A question to my fellow Americans, coming from California. Everyone I know, no matter their background, has tortillas in the house. Theyre just a staple for everyone. Given they're probably too expensive in Hawaii and Alaska, is this the same all across the lower 48?


50 comments

  2. Staple is a strong word relative to how much I cook with them but I usually have tortillas in my kitchen yeah

  3. Almost every house in the town I live in the PNW, as well as the places I’ve lived in Utah and across the intermountain west, tortillas are always in the house. They’re pretty much staples for an easy snack like a quesadilla or quick taco.

  5. Not personally.  My carbs are supplied by rice.

    I bought tortillas the other day for probably the first time in years.

  10. We often have fresh but they freeze pretty well so yes always.. but also like in Arizona

  12. Live in coastal California and we generally have tortillas. We also often go out to eat Mexican food, probably at least once a week or two.

  13. Yes. There’s always a package in my home, as well as shredded cheese, so I can make a quick little microwave roll up when I need it.

  14. White couple (64f/67m) living in Phoenix, Arizona. We always have more than one kind of tortilla on hand.

  15. From the PNW: yes. They were a staple in my house (as a kid and adult). Started making them myself as an adult, but still used store bought.

    Fresh masa and tortillas are something I desperately miss now.

  16. I typically have a few packs of tortillas in the house at any given time. White core, yellow corn, small and large flour tortillas. We do street tacos, wraps, quesadillas, breakfast burritos in my house regularly.

  17. Growing up in New Hampshire we did not have tortillas usually, but I knew what they were and we bought them occasionally for specific things.

    My town only had one Mexican restaurant at the time so I didn’t have a ton of exposure to much beyond tacos and quesadillas.

  20. Non-hispanic. Grew up in California. Moved to Asia and knew I wouldn’t have access to tortillas where I live now. I brought a tortilla press with me. Make about 30 every week.

  23. Rice is king here, tortillas are a “buy them when you need them” type of thing. We get the typical brands from the continent and there are some local made in Hawaii brands as well. I don’t know what they go for in your area but they’re not something I would consider cost prohibitive here.

  24. I don’t keep any at home, but I’ll have Mexican food several times a month.

  25. Kind of ya. It’s not like sliced bread or onions but ya. I like the raw ones that you have to cook. Infinitely times better

  26. Staple is too strong a word, but we have them frequently. They get used more often an entire package at a time rather than piecemeal.

  27. Rice is more of a staple than tortilla. Do I have them in my house generally? Yes. I like unauthentic fajitas and tacos. Do I use them for anything else? Not really.

  29. As a Californian if I don’t have tortillas then I have masa and a tortilla press always on hand

  31. I’m in Texas and my guess would be yes, everyone eats lots of tortillas. HEB’s butter tortillas from the bakery are brisk sellers and no office or morning block party is complete without breakfast tacos.

    One year there was a Taco Cabana across the street from my office building. Only so-so for tortillas, but better than nothing. My coworker and I would trade off whose turn it was to go get us breakfast tacos if the department hadn’t delivered any to the break room. My coworker was Black and from Louisiana, so I’m pretty sure she wasn’t Hispanic. Mexican places and HEB do the best tortillas, though.

    Heck, I’ve been kicking myself for days for forgetting to include them in my last grocery delivery. I would very much like a quesadilla right now. My husband was a big fan of chapatis as well as tortillas. He called them “Indian tortillas.” I realize that’s outside the scope of your question, OP. It’s just a funny memory.

  32. I usually keep them in the house. They make a good snack even just as bread.

  33. Live in CA now but grew up East Coast. We definitely had tortillas all the time growing up, but I don’t think I’d go as far as calling it a staple. But we definitely used them a bunch. And my parents were immigrants from the other side of the world, so when you think of it that way, that’s pretty good market penetration?

  34. Never in my 17+ years at home with my parents, living in Oklahoma, Colorado, Texas, New Mexico, California.

    Only white bread, just like my family and me.

  35. No we go get them specifically when we need them. We don’t use a lot of tortillas.

  38. Why when you can have naan? or pita?

    So no, not in my house. Particularly the corn ones, I never bought them in my life. I do make enchiladas from time to time, then I buy the flour ones.

  40. I’m in Alaska. Why on Earth would they be too expensive? I get them at Costco. Always have some on hand. Usually flour, but there are corn around too.

  41. We eat them as part of a meal at least once a week and it’s rare that we don’t have some flour ones on hand. The corn ones dry up pretty fast so I usually just buy them as we need them for a meal.

    I’m in Montana but I make a lot of Mexican food.

  42. I live in California and rarely have tortillas in the house. They’re not a staple for me.

  43. So I think I have an interesting perspective on this. I’m originally from Miami where there is a huge Hispanic population representing almost all of Latin America, but notably almost no Mexicans. Growing up we never really had any, nor did anyone I knew. The exception was picking up a few explicitly for a taco night once in a blue moon. The grocery store might have had a small selection to choose from.

    I now live in New Mexico and am married to a local, and so I now eat them all the time. The grocery stores here all have entire *aisles* dedicated to them. So from my perspective it appears to be a Mexican influence thing. If you live in the western US it’s probably a lot more likely to be a thing.

  44. I think its more of a culture thing.

    The Arabs version of tortillas are pita breads, and we literally stock our freezers up with an unnecessary amount of pita bread. (As if ww3 is gonna happen)

    Taco bell and Chipotle basically paved the way for tortillas to be in everyday households. Im sure so many buy them based off of the sheer popularity of those stores.

    That and some food brand really went hard on selling tortillas way back in the middle 2000s that the jingle is still stuck in my brain.

    “Why dont we have both” ~ stupid taco commercial.

  45. Always have tortillas. Always.

    Edit to add: As an aside, I’m 72F, non-hispanic, and tortillas are, and have been, a staple since my family moved west from KS when I was 10. I keep several kinds on hand. If you don’t use them, you should. You don’t know what you’re missing. ☹️

  46. I’m Hispanic and have lived most of my life in the southwest US and we always have tortillas on hand. When we moved to the southeast US I noticed tortillas were definitely not a staple for most people. Everyone just goes out and eats at all the terrible Mexican food restaurants instead.

  47. I think you all are lying about how often you use them! There isn’t a grocery store within 20 miles of me that has more than a dozen packs of tortillas on the shelf while bread and buns are hundreds flying off the shelf daily.

    Maybe I fell into the rabbit hole of tortilla lovers, but it isn’t a “staple” in houses or groceries in any place I have lived.

  48. I live in a Hispanic household where tortillas are not a staple because we’re Cuban and Cubans don’t use tortillas in traditional cooking.

  49. I live in New Mexico and I always have them in my pantry like I always have a loaf of bread.

  50. Yes. There is always both corn and flour tortillas available at my home.

    Now, mind you, sometimes one or both will be stale because we don’t get through them fast enough, but that just means they are on the grocery list to be replaced. But they are always here.

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