How to Cook Uncooked Flour Tortillas: 3 Easy Steps
You may have recently bought raw uncooked flour tortillas from the grocery store and wondered, “What the heck do I do with these?”
Well, wonder no more!
These flour tortillas have simple ingredients that make them a delicious fresh choice, no rolling pin needed.
I’ll go over the quick and simple process with you, step by step, so you can make them juuust right. Yum!
How to Cook Raw Uncooked Flour Tortillas:
- Preheat griddle on stove to medium-high heat, make sure it’s hot.
- Place tortilla on griddle for 25-30 seconds.
- Flip the tortilla and cook for an additional 5-15 seconds. Remove from heat and Enjoy!
Step-by-Step Full Cooking Guide
Cooking raw, uncooked flour tortillas is a simple process.
I would say that it is almost like cooking any other tortilla, which is what I’ve done since childhood.
Tools You Will Need to Cook Uncooked Flour Tortillas
The Comal
Let’s start with the cookware. You’re going to need a comal.
A comal is a round flat pan that is commonly made of carbon steel or cast iron.
It is an essential piece of cookware in any Mexican home.
It lives on the stove and is rarely put away in a cupboard.
Types of Cookware
Don’t worry if you don’t have a comal at home.
Any flat pan or large skillet you have on hand will do, as long as it’s the size of your uncooked flour tortilla.
Another good pan to use, especially if your cooking a large batch of raw tortillas is a well-seasoned cast iron skillet.
They get hot with even distribution of heat, you’ll pump several out in no time!
I use a cast iron skillet especially when I make my homemade flour tortillas.
Cooking Technique for Uncooked Tortillas
1. The most important part of this whole process is to start with a hot skillet!
Don’t skip the preheating step, get your burner on medium-high heat to begin.
You’ll need to be patient on this one, if you add your uncooked flour tortilla to a cold skillet, you will end up with a sad dry tortilla instead of a deliciously soft and chewy one.
Since you’re dealing with a hot skillet, you will need to stand by the stove and watch each one carefully to prevent your flour tortilla from getting too crispy or worse, burning!
2. Carefully Place the Uncooked Flour Tortilla Flat on the Hot Skillet
After you place the first uncooked tortilla on the hot skillet, you can lower the heat to medium-low.
3. Watch Your Flour Tortilla Cook
It’s vital to be on standby while your uncooked tortillas are initially placed on the stove.
This will give you a sense of the amount of time you will need before flipping your tortilla.
Watch for small bubbles to appear throughout your tortilla.
It generally takes about 25-30 seconds to get to this point depending on the level of heat your pan is radiating.
When my pan is super hot, it’s no more than 25 seconds for that perfect browning and chewy texture.
4. Turn Tortilla
Once you see those bubbles across your tortilla, it’s time to flip!
I use my hands to flip them but if the thought of touching a hot tortilla is not your jam, use tongs or a spatula.
Don’t worry, I won’t judge you 😉
You will notice golden brown spots on a perfectly cooked flour tortilla.
At this point, you only need a few seconds more and your delicious tortillas are ready to eat!
Once again, if your skillet is really hot, you only need to cook the other side for about 5 seconds.
It may take a bit longer, about 10-15 seconds if your skillet isn’t completely revved up yet.
See why you can’t walk away from the stove?
I find that once I’ve cooked my first couple of tortillas, I’ll have a general sense of the timing.
Questions and Answers
Do I Need to Put Oil in the Pan Before Cooking?
No need to add oil.
Once your tortilla is ready to be flipped, it will loosen from the pan.
It will stick to the pan if it’s not ready, so wait a few more seconds before flipping.
How do I Keep my Cooked Flour Tortillas Warm?
The simplest way to keep your tortillas soft and warm is to place them in a tea towel or clean kitchen towel.
How Long Do Uncooked Flour Tortillas Last?
Your store-bought uncooked flour tortillas should last by the due date indicated on the package.
Once opened, they need to be refrigerated and last about a week.
I’ve had mine mold pretty quickly after opening.
For best results, I recommend that you cook the rest of the package after 5-7 days max.
I ended up cooking the whole batch and returned the unused ones to the original packaging.
Can You Freeze Uncooked Tortillas?
Yes, you can!
Place them in a sealed bag and freeze them for 6-8 months.
Do you Have to Cook Flour Tortillas?
Most flour tortillas you find at the store are pre-cooked and don’t have raw dough.
Those are perfectly fine to eat without heating up or cooking.
However, these uncooked raw flour tortillas I’m referring to must be cooked.
There are potential health risks to eating raw tortilla dough, nonetheless, it is perfectly safe to eat lightly cooked flour tortillas.
When to undercook Flour Tortillas?
