Do you miss taco night due to food allergies? Get ‘Taco Tuesday’ back with these delicious cassava flour tortillas. They work for the autoimmune protocol (AIP), plus they’re Paleo and use only 5 whole foods ingredients. Super easy gluten-free and grain-free tortillas! Also try my amazing almond flour tortillas!
When my husband learned during the Whole30 that he reacts to gluten, there were two things he was sad about missing out on: homemade pizza and taco night.
We’ve made HUGE progress on taco night ever since I discovered this cassava flour tortilla recipe!
In case you’ve never heard of cassava flour, here’s a brief lesson.
- Cassava flour is made from yuca.
- Yuca is a root vegetable and it’s NOT a nightshade.
- Yuca has a very, very mild “potato-y” taste that unless you’re actually eating it and thinking about whether or not it tastes like potatoes, you won’t even notice it.
Note: If you’re not gluten-free, grain-free or otherwise have no need to avoid grains, I highly recommend making either homemade corn tortillas or homemade flour tortillas.
However, if you ARE gluten-free or grain-free or for whatever reason need to avoid grains and are missing out on all the foldable, bendable love that comes from a tortilla or wrap (like bacon chicken Caesar salad wraps), then this cassava flour tortilla recipe is for you.
P.S. – If you’ve heard that people with food allergies cannot afford their groceries, let me bust the myth and say that it is COMPLETELY possible to eat allergy-friendly without going broke if you have a tried-and-true, solid system in place. Graduates from my course Grocery Budget Bootcamp have had MULTIPLE food allergies and follow all sorts of diets (i.e. GAPS, Paleo, WAPF, Whole30, AIP, etc.) and they’ve all learned how to make it work within their budget. Grocery Budget Bootcamp Enrollment is currently closed, but you can join my FREE 5-day Crush Inflation Challenge and start saving money on groceries tomorrow!
Cassava Tortilla Ingredients
- cassava flour (I use this brand)
- salt
- baking soda
- cream of tartar
- black pepper (optional)**
- granulated garlic (optional)**
- coconut oil
- warm water
Notes on Ingredients
Cassava flour: The brand you buy is a very big deal. Different brands have different textures. Some are very coarse, some are very fine.
- I’ve worked with Otto’s Natural cassava flour and Anthony’s cassava flour and both make delicious tortillas. If you’re not using either one of these brands and your tortillas don’t turn out, I’m willing to bet it’s the brand.
- If you’re planning on making these AND you’re working within a grocery budget (which you should be), buy a “cheaper” flour at your own risk. Personally though, I don’t recommend it. It might seem like you’re saving money, but if nothing you make turns out, then it’s just a waste.
Cassava Flour Tortillas Recipe Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1. In a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine all the ingredients except water. Using your hands or the beater blade, mix everything together until the flour resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
Step 2. Add the water and mix until the dough starts to come together, looks smooth in some parts (it will never be completely smooth) and the dough pulls cleanly away from the sides of the bowl.
Step 3. Preheat the griddle to 350F. Weigh the dough into 1 ounce portions and set aside.
Step 4. When the griddle is ready, roll each portion of dough into a ball. Place it between two pieces of parchment paper on a tortilla press and press. Gently peel back one piece of parchment paper. Turn the tortilla into your hand and gently pull off the other piece of parchment paper.
Step 5. Place on the griddle and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until you see small bubbles start to form on top.
Step 6. Flip and cook again for 2-3 minutes, or until you see small bubbles start to form on top. Remove to a cooling rack to cool. Serve warm.
Cassava Flour Tortilla Tips & Tricks
The good news? These cassava flour tortillas taste EXACTLY like regular flour tortillas. Your allergy people will so happy!
The honest news? There’s a technique in order to get these things to work. It’s not hard, but you do need to follow my directions. Here’s the deal:
I HIGHLY recommend a tortilla press
I’ve tried using a rolling pin and my hands and both of these options led to immense frustration and I may or may not have yelled at innocent bystanders who were asking me if the tortillas were done yet.
- I have this tortilla press that I bought from TJ Maxx or Marshalls several years ago and I love it. It’s not something I use all the time – really only when I make tortillas – but it’s one of those things that you’re always super glad to have when you need it.
- If you don’t have a tortilla press and you really want to make these, try the rolling pin option with the rest of these steps. Don’t even bother using your hands. Trust me.
You need parchment paper
Y’all know I’m all about saving money, and that’s why you see recipes like 15 minute Italian meatballs and healthy peanut butter cookies on my silpat mats. Those mats are AWESOME and they’re a one-time investment that I can wash and re-use a million times over again.
- But they don’t work for this cassava flour tortilla recipe. Remember the aforementioned frustration and yelling? Yeah… don’t go down that route.
- Use parchment paper. You don’t need much, but I PROMISE it will make your life a million times easier. Plus the tortillas will actually turn out!
Pull out enough parchment paper to cover the width of the tortilla press, and then fold it in half
You need two pieces, but parchment paper is really wide. I was able to cover the surface of the press twice by folding the one piece and cutting it in half.
