The first tortilla puffed up in the pan, and for a moment the kitchen went quiet. Not because anything dramatic happened—but because something felt different.

I wasn’t chasing a perfect recipe. I was just standing at the stove, flipping a simple round of dough, realizing that people have been doing this for generations with far less than we think we need today.

These homemade tortillas from scratch became more than dinner. They became a reminder of why simple, whole-food cooking still matters—and why it’s worth slowing down enough to try.

Why Making Tortillas From Scratch Still Matters

Tortillas are one of the most humble foods out there. Flour, fat, water, heat. That’s it. No long ingredient lists. No stabilizers or seed oils pretending to be helpful.

And yet, they’ve sustained families for centuries.

Making tortillas at home pulled me out of the modern mindset that real food has to be complicated to be good. It doesn’t. It just has to be intentional.

This year, our family has been taking small, quiet steps toward eating closer to the way our ancestors did—choosing whole ingredients, sourcing better meat, and relearning kitchen skills that once felt normal instead of “extra.” Homemade tortillas from scratch were one of those steps. Small, yes—but meaningful.

Homemade Tortillas From Scratch (A Simple, Forgiving Recipe)

This isn’t a precious recipe. It’s meant to be used, adjusted, and lived with. No special equipment required—though I’ll admit, halfway through rolling, I realized why tortilla presses exist.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (organic if possible)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons fat (butter, lard, or another traditional fat)
• 3/4 cup warm water

Every ingredient here is whole or close to it—exactly the kind of food philosophy The Simple Pursuit is built on.

How to Make Them

Start by mixing the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Nothing fancy—just combine them well.

Add your fat and work it into the flour with your fingers or a pastry cutter. You’re looking for a crumbly texture, like coarse sand. I used butter, that I made from raw milk. This step doesn’t need perfection.

Slowly pour in the warm water, mixing as you go, until a soft dough forms. If it feels slightly tacky, that’s okay. Divide the dough into 8 to 10 equal pieces and roll each one into a ball.

Cover the dough and let it rest for 20 to 30 minutes. This pause matters more than it seems—it relaxes the gluten and makes rolling the tortillas much easier later.

On a lightly floured surface, roll them into thin circles. They won’t all be perfect. That’s part of the charm.

Heat a dry skillet over medium-high heat (about 400 degrees). Cook each tortilla for about 30 to 60 seconds per side. You’ll see bubbles form and light brown spots appear—that’s when you know you’re doing it right.

Stack the finished tortillas in a clean kitchen towel to keep them warm while you finish the rest. This also kept my tortillas pliable.

What These Tortillas Taught Me

First: homemade tortillas from scratch are much easier than I expected.

Second: I absolutely want a tortilla press.

Rolling by hand works just fine, but there’s something deeply practical about traditional tools. They weren’t made for aesthetics—they were made to make everyday life easier. That realization alone felt grounding.

This isn’t about recreating the past perfectly. It’s about borrowing what worked and letting it fit into modern life.

What We Ate With Them—and Why It Mattered

We filled these tortillas with ground beef from a quarter of a grass-fed, grass-finished cow we recently purchased. That choice felt big. It meant transparency, better farming practices, and food we genuinely trust feeding our family.

Tacos were the obvious answer. Familiar. Flexible. Forgiving.

Good ingredients didn’t need elaborate seasoning (though I did use my homemade taco seasoning) or complicated techniques. They just needed space to shine.

This meal wasn’t about impressing anyone. It was about nourishment, simplicity, and connection.

The Emotional Side of Cooking From Scratch

If you’re thinking, I don’t have time to do this all the time, I get it.

I won’t be making homemade tortillas from scratch every night—and that’s not the goal. One intentional meal can rebuild confidence in the kitchen and remind you that you’re more capable than you think.

This space exists to remove guilt from food conversations. You can value real food and still rely on convenience. Both things can coexist.

Making This Recipe Work in Real Life

Make it fit your family:

• Use the fat your body tolerates best
• Double the batch and refrigerate leftovers
• Freeze cooked tortillas for fast future meals

And start small:
One recipe. One skill. One meal.

That’s how habits actually stick.

Why This Recipe Belongs in The Simple Pursuit

The Simple Pursuit has always been about progress—not perfection.

These homemade tortillas from scratch reflect that philosophy perfectly:

• Simple ingredients
• Traditional roots
• Modern flexibility
• No guilt attached

It’s a small act. But small acts add up.

Final Thoughts

If it’s been a while since you’ve made something truly simple from scratch, let this be your sign.

Make the tortillas. Burn one. Laugh about it. Decide you want a tortilla press.

And keep going.

That’s how we find our way back to our roots—one meal at a time.