As someone who grew up in central Mexico, I used to think fresh corn tortillas were the absolute best and store-bought flour tortillas — the only kind you could find in Mexico City then — were good for sincronizadas and otherwise belonged north of the border, in gringo territory, for cold grocery store wraps.
Then I started traveling to northern Mexico. I fell for borderland flour tortillas of many kinds — chubby ones, the immense sobaqueras made for burritos — and began learning the techniques as I traveled Chihuahua, Nuevo León, Sonora, Sinaloa and Baja California for Pati's Mexican Table, and through the borderlands for my La Frontera docuseries. A good flour tortilla, it turned out, can give a corn tortilla a run for its money.
There were only corn tortillas in Mexico until the Spanish arrived in the early 16th century and brought wheat, which caught on better in the north than the south. Cooks there embraced the tortilla-making tradition but substituted wheat for corn. Today, corn tortillas still rule central and southern Mexico, while flour tortillas are supreme in the north, where the proximity to the US shaped the Mexican food of Texas, California, New Mexico and Arizona.
I still had much to experience and learn about this part of my home country and its connection to the cuisine in the southern US. That's what I chronicle in my new cookbook, Foods of La Frontera: Recipes and New Taste Frontiers from Both Sides of the Border, coming September 15 (if you pre-order and want a signed bookplate, email me at [email protected]).
New Cookbook Coming Sept. 15, 2026!
So it's not a matter of corn versus flour, but which tortilla for which dish. Go for corn for deep-fried dishes — taquitos, flautas, fried quesadillas, tostadas, chilaquiles — because they crisp up nicely. And always use corn for enchiladas, which stand up to being drenched in sauce, while flour tortillas get soggy. Use flour tortillas for burritos and chimichangas, signatures of northern Mexico.
As for tacos, it can be a toss-up. Look at the origins of the recipe — Mexico City staples like lengua, alambre and suadero take corn, while norteño tacos like Sonoran carne asada, Cali-Baja fish tacos and tacos gobernador traditionally go in flour. Tacos de canasta, or sweaty tacos, call for corn — they stand up to the steam, while flour tortillas turn into a cardboardy mess. And tacos al pastor: in corn it's a taco, in flour with melty cheese it's a gringa.
I really hope you'll try making tortillas at home. Nothing is more rewarding than a taco de nada — a freshly made tortilla hot off the comal with a little salt. You can play, too. Corn tortillas can be flavored with chiles or herbs. Flour tortillas can be made with just wheat flour, salt, fat and water, or you can try the chubby gordita version which uses milk.
The more you make them, the better you'll get. With Cinco de Mayo around the corner, you have a good excuse!
Un fuerte abrazo,
This Month's Recipes
Variations on corn and flour tortillas and what to eat them with.
Red Corn Tortillas
Corn tortillas get a gorgeous color and savory flavor from a guajillo-tomato paste mixed into the masa. Try them in tacos rojos.
Chubby Flour Tortillas
Made with evaporated milk instead of water, these flour tortillas from Sonora are sweeter and thicker than others. Perfect for wrapping around chiles rellenos or filling with refrieds and melty cheese.
For the basics: Here are my tried-and-true recipes for homemade corn tortillas and flour tortillas. You can use them in dishes from my Cinco de Mayo collection.
What I'm Into Right Now
Craving🌮: Tacos, burritos and tostadas. I recently wrote a guide for the Financial Times on where to eat good Mexican food in Washington, DC, and had so much fun eating my way through the city.
Watching📺: As far as TV, I started watching Landman with Daniel and we are hooked! For movies, we went to see Sentimental Value and oh how it moved me. So many layers of storytelling woven into one powerful family story. It made me think so much about the pain and trauma we inherit and should work hard to heal, so we don’t pass it on.
Reading📖: I was so humbled to read the Parade and Daily Meal articles that just ranked Pati's Mexican Table the #1 cooking show. Not gonna lie, I was sweating it out reading along the countdown. You can watch full episodes on my YouTube channel. We're adding more every week, subscribe to never miss one.
Listening🎵: Jorge Drexler’s new album Taracá, made after he returned to his native Uruguay to explore the Afro-Uruguayan candombe tradition. You can hear him talk about it on NPR's Alt.Latino. I also saw Natalia Lafourcade in concert last week. It was just her with her guitar and it was glorious. One can never tire of her hit Hasta la Raíz, but every single song was beautiful.
Hey Pati
Every day I read messages you send me by email and on social media. I love hearing from you, and I'm sharing some of the great questions you ask.
Q: Dear Pati, I'm so earnest to succeed at making corn tortillas per your recipe. Do the tortillas need to puff up completely on the third turn or are little puffs okay? I tend to get frustrated because I get a full puff when I make flour tortillas and think corn tortillas need to do the same. — Cynthia D.
A: Cynthia, I love that you're making tortillas at home! If the tortilla doesn't puff, poking it gently with your finger in several places will help. It doesn't have to be a huge puff every time, but it should puff some. If they don't puff at all, they will not fully cook inside and won’t taste as good as they should or be as soft and malleable as they could.
There can be many reasons, so troubleshoot. First, make sure the comal, griddle or skillet is hot enough — preheat over medium heat at least 5 minutes. Next, check that the masa is moist enough. When you press down on the ball of dough, the edges shouldn't crack. If they do, you may need a bit more water. I walk you through the process in this video. — Pati