I only use flour tortillas in enchiladas, I think the corn ones get sort of mealy in texture and I don't care for that. However, if you prefer corn, then by all means substitute them and enjoy!

Alexa

I like flour ones much more than corn ones. I also think they roll up better without cracking. But I am sure you could sub one for the other.

Jo

I can't imagine enchilladas with anything BUT corn tortillas. Flour tortillas are for burritos!

Lars will know more on this...but I don't think Mexico grows wheat except in the northern part of the country? Most grain is corn? Lars, HELP!

Growing up in CA, I never had anything but corn tortillas for enchilladas. Actually, I don't recall ever having a flour tortilla until the Mexican fast food places like Taco Bell started showing up in the mid-60s. Our housekeepers were all of Mexican descent & all they made were corn tortillas.

/tricia

I used corn tortillas last night in my "stacked beef enchiladas" that I made for dinner. I spooned some homemade enchilada sauce in an oven casserole dish, lay down one corn tortilla, topped it with seasoned ground beef, black beans, cheese and and more sauce. I repeated the layers again, pressing down the tortillas into the sauce. Baked at 350F for 35 minutes - yummy!

Corn tortillas don't roll as easily as flour and are a mess if you fix them traditionally. So I just stacked it up like cake layers. Worked for me!
Teresa

I prefer the flour tortillas for enchiladas and burritos.

"Our housekeepers were all of Mexican descent & all they made were corn tortillas."
just because her servants made corn tortillas doesn't mean she knows what Mexicans eat.
Make them with your preferance, just like we Mexicans do. Linda

Corn tortillas it's going to be since many of you use them and like them in enchiladas. Flour tortillas are just doughy tasting and fall apart easily for me.

Teresa, your dish sounds excellent. Well, except for the black beans that is. LOL

Beverly

I'm pretty sure this is a matter of semantics.

There is some Pre-Columbian history to a term that could have been the roots of the word "enchilada". The Mayans made a layered (sometimes rolled) dish of CORN tortillas (or possibly something akin to fritters) that included beans and sauce and possibly meat.

We Americans know enchiladas as something that involves rolling FLOUR tortillas around vegetables or meat, covering with a sauce and cheese(es) and then baking. This is probably something that evolved from Tex-Mex cuisine.

I know plenty of Latinas here that make rolled enchiladas with CORN tortillas yet virtually every Mexican restaurant here serves enchiladas made with FLOUR tortillas. I've done it both ways, although I prefer flour for my version of enchiladas.

Corn tortillas aren't difficult to roll if you treat them as I do when using flour tortillas. I slide the tortilla into a wide pan of hot oil for a nano-second and then dip it for a semi-nano-second into some warm enchilada sauce. I put the treated tortilla immediately onto a platter, fill it with meat/veggies (no rice, no beans) and then I roll it and place it into a baking dish alongside the previous enchiladas. When the baking dish is full, I cover the enchiladas with lots of cheeses and then bake it.

Joe

I've never eaten an enchilada made with a flour tortilla, either here or in Mexico. I would find it odd, but maybe it is done in some places. So far as flexibility when rolling them, they should be softened briefly in hot oil before filling and rolling.

Jim

I prefer corn tortillas in almost every dish, but DH and the kids usually want flour. Use whichever you like best.

As for rolling corn tortillas, I heat them first in a dry (no oil, no cooking spray, etc.), hot cast iron skillet until they just start to puff--unless I'm doing a lot, in which case I heat them all at once in the oven.

My previous post omitted a step. The usual way of making enchiladas is to heat the tortillas in hot oil (or the way slowlane does it) then *dip them in sauce*. After that they are filled and rolled, placed in a baking dish, covered with more sauce and cheese and baked. It's a messy business, but good!

Some of the things I'm seeing these days are not enchiladas, just wet tacos. Ugh.

Jim

I prefer corn tortillas, too. I soften mine by dipping them in enchilada sauce instead of oil.

I sometimes do as Teresa does, too.
Stacked enchiladas....YUM!

