Frugal Gluten-Free Living: Flour Tortillas that Taste Great!

ShareThis

This recipe is a fantastic substitute for regular flour tortillas. If you're sick of using the rough texture, (and small size) of corn tortillas, try this out. The texture of these are bendable, foldable, and so delicious, they'll be gone before you know it. Make an extra batch if you have guests, and get ready to enjoy burritos again, the gluten-free way.

Gluten-Free Flour Tortillas

(3 parts corn starch, 3 parts white rice flour, 2 parts soy flour, 1 part masa flour)

  • 1 ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
  • 2 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil

Mix all of your ingredients together. I like to mix the dry ones together first to make sure they're all blended. Use your hands to get everything good and ready. It's a fun texture to play with. Then take your blob and divide it into 8 parts. Place them in a large bowl and cover with saran wrap until you're ready to roll them out. Roll out a ball at a time on a floured butcher block. Use a spatula to scrape off the dough if it sticks and add a little more flour to the rolling pin, if necessary. Gluten-free flour can be a sticky beast, so be patient, and just keep working with it until you're comfortable.

When the tortillas are rolled out, place them on a heated griddle (I use my big pancake one so I can cook 3 at a time). I keep the temperature at around 325 degrees and keep them on there until bubbles form. Then flip and wait for the tortilla to be ready.

I feed these to my husband and kids all the time. It makes burritos a gourmet feast that everyone loves. There is nothing so delicious as freshly made tortillas. Serve them with melted butter and salt. Use them for sandwich wraps. Have fun and enjoy. I promise this one is easy and will be a hit.

Thanks again to gluten-free cooking school, where I adapted this recipe from.

Disclaimer: The links and mentions on this site may be affiliate links. But they do not affect the actual opinions and recommendations of the authors.

Wise Bread is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.


Guest's picture
kt

i am supposed to be working and not thinking about great tasting food. am drooling all over my computer screen now :)

Guest's picture
Santos

Do enough people have Coeliac disease to really warrant an entire cookbook of gluten free recipes?

Guest's picture
Lauren

It's not just Celiac's that should be gluten-free. There is a link between gluten and psoriasis, which is the most prevalent auto-immune condition. Often a slight gluten intolerance is present and relates to IBS as well.

And why deny Celiac's a cookbook? Doesn't everyone have a right to eat and enjoy their food? This is a hurtful comment to me - as though my having a gluten intolerance somehow makes me less deserving of options in my meals.

Guest's picture
Deb

as well there are people with allergies to wheat, barley, oats, gluten, and rye.. I don't have celiac but I am highly allergic to wheat and gluten (confirmed with blood tests) so I would greatly appreciate a gluten free cookbook.... one that contains italian, mexican, spanish dishes would be awesome, as well as just regular american dishes.... anything and everything really - I lived 43 years always feeling sick and had a major allergic reaction last year that put me in the hospital and once I was released I swas sent straight to the allergist, they did extensive testing and found out I was allergic to a ton of foods... now I avoid them like the plague but I miss burritos, a good chimichanga, pizza and pasta. My husband is italian and we are both foodie snobs so finding goog gluten free food can be hard and any help from cook books that target gluten free recipes is greatly appreciated.

Sonja Stewart's picture

Celiac disease is one of the most common chronic health disorders in western countries. It is also one of the most under-diagnosed. Up until ten years ago, medical schools taught that celiac disease was relatively rare and only affected about 1 in 2,500 people. It was also thought to be a disease that primarily affected children and young people. Recent studies and advances in diagnosis show that at least 3 million Americans, or about 1 in 133 people have celiac disease, but only 1-in-4,700 is ever diagnosed.

from:   http://www.celiac.com/articles/1164/1/Celiac-Disease-Statistics/Page1.html

That was from 2007.  The numbers are closer to 1 in 100 now.  The shocking thing is how under-diagnosed the disorder is, and how destructive it is.  People have literally had organs surgically taken out of their body when all they needed to do was cut gluten out.

I'm typically not a numbers person, so I'm not sure if that statistic "warrant"s a cookbook.  However, if a gluten-free cookbook can save someone from getting their gall bladder, spleen or thyroid taken out, what does an extra cookbook on the shelves hurt?

Have you noticed the packaging at stores lately?  How many have the words "gluten-free" written in bold print.  It's getting to be kind of a big deal.

 

 

Guest's picture
a

Santos, more and more people are finding out that they've been sick for a long time because they have gluten intolerance. We live in a glutenized eating world. It's wonderful to find foods and recipes that can bring us back to the foods we love. After years of suffering, I'm now fine as long as I totally avoid gluten--alas, easier said than done. Yes, there are a lot of us.

