Homemade tortillas encase fillings like Seasoned Black Bean Mash, Verde Queso Fun-dito, and Homemade Guacamole. My husband bought me that tortilla press that I’ve been wanting. (Thanks Honey!) So, we played around with our first batch of homemade corn tortillas. They were really tasty – fresh corn flavor that really came through.
I messed the tortillas up a few times while I was learning to use the new press. I pressed one of them too thin, and it ripped as I took it off the plastic. But, the nice thing is that you can you can just re-roll the tortilla ball and re-press it – pretty forgiving that way. One of the tortillas ripped as I dropped it on the skillet. We pressed that one into the skillet with the spatula a little, and healed the rip. It cooked up just fine.
So, there’s a bit of technique to learn. I’m sure I’d feel more confident if I grew up making these, but I’m a novice at this point. I’m also sure I’ll get better at them as I do it more often. Next time I’ll try making some flour tortillas to compare flavors.
A bag of masa to make homemade corn tortillas. Masa is also great for thickening soups or making tamales.
I wanted to serve these tacos with Roasted Tomatillo Salsa, however, there was a recall on tomatillos, so instead I went with tomato salsa.
You could also serve the tortillas with shredded cabbage, carne asada, sour cream, heck any taco fillings would be tasty in these tortillas. They can also be used for tostadas or stacked casseroles.
Here’s the way I served the tortillas for the first time: Little Tacos with Homemade Corn Tortillas served with Seasoned Black Bean Mash, Verde Queso Fun-dito, Fresh Guacamole, and Homemade Roasted Tomato Salsa.
It was fun and tasty. The kind of meal that just makes your tummy smile! The kind of meal that would be great fun served with a few friends and maybe a margarita or two.
There are three recipes cards here!
Seasoned Black Bean Mash Recipe
Seasoned Black Bean Mash
Ingredients
- 1 can black beans drained and rinsed
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ cup vegetable broth or water
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, mashing the beans with the back of a wooden spoon against the side of the saucepan as you stir. The beans will get softer the longer they are cooked, and therefore easier to mash. If the beans get too thick, add a little more broth. Continue stirring and mashing beans until you reach the desired chunkiness.
Recipe Notes
Makes about 1 ½ cups
Verde Queso Fun-dito. Tasty, cheesy, gooey, and oh so good!
Verde Queso Fun-dito Recipe
Verde Queso Fun-dito
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium white onion coarsely chopped
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 can green chiles
- 3 green onions chopped
- 3 tablespoons vegetable broth dry white wine, beer, or tequila
- 8 ounces Pepper Jack Monterey Jack cheese, or Mexican melting cheese such as Chihuahua, shredded
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat until it begins to shimmer. Add the onion and the salt, and cook, stirring regularly, until the onion begins to caramelize about 20 minutes. If the onion begins to burn, add a little water to slow the cooking process. Add the green chiles, the green onions, and the broth or other liquid; stir until the liquid has evaporated and the mixture is once again dry looking.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low, sprinkle the cheese evenly over the vegetables and stir slowly and constantly until just melted—too long over the heat and the cheese will become tough, oily and stringy.
- Immediately scoop into a warm serving dish and enjoy the cheesy gooey warmth.
Some of the cooked tortillas waiting to be made into tasty tacos
Pour the water into the masa and salt
The dough should be soft and not too sticky. You’ll most likely have to add extra water, I added about 2 extra tablespoons worth to get this consistency.
Separate the dough into 8 equal parts and roll the pieces into balls.
I’ve cut the plastic liners out of a large plastic bag, and my tortillas are ready to be pressed
Place the dough ball on one of the plastic liners and cover with the second liner
Gently press down on the tortilla
Once the tortilla has been flattened, gently take the liners off the dough
The tortilla has been placed on the griddle and cooked until it has released; now, we’re ready to flip it
Nice and golden on the first cooked side, now, just wait for it to finish cooking so that you can cook up the rest of the tortillas
BTW, sorry there aren’t more photos of the finished tacos with the beans, cheese, and guacamole, but, they were so tasty we ate them up right away!
Homemade Corn Tortillas Recipe
Homemade Corn Tortillas
Ingredients
- 1 cup instant corn masa flour
- 2/3 cup boiling water
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Combine masa, water, and salt. Mix by hand, kneading thoroughly to form soft dough - not stiff, but not sticky. If dough feels too dry, add more water (one tablespoon at a time). Cover and let stand 5 minutes. Divide dough evenly into 8 pieces, and roll each piece into a ball. Cover with plastic or a damp cloth to keep the moisture in.
- Cut 2 pieces of plastic ziptop bag 1-inch larger than the tortilla press.
- Set large griddle (one that stretches of 2 burners) or 2 skillets on stovetop. Set heat under one end of griddle (or one skillet) at medium, and set heat under other end (or other skillet) at medium-high.
- Open tortilla press, and lay in one piece of plastic. Lay dough ball in center, and top with second piece of plastic. Close press. Press gently enough to mash dough into 1/8-inch thick disc that measures roughly 5 to 6 inches in diameter. Carefully peel off top piece of plastic.
- Unmold uncooked tortilla: Flip tortilla onto right hand (if right-handed). Top of tortilla should line up with top of index finger. Lay tortilla on ungreased medium-hot griddle (or skillet) by letting bottom of tortilla touch griddle, then lowering your hand slightly and moving it away from you - the tortilla will stick to the hot surface so you can roll your hand out from under it as it rolls down flat.
- After about 30 seconds, the edges of tortilla will dry slightly and tortilla will release from griddle - before this moment, tortilla will be stuck. With a spatula, flip onto hotter side of griddle (or hotter skillet). After about 30 seconds, tortilla should be browned underneath. Flip. Cook 30 seconds more - tortilla should puff in places (a gentle press with spatula or fingers encourages puffing). Transfer cooked tortilla to basket or plate lined with towel or a cloth napkin.
- Press and cook remaining tortillas. Stack each cooked tortilla on top of previous one. Keep tortillas well wrapped in towel to keep warm.
- Tortillas can be stored in a sealed plastic bag in the ‘fridge for up to a week, if you don’t eat ‘em all right away!
Recipe Notes
Makes 8 tortillas
Tiffany says
This is another one of those things I”ve always wanted to make, but never have. Thanks for the great tutorial.