I Asked 2 Experts To Name the Best Store-Bought Flour Tortillas—They Both Said the Same Thing

As the foundational element to a remarkable portion of traditional Mexican and Mexican American dishes, tortillas have a huge cultural significance. Opinions on the matter are very strong. Some home cooks prefer flour tortillas, some corn. Of course, which you use also depends on the dish you're making.

Flour tortillas have always been my jam. I love eating them in Mexican restaurants. Unfortunately, when I’ve tried to make burritos, tacos, and other Mexican foods at home, I found most store-bought brands bland, dry, and sometimes too thick.

Maybe the only way to enjoy great flour tortillas at home was to make them myself, but I could never find the time. Finally, I decided to contact a couple of experts in the field to identify the best brand of store-bought flour tortillas. To my surprise, they both said the same thing.

The 2 Experts I Asked

• Yvette Marquez: Food blogger and author of Muy Bueno: Fiestas

• Pati Jinich: Author and star of the James Beard Award-winning PBS TV series Pati's Mexican Table and La Frontera

The Best Flour Tortillas, According to the Pros

“I grew up with my grandma making homemade flour tortillas daily,” Marquez remarked when asked which flour tortillas she prefers. “If homemade isn’t an option, I highly recommend checking out your local tortillería or Latin market for their freshly made flour tortillas.” If that’s not an option, Marquez relies on Kroger’s Mercado line as her go-to store-bought choice.

Kroger’s Mercado Ready to Cook Flour Tortillas are packaged uncooked, which means they are fresher and have a better texture and flavor than “cooked” alternatives. Mission Soft Taco Flour Tortillas, Old El Paso Flour Tortillas, and Guerrero Tortillas are all cooked products. Their longer shelf life means the tortillas remain soft and pliable for a long time.

The problem with pre-cooked flour tortillas is their ingredient list and the fact that they start to go stale as soon as they’re packaged. To prevent them from becoming bland and tough, producers add artificial ingredients that help keep the tortillas tender, soft, and pliable. However, these ingredients compromise the tortillas’ flavor.

Though Kroger’s Mercado Ready to Cook Flour Tortillas might seem less convenient than pre-cooked, Jinich says they’re actually “incredibly practical” because they can be stored in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook with them. She praises the brand for “cooking really fast” and yielding a “beautiful puff” when heated. “The flavor is just like homemade,” Jinich says, and if you cook too many, she notes, they reheat “really well” later on.

More Expert Advice on Store-Bought Tortillas

For the best method of cooking flour tortillas, Marquez clued me in on one special secret: Use a skillet. “NEVER in the microwave,” Marquez warns, “that’s my pet peeve!” In a skillet, you get a few browned spots, which deepen the flavor.

Fajitas, breakfast burritos, and quesadillas are among Marquez’s favorite uses for flour tortillas, and though she usually makes her own—she even provided me with her recipe for delicious homemade flour tortillas. If fresh and homemade isn’t an option, she and Jinich believe uncooked store-bought is the way to go.

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