This homemade Belizean flour tortilla recipe is pure nostalgia for me! Soft, buttery, and made with just a handful of ingredients in about 5 minutes of active prep and cooking time. If you’ve never had fresh tortillas like these, imagine if regular flour tortillas or roti had a baby with buttery biscuits. Amazing right?!

Belizean flour tortillas wrapped in kitchen towel

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These Belizean flour tortillas are tender yet sturdy enough to scoop up shredded chicken tinga, beans, or refried beans. Leftover dough? You can save them for later in the refrigerator to to make Belizean fry jacks for breakfast the next day.

Making these tortillas is a real art form (my mom mastered) but still simple enough for me to pick up! These tortillas cook up thick and pillowy with golden brown spots, perfect for buttering straight off the griddle or pairing with your favorite savory dishes. They’re simple enough for a weeknight but pack so much flavor they’ll fool everyone in thinking you spent more time on them than you did!

Key Ingredients

ingredients for Belizean flour tortillas - all-purpose flour, unsalted butter, coconut milk, baking powder & salt

All-purpose flour. Has enough gluten for the tortillas to hold together but still be soft.

Butter. Needed for best flavor and also helps to tenderize the tortilla texture. Use unsalted butter to control the salt level in your tortillas.

Coconut milk. Adds flavor and a little extra fat, making the tortillas tender. You can substitute for an equal amount of water.

Baking powder. Leavens the dough gently.

Tips for the Best Homemade Belizean Flour Tortillas

Use a kitchen scale and measure the flour and coconut milk out in grams and mL. These measurements are more precise and give consistent results. This is especially important since inaccurate measurements can give you a dough that’s too dry/firm or too wet.

Don’t use canned coconut milk. Canned coconut milk is higher in fat which is what makes it so thick. In Belizean flour tortillas, the extra fat can cause the dough to be greasy resulting in an oily mouthfeel. I personally like to keep coconut milk powder on hand since it’s shelf stable. If you can’t get your hands on regular coconut milk substitute with an equal amount of warm water.

Let the dough rest for a couple seconds before picking it up after rolling it out. This gives the gluten time to relax in it’s flattened shape so that the dough doesn’t immediately shrink once you peel off the parchment paper or pick it up from the counter after rolling.

While cooking a tortilla press or roll out the next so it has time to relax. As mentioned before, it is best to allow the tortilla to rest once rolled out/pressed so it keeps it’s shape. For time efficiency, press or roll out the dough while another tortilla cooks so there is no delay in time.

If refrigerating the tortillas after cooking, slice them in half to add butter or cheese once you reheat them. The tortillas are firm when cold and a little more elastic if you microwave them so it makes them more difficult to slice through. Slice the tortillas before refrigerating and you can add the butter and/or cheese once reheated.

Can I use these to make burritos? No. Belizean tortillas are thicker than regular tortillas and not as flexible. They are more suited to replace the tortilla or chips in things like tostadas or tacos.

How to Store Leftovers

This dough is best prepared fresh so I recommend refrigerating leftover dough instead of already cooked tortillas.

To refrigerate properly, place the balls of dough in an airtight container, draping them with a damp washcloth or damp paper towel to help prevent them drying out.
Before cooking allow the dough to come to room temperature to avoid a doughy center. You can speed up the process by heating in the microwave for small 10-15 second bursts at a time until it comes to room temperature. Do not microwave the leftover dough for extended periods as you can end up cooking them.
One the dough has come to room temperature roll out and cook as usual.

Can I reheat cooked tortillas?

Yes. Although it’s optimal to eat the tortillas fresh you can reheat cooked tortillas in the microwave for ease. With the microwave though, they will lose any crisp on the outside. To compensate this follow up by giving the outside a quick flash on a hot comal or griddle.

How to Make Homemade Belizean Flour Tortillas

Step 1. Add the all-purpose flour, salt and baking powder to a bowl and mix to evenly distribute everything.

Step 2. Add the cubed butter to the flour mixture and rub it in using your hands until the mixture resembles a sand with some large chunks of butter. You can also use a pastry cutter if you have one. The fat from the butter coats the flour, slowing down gluten formation to give the tortilla a soft texture.

butter rubbed into a flour for Belizean tortillas

Step 3. Add the warm coconut milk and knead the dough until there are no more dry spots and it comes together. The tortilla dough doesn’t have to be completely smooth. Cover with a damp washcloth and allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes. The rest time is important for the gluten to relax so that the dough is easier to shape

covering Belizean tortilla dough with a damp washcloth

Step 4. Once rested, portion into 6 balls of dough, rolling it between your palms. Cover the rolled dough with the damp washcloth used earlier to prevent the tortilla dough from drying out.

Step 5. On stovetop, bring a comal or other non-stick pan up to high heat. I like to use a cast iron skillet. There should be some gentle, barely perceptible, smoke coming from the comal.

Step 6. Place a piece of parchment paper down on one side of a tortilla press. Place a ball of the tortilla dough in the center and add another piece of parchment paper on top. Clamp the tortilla press down, opening the press as needed to ensure even flattening (the edge closest to the clamping hinge will usually be thinner than the rest of the tortilla). Flatten the dough down to about 3mm. Allow the flattened dough to rest for about 15 seconds before peeling it from the parchment paper (or the counter). This allows the dough to relax in the flattened (stretched) state. If you remove the dough too soon it will shrink.

Alternatively, roll dough on a clean, dry countertop with a rolling pin or even a sturdy glass.
Keep in mind that the tortilla should be thick enough to slice through but thin enough not to be too doughy.

Step 7. Place the flattened dough onto the hot comal and cook for 30-45 seconds on each side until there are golden brown spots/blisters on each side.

cooked Belizean flour tortilla on a hot comal

Step 8. Slice the tortilla across from edge to edge, spreading butter (and adding cheese if desired). Do this while the tortilla is hot so that the butter and cheese can melt. Transfer to a tortilla basket lined with a dry kitchen towel to keep it warm while you cook the rest.