All hail the almighty flour tortilla, master of 100 meals! Alright, that may be an overstatement but the tortilla has become a staple in our kitchen. The reason it is a staple is that it is a completely blank slate that can be used in many ways. It is much more than a taco shell or burrito wrapper. This is the exact type of base item we discuss in planning and identifying staples. In this post, we will explore the tortilla as a staple to making multiple-calorie budget-friendly meals.
A Little History:
As with all things food, the flour tortilla’s origin is somewhat contested. While corn tortillas aren’t as disputed as corn originated in Mexico, flour and its uses are a little harder to trace. Some believe these came from Mexico, and some think of them as Tex-Mex. There is even some idea that they are by-products of Catholic, Jewish, and Moorish immigration in the Northern Mexico / SW US area.
Do we care where it came from? Probably not but it’s fun to ruminate on its origin stories. Even more interesting is that all of the above cultures and religions have some form of unleavened bread or flatbread. The tortilla is one of those breads that can be either or. What does that make it? That makes it a great stand-in for other breads!
The Calorie Budget Conscience And Consistent
We won’t argue that mass-produced tortillas are great. That said, we also won’t make the argument that mass-produced bread is great. Mass-produced tortillas are simply practical and predictable. There are times when that wins out over homemade especially when considering pantry staples.
For most of our items, we use Mission flour Fajita Tortillas because they are the best! Not exactly. We use them because they are ubiquitous, inexpensive, consistent, and have a decent shelf life. No matter the grocery store, we can generally find them. They are 110 calories a piece. This is perfect for our calorie budget. By the time we get done adding toppings and or other ingredients, their meal comes in at around 200-250 calories per tortilla-based item.
But What Can You Do With Them?
You could write an entire book on using tortillas other than in Tex-Mex and Mexican dishes. They can be substituted for just about any flat or unleavened bread. We use them for everything from our Doritos to pizzas. We don’t have time for a book so instead we will focus on cooking styles and examples.
The Out Of Package
- Wraps of meats, cheese, and veggies.
- Folded sandwiches.
- A side for soups and chilis.
The Baked Flat
- In impromptu personal pizza using pizza sauce, cheese, and other toppings.
- The above folded for a calzone.
- Covered with olive oil, garlic, rosemary, and sea salt like Focaccia.
- Covered with buttered, garlic and zaatar similar to Naan.
- Spiced with seasonings, cut into wedges, and baked like Dorritos.
- Spiced with sugar and cinnamon and butter like cinnamon toast.
The Baked Or Microwaved Rolled
- Meat and cheese wraps to create melts.
- Mini-calzones and pizza rolls.
- Breakfast roll-ups with eggs, meat, and veggies.
A note on cooking methods. Baking and frying them will create a crispy tortilla. The higher the heat, the more likely it is to brown or burn. Microwaves will cook them but will create a chewier result. This is also why they are so versatile to have around. You can be creative with textures by simply changing the heating method.
And yes you can deep fry them, pan fry them, and even fill them with seafood. They are a blank slate. That is the point. If we keep frozen chicken, ham, cheddar, mozzarella, salami, pizza sauce, and some basic spices, we can easily make multiple combinations of food. They also give us more flexibility so we can easily use up leftovers creatively. And one more point, they freeze well if you put wax paper between them before freezing.
Here are the wins
- Save money by using one basic staple that is cheap in multiple ways.
- Always have a starch on hand for when you need something impromptu.
- Give them a purpose past Taco Tuesday where there are usually some left over.
- Save time as many of the above take no time to make.
What? No Recipes?
No, we aren’t providing them because in many ways they already exist. Ok, maybe one for the Doritos. The goal of this post is really to call attention to how a single staple can create so many different meals. There are very talented people out there who I use the recipes of all the time. When it comes to the ingredient list, we may substitute a tortilla on hand for one of the recipe’s ingredients. That is why we focused on getting information on how to simplify things like meal planning and cooking.
In this specific case, we also feel like each of the items discussed is a formula. The actual ingredients you use are based on your taste. If you like cheesy pesto pizzas tortillas instead of pepperoni and red sauce, you do you. And let’s face it, this is not a meal item that is going to be on the next Iron Chef America. This is a meal item to simplify making food within a calorie and time budget.
Wrapping Up
In this post, we discussed how useful the tortilla can be as a staple in the kitchen. By keeping these types of basic, blank canvas staples around, you give yourself meal flexibility. With that flexibility also comes calorie consistency and time savings. This simple example is how we started to recognize what we need to keep on hand and really, what we didn’t to avoid eating out more often.