Taco Bell® Gordita shells - Clone recipe

Softer and more 'pillowy' than flour tortillas, these are really tasty and are good for many uses.

It has been brought to my attention that this recipe originally appeared in the blog for King Arthur Flour.  that is not where I found it, but it is their intellectual property and so they deserve the reference. The original resides at: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2009/07/16/fast-food-fix-gorditas-without-the-drive-through/.  Take time to go through the site - there are lots of tempting recipes there.


2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 cups boiling water
1/4 cup potato flour or instant potato flakes
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tsp yeast

Place 2 cups of All-Purpose Flour in a bowl, and stir in 1 1/4 cups boiling water.  Stir till smooth. Cover the bowl and set the mixture aside for 30 minutes to cool.

Combine 1/4 cup potato flour (or flakes or buds) and the remaining 1 cup of flour with 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, and 1 teaspoon instant yeast. Yes, that’s right; just 1 teaspoon. You don’t want/need these breads to rise very much.  Whisk till crumbly.  Add to the cooled flour/water mixture and stir together.  It’ll seem dry at first, but the dough will eventually pick up the flour/potato flour mixture, you can give it a hand with a bowl scraper.

Knead for several minutes (by hand, mixer, or bread machine). The dough will remain soft and somewhat sticky.  Finally, it’ll become very smooth.  Put the dough into a greased container.  Let the dough rise, covered, for 1 hour. It won’t rise a lot due to the small yeast quantity but it will rise some.

Next, divide the dough into 10 pieces. This is made very easy if you use a scale to do the math for you.  For example, my dough  weighed 700 grams, so each small ball was 70 grams.  Roll the pieces into balls and let rest, covered, for 15 to 30 minutes.

Roll each piece out into a circle about 5” across, which should be the same size as your taco shells are wide.   Get them very thin, 1/8” or less, because as you cook them they will rise a bit and get thicker.

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat; no oil necessary. Place one flatbread into the skillet.  Cook till spotty brown underneath, about 1-2 minutes, and the bread will puff up a bit.  Turn over, and cook till the other side is spotty as well, another minute or so.  If any bubbles arise, puncture them with a toothpick – we are making flatbread here, not pita bread.  Keep the warm in a stack under a kitchen towel as you finish the rest of the breads. 

It doesn’t matter if you have made more than you need - “extras” won’t stick around long!