# Can you make decent enchiladas from corn tortillas? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 7, 2016, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-decent-enchiladas-from-corn-tortillas/745416 "2016-02-07T15:29:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![sleestak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-decent-enchiladas-from-corn-tortillas/745416/41 "2016-02-08T05:33:35Z")
> [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](#): > > Flour?? For enchiladas?? > Growing up along the border, enchiladas are only corn. I have honestly not heard of flour tortillas being used for enchiladas. Yes, flour tortillas are traditionally northern and corn southern, but even still, it’s always corn. I’m confused that any site would state the opposite. > > Here’s what we do: heat up the tortillas to be warm, pan fry in oil until translucent (not crunchy). Place on paper towels to absorb extra oil. Fill and roll. Ladle sauce. > You can also skip the roll part and stack like pancakes (but you still pan fry). This style is called “Montadas” and is often served with a fried egg on top. This is the correct answer. Slee Who worked in multiple Mexican joints in Albuquerque ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-decent-enchiladas-from-corn-tortillas/745416/42 "2016-02-08T08:45:19Z")
I just layer everything like a lasagna, and bake it up as a casserole. ---
**Author:** ![cmdrpiffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b4bc9f/32.png) [@cmdrpiffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmdrpiffle)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-decent-enchiladas-from-corn-tortillas/745416/43 "2016-02-08T11:05:20Z")
Are there no other Mexicans here? Really? Damn. Enchiladas use corn tortillas. Period. Fry the tortilla for a few moments on both sides in oil, drain, pat dry, then proceed with your construction. Prior to putting in the filling of your choice, you MUST dredge the tortillas in enchilada sauce completely prior to putting in the filling. Old El Paso canned (mild) enchilada sauce in a #6 can from Safeway is a good as homemade for authentic taste. …I’m here to help. Hasta! ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-decent-enchiladas-from-corn-tortillas/745416/44 "2016-02-08T13:14:23Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Where I live (southern New Mexico), enchiladas usually are not rolled. You stack them like pancakes, two or three inches deep, with layers of chile and cheese between each layer of tortilla. Cook them in a deep dish, like a lasagna or a casserole. Use a spatula to cut the big mass into individual servings. Corn is the default. Flour is extremely rare. I sometimes cheat & construct my enchiladas New Mexico style–even with non-New Mexico style fillings. Especially if my tortillas aren’t the very freshest. Much easier. Occasionally (even down here) people make seafood enchiladas with flour tortillas–perhaps thinking they are like crepes. They aren’t. Cooking them in sauce just makes them pasty. Flour tortillas are good for (some) soft tacos & burritos. Again, the fresher the better. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-decent-enchiladas-from-corn-tortillas/745416/45 "2016-02-08T13:50:03Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I only use corn for enchiladas. You are really missing out then my friend… Find someplace that serves Tacos al Pastor and it will open your eyes that corn tortillas are a wonderful compliment to things other than enchiladas. > **[Tacos al Pastor](https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/tacos-al-pastor-242132)** > > With the help of low-heat grilling, this tacos al pastor recipe delivers tender, juicy pork tacos—no spit-fire roasting required. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-decent-enchiladas-from-corn-tortillas/745416/46 "2016-02-08T13:56:07Z")
> [@Spud](#): > > You are really missing out then my friend… Find someplace that serves Tacos al Pastor and it will open your eyes that corn tortillas are a wonderful compliment to things other than enchiladas. > > [Tacos al Pastor Recipe | Epicurious](http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/tacos-al-pastor-242132) Tacos al pastor are one of my favorite things ever, so I am very familiar with them. I think you are misreading my admittedly ambiguous sentence. It means, for enchiladas, I only use corn tortillas, not the only thing I use corn tortillas for is enchiladas. My default tortilla for most things is corn, but it does depend. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-decent-enchiladas-from-corn-tortillas/745416/47 "2016-02-08T14:06:05Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Tacos al pastor are one of my favorite things ever, so I am very familiar with them. > > I think you are misreading my admittedly ambiguous sentence. It means, for enchiladas, I only use corn tortillas, not the only thing I use corn tortillas for is enchiladas. You are right… I misinterpreted what you said. I’ll have to admit I was surprised to think that you would only find a use for corn tortillas in enchiladas and nothing else. If you are ever in central Indiana let me know and I can point you to a small local family run place that makes a killer version of them. