A Healthy Tortilla

November 23, 2010   21 Comments

Tortilla means "little cake" in Spanish. Many of these little cakes are not the healthiest option for a snack.

A Snack Girl reader, Laura, challenged me to find a healthy tortilla. From Laura:

Could you do a review on tortillas? I can't seem to find a tortilla that doesn't have a bunch of junk in it- and there are so many kinds. I would love to find a simple whole wheat tortilla without too many fat grams/calories.

Yeah. I hear you.

There are 3 different places to find tortillas in my supermarket. Next to the deli, in the aisle next to the Mexican food, and in the refrigerated case under the yogurt. Such a pain!

What is so funny is that I came home with a healthy option, but I didn't realize until right now that they aren't exactly tortillas. I found La Tortilla Factory Whole Grain Soft Wraps and I liked their facts:

I liked that they were made with EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) and whole grain. BUT, they are not 100% whole grain and they have some preservatives (sodium metabisulfite and calcium propionate) that I would prefer to avoid.

And, I spent $4.50 on these babies. argh.

On the other hand, they do have 5 grams of fiber, 6 grams of protein, 6% of your daily value of iron and all for 170 calories. Also, they taste good.

We made our daily children's quesadilla and my kids just ate them up.

For healthy tortilla searchers, my suggestion is to look for whole wheat. Then, take a close look at the fiber amount in the nutritional facts. If you see 4 grams or above then the tortilla was made with more whole wheat flour than just wheat flour.

The tricky thing is that it can say "WHOLE WHEAT" and still have just a little whole wheat flour in the product. The fiber amount will give you a clue to how healthy the tortilla REALLY is.

There are so many awesome snacks to make with tortillas. Check out my Banana Quesadilla for a great afternoon snack.

Do you have a favorite healthy tortilla brand that you can share with Laura?

Want to read about snacks?
A Pumpkin Spice Latte With 77 Calories
Saving The Brussels Sprouts
A Thanksgiving Feast Cooked in 10 Minutes? Done!
How Mondays Can Help You Be Healthier