Linda

I think it is a matter of preference. I almost always made enchiladas with corn tortillas, never bothered me if they didn't roll perfectly, I squished them together in the pan to help them keep their shape. I recently tried them with some flour tortillas to use them up, did not like at all, too doughy IMHO, but I think it depends on what texture you are used to. But anyway, after my brief foray into flour tortilla enchiladas, I am going to stick with corn tortillas for enchiladas, and use flour for burritos. I also make a sort of enchilada "lasagne" when I am in a hurry, just layer the tortillas, then filling, then tortillas, then sauce, etc. and top with cheese.

I am another that has never heard of using flour tortillas when making enchiladas!

DH likes corn, I like corn tortillas for beef enchiladas and flour for chicken enchiladas. So most of the time I use corn.

Another Californian who never heard of using anything other than corn tortillas for enchiladas -- that is until that canned green chili/sour cream/cream of whatever enchilada casserole became so popular. That was my first introduction to using flour tortillas in enchiladas. Most of the time, in restaurants, festivals, or friends' homes, flour tortillas are used like bread, to sop up juices or to wrap around a filling. I much prefer corn tortillas for enchiladas; I think the flour ones are just too bland.

If the corn tortillas are fresh they roll easily. I used to not like corn ones much..too leathery. But we have a substantial Mexican population here and really good fresh ones are available at the grocery stores, which I seem to be the last one here to have discovered!
Lately I've been quite captivated with them ...I never knew how amazingly good the fresh ones are. I like eating them just as is for a snack. They've become my new bread.

I got to get out more. Where we live, we simply don't have any mexican restaurants. I never have enchilladas, (good, bad, or indifferent). I should have clarified I prefer flour over corn because I only use them when making burritos. If someone wants to post an easy enchillada recipe, I'd love to try it. And I'll use corn.

Jo

I use corn tortillas only when making enchiladas and flour for things like burritos.

Jo, here are two tried and true enchilada recipes.

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

Deluxe Chicken Enchiladas

Source:Barbara Hansen's Mexican Cookery

2 whole chicken breasts
chicken broth
1/2 small onion
1 bay leaf
8 peppercorns
garlic clove
salt

1/2 medium onion chopped
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
1 4 oz can green chilies
garlic
1 13 oz can tomatillos, drained
1/4 cup cilantro leaves
3/4 cup whipping cream
1 egg
salt

1/4 cup lard or oil
8 corn tortillas
1 cup cheddar or Monterey Jack Cheese
Guacamole
1 cup sour cream
lettuce
black olives
. Place chicken in large pot and cover with chicken broth. Add onion,
bay leaf, peppercorns and salt. Simmer until tender. Let cool in
broth. Remove chicken and save broth for another use.

Shred or cut chicken to to smaller pieces. Add chopped onion, Parmesan
cheese and Monterey Jack Cheese. Taste and add salt if needed. Set
aside.

IN a blender or processor, combine green chilies, tomatillos ,
cilantro, whipping cream and egg and blend until smooth. Add salt and
pepper to taste. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 375F.

Heat lard in small skillet. With tongs, carefully place one tortilla
at a time in hot lard. Hold for 3 to 5 seconds and drain on paper
towels. You want the tortillas to be softened but not crisp. Place
some of the chicken mixture on the tortilla and roll tightly. Place
seam-side down in a baking dish.

Pour cream mixture over the Enchiladas and sprinkle evenly with 1 cup
of cheddar or Monterey cheese. Bake about 20 minutes or until heated
through and bubbly.

Serve with sour cream, guacamole, lettuce and olives.

NOTE:

Instead of softening the corn tortillas in hot oil use the following
Enchilada sauce.

(Alternative Enchiladas Sauce)

4 tablespoons oil
5 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 garlic clove

Heat the oil and add the flour, cayenne pepper, chili powder, cumin and
garlic. Cook for a few minutes and add the chicken broth.

