Tortillas are tastier when fresh and warm. But you may have some leftover tortillas, which you then decide to freeze.
Freezing tortillas will help them last longer and avoid wastage. But after that, how will you defrost them in the microwave to ensure you experience the same flavor?
How to defrost tortillas in a microwave? Adjust the microwave to defrost setting and insert the tortillas inside for approximately 30 seconds. If they are not yet defrosted, return them for 30 more seconds or repeat until they are all thawed.
It’s best to defrost each tortilla separately because if thawed in stacks, they might soften and stick together. Furthermore, the middle and bottom tortillas may absorb moisture from the ones above.
How to Defrost Tortillas Using Microwave ( Step by Step Process)
It only takes one minute to microwave tortillas to defrost them. Here are the essential steps to follow for your convenience:
Step 1: While microwaving, wrap each piece of frozen tortilla with a wet towel to preserve the moisture. Do that for all of them but ensure you handle one at a time.
Step 2: If you defrost them in a heap, the tortillas will become mushy and gummy, and those in the middle and bottom part will absorb moisture from those at the top. So don’t microwave them in heaps.
Step 3: Allocate 30 seconds and use the defrost setting in the microwave to allow the tortillas to defrost.
Step 4: Turn it when halfway done to ensure it cooks thoroughly on all sides.
Step 5: Check to ensure it has fully thawed and if not, microwave it for thirty more seconds.
Note that microwaving tortillas for more than a minute is not ideal. And if that happens, your tortillas will become rubbery.
How to Use Defrosted Tortillas
The best part is that tortillas come in handy, whether defrosted or fresh. They are perfect for making something simple like enchiladas or something extra American like a wrap. Here are some ways of using defrosted tortillas:
1. Wrap a Wrap
Whole wheat tortillas are ideal for making healthy lunch wraps using your preferred sandwiches. Best examples are the chicken Caesar, BLT, buffalo chicken, and mozzarella pesto. That’s not all. There are thousands of unique recipes that you can use with your defrosted wrapped tortillas.
2. Turn Then Into Pizzas
Whereas Mexico and Italy don’t have much in common besides both using Latin-based dialects, you can prepare a quick and tasty Mexican-Italian blended snack with defrosted tortillas. And it’s achievable using corn, whole wheat or flour tortillas.
Thicker tortillas are preferable; hence if your tortilla isn’t as thick, you can boost its thickness and improve its flavour by two instead of one tortilla. You can use cheese to attach them together. Alternatively, you can make a quesadilla pizza which is worth trying out.
3. Fry Quesadillas
You can decide to make quesadillas from defrosted tortillas. You can make them as straightforward or as complex as you desire. You can fill them with guacamole, jalapenos, or sour cream.
What Are The Common Types of Tortillas?
Wheat Flour Tortillas
Just like its name, flour tortillas are a creation of a white wheat flour base, water, salt and margarine. But commercial tortillas contain chemical raising substances like baking powder and extra preservatives.
Flour tortillas are supple and are suitable for wrapping and folding edibles like quesadillas and burritos. They can hold huge quantities of filling without tearing.
The flour tortillas’ taste is relatively flat, meaning you can use them with spicy and sweet meals.
Whole-Wheat Tortillas
Whole wheat tortillas resemble flour tortillas, only that their main ingredient is the whole wheat flour and not white flour, which doesn’t contain bran. Therefore, they are full of fiber and not as silky smoother. Whole wheat tortillas are also darker in color.
Common as a healthy, less processed form of flour tortilla, you can use whole-flour tortillas the way you use white-flour tortillas.
Corn Tortillas
Being a variety of unleavened bread, corn tortillas are light, and their main ingredient is masa or hominy, a specially made cornflour. There’s no shortening used while making corn tortillas, and they are pretty smaller and harder, and it’s easier to break than the flour tortillas.
Corn tortillas are of various flavors and colors contingent on the flour used in making them, e.g. yellow, blue, or white maize.
Faqs on How to Defrost Tortillas in Microwave
How Do You Defrost Tortillas Without a Microwave?
