Reddit Can't Believe Some People Don't Heat Their Tortillas

There are certain things you just know you have to do. You have to rinse your rice, save your pasta water, grease your baking pans, and warm your tortillas. That is unless you're a certain Reddit user who only just found out that heating tortillas changes everything.

In a Reddit discussion, a tortilla novice confessed that up until recently, they were eating tortillas right out of the package. Then, "about 3-4 weeks ago I read a post that lovingly reminded gringos like me to heat them on the stove before using," they said, "and wow I have been missing out...I feel like a new man in the kitchen."

While Reddit is certainly glad for this newfound discovery, users can't believe that the tortilla novice thought that not heating tortillas was even an option. "YOU ATE COLD TORTILLAS???" writes one stumped Redditor, as another "shivers in Mexican."

A sympathizer, though, said that they too didn't know that heating tortillas was a thing till they were jokingly banned for not doing so at a social event, "from then on I was 'that white girl that doesn't heat her tortillas'."

Thanks to over 2,000 comments expressing how scandalized they are by the not warming tortillas situation, the former tortilla novice humorously added that "I am doing my penance to the tortilla gods for my past injustices."

If you don't want to spend your life making up to the tortilla gods (or Reddit) either, here are some ways to heat those chewy flatbreads.

According to The Kitchn, you could use one of three ways to warm a tortilla. You could either char them directly over an open flame on the stovetop or heat them in a stainless steel pan. Or, you wrap up a stack of up to five tortillas in some aluminum foil, throw them in a pre-heated oven of 350 degrees, and leave them in for 15 to 20 minutes. The easiest method, however, is to warm up to five tortillas at a time in a damp paper towel in a microwave at 30-second intervals.

When it comes to corn tortillas, however, Bon Appetit warns that microwaving is the worst thing you could possibly do as it changes the color and texture of the tortillas and makes them less pliable. The best way to heat these is over dry heat, that is, on the stovetop without any oil or butter, and preferably one at a time. Microwaves and ovens are best left to flour tortillas, says The Spruce Eats.

Reddit also makes a case for buying tortillas raw from a supermarket and then cooking them fresh at home: "The raw tortillas are the best. I cook them directly over the stovetop's flame; it takes seconds and you get delicious char."