doubt you can go to that place instead.
Candida Sufferers should definitely stick with corn tortillas.
If you can only get hold of wheat flour tortillas then it’s a good idea to order a few extra sides and starters to fill you up so you don’t have to demolish all the tortillas. Opt for avocado combos if you can.
I generally share a portion of nachos with my partner as a starter. They are only made from corn flour and salt, so they are reasonably ok on the Candida Diet (from phase 3 onwards). When combined with guacamole this isn’t even such an un-healthy starter choice.
I strangely never had a problem from eating them. The staff are generally quite accommodating if you ask for your nachos not to get smothered in cheese like they normally are.
My tip would also be to pick a fairly simple dish with just vegetables or chicken and vegetables.
Don’t pick dark meats that sit heavily in your tummy –
Sorry, Beef Chimichanga is off the menu for you my dear ?
Sour cream is not ideal due to it’s dairy content (of course I ate it anyway!) And unless the salsa is freshly prepared that might have sugar and other additives in it as well.
Almost all mexican mains come in some form of wrap or tortilla, but sometimes they have these fancy sizzling super hot cast-iron jobbies where they serve the tortillas separately. That’s a good option.
It’s better to choose something without a rice or refried beans filling, as that’s a whopping amount of extra carb that can feed candida.
Corn can still aggravate your symptoms as it does contain natural sugars and is known to cause allergic reactions in some.
I never had a problem with eating corn tortillas, except only a few weeks into the candida diet, when I reacted to ANY kind of carb that wasn’t leafy and green, yuk.
What did I have at the Mexican?
I had nachos & guacamole as starter and some chicken & veg fajita type dish with separate corn tortillas to wrap the filling in. I also succumbed to the happy hour offer and indulged in my favourite drink of all times: Mojito!
Yes, I know, not the wisest choice… but there we go…it was my birthday after all. At least I managed not to have a dessert ?
The idea is of course for you NOT to follow in my footsteps… Hence your best bet is to avoid the temptation and look into making homemade tortillas. And on that note…
Corn Tortilla Recipe
Serves | 16 |
Prep time | 10 minutes |
Cook time | 35 minutes |
Total time | 45 minutes |
Dietary | Candida Diet Recipes Phase 3 |
Meal type | Main Dish |
Misc | Freezable, Pre-preparable |
Region | Mexican |
Ingredients
- 2 cups of Maseca Tortilla Flour (Masa Harina Corn Flour)
- 1/2 teaspoon low salt
- 1.5 – 2 cups lukewarm water
Optional
- pinch of bicarbonate soda (to make it fluffier)
Note
Read this Before You Follow this Easy Corn Tortilla Recipe
First off you need a special type of flour blend.
This is called Perhaps you are luckier than me and can find it in your groceries store. If not Amazon stocks it. The postage costs are quite steep, so I straight away bought a 2kg bag of Masa Flour – so I’ll have plenty of opportunity to refine this corn tortilla recipe!
Let’s Get To It!
Handy Tools to Make Awesome Tortillas
There are actually a few useful tools that help you with the making of tortillas that I had no idea of. For instance you can use a Tortilla Press to evenly flatten the dough into neatly round tortillas.
TopTip: Be sure to get an And then you can heat them up on a Cast Iron Griddle (
These are also superb to make pancakes, breakfast eggs and even pizza with btw.
I will actually get a tortilla press and a bag of Masa flour for a friend’s birthday in a couple of weeks – I think it makes a really novel present 🙂 I might even get one myself for Christmas, as I’m sure I’ll be trying out this Corn Tortilla Recipe a fair few times now that I know how to make it.
Directions
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4 Comments
Kathy
October 13, 2012Happy birthday to you and many more. Thank you for this tortilla recipe. I so do appreciate it. I love your web site. It’s a blessing to me and I am sure many others. Please keep up the good work. Thank you again,Kathy
Sandra
October 13, 2012Thanks Kathy
I’m glad!
Have a great weekend!
yvonne
October 14, 2012Happy Birthday Sandra. Hope you had a wonderful day and I do hope you will have a wonderful year.
Sandra
October 14, 2012Thanks Yvonne – my birthday is in March mind you ?
My mistake, it reads as if I had just been to the restaurant… – doesn’t time fly!
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