In Spanish, Gordita literally means "little fat one", its basically almost similar to corn tortilla but its smaller in size. It inflates a bit when grilled, so it can be split to form a pocket and filled. In Mexican cuisine is a small cake made with masa harina (nixtamalized corn flour) and stuffed with cheese, meat or other fillings.A gordita is typically fried in a deep wok-shaped comal or baked on a regular comal.

A gordita is typically prepared as a thick tortilla. The dough is most commonly made of nixtamalized corn flour, as also used for tortillas, but can also be of wheat flour, particularly in northern Mexico close to the U.S border. An old variant of corn gorditas uses masa quebrada (broken dough) where the corn meal is coarsely ground, leaving bits of broken grain. Gorditas de migas is a version in which fried pork is mixed with the dough.

After cooking, the gordita is allowed to stand to drain excess grease. Then a slit is cut into one side and the gordita is stuffed with additional ingredients. These are usually guisados (meat stew) and salsa. Variations of the gordita include fillings of pork or chicken stew, shredded beef, chicharron, nopalitos, carne al pastor, beans, cheese, rajas (sautéed strips of chile), potatoes, eggs with chorizo sausage or picadillo. Gorditas are often eaten as a midday meal and accompanied by several types of salsas.

A classic gordita filling throughout Mexico is chicharrón con chile (a spiced stew of pork rind).