Put the frozen tortillas in a refrigerator and let them stay separately to avoid sticking together. Let them stay there for 12 hours or overnight. Once thawed, warm or recook them on the oven, stove, or the microwave as they’ll not be warm yet.
How Do You Thaw Frozen Corn Tortillas?
Thawing corn tortillas is easy and quick. Take any amount of corn tortillas you’d like to defrost and place them in the refrigerator. Let it thaw for a night or two. Once ready, microwave the still-frozen tortilla shells for 30-second intervals until well-heated.
How Do You Reheat Frozen Tortillas?
Defrosting and reheating tortillas is fast and straightforward. Take the number of frozen tortillas you need and put them inside the refrigerator to defrost. Leave it there for two or more nights. Once defrosted, place the frozen tortilla shells in the microwave and warm in 30-second intervals to reheat.
Can You Freeze Soft Tortillas?
Freezing is the best way to ensure tortillas last long. Again, it will enable you prepare a last-minute burritos, tacos al pastor, taquitos, quesadillas doradas, or chicken enchiladas. Always ensure tortillas are tightly sealed in their wrapper to avoid freezer burn.
How Long Do Frozen Tortillas Last?
Frozen tortillas can last for roughly two months with the quality intact. If perfectly packaged without any air left, the tortillas can last longer in the freezer. But remember that the longer they stay, the more their quality depreciates with time.
Do Tortillas Freeze Well?
Tortillas perform exemplary in the freezer. They can last much longer and can be prepared from frozen. Once frozen, tortillas can go for two months without altering their quality.
Do Tortillas Go Bad?
Tortillas can basically go bad with time, like any flour-made product. Whereas homemade foodstuffs can last between two to three days on the shelve or a few extra days in the refrigerator, store-bought tortillas last longer.
How Do You Heat Tortillas For Tacos?
You need to cook tortillas before taking them with tacos for dinner. However, ensure to use dry heat in corn tortillas to enable them to cook well. There’s no need of using any oil or butter or lard. A flat surface is enough.
How Do You Thaw frozen Quesadillas?
To thaw quesadillas, get them from the freezer a night to the day you plan to cook them and place them in the refrigerator. The next day they should be thoroughly thawed and ready to use.
Why Do Tortillas Not Mold?
Never store your tortillas in a cool, dry place away from temperature changes. If products undergo temperature changes like cool to warm and the opposite, the air moisture will likely condense inside the packages. Such moisture boosts mold growth while spoiling the tortillas.
Can You Thaw and Refreeze Tortillas?
It’s advisable to thaw tortillas in the refrigerator and use them within seven days after opening unless you decide to refreeze, which is okay. While refreezing, using parchment paper or a comparable separator is ideal in preventing the tortillas from gluing together.
Should You Refrigerate Tortillas?
Various tortillas are susceptible to molding. No wonder most tortilla packages insist on refrigerating after opening. Chilling tortillas will enable them last longer.
Can Expired Tortillas Make You Sick?
It’s pretty easy to know if your tortillas are stale. Moldy tortillas won’t be tasty, and you may not enjoy eating them, and they might make you sick. Usually, a healthy tummy will eliminate any destructive bacteria from a piece of mold before it can cause any harm.
How Do You Separate Frozen Tortillas?
Start by heating the oven to moderate heat, roughly 350 degrees Celsius. Remove the glued tortillas from their plastic wrap and tightly wrap them using a strong aluminum foil. Bake the tortillas for half an hour or until the glued tortillas are steamy and hot.
How Do You Store Tortillas?
The best method is to wrap your tortillas in a plastic bag and put them in the fridge. It will be hard for moisture to get inside, and they can stay there for two weeks. Alternatively, you can use an airtight container if you can’t access a sealable plastic bag easily.
Conclusion
Tortillas ensure incredibly supple bits for any meal. Once defrosted, you can use them as wrappers to grip meat and veggies for burritos or tacos. Defrosting is straightforward and entails removing cold from the tortillas. If you’re in a hurry, you can use the microwave to defrost your tortillas and have your meal ready in a few minutes.
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