Can You Freeze Tortillas?
You have some leftover tortillas that need to be stored and you don’t plan on eating the right away, but don’t want them to go bad. Can one freeze leftover tortillas? Or perhaps you prepared a lot of homemade tortillas that you need to store for more than a few days.
Either way, the best solution that comes in mind is to freeze them. Before you can proceed to put your flatbread in the freezer, you ought to know how the whole process works. Does this sound familiar? If so, continue reading the article.
Can You Freeze Tortillas?
No matter whether you made corn or wheat tortillas, the best way to store them for a longer time is by freezing (pretty much similar to freezing bread slices). The wraps will freeze properly and taste almost the same after they are defrosted and reheated. So, you don’t have to worry much when it comes to quality.
The most vital thing when it comes to storing tortilla wraps in the freezer is that the tend to freeze together, and it can be a bit difficult to separate them and avoid shredding. This is case for both before and after they are thawed. Meaning that you won’t be able to separate the three or four wraps that you froze together into individual tortillas without causing any damage.
Fortunately, the issue can be easily fixed by putting something in between the tortillas to divide each one of them. This will allow you to take as many tortillas from the freezer as you want without having any challenges.
When looking at selecting the right dividers, there are about two choices. The first one is by using plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Either wrap will work perfectly, though they’ll also generate a large amount of plastic waste. Won’t we all benefit from lesser plastic waste?
The second choice is to use something that you won’t need to throw in the compost bin such as breadcrumbs. You can put a thin layer of breadcrumbs between the tortilla wraps so that they don’t freeze together.
How To Freeze Tortillas
The whole procedure of freezing tortillas is pretty simple and fast. Get something that you can wrap your tortillas in (such as aluminum foil or a big freezer bag), any divider you choose should work well. Here’s are the details of how you can do it:
- Place the divider between every wrap. If you decided to use foil, cut it into pieces that can cover the tortilla wraps properly and put them in between every wrap. If you decided to use breadcrumbs instead, a few pinches on every wrap will be enough. Don’t forget to spread your crumbs evenly.
- Wrap the tortillas. Once the tortilla wraps nice and ready, you can proceed to wrap them. Ensure that they are tightly wrapped and that there’s no air in them, especially if you’re using freezer bags. You can even label them.
- Place the wrapped tortillas in the freezer.
That’s basically all that has to be done. Your tortilla wraps can remain in the freezer for several months without losing much in terms of quality. You’ll also be able to take as many as needed.
How To Defrost and Reheat Tortillas
Begin by removing as many tortillas as you need from the freezer. You don’t really need to worry about removing them the night before because they thaw very quickly. This only applies when they are being defrosted separately and not in a large pile. The following are some of the most popular options:
- At room temperature. Place the tortilla on a plate and leave it on the counter for at least 10 minutes. Flip it on the other side after five minutes. It should now be ready to reheat.
- On the stove. You can defrost it for a few minutes using a warmed up non-stick pan before proceeding to reheat it.
Once your wraps are perfectly warm, you can now use them like you want to (for burritos, tacos or any other foods).
Using Frozen & Thawed Tortillas
Tortillas that were frozen and thawed aren’t very different from fresh ones. This means that they can be used in any recipe that you want. The recipes include, but aren’t really limited to:
- Burritos
- Tacos
- Fajitas
- Quesadillas
- Enchiladas
- Tortilla roll-ups
Like you’ve seen, there are a lot of recipes to select from, so go for what you like best.
