9 Store-Bought Tortilla Brands Ranked Worst To Best

Flour tortillas are one of the foods that we really take for granted. For one, anyone who has tried making their own at home knows that it's a labor of love — and they just never turn out like the ones you get from the store. Tortillas are also versatile and can be used for a whole host of dishes: Warm them up in the microwave and wrap them around your favorite Mexican-inspired taco fillings, swap them for bread in your next sandwich, or turn them into easy-to-eat breakfasts that you can freeze ahead of time. 

Although it might seem like tortillas are a really easy thing for brands to standardize (since the recipe is, at its most basic, flour, water, leavener, and salt), there is significant variation in textures, consistencies, and thicknesses across store-brand options. To see which ones were most worth buying, I tried all the flour tortilla brands I could get my hands on, and to keep things standardized, I tasted each brand at room temperature, straight from the package, and without any toppings or fillings. As I ate, I assessed the mouthfeel, strength, structure, and overall palatability of each, then ranked them from worst to best. As expected, some of these brands were very similar, so I also resorted to comparing prices when a tiebreaker was needed.

Prices are as of the date of publication and may vary based on region.

The second I opened the bag of Goya soft taco tortillas, I knew I was in for a disappointing ride. I think the brand is a bit of a cautionary tale about being a jack of all trades (those trades being beans, rice, canned vegetables, seasonings, sauces, oils, and more) and a master of none. I had tried its canned corn before and vehemently hated it, and it's clear that its tortillas, sold in a pack of eight for $2.99, don't even come close to the bar (or competitive price) set by other brands. 

These tortillas were so dry. When I tried to pull one apart, it gave without any resistance. Plus, I noticed the edges had already started to dry out by the time I got to eating it. When I just folded it in half, it started to crack along the seam, and I don't even think microwaving would help. As I expected, the mouthfeel of this tortilla is like eating paper. There's no salt and no flavor — just flour and dryness. 

The only reason you might buy this tortilla is that Goya is such a big brand (especially for Central and Latin American food), and you might assume it knows how to make tortillas well. However, you would be sadly mistaken. A master of none is right.

Although it might seem like we're getting down to brass tacks here, there is something really important to note about Old El Paso's flour tortillas that wasn't the case with any other brand on this list: They're packaged in a non-resealable bag. While this seems like it's a really minor inconvenience, it's important to consider what its implication is: You have to eat the whole bag before it stales (which I've found to happen relatively quickly with tortillas), or pack them in a different resealable bag. Neither one is ideal.

One side of the Old El Paso tortilla was lightly speckled with brown, while the other side was not. The texture was not as thin as some of the other brands I sampled, but I found these Old El Paso tortillas to be pretty dry and crumbly, though luckily nowhere near the same level as Goya. They lacked flavor — though this isn't unheard of with tortillas. I doubt they would hold up to a ton of burrito fillings without breaking. Otherwise, there wasn't much that was remarkable about this brand, and its poor packaging decision pushed it to the bottom of my list. 

It's easy for a tortilla to be too thick; rarely is it too thin. Mayan Farms defied all my expectations and was easily the thinnest tortilla that I sampled. If I held it up to the light, I could see through it. As I feared, when I bit into this tortilla, I found very little resistance or softness. Within a couple of bites, I forgot that I had actually eaten it, as there was nothing noteworthy about its flavor or its texture. Sure, you don't want your tortilla distracting from your taco or burrito fillings, but I was looking for something a bit more toothsome here that actually stuck in my molars and made a little more of a statement. The only time I think that this trait could be useful is if you were looking for a mouthfeel that was white corn-like, but had the same sturdiness as a flour tortilla.

Another thing that pushed this brand back in my rankings was its price: $3.49 for eight burritos. While they were very structurally sound and didn't rip easily, I can't justify paying upward of $0.43 per wrap, especially when there are so many other higher-quality options out there. 

Chi-Chi's products and I have never seen eye to eye (I think that its restaurant-style jarred salsa is awful), so I also didn't have high hopes for these wraps. They are weirdly round — which I say cautiously, as all of the tortillas in this roundup are — but they look suspiciously uniform. I doubt most eaters will care, but it was still a notable difference. Structurally, these were some of the weakest tortillas I tasted. When I even put a little bit of pressure on them, they ripped, which spells bad news for a massive breakfast burrito. Their surface is also oddly waxy, which adds to the clear "store-bought" label. 

Another odd thing I noticed about these tortillas was an almost cumin-y aftertaste. The label doesn't suggest they were seasoned with anything, but I still found it slightly off-putting and different from the other brands, which, as a whole, tasted pretty neutral. Your ground beef tacos might not care, but the flavor may affect the overall bite of a chicken Caesar salad wrap. While the price wasn't bad ($2.28 for eight), there are still better options to be had.

