The search for great gluten-free tortillas is over. I was born and raised in California, and have been living in Texas for a decade, so I know tortillas, These are the real deal.
Forget about kneading and rolling. And nope, no tortilla press required.
All that you need are four ingredients. Two of the four are water and salt.
It’s hard to pick a favorite recipe from a cookbook, but this one ranks near the top from my Chickpea Flour Cookbook. Simply mix chickpea flour and some flaxseed meal with the above-mentioned water and salt, and then cook it in a skillet like a crêpe.
I love the addition of flaxseed meal because it makes these taste like multi-grain tortillas, despite the complete absence of grain. The omega-3 fats in the flax do more than add great health benefits: they also keep the tortillas from sticking, making these a breeze to flip.
If you don’t have any flaxseed meal…no problem! Just add an extra tablespoon or two of chickpea flour to the batter. You could also add some chia seeds or a few tablespoons of hemp hearts. Anything that adds a nutty, nubby texture is excellent.
What makes these tortillas worth making over and over again is tri-fold: (1) fantastic flavor (toasty, nutty, scrumptious); (2) great texture–pliable, as a tortillas should be, yet tender, too. They fold, roll, and stack with ease; and (3) endless versatility. Use them for all of your all of your favorite Tex-Mex dishes, but don’t stop there. These make great wraps for any kind of sandwich and complement Indian, Middle Eastern and Moroccan dishes (and so many other cuisines!) with to delectable effect.
Enjoy!
Amazing Chickpea Flour Tortillas {grain-free+nut-free+vegan}
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 2 mins
- Total Time: 7 mins
- Yield: about 10 medium tortillas 1x
Ingredients
- 1–1/2 cups (180 grams) chickpea flour
- 1/4 cup flaxseed meal (ground flaxseeds)
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt (more or less to taste)
- 1–1/3 cups water
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, flaxseed meal, and salt. Whisk in the water until smooth. Let the batter stand for at least 10 minutes or for up to 1 hour.
- Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Remove it from the heat and lightly grease the pan with oil of your choice. Whisk the tortilla batter.
- Pour about 1/3 cup batter into the pan, quickly tilting in all directions to cover bottom of pan. Cook for about 45 seconds, until it’s just golden at the edges. With a spatula, carefully lift an edge of the tortilla to test for doneness. The tortilla is ready to turn when it is golden brown on the bottom and can be shaken loose from the pan. Turn the tortilla over and cook for 15 to 30 seconds, until golden brown.
- Transfer the tortilla to a cooling rack or clean kitchen towel to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining batter, greasing the skillet and adjusting the heat as necessary between tortillas, stacking the cooled tortillas between sheets of waxed paper to prevent sticking.
Notes
Tip: You can vary the thickness of the tortillas by changing the amount of water added. For thicker tortillas, reduce the amount of water to 1 to 1-1/4 cups; for thinner tortillas, increase water to 1-1/2 to 1-2/3 cups.
Storage Tip: Refrigerate the tortillas between sheets of waxed paper, tightly covered in plastic wrap, for up to 5 days or freeze, enclosed in a resealable plastic bag, for up to 1 month.
- Category: bread, tortilla, wrap
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 tortilla
- Calories: 80
- Sugar: 2.0 g
- Sodium: 99 mg
- Fat: 2.0 g
- Saturated Fat: 0 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 11.7 g
- Fiber: 3.9 g
- Protein: 4.0 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Can I replace flax with almond flour?
HI Vanessa,
I am really not sure how that will turn out. You may want to mix a mini batch of batter (with the almond flour) to test it before committing to an entire batch. Would love to hear how it goes if you try!
Hi there
I know u mention some options regarding the flax seed ( which I like ) but could I use part hemp flour and flax seed – could that still work ?