Once your package has been opened for several days, it is a good idea to cook the rest in a large batch.
This prevents your uncooked flour tortillas from spoiling quickly in your fridge.
The cooking process reduces the water content and lowers the potential for mold growth.
To create soft tortillas for storage, it is best to not overcook them.
Undercook your flour tortillas if you plan on storing them for later use because you will need to reheat them and this will keep them from becoming hard.
Undercooking raw tortillas also allows you to retain the tortillas’ freshness while extending their shelf life.
Because the flour tortilla wasn’t completely cooked, it can be stored and then reheated over the stove while maintaining that soft chewy texture.
Other Ways to Cook Uncooked Flour Tortillas
There is no other way to cook raw tortillas…
Just kidding, there are a couple more different ways to cook raw flour tortillas yet the stovetop is the preferred method.
BBQ – Grill Tortillas
Using a grill on an open fire to cook uncooked flour tortillas is an excellent choice.
There’s nothing like those tantalizing grill marks!
I won’t go into detail about this method because it is the same as above except the timing is much faster.
You’ll have to have your tongs ready for this one.
Can I Fry Uncooked Tortillas?
Yes, the last way I recommend cooking your raw flour tortillas is by frying them.
You can easily pan-fry uncooked tortillas with healthy oils that have a high heat point such as avocado oil and coconut oil.
You can also use olive oil but I highly recommend avoiding vegetable oil, canola oil, and other inflammatory oils.
I would use this method if you’re trying to achieve a crunchy texture.
Make sure to start with hot oil at least 1/2 an inch deep in the pan.
Fry each side for about 10-15 seconds.
Again, don’t forget your tongs, or you can also use a slotted spoon to flip your tortillas.
Fold them immediately to create that taco style crunch.
Can I Cook Uncooked Tortillas in the Microwave?
Please don’t do that.
You might as well buy the regular cooked tortillas for this method.
When you buy raw fresh tortillas, you are looking for that aroma and soft chewy texture of homemade tortillas.
Cooking them in the microwave will result in a dry hard and sad tortilla.
My grandma, God rest her soul, used to sometimes cook tortillas in the microwave to make tostadas!
She was an incredible cook, but I could never, for the life of me, understand why she did this.
Even as a child, I was dumbfounded, they were never the right texture, yuck!
If you have no other choice than to use a microwave to cook your uncooked tortillas, I recommend you wrap one tortilla in a damp paper towel at a time.
Don’t stack them. Unlike regular pre-cooked store-bought tortillas, they’ll stick together.
You’ll have to cook them individually for about 15-30 seconds depending on your microwave.
Continue cooking at 10-second intervals until it’s reached the desired texture.
Can I Bake Uncooked Tortillas in the Oven?
People…
If you have an oven, you most likely have a stovetop.
Use the griddle, I promise, it’s not that bad.
Okay, okay, I’ll shed some grace here.
If you must, preheat your oven to 350 degrees f.
Place individual uncooked tortillas on a baking sheet.
Cover with aluminum foil, and bake for 5-7 mins.
Raw Uncooked Flour Tortillas vs Cooked Tortillas
When using homemade flour tortillas, or store-bought uncooked tortillas like Tortillaland Tortillas, the result is a very flavorful tortilla.
Precooked flour tortillas may be super convenient but they are riddled with preservatives, artificial flavors, and dough conditioners that keep them shelf stable and soft.
The Tortillaland ready-to-cook option is definitely a step up, containing only 5 ingredients, but we can do better!
How to Enjoy Cooked Flour Tortillas
Tortillas can be a quick appetizer especially when you slather butter all over and roll it.
You can also use them in:
- street tacos
- homemade tortilla chips
- burritos
- and best of all, quesadillas
You can use them in any type of Mexican food, sandwich wraps, and rolls.
Quick Quesadilla Recipe
Here’s a quick quesadilla recipe to try!
Once you have cooked your flour tortillas, turn down the burner to low heat.
Place one tortilla on the griddle and add the sliced cheese or shredded cheese of your choice.
I used sliced cheddar, placed the cheese on the tortilla in an even layer, and added another tortilla on top.
Wait about 1-2 mins or until your cheese shows signs of it melting, then flip the whole thing.
Cook for another 1-2 mins to get a nice caramelizing on the edges.
Once the cheese is oozing out and your tortilla has a bit of crispiness to it, take it off of the griddle and cut it across with a pizza for triangular slices.
Garnish with your favorite salsa or in my case, a homemade pico de gallo with cauliflower.
What Ways Do You Use Flour Tortillas?
I’d love to hear all of your ideas and suggestions in the comments below!
While using an iron skillet is great, they are literally widely known for not having even heat distribution, so I am not sure why you said that.