Can You Freeze Tortillas?

It’s hard to resist a good bargain and if you live for tacos and carnitas, then having tortilla shells in stock is a must! But if you ended up with more tortilla shells than you can handle, why not freeze them for later use? Yes, you can freeze tortillas, corn or flour-based alike!

Tortillas can be kept at room temperature for several days without going bad. However, extended exposure to oxygen will speed up the breakdown in the oils, causing molds to grow on tortillas.

Image used under Creative Commons from Maria Morri

Freezing tortillas help extend their shelf life and reduce wastage. When frozen and defrosted properly, tortillas’ texture will remain the same as its original state. Of course, there are certain things you have to consider before freezing a bag of tortilla shells, which we will highlight in today’s article.

How to Freeze Tortillas?

To freeze tortillas, you can either keep it in their original packaging or place them in a large, rigid container. We recommend wrapping each tortilla shell with wax paper so they do not stick with each other once frozen.

Also, the wax paper will keep frost at bay, so by the time they are ready to use, the tortillas will retain their original texture. Frost will toughen the ingredients, causing the shells to become chewy when warmed.

Just stick the product in the freezer, no additional prep needed. Make sure that the packaging is tightly sealed for best result. When frozen, tortillas will keep for up to 5 months.

How to Defrost and Reheat Frozen Tortillas?

Thawing and reheating tortillas is so easy and fast! To thaw the tortillas, take as many frozen products as you need from the freezer and transfer to the refrigerator. Leave to thaw overnight or two.

Once thawed, put the still-frozen tortilla shells in the microwave in 30-second bursts until warmed. Repeat in batches until all tortillas are nice and warm.

Tortillas
Image used under Creative Commons from Stacy Spensley

To reheat the thawed tortillas, you can use the oven. Start by preheating your oven to 350°. Then, stack several tortilla shells in a baking pan lined with aluminum foil and stick it in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

Summary

Freezing tortillas is a perfect method to preserving big batches of the product at a time. And as long as they are frozen properly, the tortilla shells will remain nice and crisp for longer. Now that you know how to freeze tortillas properly, you can start stocking up on more shells for future dishes!