Flour tortillas substitutes

Genuinely quick, cheap and better than the packet, which tends to taste of the dough conditioners that keep it soft on a shelf. Rub the fat into the flour, add hot water until it comes together, knead a minute, rest 20 minutes covered, then roll thin and cook 30 seconds a side on a dry hot pan until it puffs and blisters. Soft, stretchy and properly rollable.

Best for

burritos, quesadillas, soft tacos, wraps

The rest is what makes them roll thin without springing back, so do not skip it. Lard or shortening gives the softest, most pliable result; oil works fine and butter browns faster.

The best supermarket stand-in for a wrap, because it is soft wheat flatbread and it folds without breaking once warmed. Thicker than a tortilla, so the bread-to-filling ratio shifts and the result eats more like a sandwich than a burrito, and split open it makes an excellent pocket for anything that would otherwise fall out. Flavour is mild and slightly yeasty rather than neutral.

Best for

wraps and sandwiches, quesadilla-style melts, stuffed pockets, shawarma-style fillings

Warm it before folding or it will crack along the fold like any bread. Thin Greek-style pita rolls far better than the thick pocket kind.

Thin, soft, flexible and almost flavourless, which makes it the closest textural match on this list to a big burrito wrap. It rolls tightly and holds a roll well, and its large rectangular sheets are actually easier to wrap than a round tortilla for anything long. It goes brittle if it dries out, so it is at its best fresh or lightly warmed.

Best for

large wraps and rolls, pinwheel sandwiches, burrito-style rolls

If your lavash has dried stiff, spritz it lightly with water and warm it for 20 seconds and it comes back pliable. It contains wheat, so no help for gluten-free needs.

Chapati and roti are the closest relatives to a flour tortilla anywhere: unleavened wheat flatbread cooked on a dry griddle, soft, thin and made to be folded around food. They are a touch nuttier from the wholewheat flour and a little more tender. Naan is a bigger departure, being leavened, thicker and chewier, so it works as a wrap but eats like flatbread with filling in it.

Best for

wraps, scooping saucy fillings, quesadilla-style melts, quick lunches

Chapati dries out fast, so use it warm and fresh. Naan is thick enough that a burrito made with it will not close properly, so treat it as an open flatbread instead.

Naturally gluten-free and a great swap for tacos and quesadillas, where their toasted-corn flavour is arguably an upgrade. They are the wrong tool for rolling: no gluten means no stretch, so a corn tortilla wrapped around a burrito filling will crack along the fold no matter how warm it is. They are also much smaller, so you need more of them.

Best for

tacos, quesadillas, enchiladas, gluten-free cooking

Heat them properly on a dry pan first and keep them stacked in a towel, and they will fold. Doubling them up is standard practice for anything juicy.

The gluten-free option that actually rolls, which is what makes cassava tortillas worth seeking out. They are pliable, mild and faintly sweet, and they handle a burrito-sized filling without splitting. Almond flour versions are softer and nuttier but tear more easily and do not like being rolled tightly. Both are considerably more expensive than wheat.

Best for

gluten-free wraps and burritos, grain-free cooking, soft tacos

Warm them gently for a few seconds only, since overheating makes them stiff and brittle rather than more pliable, which is the opposite of how a wheat tortilla behaves.

The honest low-carb and gluten-free answer, with the honest caveat that nothing rolls as forgivingly as a flour tortilla and a lettuce wrap is a different meal. Butter lettuce gives soft cups, collards blanched for 30 seconds roll tightly and hold well, and cabbage sits between the two. Expect cold crunch and vegetable flavour instead of soft neutral bread, and expect anything saucy to escape.

Best for

low-carb wraps, grain-free eating, fresh crunchy fillings

For collards, cut out the thick stem, blanch 30 seconds, pat dry, and overlap two leaves to make a sheet. Drain the filling well or the wrap will not hold.

Rolls beautifully, which is the whole problem a tortilla substitute has to solve, and you almost certainly have the ingredients. A thin savoury crepe is flexible and mild and holds a filling well; a flat two-egg omelette rolled around a filling is the low-carb version. Both taste of egg, which sits comfortably with cheese, beans and breakfast fillings and oddly with barbecue or spiced meat.

Best for

breakfast wraps and burritos, cheese and bean fillings, low-carb rolls

Cook crepes and omelettes thin and let them cool for a minute before filling, since a hot egg wrap tears where a cooled one folds cleanly.