I’ve been sitting here for ages trying to figure out what to say about these tortillas. If you’ve been gluten free for long, you can understand why I’m speechless. The wonder of it all… To have tortillas that bend without breaking. That are big enough to actually wrap around something; that taste like flour tortillas.
If you’ve ever used gluten free bread as a wrap for a chicken salad sandwich, you’ll definitely want to give these tortillas a try.
And again, if you’ve been gluten free for long I’ve probably already said enough to convince you to try these. They are inspired by a recipe of Bette Hagman’s, but I’ve changed up the flour mix to add nutritional value (gotta love the iron and fiber in the bean flours) and made the recipe casein free.
If you’d like an idea for something to put into these incredible tortillas, try my recipe for gluten free tacos and stop back by on Friday for a tutorial on rolling tortillas.
Instructions
Yield: makes 8 tortillas that are gluten free and casein free.
- 2 c. Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
- 2 Tbsp. shortening (or lard, butter, or oil)
- 1 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
- 2 tsp. sugar
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 c. warm water
- Add the dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl and mix the ingredients thoroughly. If you’re using a solid fat, cut it into the flour so that it’s evenly distributed. (I do all this with my hand)
- Add the cup of warm water to the bowl (and liquid fat if you’re using it) and mix the dry goods into the water with your hand. Just squish it all up until all of the dry ingredients are no longer dry. And then keep mixing a minute longer because it’s fun and we should all be pretend we’re kids once in a blue moon. =)
- Separate the dough into 8 pieces and roll each piece into a ball. Place all but one of the dough balls back into the bowl and cover with plastic wrap until you’re ready to work with them.
- Sprinkle a clean, flat surface with a bit of rice flour and then roll you dough ball into a roughly circular shape. Get is as thin as possible. (If you need some practice on rolling out dough, check back here Friday for a tortilla rolling tutorial)
- Throw the tortilla onto a hot griddle (I use a cast iron griddle on medium heat with just a smidge of shortening or oil) and let it cook approximately 1 minute – or until it has started puffing up and the bottom side is developing those lovely brown spots. Flip the tortilla and cook the other side until is toasty as well.
- Slide the cooked tortilla onto a waiting plate and repeat from step 4 until you’ve cooked all 8 tortillas. I generally roll one tortilla out while another is cooking, so that there’s is always a tortilla on the griddle.
Notes
To get a nicely-shaped circular tortilla, use a tortilla press on each ball of dough first, then finish rolling them out with a rolling pin.
where can i buy the gluten free al purpose flour. i live in toronto canada
I used this recipe with all sorghum flour and the tortillas came out great! And I have no prior experience making tortillas. Maybe next time I’ll try with all purpose or other flour. BTW if health food stores don’t have the gluten free flours where you live, they’re available through Amazon.com.
How do these keep? Can they be frozen or do they need to be consumed real-time? Thanks for any info. . .
I noticed that you don’t use any fat in this recipe. Normal tortillas call for some kind of fat like manteca or oil. Would adding fat change the texture of the tortilla because you’re using gluten free flour? I just ask because a tortilla just isn’t a tortilla unless you use bacon fat. So much flavor would be lost.
Toronto Canada – Fortinos, Loblaws – check out the Natural Foods section – they carry GF flour blends
Most Health food stores, if not all, will carry a GF flour blend – you’ve got what looks like an amazing Whole Foods Market store in Oakville – I’m sure they’ll have one and I’ll be checking out their store the next time I’m in Toronto!
or make your own – ingredients available at Bulk Barn and other bulk food stores (if you haven’t already – click the link in the recipe “Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour Mix” for quantities)
bulk barn also has a gluten free all purpose flour in bulk there, it works well I have been using it for the past year since my daughter has been diagnosed with Celiac and my son has been diagnosed with autism.
My sister and I have been diagnosed as having celiac, and I have been missing the homeade tortillas. I am going to be trying to make some but eanted to know if you could freeze them or not?
THANK YOU!!! We recently went GF/CF for my son and the first batch of tortillas was not a success! I bought a very expensive flour mix and it was WAY too sweet…good for pancakes NOT tortillas!!!
I’ll be trying these tonight with an AP blend I got from Kate Chan’s “Glutenfree Gobsmacked” blog. I am so looking forward to tortillas again – we love our chicken enchiladas made with flour tortillas. I know, it’s sacrilege to some of you, but we just like them that way better. And I can make Mexican lasagne, too – just use the tortillas in place of noodles, layer with taco-seasoned meat, salsa and cheese. Yummy, and remarkably easy, because you can prepare the meat ahead – I usually cook and season two pounds of meat, then freeze one. Then the worst part is grating cheese. But, Hot Dog! Tortillas, again!
