Blue Corn Tortillas

Homemade blue corn tortillas are beautiful and taste so much better than shop-bought tortillas and they are surprisingly easy to make. These Blue Corn Tortillas need only 3 basic ingredients and take just 30 minutes from start to finish!

Course Bread, Side, Side Dish

Cuisine Mexican

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Total Time 30

Servings tortillas

Calories 34kcal

Author Eb Gargano

Ingredients

150 g blue masa harina (See Note 1)
Pinch of salt (optional)
300 ml lukewarm water

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Preparation

Place the masa harina in a large mixing bowl and add the salt. Stir thoroughly to ensure the salt is evenly distributed.
Add the warm water bit by bit, stirring after each addition, until you have a firm dough that just comes together. (If the dough is too dry, add a little more water. If the dough is too sloppy add a little more flour.)
Knead the dough on a floured surface for 5 minutes.
Divide the dough into 16 equal sized pieces. (each piece will weigh approximately 30g) and place on a plate, covered with a clean tea towel to stop them drying out.
Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat for 1 minute.
Meanwhile press out your first tortilla.

Option 1: If you have a tortilla press

Place a sheet of lightly greased plastic on the bottom of your tortilla press. Place the ball of dough on top and cover with a second sheet of lightly greased plastic on top. (See Note 2.)
Gently cover with the top part of your tortilla press and press down using the handle. Lift up the top part of your tortilla press, turn the tortilla 180 degrees, and press again. (See Note 3.)
Your tortillas should be approximately 12cm (5 inches) in diameter.

Option 2: If you don’t have a tortilla press

Place a sheet of lightly greased plastic your worksurface or a chopping board. Place the ball of dough on top and cover with a second sheet of lightly greased plastic on top.
Place a heavy oven dish or saucepan on top of the ball and press down. Remove the oven dish, turn the tortilla 180 degrees, and press again. (See Note 4.)
Your tortillas should be approximately 12cm (5 inches) in diameter.

Frying your tortillas

Gently peel the plastic off the tortilla and place it on the hot frying pan. (Take a lot of care when you do this as the tortillas are very fragile.)
After 15 seconds, flip the tortilla. Repeat twice so the tortilla has had 30s on each side. (I recommend using tongs or a fish slice to flip the tortilla.)
While the tortilla is cooking, press out the next tortilla.
When the tortilla has had a total of 1 minute cooking time, place in a tortillada to stay warm. (If you do not have a tortillada, place the cooked tortillas in between two clean tea towels.)
When all the tortillas are cooked, place them on the table, still in the tortillada, and serve with all your favourite fillings and toppings!

Notes

Masa harina is flour made from corn. It is sometimes referred to as corn flour or maize flour, but it is not the same as what is sold in the UK as “cornflour”. It is not very easy to get hold of masa harina in UK supermarkets, but it is very easy to get it online. I buy the Maseca brand, which you can get from Amazon or Mexgrocer. (Note “Cornflour” in UK supermarkets refers to what is called "cornstarch" in the United States, a finely powdered white starch derived from corn kernels, used primarily as a thickening agent. It is a different thing entirely and NOT what is needed in this recipe.)
I cut up a plastic food bag to get 2 pieces of plastic that are the perfect size to fit in my tortilla press.
I use this tortilla press.
If you don’t have a tortilla press, I recommend pressing down using a heavy oven dish or sauce pan rather than rolling out. This is because the corn tortilla dough is quite fragile and it is hard to roll out without breaking it. It is also a lot quicker to press the dough out.
Suitable for freezing.
Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.

Nutrition