The Best Gluten Free Tortillas / Wraps - Grain-free, Vegan, Paleo, Whole30
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
"Gluten-free tortillas are the best!" Nope, I've pretty much never heard anyone say that phrase. Ever. That's because store bought gluten-free tortillas are pretty horrible. They crack, crumble and fall apart, leaving whatever delicious fillings you had planned to eat inside a tortilla on your plate instead. I can usually say that I don't miss gluten. When I am faced with a cracked tortilla and sad pile of fillings on my plate, I do.
At least until I came up with this magical recipe! These tortillas are soft, pliable, and stay together even when stuffed full of greasy fillings. They also taste great, unlike store-bought gluten-free tortillas that tend to have a weird flavor. Since they're made mostly with almond flour, they're far more nutrient-dense and low-carb than their traditional counterparts. Did I mention that they can also be used as a wrap? As if I haven't provided enough reasons for you to love these, they're also easy to make, only require a few ingredients, and are friendly to special diets! Delicious, pliable tortillas that are easy to make, nutritious and gluten-free, grain-free, vegan, Paleo, Primal, low-carb and Whole30-friendly? Yes, please!
I was inspired by a couple of different recipes I found on Pinterest, but both were more labor intensive than I wanted. One called for finishing the tortillas in the oven and most others called for rolling a ball of dough out into a tortilla shape before cooking on a griddle. Call me lazy, but I was looking for a recipe that was easier. Something about having to stop a dozen times to chase a 2 year old and 4 year old in the short time it took me to make these. Fortunately, these are about as easy as homemade tortillas get!
To make these tortillas / wraps, you won't need to roll out a ball of dough. Instead, these are made by dropping batter onto a griddle and tipping the pan to spread it around. It's similar to making crepes! The result is tortillas that are mostly round but have a handmade look. Below is a video that will help you visualize my description. You can spread them even thinner than I did in this video, they just might not end up as pretty. No worries, I promise these will get scarfed down anyways. My whole family loves them!
FOR A NUT-FREE VERSION OF THESE TORTILLAS / WRAPS, CHECK OUT MY PUMPKIN SEED (PEPITA) TORTILLAS!
Helpful Hints & Ingredients
As always, here are some helpful tips to make these as easy and affordable as possible. I've included Amazon links to products below for your convenience. Some of them are affiliate links, which means that I may receive a small commission if you purchase a product through one of my links.
- Almond flour can be expensive, especially blanched, fine-ground almond flour! I find that Costco usually has the best price. They had a 3-lb bag of blanched, fine-ground almond flour for around $12 last time I was there! Natural Grocers also offers their brand of almond flour for a reasonable price. Amazon also offers a few reasonably-priced options, such as the Hughson Nut Super Fine Blanched Almond Flour that sells for $19.99 for a 3-lb bag.
- I lay these tortillas on a kitchen towel on my counter to cool as soon as I pull them off the heat. They are great still warm or a day old! The trick is to let them cool completely before stacking them for storage. When in doubt, place a piece of parchment paper between the tortillas. Store in a sealed container at room temperature for two days or the fridge for a week. Just let them sit at room temperature before serving to assure maximum pliability.
These gluten-free tortillas / wraps were featured on thefeedfeed.com! Go to thefeedfeed.com/gluten-free-vegan and search "tasteabounds" to check it out!
Gluten-free Tortillas or Wraps
Grain-free | Vegan | Paleo | Primal | Low-Carb | Rice-free | Whole30
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Makes about 6 tortillas or wraps about 6"-8" in diameter
Ingredients:
- 1 cup almond flour (blanched, finely ground)
- 1/2 cup tapioca starch
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups water
Directions:
Heat a non-stick griddle to LOW - MEDIUM-LOW heat (I set my burner to 2.8 out of 9).
NOTE: If you know your griddle resists sticking, do not add oil since you want the batter to stick enough that you can spread it out by tipping the pan around (with oil the batter will just slide around). If you need oil to prevent sticking, ensure you don't overdo it by using oil in a sprayer, such as the Misto (as seen in the ad the end of this post).
Add the dry ingredients to a bowl and wisk to combine. Add the water, starting with one cup and waiting a minute for adding more. Continue adding water and wisking until the batter is smooth. It should be similar to crepe batter - thinner than pancake batter but not watery.
Pour by the 1/4 cup onto griddle. Tip the pan around in a circle after dropping the batter so that a large circle is formed while the batter is still runny (as if making crepes). Cook for 2-3 minute on the first side, or until the top just starts to look cooked and the bottom starts to get a little color. Flip and cook on the other side for about 2 more minutes, or until the tortilla has some color.
Remove from heat and move to a kitchen towel laid flat on the counter. Tortillas can be served while still warm or when cool. Once the tortillas / wraps have cooled completely, they can be stacked. A piece of parchment paper can be placed between the tortillas / wraps to prevent sticking, but I haven't found it necessary. The tortillas / wraps can be stored at room temperature for about two days or in the fridge for about five days.
17 comments
Very yummy!
ReplyDeleteThank you! :)
DeleteSeriously, these are AMAZING!! So much better than store bought and very easy to make. Thank you for posting these!!
ReplyDeleteThank you. I'm so glad you are enjoying these tortillas!
DeleteHi, I am here in South Africa, and we don't have xantham gum where I live. I also plan on replacing almond flour with coconat flour and the starch with cornstarch. So, out come a different recipe. Will it work?