I tried to make these for my son and something didn’t work. I had to use way too much flour to get them to roll without sticking to the roller and no matter what I did I couldn’t get them thin enough to be like a real tortilla without falling apart. They came out more like tostada shells, stiff and hard to chew. What did I do wrong? Someone else commented about no fat. Could you add fat to them?
Kari, maybe try them again but start with less water and add more slowly as you go along. I had a hard time the first couple of times as well. You will get it eventually and trust me they are worth it! I do use quite a bit of flour while rolling them too, and I flip them alot too while rolling. Give it time and practice! These are VERY YUMMY!
I am so in love! These were so stinkin’ easy that I got it the first try! Thank you so much for such a great recipe and for sharing and not keeping something so tasty to yourself! After mixing all of the ingredients I let it rest for 10 minutes and then rolled them out one by one.I love BIG burritos so one recipe only made 4 burrito size or
8 soft tacos for me. I also used bacon grease instead of oil and it was perfect! Thanks so much for sharing.
Thank you so much for the recipe and thanks to whomever suggested the tortilla press. They are inexpensive and we will use it weekly. I had bought some brown rice wraps at the store and they always are dry and hard. Now my son and I can do GFDF wraps for lunch. YAY!
Thank you for this recipe!! Is there something else I can use besides xanthan gum? Would be grateful for the info!!
I find that if you use the finly ground brown and white rice flours from Authentic foods (availabe at Whole Foods Markets etc.) that any baked good turn out better, is not crumbly and has a finer texture. I prefer it for all baking, except for pizza crust. Give it a try, I think you will like the results.
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I tried making these just now, only a half batch incase I screwed it up. Not bad, not bad at all. Compared to the store bought ones I’ve got in my freezer? Delicious lmao. I just used the GF Flour Blend my mom got me from somewhere a little while ago. They tore really nicely when I was eating the two really loopy ones. I ate one of the others with stuff on it and it didn’t rip until the end. But it was cracking. I think I might use a little more water next time, and make them larger. Also play with some different flours (I used cornstarch to dust) the first one tasted a little gritty. But yeah, pretty wonderful considering it was my first time ever! So thank you! Once I figure out the best way, I’ll try freezing them and come post how it works out!
Tried these for the first time and they are really good. Even my husband and son liked them.
The first two didn’t turn out to nice looking, but I finally got the hang of it. In stead of rolling them out, I just pressed them out with my fingers into a thin round circle. Maybe could have been a little thinner, but they tasted good. I was wondering if you could use a tortilla press with this recipe. Thanks for a great recipe.
I may have posted here before, but I wanted to say thanks again for the recipe. I used this recipe at Christmas, and am now using it for a family barbeque. Being Latina, it was really hard for me to give up flour and corn, and your recipe and substitutions are great. They passed the test of my family. Since I like my tortillas thin and small, I just roll out the dough, and cook until they puff up and slightly brown. They’re great!
Thank you so much for this recipe, the tortillas turned out great and tasted fabulous. My husband and my 15yr old granddaughter both had some and thought they tasted gorgeous (they are not coeliacs) It was such a pleasure for me to be able to eat a tortilla wrap. I haven’t tasted one since diagnosis (19 months ago)I made the first batch yesterday and had to make some more today. A great big thank you 🙂
Carol xxx
What if your GF flour mix already has xanthan gum added? Do you still need to add more, or is it best to use a mix without it?
My grocery store doesn’t carry GF tortillas at all, so I was thrilled to find this recipe. They came out great. I made six larger tortillas instead of eight. The first one or two came out somewhat amoeba-shaped, but by the time I got to the end, they were looking pretty professional. I used a piece of parchment paper on the bottom and another on top, and had no problem with sticking or getting them thin enough. If you’re having trouble rolling these, try parchment – it really helps. I used King Arthur Flour’s gluten-free blend, but next time I’ll mix up my own flour blend (cheaper). Thanks so much for the recipe! 🙂
I am from NM and have recently started a g-free diet. I bought a tortilla press and that made all the difference in making these. So wonderful! Thank you for an easy, yummy “flourless” tortilla recipe!
These were wonderful! I DID have to make a few changes, but they still came out great and tasted wonderful.
