In the kitchen
Four-Inch or Six-Inch Tortillas: Which Fits Your Meal?
Small tacos to pass around, golden quesadillas from the skillet, or a tray of enchiladas: choose the tortilla that suits the meal you have in mind.
A taco dinner can begin with a few good things on the table: warm beans, roasted vegetables, a bowl of salsa, and corn tortillas wrapped in a towel. One person reaches for the vegetables, another adds cheese, and someone passes the lime. Everyone makes something a little different from the same meal.
On another evening, dinner might come to the table already assembled. A tray of enchiladas comes out of the oven, the cheese browned in places and the sauce bubbling around the edges. There are plates to fill and perhaps a salad waiting alongside.
The tortilla belongs in both kinds of dinner. Choosing its size is one way to shape how you serve and enjoy the food. Our four-inch tortillas are a lovely choice for small tacos and platters with a little variety. Our six-inch tortillas make a familiar starting point for everyday tacos, folded quesadillas, and generous plates of enchiladas. Both sizes can move comfortably between those meals.
Get to know the two sizes
Our 4-inch Street Taco Corn Tortillas make a small taco that sits neatly in your hand. They suit a table where you might build one taco, enjoy it, and make the next with a different combination.
Our 6-inch Original Corn Tortillas give you a broader tortilla to fold, roll, or serve crisp and flat. They are a useful size to have ready for the week's cooking, whether that means breakfast tacos or a skillet quesadilla for lunch.
Both begin with organic corn and bring their own corn flavor to the meal. If you enjoy a little warmth and golden color, our Turmeric Corn Tortillas also come in the six-inch size.
Think about what you are looking forward to eating. A plate of small tacos with different toppings suggests one choice; a larger quesadilla cut into wedges suggests another.
Small tacos make room for variety
Four-inch tortillas are especially enjoyable when there are several things you want to try. Make one taco with black beans and salsa, another with roasted squash and cheese, and a third with whatever combination caught your eye across the table.
That same approach works with a single main filling. A pan of scrambled eggs can become several different breakfasts once avocado, cheddar, jalapeño, and roasted vegetables are set out alongside it. Small tortillas invite another combination on the next taco. Six-inch tortillas work just as well when you want to bring your favorite toppings together in a larger one.
Our Breakfast Tacos include directions for both sizes. It is an easy meal to bring to the table in parts, with the eggs still warm and the tortillas tucked into their towel.
The smaller size is also useful when tacos are one part of a larger spread. Put them beside a platter of vegetables, beans, or a few other dishes, and let people help themselves as the meal goes along.
A quesadilla for lunch or a platter to share
A six-inch tortilla folded around melted cheese makes a satisfying skillet lunch. Let the outside turn golden, slide it onto a plate, and add something fresh alongside: tomato, avocado, or a spoonful of salsa. Cut it into wedges if you like, especially when there are several quesadillas to pass around.
Four-inch tortillas give the same preparation a different place at the table. The small folded quesadillas can be served whole on a platter, ready for everyone to take one while the next batch cooks. They make a good beginning to dinner or an accompaniment to a bowl of soup.
Our Cheese Quesadilla pairs melted Oaxaca cheese with chunky guacamole and includes both tortilla sizes. Warm the tortillas before folding them, then cook the quesadillas until the cheese has melted and the outside has developed those golden edges.
Choose the larger size when you picture cutting into a quesadilla on your own plate. Reach for the smaller ones when you picture passing a platter. Either can become lunch with a few good things alongside.
Enchiladas in two sizes
Six-inch tortillas make the familiar rolls in a tray of enchiladas. There is pleasure in the whole preparation: lining them up in the dish, spooning sauce over them, scattering on cheese, and waiting for the oven to bring everything together.
Four-inch tortillas make smaller rolls that are particularly handy when enchiladas are being served alongside several other dishes. Guests can take a small one, add a little of something else, and return to the tray as they please. A dish of small enchiladas is also a good way to bring tortillas beyond taco night.
Our Enchiladas use black beans, white onion, and cheddar beneath a fresh cilantro sauce. The recipe provides directions for both sizes, including the baking dish to use. Choose the version that suits the meal you are planning, and follow it through from assembly to the oven.
A crisp tortilla changes the meal again
A tostada lets you enjoy the tortilla's crunch beneath layers of beans, vegetables, cheese, and salsa. The six-inch size makes a generous base for lunch. Set one on a plate and build it with warm beans, something fresh, and a bright finish of lime.
The four-inch size makes smaller tostadas that look inviting arranged together on a platter. Try them as a starter or as part of a table with several dishes to share. Assemble them close to serving so everyone gets that first crisp bite.
Our Brussels Sprout Tostada combines cumin-scented black beans with shaved sprout slaw and cheddar. It works in either size, with the warm beans, cool slaw, and crisp corn tortilla each bringing something different to the bite.
Here is a quick way to picture the possibilities:
| The meal you have in mind | Try the 4-inch size for… | Try the 6-inch size for… |
|---|---|---|
| Tacos | Small tacos with different combinations. | A larger taco with your favorite toppings. |
| Quesadillas | Small folded pieces to pass around. | A skillet lunch or wedges to share. |
| Enchiladas | Smaller rolls alongside other dishes. | A familiar tray of larger rolls for dinner. |
| Tostadas | A platter of small, crisp starters. | A generous topped tostada for lunch. |
Bring them to the table warm
Whichever size you choose for soft tacos, quesadillas, or enchiladas, give the tortillas a little attention before assembling the meal. Warm them until they bend easily, and keep the waiting stack covered with a clean kitchen towel. Our cooking guide walks through the methods, and our story about a better fold offers help when a tortilla needs a little extra care.
Having both sizes on hand gives you a few more ways to use what is already in the kitchen. Last night's roasted vegetables might become small tacos at lunch. A little cheese and a six-inch tortilla might suggest a quesadilla while a pot of soup warms on the stove.
Start with the meal you would like to eat and the way you would like to serve it. Then warm the tortillas, bring out the plates, and make something you are looking forward to sharing.