BEST Pink Tortillas Recipe
Learn how to make hot pink corn tortillas made with chef-grade masa harina (corn flour) and natural ingredients, with no preservatives. They’re beautiful and delicious.
Equipment
- Kitchen scale or 2-tablespoon ice cream scooper
- Comal, nonstick skillet, pan, or griddle
- Tortilla press
- Gallon zip top plastic bag cut into circles or square to fit your tortilla press
Ingredients
- 2 cups nixtamalized white corn flour
- 1 small red beet
- 1/2 tsp salt, optional
Instructions
- Prepare the dough. Place the beet in a small saucepan with enough water to completely cover it. Cover and cook until fork tender, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat, and once cool enough to handle, remove skin using a potato peeler or knife. PRO TIP: You can also use cooked beets readily available in grocery stores for this step. Blend two cups of hot water with half of the beet. Strain the mixture and set aside. Using a large mixing bowl, add masa harina and salt. Gradually add the beet mixture and mix by hand until the dough is similar to Play-Doh in texture – not too wet or dry. Portion out and roll out dough balls that are equal in size using a scale, cookie scooper, or simply by eyeballing them. Masa balls should be uniform in size and pressed to the same thickness all around. When you press your thumb into the dough ball, it should not crack nor should it stick to your hands.
- Press tortillas. Then, one at a time, place dough balls between two pieces of plastic on a tortilla press and gently press tortillas until they measure 4 to 6 inches in diameter. Again, these shouldn’t be too thin or thick.
- Cook tortillas. Prepare comal or skillet over medium-high heat and once hot, gently peel tortilla from plastic and place on the comal or skillet. Cook for about 45 seconds or once the edges of the tortillas look dry, then flip and cook until the tortilla puffs up, an additional 15 seconds. Transfer tortillas to a tortilla warmer or wrap in a clean kitchen towel. If your tortilla isn’t puffing up when cooking, you can trouble shoot this by reading this quick article, The Anatomy of a Tortilla Puff.
A Note from Lola
TIPS & TRICKS
- Raw beets can be substituted for canned beets or pre-packaged cooked, peeled beets to save time.
- Dough should be similar to play dough in texture. If it cracks, this is a sign that it needs more liquid. If it sticks to your hands, add more masa harina.
- Dough should be used immediately to make tortillas in order to prevent it from drying out.
- If tortillas begin to burn, definitely lower the heat because comal becomes hotter the longer it sits over the open flame.
- Feel free to drink leftover beet juice or add it to your favorite smoothie.
- Make colorful corn tortillas: for orange tortillas, use golden beets or soaked guajillo chiles; for green tortillas, use a fresh nopal (cactus paddle), spinach, kale, cilantro, epazote, or other leafy vegetables.
- Make white corn tortillas by eliminating the cooked beet used in this recipe.
- A tortilla warmer is not a necessary tool but a great one to have for keeping your homemade tortillas nice and toasty. If you don’t have one, you can also wrap your freshly made tortillas in a clean kitchen towel - just make sure it doesn’t smell like heavily fragrant laundry detergent or softener because this will infuse into the tortillas.
Nutrition
Serving: 1gCalories: 72kcalCarbohydrates: 15gProtein: 2gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0.1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.3gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.2gSodium: 103mgPotassium: 72mgFiber: 1gSugar: 0.5gVitamin A: 43IUVitamin C: 0.3mgCalcium: 27mgIron: 1mg
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