The changes I made:
Flour Mix: 3/4 C. Superfine Brown Rice Flour, 3/4 C. Tapioca Starch, 1/2 C. Buckwheat Flour, 1/4 C. Almond Flour
I reduced the water to 3/4 C. and used 1 TB agave instead of the sugar.
I divided the dough into 6 pieces and was able to roll them really thin, using sweet rice flour to keep them from sticking. Once cooked on both sides, I stacked and covered them to keep the tortillas pliable.
Thank you so much for the wonderful recipe!
Donna H.
I just found your site, and am very excited about it. I found out less than 2 months ago that I may have a gluten intolerance, and have strugled quite a bit. How lovely to know that things like flour tortillas, which I loved, can be made gluten free!
I have a suggestion though, for your page: perhaps you could put approximate times, like some cookbooks do. I’d like to make the tortillas, but am curious as to how long the prep time is.
Thank you for taking the time to do this, I can’t wait to look around some more!
Hi there, the pic of these tortillas look great! I’d really like to try out this recipe…
I appreciated your substitution suggestions for those of us with multiple allergies, thanks! I wonder if you might have substitution ideas for the masa harina other than a nut flour…alas, I am also allergic to most nuts 🙁 given its texture and liquid absorption properties can I get away with subbing more flour instead? Or using quinoa/amaranth/sorghum instead?
Thank you so much for the post. I dream of having burritos again…
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Tortilla press substitute- I’m from Texas, y’all and if you don’t have a tortilla press, it’s easy to substitute two plates. Put the dough ball in a heavy duty zip-lock bag (or not, your choice) and squish between two dinner plates.
Has anyone used these as lunchmeat sandwich wraps? How do they roll? Do they crumble?
Thank you
Emily
Yum! Thank you for this recipe! So delicious! I haven’t had a burrito in a year!
Can someone please post the recipe for the Gluten-free burrito? Sounds delicious, but I could not find where the recipe was.
Oh, this is genius! No more rolling a million tiny corn tortillas that may or may not stay together to make enchiladas. These STAY together when I roll them up, plus I don’t have to roll up so many because they are bigger. I am baking chicken enchiladas right now and cannot wait to try them.
I think the two biggest tips I took from this was to flip and rotate the dough *frequently* and to keep a lot of flour on hand. The rolling was a lot easier than I had thought. The dough was initially very sticky in the bowl and I think I’ll just use a fork to mix it next time.
Once I dumped a few spoonfuls of flour on the dough in the bowl, it became a lot easier to handle. No big deal after that. I also thoroughly washed my hands after the mixing so handling was an entirely different stage, no clumping onto dough that was still stuck on my hands.
So glad to find this and actually TRY it. Dinner is served in about 10 minutes and I have no doubt they will be terrific. I do have 4 left over tortillas which I may freeze for a few days just as an experiment. I’ll post how they turn out!
Again, thanks for a terrific recipe!
I have been making regular flour tortillas for many years. Now I need to learn to make gluten-free ones. I notice your recipe doesn’t call for cooking oil or baking powder.
Why??? Aren’t these ingredients both really needed for soft pliable tortillas???
I tried the tortillas last night and they were outstanding. It has been a long time since I had a tortilla that was so soft and enjoyable. No more store bought, dry rice tortilla’s for me.
I froze the extras and took one to work the next day. Used the toaster to slightly thaw it. I was impressed that it was still soft and I could roll it into a 3 sided roll. Nice. I need to make more this weekend.
Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Yum!
Love this website! I have to agree with the hints from others & thoughts of my own:
-use parchment paper, top and bottom to roll instead of messing with flour
-tortilla press($20-$25 at most)makes them pretty and round, but not any thinner. My kids eat it better when it looks ‘real’
-bean flour (garb. or I grind my own white bean) is a better flavor and texture vs. all rice
-roll and freeze the uncooked tortillas (parchment in between or freeze in a single layer on a tray then stack once frozen. Quick to cook up. Better than freezing cooked ones. They tend to become crumbly. As with all GF breads, they are best fresh.
-can leave thicker and deep fry for Indian Fry Bread (or finger pulled to shape)
-followed the recipe and added baking pwd as in my wheat flour recipe. I did not notice a substantial difference.
-doesn’t stay well when rolling for a wrap, but folding for a flatbread worked better. (toothpick still).
These sound great but they’re not corn-free. Xanthan gum is most often grown on corn.
This is a great recipe! Can you use a tortilla press?
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