ReplyDeleteHi Babsi, thanks for the question! I'm glad you asked, because no, I don't think the substitutions you mentioned will work.
DeleteCoconut flour is very unique and soaks up large amounts of liquid. As a result, it behaves very differently than almond flour. While the recipe may still be successful with cornstarch instead of tapioca starch, I don't know how successful the tortillas would be without xanthan gum.
A couple of suggestions. Both xanthan gum and almond flour are available on Amazon (see my post for links to almond flour and find xanthan gum on Amazon). If Amazon will not ship to you in South Africa, you could try a recipe for tortillas using the ingredients that you have. I've listed one below. I have not tried it, but the blogger who shared it has lots of great recipes!
https://www.wholesomeyum.com/recipes/coconut-tortillas/
I hope I gave you the information you needed. Happy cooking!
Do you happen to have nutrition facts for these? They sound delicious!
ReplyDeleteHi Desiree, thanks for the question! Each gluten-free tortilla has about 7 net carbs (9 total minus 2 grams of fiber), 5 grams of protein, and 10 grams of fat (mostly monounsaturated fat).
DeleteI hope you enjoy these tortillas!
I'm sorry to be the bummer post here, but these were super frustrating for me. I had all the ingredients listed and combined them as suggested. I've made crepes and pancakes and even other tortillas before, and never had such a problem as with these!
ReplyDeleteInitially I started out with my standby pan sized for such things, good ol' stainless steel, with only the smallest spray of olive oil to prevent sticking. I have a gas stove, so I turned it down very low (mine is too old for numeric settings). The batter started out as slightly thinner than pancake batter... Then things got crazy.
No matter what I tried, all I got was a gummy, goopy, gross mess that managed to not cook while simultaneously sticking like glue to my pan. I tried various heat settings, and slowly kept adding water to my batter until it was obviously much too watery. I even switched to a large nonstick skillet halfway through, in the hopes that a complete absence of oil would help (it didn't). I really liked the crunchy bits I managed to scrape off the bottom of the pan, though, so I'll give this recipe another shot... hopefully sometime when dinner doesn't require them! 😥
Hi Abigail,
DeleteI'm so sorry these didn't work for you! If it's okay, I'd like to help you troubleshoot. It sounds like you would really like these tortillas, and I'd love for you to be able to enjoy them!
I've had an old, finicky gas stove, so I can understand how difficult it can be to find the right temperature. I will get the exact surface temperature of my pan on the heat setting I use and post it here, to help you and others. Hopefully it'll make it easier to find the right temperature using your stove. It's unbelievable how different they can be!
I use stainless steel pans for some things, but I have found that these tortillas really need a non-stick pan. If your non-stick pan is a newer pan with a quality non-stick surface, you can probably forego the oil. However, if it's an older pan, you may need a little oil. Using a sprayer or even wiping the pan with a towel dipped in oil should do the trick.
I will reply with the pan/burner temperature within the next few days. I am also planning to post a video of the full recipe soon. Hopefully all of that will help!
Regards,
Laura
Hi Abigail,
DeleteI used a thermometer to measure the temperature of the cooking surface I use to make these tortillas. Holding the thermometer about 1 millimeter above the surface of my pan, I got a temperature of 200 degrees Fahrenheit. A Google search claims that this corresponds to the "low" setting on most stovetops.
I hope that helps you to find the right temperature on your stove to cook these tortillas! I'll also post a video soon, but please let me know if you have any more questions :)
Am allergic to nuts, so, what can use as a substitute for almond flour? Would love to try these. Have tried a couple of different recipes, but so far none has "panned" out. Sorry about the pun.
ReplyDeleteGreat question!
DeleteI have not tried to make these tortillas with seed flour, but I have a few recipes on my website that use pumpkin seed flour, and I have also cooked with ground sunflower seeds. I will try making the tortillas with ground pumpkin or sunflower seeds soon and let you know if either is a workable substitute.
If you are looking for a grain-free tortilla recipe, you could try making tortillas with cassava flour. This recipe from Fork & Beans is on the back of the Otto's Cassava flour bag! http://www.forkandbeans.com/2015/01/10/grain-free-tortillas/
I'll reply with the results of my tortillas using seed flour soon, but please feel free to contact me if you have any more questions :)
Cheers,
Laura
I posted a recipe for tortillas using ground pumpkin seeds, for you and anyone else with nut allergies. They are just as tasty and pliable. I hope you enjoy them! Recipe below :)
Deletehttps://www.tasteabounds.com/2018/03/nut-free-pumpkin-seed-tortillas-vegan-paleo-whole30.html
Mine turned out really gummy, I followed all the directions and even cooked longer??? Any suggestions? I also tried adding more water to thin them out but still were gummy.
ReplyDeleteHi and thanks for the question! I'd love to help troubleshoot. Please send me an email through my contact page or at laura@tasteabounds.com. It will be easier for us to email back and forth that way, and then I'll post our findings here for other readers to see.
DeleteThanks!
Laura
Hi! I have a couple of suggestions that you can try:
Delete1. make sure your pan is hot enough. After 3 minutes on each side, the tortillas should have a little color. If they don't, turn up the heat until they do.
2. reduce the xanthan gum to 1/8 tsp. This will make the batter thinner, so you'll actually need LESS water. Start with 1 cup and only add more if its necessary to reach the right consistency.
I really want you to be able to enjoy these tortillas / wraps, so please let me know if you have any other questions!
Cheers,
Laura