Thanks
Hi Jo,
I’m really not sure about the hemp flour as I have not used it (unless it is the same as hemp protein powder? But I have only used that in limited fashion, too). I definitely think hemp seeds, plain or ground to a meal, could work in some recipes, but it will need to take some trial and (not as fun) error to find out 🙂 I would love to hear about any experimentations you do!
HI Camilla,
thanks for this recipe!
I am making them right now, but it seems the batter takes a long time to dry. If I make them too thin, they will break and I can not turn them around easily and the tortilla breaks. And a little thicker takes like 5-6 minutes on one side to be ready, otherwise it breaks.. Do you use high flame or lower? I am trying now on a low flame. I use a natural steel pan that has been burned in for a few years now.
Thanks!
Christina
Hi Camilla, it worked out in the end. I baked them on a high flame and waited until the tortilla came loose from the pan. I eat them as a pancake, with date sirup, which is delicious too! Thanks again! Christina
Great, so glad you are enjoying them, Christina!
These turned out well! I made 3 larger wraps to load up on hummus and veggies and they held up to a ton of fillings! Will be making these regularly for sure!
That, great, Christine! Yum, I love a good hummus and veggie wrap. Greta idea to make extra-large tortillas. Thank you so much for taking the time to write a comment, Christine!
This is Awesome! My husband even liked it. I didn’t have flax meal (but I did have chickpea flour- go figure!) so I sprinkled in a little corn meal. I also added some kosher salt and roughly ground pepper and 1/4 tsp of ground cumin. We even experimented with some Montreal seasoning that is pretty coarse and adds s bit of bite. I used this as the “taco” wrap for fish tacos made with orange roughy fillets. It was a hits. Yum! Thank you for all your chickpea recipes. I was trying to use it up and now instead I need to buy more!! Flour free fan! JS
Oh wow, I am so happy to hear that you are loving the tortillas so much, and chickpea flour more generally, too. It’s so versatile and I love that it is so affordable, too. Thanks for letting me know the recipe was a success, Jill, I appreciate it!
This is basically besan roti — which makes sense since roti and flour tortillas are basically the same thing.
Great idea, am going to give it a shot!
Thanks Joel, hope you like it!
Delicious, but did not look like the picture. Mine looked like a pancake, or a crepe. Makes for a great crepe, tasty, but not a tortilla.. Can be used as such though, but should be eaten with knife and fork. Fairly fragile.
Hi Eva,
It needs to be poured thicker (more batter) for a tortilla. The end result is very sturdy, not fragile at all.
Can’t wait to try these, my kids and and I are grain free, I like the idea of using the Garbanzo flour.. do you have a recommendation to replace the flax? I can’t do flax. Maybe just skip it all together?
Hi Lori,
Sure–replace the flax with half the amount of chickpea flour (in addition to the other chickpea flour in the recipe). You will also want to add about 2 to 3 teaspoons of oil (of your choice) to make up for the missing oil from the flax (it helps keep the tortillas pliable when you want to roll or fold them). Alternatively, replace the flax with an half the amount of ground chia seeds 🙂
Thanks so much! That sounds great with the chia seeds 🙂
Hi, this recipe looks great–I’m going to try it very soon. I’m wondering if you’ve found these tortillas to work baked with filling? I have an old burrito recipe I love. I wrap the filling in the tortillas, then bake them to toast the tops and melt the cheese in the filling. Can I do that with these tortillas, or would they not hold up to an extra round of heat? If not, I can just wrap the filling in the tortilla straight out of the pan and sprinkle the cheese on the top, then put them under the broiler for a minute to melt, and just go without the bit of texture I used to get with the toasting of the flour tortilla. Anyway, just wondering if these tortillas can be used in this way. Thanks for a new grain-free recipe to try!
Sorry for the delay, Claire. Yes, by all means, these tortillas definitely hold up like a regular tortilla in traditional recipes. If you plan to fill them, I would advise adding a touch more liquid to the batter so that you make the tortillas thinner and therefore easier to roll. I think you will really enjoy these!