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-decent-enchiladas-from-corn-tortillas/745416/48 "2016-02-08T14:17:54Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > My experience says **no**. The damn things are just too brittle to roll up without splitting, if not immediately then within 2 or 3 minutes of sitting there in the pan, all stuffed with goodies. > > I’ve tried warming them up via a toasty skillet, a steamer, a microwave. I’ve tried chilling them in the fridge first. I’ve briefly dunked them in sauce; I’ve left them dry. I’ve rolled loosely, I’ve rolled tightly. > > They always break up and when served, it’s just a pile of hash with tortilla fragments in it, unlike my nice, tasting individual _flour_ tortilla enchiladas. > > Is this just the nature of corn tortillas? What little I’ve been able to find on the internet suggests so. When comparing the corn product to the flour one, most tend to focus on their relative health benefits, but a few sites make passing mention that flour is preferred for enchiladas, burritos, and other rolled products, while corn is better for making chips and hard taco shells. > > Have I merely rediscovered the basic fact that corn tortillas are not for the making of enchiladas? Or am I missing a secret? > > This thread was inspired by me grabbing a bag of tortillas at the grocery yesterday in anticipation of a nice dish of chicken enchiladas, only to discover I’d grabbed corn ones when I got hom. :o I’m guessing you’re from some far Northern state… enchiladas are typically made with corn tortillas, and flour tortillas typically are used for tacos and more or less like bread would be used at the table. Corn tortillas are the only thing that enchiladas are made with- flour tortillas are a northern Mexico thing and US thing. Most of Mexico is strictly corn tortilla land, and even the northern parts still use a lot of them. **cmdrpiffle** has the right procedure- you briefly fry them in oil on both sides (makes them pliable and not so stiff), and then you dredge them in enchilada sauce before filling and rolling, which helps them to not crack after being rolled. If you’re going to use them for tacos, there are 3 ways I’ve seen that done. First, you can steam them/nuke them- they become softer and more pliable. Second, you can put them in some sort of shaper/holder and deep fry them. Restaurants tend to do this. Third, you can fry them on one side in hot oil, fold it in half, and then flip to fry up the other side. It basically makes a corn tortilla taco shell without deep frying or the shaper. It takes some practice though- it’s really easy to mess it up. Good news is that corn tortillas tend to be really cheap - like 1-2 cents a piece. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-decent-enchiladas-from-corn-tortillas/745416/49 "2016-02-08T14:53:26Z")
> [@Spud](#): > > You are right… I misinterpreted what you said. I’ll have to admit I was surprised to think that you would only find a use for corn tortillas in enchiladas and nothing else. > > If you are ever in central Indiana let me know and I can point you to a small local family run place that makes a killer version of them. Well, feel free to share. There’s a number of decent al pastor places around here, but I haven’t found one that really blows me away like it did in Mexico. Well, there was one place just a couple blocks from my house that specialized in al pastor and tacos arabes (both styles of tacos having Middle Eastern roots), but they folded shortly after I discovered them. I was so pissed. I can make a reasonable simulacrum, but it just doesn’t taste the same as it being shaved off the vertical spit. ---
**Author:** ![Lowdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Lowdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lowdown)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-decent-enchiladas-from-corn-tortillas/745416/50 "2016-02-08T15:11:23Z")
To make corn tortillas more pliable, brush them with olive oil and warm them in the oven for a few minutes. You can put a towel over the tortillas to keep them warm while you work, but work quickly when doing the filling. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-decent-enchiladas-from-corn-tortillas/745416/51 "2016-02-08T15:39:00Z")
I can only wish you good luck with the corn tortillas. (Aldi store sells a huge stack of corn tortillas, which would come in handy if many of them break while rolling up.) I say this because I made a saucy Mexican casserole with flour tortillas, and they just dissolved into white, gooey, slimey, pasty sheets. The casserole really needed corn, not flour. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-decent-enchiladas-from-corn-tortillas/745416/52 "2016-02-08T16:55:19Z")
FWIW, if you have a pressure cooker, this is a terrific enchilada recipe. > **[Easy Pressure Cooker Chicken Enchiladas Recipe](https://www.seriouseats.com/pressure-cooker-fast-and-easy-chicken-enchiladas-food-lab-recipe)** > > The pressure cooker makes short work of making tender chicken and an intensely flavored sauce—just add the ingredients, and turn it on, no searing or pre-cooking of any kind required. After that, assembling and baking these delicious red chile... ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-decent-enchiladas-from-corn-tortillas/745416/53 "2016-02-08T18:19:55Z")
