Cassava Flour Tortillas (Grain-Free)
Easy grain-free cassava flour tortillas that are perfectly chewy, soft, and easy to fold without cracking. Just 4 ingredients, 1 bowl, and 30 minutes required!
Servings 6 (taco-sized tortillas)
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup cassava flour* (plus more for rolling // we like Otto’s — see notes for other brands)
- 2 Tbsp tapioca starch (also called tapioca flour)
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 2/3 cup warm water
- 1/4 cup melted vegan butter or oil (such as olive or avocado oil // dairy butter would work, too)
Instructions
- To a medium bowl, add cassava flour, tapioca starch, and sea salt. Whisk to combine. Add warm water and melted vegan butter. Stir using a spatula or wooden spoon for about 1-2 minutes (it will look wet at first) until the mixture has a texture that’s slightly softer than Play-Doh. If too dry, add more water 1 Tbsp (15 ml) at a time. If too sticky, add more cassava flour 1 tsp at a time. Shape the dough into a ball and cut it into 6 equal pieces for taco-sized* tortillas.
- Place a piece of parchment paper onto your work surface and dust lightly with more cassava flour. Place a portion of dough onto the center of the cassava flour and dust with more flour. Use your hands to flatten the dough and shape it into a disk. Now use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to ~7 inches, adding more flour to the top of the dough if it begins to stick. You want to get them as thin as possible while still being able to handle them! We found it works best to roll from the center out, turning the paper in 1/4-circle movements and repeating until it is all rolled out. We noticed using a back-and-forth motion made the tortillas more prone to tearing and being uneven!
- Heat a cast iron skillet or non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Flip the tortilla into your hand and gently peel off the parchment paper before flipping it onto the skillet, being careful not to let it fold on itself. Cook for ~30 seconds — until the tortilla begins to bubble — before flipping and cooking for another 30-45 seconds.
- While waiting for the first tortilla to cook, roll out the next one. Until you get the hang of it, you can cook a tortilla, remove it from the pan, and turn the heat to low before rolling out the next one!
- Serve the tortillas warm with your desired fillings. They’re perfect for making tacos, small burritos, quesadillas, and enchiladas. Their neutral flavor and pliable texture also makes them very satisfying to tear and dip into dals and curries.
- Leftover tortillas will keep stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 5-7 days or in the freezer for 1 month (separated by pieces of parchment paper). Reheat in a skillet on the stove when ready to enjoy next!
Video
Notes
*Different brands of cassava flour vary in their ability to absorb moisture. Our preferred brand is Otto’s, but Bob’s Red Mill also works if adding ~2 tsp more flour. See photos for reference if using other brands.
*This recipe works much better with taco-sized tortillas than burrito-sized tortillas because the larger the tortillas, the more difficult it is to transfer to the pan (especially if you have small hands). However, if you want to try out larger tortillas (it's a challenge – you've been warned!), divide the dough into 4 pieces (vs. 6) and roll out into a bigger circle. Make sure you have a large enough pan to cook the larger tortillas!
*There has been some concern voiced about the level of lead in cassava products. We tested with two of the flours found to have the lowest levels of lead (Carrington Farms and Tonomi) and unfortunately they didn’t work well in this recipe, requiring an extra 6 tablespoons of flour to get the dough to be the right consistency and resulting in gummy, fragile tortillas. If concerned about using cassava flour, we would suggest trying our 3-Ingredient Plantain Tortillas instead!
*Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated with Miyoko’s vegan butter.
*Loosely adapted from Evolving Table's Cassava Flour Tortillas.
*This recipe works much better with taco-sized tortillas than burrito-sized tortillas because the larger the tortillas, the more difficult it is to transfer to the pan (especially if you have small hands). However, if you want to try out larger tortillas (it's a challenge – you've been warned!), divide the dough into 4 pieces (vs. 6) and roll out into a bigger circle. Make sure you have a large enough pan to cook the larger tortillas!
*There has been some concern voiced about the level of lead in cassava products. We tested with two of the flours found to have the lowest levels of lead (Carrington Farms and Tonomi) and unfortunately they didn’t work well in this recipe, requiring an extra 6 tablespoons of flour to get the dough to be the right consistency and resulting in gummy, fragile tortillas. If concerned about using cassava flour, we would suggest trying our 3-Ingredient Plantain Tortillas instead!
*Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated with Miyoko’s vegan butter.
*Loosely adapted from Evolving Table's Cassava Flour Tortillas.
Nutrition (1 of 6 servings)
Serving: 1 tortilla Calories: 124 Carbohydrates: 16.2 g Protein: 0.5 g Fat: 6.7 g Saturated Fat: 5.3 g Polyunsaturated Fat: 0 g Monounsaturated Fat: 0 g Trans Fat: 0 g Cholesterol: 0 mg Sodium: 238 mg Potassium: 42 mg Fiber: 1.5 g Sugar: 0 g Vitamin A: 0 IU Vitamin C: 0 mg Calcium: 17 mg Iron: 0.03 mg