Guest's picture
Beth

@ Santos, even in people who don't have celiac disease or an intolerance to wheat or gluten, wheat can cause inflammation in the body. (Especially when wheat products like bread also have refined sugar -- another inflammatory food).

Guest's picture
Len

Since wheat was the main source of nutrition for hundreds of generations of Western Asian and Eastern European peoples, I've always thought that gluten intolerance must have its source in the gene pool of peoples historically from other areas (northern Europe, Africa, east Asia, North America). It'll be interesting to see if they will be able to pinpoint a "gluten gene" that will make diagnosis nearly foolproof.

Good on you for coming up with a tortilla substitute. Although I've always preferred corn tortillas, the flour sorts really are a different beast culinarily. I bet the basic recipe could be tweaked to make chapatis, mu-shu and matzoh as well!

Guest's picture
Sarah

My poor little son doesn't like corn tortillas so I am very happy to find this recipe! Now he can eat (almost) what the rest of us are eating.

And even if only a few people had celiac disease or a problem with wheat, of course that warrants a whole cookbook! Why shouldn't those people have a resource that will allow them to eat a variety of foods just like the rest of us, without ruining their health? Have a little sympathy for others.

Sonja Stewart's picture

These make the most delicious quesadillas!! 

Sonja Stewart

 

Guest's picture

When our little boy was a few years old and his allergies were so bad, I tried to make tortillas out of rice flour and they were dry and brittle. These look great though! He is much better now thankfully :) Have you ever had Kamut Khorasan Wheat by chance? I read that it is accepted by some who have gluten intolerance and our family tried it and loved it!

Guest's picture
Guest

Made these, they turned out great! Thanks for the recipe!

Guest's picture
Guest

These are GREAT!!! I love them! They are easy to make one or two!

Guest's picture
Aaron

Do you have a recipe for Flour Tortillas without corn as well?

I've been working with a four bean flour and it works alright but four bean flour seems to have a slight funny taste. (Four bean as in Fava, Garbanzo, Sorghum, Tapioca, Potato Starch.) I usually end up throwing in mexican seasonings or cumin to cover the taste of the flour.

Guest's picture
Joice

Hi there,

I'll certainly try this recipe some time soon, miss tortillas so much!
This might not be the place to ask this but i sure u guys will be able to help me. I've been diagnosed with wheat, lactose and possible gluten intolerance after years of feeling unwell, hormonal problems, weight loss and persistent psoriasis. I’ve been on a gluten/lactose free for abt 2 months now and although i feel much more better & more energetic my scalp psoriasis has gone really bad... which is quite confusing as i thought i should really be getting better at this stage. No matter what shampoo, lotion, oils etc i use it wont go away...
Hope someone will be able to help me.
Thanks
Joice

Guest's picture
Guest

Hi Joice,

My intolerances are exactly the same as yours, although I only run to eczema as opposed to psoriasis. The only thing I can suggest is look at the content of your shampoo - I had been off wheat for about 6 years when I started to feel rough - it turns out I was absorbing wheat proteins through my scalp and the ingredients in my shampoo! You don't have to just eat for it to cause a problem :(

Other than that, there may be something else you're intolerant too, but hang in there please, it's so worth persevering!

Namaste,
Helen :)

Guest's picture
Jennifer

Do you another way for the Gluten Free Flout? I use Bob's red mill gluten free flour. Could I substitute that and add white/brown rice flour. We try to stay away from soy and corn as much as possible.

Guest's picture
Carrie

Have any of you tried making these ahead and either freezing or refrigerating them? I'm just wondering how well this works before I attempt it. I'm the only one eating gluten free in my household and don't want to make a big recipe if it doesn't save well. Thanks, all!

Guest's picture
Guest

I made my first batch of these this weekend using your basic flour mix recipe. The smell of the raw dough was not great - I think due to the soy flour - but the smell and taste after cooked was fine. Thanks!

Guest's picture
Heather

is there something that can be used to replace the soy flour?

Guest's picture
Gina

This tortilla recipe is unusual in that it doesn't have very much fat in it. I have to admit that I use quite a bit more in my gluten-free tortillas! Did you find that more fat was detrimental to the recipe or were you just trying to use the minimum to reduce fat calories? They look great! I'll link to my recipe in case you're curious. I don't use bean flours either, but I have another trick to make them flexible.

Guest's picture
Lynn

I made these last night and was pleasantly surprised by their texture and taste. This recipe is definitely a keeper!!

Guest's picture
Alana

Any suggestions on an alternative for the soy flour in this recipe? I have a little one that is very sensitive to soy...