If your parchment paper is a bit too big for the press, trim it as needed. You don’t want a ton of excess paper crinkling up on the hinge and lever sides of the press.
Make sure the two pieces of parchment paper are facing the same way
The paper will likely have a slight curl to it on the edges. You want both pieces to curl together, so they’re going in the same direction. This makes peeling the parchment paper off the raw cassava flour tortilla much easier.
I recommend using a kitchen scale to weigh your dough
I use a kitchen scale almost daily, but I especially use it to make meatballs, breakfast sausage and homemade tortillas all uniform in size.
- Kitchen scales aren’t expensive – I’ve had this cheap model for several years and it’s still going strong!
- The idea of weighing your dough may sound silly, but doing this not only ensures you’re getting tortillas that are even in size, but it also means you’re getting as many tortillas as you should.
- My cassava flour tortilla recipe yields 21-24 tortillas when you weigh just 1 ounce of dough per tortilla. If you use more than this, you will get a significantly less amount of tortillas. This means less tacos AND not getting the most out of the money you spend on cassava flour.
Work in batches
After you’ve mixed the dough, resist the urge to weigh each ball of dough individually, and then pressing, and then cooking, and then flipping, and then cooking, and then removing to a cookie sheet. This is not only tedious, but it’s incredibly time consuming.
Here’s the most efficient way to make cassava flour tortillas, but feel free to ignore if you’re more of a lackadaisical home chef.
- Weigh 6-8 portions of dough at a time.
- Roll portion #1 into a ball, press it, put on the griddle.
- Immediately roll portion #2 into a ball, press it and put it on the griddle.
- Immediately roll portion #3 into a ball, press it and put it on the griddle. Flip #1.
- Roll portion #4 into a ball, press it. Remove #1 to a cooling rack and flip #2. Slide all the tortillas to the left one slot (so the oldest tortilla is on the further left of the griddle), and put #4 on the griddle.
- Repeat the last step until all of the 6-8 portions of dough are now cooked tortillas.
Speaking of a griddle – use one
Griddles like this one have a non-stick surface, making them great for all homemade tortilla recipes. But they also have a larger cooking surface, so you can cook more tortillas in less time than if you used a cast iron skillet.
Look for small bubbles
The cassava flour tortillas are ready to be flipped and/or removed when you see small bubbles forming on top, similar to when you cook traditional tortillas.
Allow tortillas to cool on a cooling rack
This helps keep the tortillas soft and pliable, but also prevents them from cooking and melting into each other when you stack them on top. They only need a few minutes to cool on cooling racks, which is exactly how long it takes to cook the 6-8 portions of dough!
How to Store Cassava Flour Tortillas
- For short-term consumption, i.e. you’re eating them today or tomorrow, a container with a lid on the counter is fine.
- If you’re fortunate enough to still have tortillas after two days, you can store them in the fridge for up to a week.
- For long-term storage, place tortillas on a cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet. Place in the freezer for 45-60 minutes – this is called flash freezing. When they’re semi-frozen, you can remove them to a freezer safe container, remove all the air and freeze for 3-6 months.
- This freezing method lets you pull as many tortillas as you want to serve, without dealing with the tortillas sticking to each other. (This same method works for pancakes and waffles too.)
FAQs
No. For a keto diet, cassava flour tortillas are too high in net carbs.
Cassava flour is made from yuca root, or cassava root, which is naturally gluten-free.
Cassava flour is great for people with various dietary needs because it’s grain-free, GF, paleo and nut-free. Plus it’s healthy, easy to use, and it can replace all-purpose flour in many different recipes
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Sign up for my FREE Fight Inflation Workshop and learn simple strategies to save money, even with rising food costs!Cassava Flour Tortilla Recipe
Delicious cassava flour tortillas work for the autoimmune protocol (AIP) and Paleo and uses only 5 whole foods ingredients. They’re easy gluten-free and grain-free tortillas!
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 5 mins
- Total Time: 15 mins
- Yield: 21–24 1x
- Category: Breads
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 cups cassava flour (I use this brand)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 tsp black pepper (optional)**
- 2 tsp granulated garlic (optional)**
- 4 Tbsp coconut oil
- 1 1/3 cups warm water
Instructions
- In a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine all the ingredients except water. Using your hands or the beater blade, mix everything together until the flour resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
- Add the water and mix until the dough starts to come together, looks smooth in some parts (it will never be completely smooth) and the dough pulls cleanly away from the sides of the bowl.
- Preheat the griddle to 350F. Weigh the dough into 1 ounce portions and set aside.
- When the griddle is ready, roll each portion of dough into a ball. Place it between two pieces of parchment paper on a tortilla press and press. Gently peel back one piece of parchment paper. Turn the tortilla into your hand and gently pull off the other piece of parchment paper.
- Place on the griddle and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until you see small bubbles start to form on top.
- Flip and cook again for 2-3 minutes, or until you see small bubbles start to form on top.
- Remove to a cooling rack to cool. Serve warm.