Another vote for corn only, cooked just a bit. Corn tortillas are the only type of edible tortillas around. The crunchy/crumbly corn tortilla-like things out there are not remotely like how tortillas are supposed to be cooked. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-decent-enchiladas-from-corn-tortillas/745416/54 "2016-02-08T18:35:53Z")
Everyone pointing out that first frying the corn tortillas briefly has it right. I make a little assembly line: small skillet with hot oil, plate with a puddle of enchilada sauce, baking pan. Fry the tortilla briefly on both sides, transfer it to the sauced plate and turn it once so it’s coated on both sides, lay the filling on it and roll it up, transfer it seam-side down to the baking pan. Once they’re all assembled side by side, ladle some more sauce over them all, then bake. Cheese on top during the last two minutes of baking. As pointed out, you usually burn your fingers assembling the hot tortillas. My only issue is that my homemade ones are never as saucy as the ones you get in a restaurant. The sauce dries out somewhat during baking. I suppose you’re supposed to re-sauce them once you plate them up? But that would cover up the melted cheese on top. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-decent-enchiladas-from-corn-tortillas/745416/55 "2016-02-08T19:27:46Z")
We buy bags of corn or flour totillas (but we buy handmade tamales from friends. Tamales and eggs over easy. Yum.) But I digress. A totilla is A) placed on a large enough plate (no overhang) and microwaved on high for 30 seconds. That totilla plate comes out and another tortilla plate goes in. I have 30 seconds to flip the tortilla, fill with goodies, and roll. If the tortilla tears (usually too dry), I’ll lightly spray butter/margarine/oil on the following tortillas before they are microwaved. Plan B is to place the totillas on a wire screen suspended over a pot of boiling water. Maybe 10 to 15 seconds. Soft and very slightly moist, but not wet. Slightly longer for corn tortillas. Neither plan produces tearing/splitting corn tortillas. Over stuffing will still produce a delicious mess. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-decent-enchiladas-from-corn-tortillas/745416/56 "2016-02-08T19:47:50Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > My only issue is that my homemade ones are never as saucy as the ones you get in a restaurant. The sauce dries out somewhat during baking. I suppose you’re supposed to re-sauce them once you plate them up? But that would cover up the melted cheese on top. Resauce them right before you put the cheese on. They should stay wet in the short time it takes to melt the cheese. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-decent-enchiladas-from-corn-tortillas/745416/57 "2016-02-08T19:49:15Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > As pointed out, you usually burn your fingers assembling the hot tortillas. Yep. And I always seem to end up with sauce everywhere. I’m out of control! ---
**Author:** ![Wednesday\_Evening](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Wednesday\_Evening](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wednesday_Evening)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-decent-enchiladas-from-corn-tortillas/745416/58 "2016-02-08T21:03:55Z")
The problem may be geographic location. I live in California, and chicken enchiladas are one of the few dinners the whole family likes, so we eat them about once a week. I buy corn tortillas by the 80-ct package. I am generally not picky about what brand of tortillas I get, and they have never split or disintegrated, as long as I warm them up in a skillet before rolling them up. We lived in Connecticut for 4 months last year. The first brand of tortillas I bought disintegrated when I tried to roll them up. The next brand too. And the next. I finally found that Target brand tortillas, while not so tasty, at least held together. So I don’t know what the deal was, but I found corn tortillas in Connecticut to be largely unusable. ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-decent-enchiladas-from-corn-tortillas/745416/59 "2016-02-08T22:12:55Z")
> [@cmdrpiffle](#): > > Are there no other Mexicans here? Really? > > Damn. Enchiladas use corn tortillas. Period. Fry the tortilla for a few moments on both sides in oil, drain, pat dry, then proceed with your construction. > > Prior to putting in the filling of your choice, you MUST dredge the tortillas in enchilada sauce completely prior to putting in the filling. > > Old El Paso canned (mild) enchilada sauce in a #6 can from Safeway is a good as homemade for authentic taste. > > …I’m here to help. > > Hasta! Gebhardts, you heretic! German Mexican is the only way to roll! ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2016, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-decent-enchiladas-from-corn-tortillas/745416/60 "2016-02-08T22:36:36Z")
I think we pretty much agree that making enchiladas with flower tortillas should carry a heavy fine and loss of kitchen privileges. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-decent-enchiladas-from-corn-tortillas/745416.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-make-decent-enchiladas-from-corn-tortillas/745416.md?page=4)