Ortega's 10-pack of tortillas was noticeably heavy and dense, especially compared to the other brands that I sampled. When I picked up a tortilla, I noticed it lacked the same blistering as other brands. Its color was, instead, rather pale and nothing to write home about. It also did not look as flour-y as others and instead resembled one of those low-carb tortillas (though it didn't have the same thinness and starchiness as Mayan Farms). The texture was smooth and waxy, and it kind of balled up in my molars as I was chewing it, rather than staying soft. 

Although the texture of these tortillas was a bit odd, I found them to be one of the strongest ones that I sampled. When I gave it a light tug, it didn't rip or pull, making it a great selection for a particularly thick burrito or heavy quesadilla. However, the mouthfeel isn't pleasurable enough to warrant eating it with tacos or anything else where the tortilla's flavor and texture are readily apparent. 

I can never resist a good Aldi find, and for all intents and purposes, its in-house Pueblo Lindo brand makes pretty decent tortillas for the price ($1.95 for 10 wraps). Although they weren't as structurally sound as some of the other selections and ripped more easily with even less pull —perhaps this has something to do with the "Now softer!" claim on the packaging — I felt they would still be a decent choice for most uses. A heavy or wet burrito may be better served by one of the other brands on this list, but your run-of-the-mill quesadillas will do just fine. 

The main reason why I couldn't rank this brand any higher on my list was its thickness. I prefer a wrap that is thinner rather than thicker, as I wouldn't want it to distract from the fillings. As I was eating this one, I felt like I had to chew, chew, chew — like I was eating a slice of white bread. As such, light taco fillings may not be the best match for it.

La Banderita's "burritos grandes" are exactly what I think of when I think of tortillas. They are soft and peelable, revealing the multiple layers of dough within the thin flatbread. Though don't let their ease of peeling fool you; these are still pretty strong flour tortillas, and they didn't ball up on my molars like Ortega's did. The flavor is much more neutral and less starchy or floury, and I found these to be well-salted, compared to the more bland, flavorless tortillas on this list. 

Only when I folded it up a few times did I notice it started to fray, so I would suggest being cautious if you're rolling a burrito with them. However, they'd be excellent for something like a quesadilla, where you're not relying on it not to crack. My only hesitation to rank it higher on this list was its comparatively high price ($3.49 for 10 burritos).

Great Value's quality varies vastly, so I didn't know what to expect for its tortillas, which I purchased for a reasonable $1.98 per pack of 10. Besides just being a great value, these tortillas really aren't that bad in terms of taste and texture, so much so that I had to test them back-to-back with my top pick to see which one would secure the top spot. Ultimately, I gave Great Value the silver medal on account of its flakiness. Some people might really like flakiness in a wrap, but I think that it suggests potential structural issues when it comes to saucy burritos. 

The flavor was just as fatty and soft as my top pick, though, and it had the perfect Goldilocks thinness — it wasn't so heavy and dense that it gave my molars a workout, but it also wasn't so thin that I forgot it was there. Its price was marginally better than my top pick, but if you're after quality and variety, I would suggest opting for my No. 1 choice.

Mission is one of the biggest names in the world of tortillas — and for good reason. I've long been a fan of its low-carb tortillas, which don't really taste much different from its wheat tortillas. You might be too distracted by its other offerings, which include spinach-and-herb, chipotle, high-protein, and, oddly, butter-flavored. While my lowest-ranked brand, Goya, was a master of none, Mission proves that when you focus in and hone your craft, you can make a really, really good product that people want to buy.

This master of the tortilla aisle nailed the perfect textural balance in its tortillas. They're not the most tear-resistant on the list, but they do seem to have the highest-fat mouthfeel, which makes biting into them pleasurable. While some of the other brands on this list tasted like flour, and only flour, this one had a very soft bite and a neutral flavor. It wasn't overtly salty, nor was it grossly undersalted. 

Another thing I like about Mission tortillas is that they were the perfect thickness — not so much that I had to chew a ton, but not so thin that I could see through them. They smelled and tasted fresh, which is something that my lower-ranked offerings couldn't replicate. These versatile tortillas come in many shapes, and all of them deserve a spot in your Taco Tuesday lineup.

In order to ensure peak freshness, I tried these tortillas on the day that I purchased them and opened each package. Although most people arguably don't eat tortillas straight from the bag without any toppings or sauces, I elected to try them straight from the bag to get a better idea of the texture and flavor. However, I extrapolated, based on these two factors, what these tortillas would be best for — be it saucy burritos, quesadillas, or well-stuffed wraps. 

From a functional angle, the tortilla had to be very sturdy and not friable. Otherwise, it could spell disaster for a hefty or wet wrap. That said, the elasticity couldn't negatively affect its mouthfeel, meaning wraps that were overly chewy ranked lower than those that were soft and pliable. Tortillas that were dry also ranked low on this list, as their texture disrupted the eating experience. The flavor also should be neutral enough not to distract from the fillings, which is why brands like Chi-Chi's didn't even have a shot at a top spot.

As I expected, it was difficult to rank brands that were so similar in quality, so I had to rely on prices and, in one instance, packaging decisions. A high-quality tortilla may warrant a higher price, but no one should feel ripped off by a basic pantry staple.