2 to 3 cups chicken broth

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

Stacked Enchiladas
==================
Source: Southwest Cookbook

Vegetable oil for frying
12 corn tortillas (6 inches)
1 1/2 cups (12 fl ounces) Green Chili Sauce (recipe on page 195)
2 cups (8 ounces) grated Monterey Jack or Cheddar Cheese
3/4 cups finely chopped onion

Preheat oven to 350°F. Pour vegetable oil into a medium , heavy skilled to depth of 1/2 inch. Heat the oil over medium high heat to 375°F, or until a strip of tortilla browns in 60 seconds. Soften the tortillas, one at a time, for about 5 seconds per side in the hot oil and drain on paper towels.

Heat the green chili sauce in a shallow pan and dip each softened tortilla into the sauce. Place 1 coated tortilla on an oven proof plate and top with 1 tablespoons green chili sauce, 2 tablespoons grated cheese and 1 tablespoon chopped onion; repeat twice so that 1 serving contains 3 layered tortillas. Repeat with the remaining ingredients to make 4 tortilla stacks. Bake the stacks for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the cheese melts.

NOTE: Add cooked chicken and or pinto or black beans between layers.

Green Chili Sauce

1 Jalapeño chili seeded and diced
1 garlic clove crushed
1/4 cup chopped green onions
4 tomatillo, husked and diced (or use canned)
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 new Mexico green or Anaheim chilies, roasted, peeled, cored, seeded and diced.
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon heavy cream
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

In a medium saucepan, place the jalapeño , garlic, green onions, tomatillos and chicken stock. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat' reduce heat and simmer until the liquid is reduced to about 1 cup about 15 to 20 minutes.

Pour the chicken stock mixture into a blender or food processor. Add the Anaheim chilies, cilantro and lime juice; puree until smooth. Add salt and pepper. Add the cream and mix again. Serve warm. Keep 1 to 2 days refrigerated.

This may not be the most authentic, but when I was in HS (Southern Arizona), we had lots of Mexican-descent gals in our Home Ec cooking class. They all said CORN tortillas go in enchiladas and FLOUR tortillas are for burritos.

Another non-authentic enchilada recipes:

1 lb hamburger
1 pkg dozen corn tortillas
1 pkg taco seasoning (French's or Lawry's)
water as required by taco seasoning pkg
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 lb colby cheese, grated

Brown the hamburger in a fry pan. Sprinkle on the taco seasoning and add the amount of water recommended by that brand. (It's been awhile...1 cup???)

Divide the browned hamburger into 12. Spoon a little into each corn tortilla. Wrap lightly, and put the lapped side down (that holds it). After all 12 are safely in the pan, pour tomato sauce over the 12. Then sprinkle the cheese over the top. If you are so inclined you could add diced green chilies on the top (My family hated them so I never did), spread over. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.

BTW, this was off the top of my head. I don't think I've done this recipe in more than 25 years. My mom, dad and brother always loved these when I was in HS and college, but my husband and kids do NOT like them - none are big on Mexican food!

DonnaR/CA

There's always preferences but I've lived and cooked with Mexicans from Mexico all my life. They never used flour tortillas for enchiladas but you can have fabulous wraps with flour, EXCEPT ENCHILADAS. One lady we worked with for years offered to bring us her fabulous enchiladas for lunch one day. She used flour tortillas. They were huge, dry, tasteless and were doughy and sorry to say no one said they were the best they'd ever had but she took a lot of them home. She said her husband just loves them and she never uses corn. My mom and grandmom always used corn, dipped them in hot oil (probably lard) for a sec, then dipped in the sauce, filled and wrapped. A tedious, hot, burn your fingers job but to die for. I use the same ingredients but skip the hot oil and mine are not as good as theirs but DH is so happy that I've gone to the trouble of making his favorite dish. Bottom line, make them anyway you like, at least you're cooking for your family.

I, too, have never heard of enchiladas with anything BUT corn tortillas. My recipe in my Mex. food book is very similar to Ann T's, but without the tomatillos and cilantro (not my favorite, anyway). But, the one method in my recipe to soften the corn tortillas is: Heat the whipping cream in a small fry pan (like for two fried eggs in size) and keep very low. Use tongs or your fingers to quickly dip each tortilla, both sides, in the warmed cream and then lay out on work surface to stuff. The warmed cream softens the tort. so it doesn't crack or break and adds a wonderful, rich flavor to the recipe.

arline