Notes
** I made these both with the extra spices and without, and they’re both equally delicious. The smell of the tortillas cooking with the garlic and black pepper is intoxicating! Omit if you want, but definitely feel free to experiment with the additional flavors. We thought they added extra “oomph” to our tacos!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 tortillas
- Calories: 120
All these comments really make me want to get busy and try these. I have so missed tortillas since going KETO. Also am happy that the Cassava flour I purchased is recommended. I did notice Bob’s Mill has cassava flour now (or maybe my store has finally gotten the news that not ALL people like white flour! Also, thank you, Tiffany, for responding to the comments. Many do not!
These are FANTASTIC!! I have made them many times, and they are always GREAT!! I know some people who have had some issues, and I’ve done some things to avoid that:
1. To keep them from getting stiff, put a clean kitchen towel on a plate, and put the tortillas directly onto the plate after cooking, and cover with the towel, and just keep stacking. They stay super pliable this way!
2. To keep the tortilla dough from sticking to the parchment paper, I dust well with more cassava flour, and slowly remove the top piece of paper after pressing. Then I flip the tortilla to the no paper side onto the pan, and remove the other piece of paper when it is slightly warm (I think it helps release the paper from the tortilla)
3. I don’t have a griddle (I REALLY REALLY don’t want to have to use non-stick!!!), so I just cook them in a cast iron pan on medium to medium low heat for a minute or two, flip, and about 30 more seconds!
THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH FOR THIS RECIPE!! Now my mom can have yummy tortillas (she’s gf, and I don’t want to use a bunch of unhealthy potato starch) that aren’t over $1 each!!
UPDATE: I just TRIED to make them with Anthony’s organic cassava flour, and it DID NOT work. The dough was super runny, so I tossed it. I tried making a new batch, using less water, and they cooked like doughy in the middle, weird crackers. I also had to toss that batch :(((((. I just ordered more Otto’s cassava flour (it is what I have used in the past that worked). I love this recipe soo much, so I thought I would say this incase anyone is having issues similar to this!
Hi Tiffany,
I tried this recipe and had an epic failure. They were crumbly and hard to get off the parchment paper and then when I cooked them, they came out stiff as a board and you couldn’t roll them. They ended up in the trash. Where did I go wrong?
Hi Jenifer, So sorry they didn’t turn out! I ended up using my first batch like tostadas when this happened to me. What brand did you use? Depending on how the cassava is fermented it will absorb more water or oil. I use the Thrive Market brand cassava flour and I need to almost double the oil to keep them soft. Try doing 1.5 times the water and oil and see if that helps!
Are these considered to be whole30 compliant? I’m trying to find something compatible and I would rather make my own.
Yes, they are Perette.
Finally. A cassava flour tortilla that is really good. I followed the directions exactly. These pressed out good with the press. I did not get any bubbles on the top and guessed when they should be flipped. They came out pliable and did not crumble at all when folded with my tuna salad. Will definitely make again and again. Thank you for the recipe.
Yay! Delighted to hear this D. Taylor.
I followed the recipe to the T and they stuck to the parchment paper and the end product they are hard and fell like a flying Saucer
Hello Yvonne,
Tiffany suggests cooking them less. They’re also best right off the skillet. Hope this helps. 🙂
Hi Tiffany,
My tortillas don’t seem to come out very evenly cooked. Some parts appear soft and doughy. Do you think my dough is too wet? I do have trouble peeling the tortillas off the parchment paper. Appreciate your thoughts.
It sounds like they’re not an even thickness, if some parts are doughy. Are you using a tortilla press? If so, make sure you press down evenly!
I am Paleo right now for some gut healing and nutritional issues and cassava tortillas are the only ones worth trying! I am glad to find your recipe though, most of the others call for arrowroot flour and others that I don’t want to buy just for that.
We also used the cassava to make a crumble for myself and my neighbor who is also not eating flour right now. Yum!
Do you think Mr. Crumbs will be gluten free from here out, or is he going to try and look into healing leaky gut?
Hi Michelle! He’ll lean towards being gluten-free going forward, since he feels better without gluten, but he does tolerate einkorn well. If he has gluten, it would only be einkorn. ♥
What parchment paper do you buy? I haven’t made your recipe yet because I have IYA foods African Cassava. However, I am buying the Anthony brand and plan to try your recipe. Note*** Last night when making tortillas with the IYA Foods tortilla recipe, I had no parchment paper!! I used freezer bags, and it worked super well!! I generously floured them with the Cassava four on both sides (sort of), and I didn’t cut the bags in half. So, the ball is sandwiched in the press between two whole freezer bags. You just have to tweak the upper bag for a second on top so that the press doesn’t crunch it in a way that would mess with the tortilla. The first time making tortillas with the African C* I used parchment paper and there was a lot of ripping of fragile tortillas. You could recommend this to your page visitors. Let me know on the brand of parchment paper, though, please. Thank You!
Hi Gigi! I buy store-brand parchment paper – nothing special!
Have you tried making quesadilla with them?
I haven’t, but I bet they’d be really good!
Any substitutes for the cream of tartar? My son is on a low-glutamate diet and this ingredient is a no-no.
I’d try using baking powder in lieu of both cream of tartar and baking soda.
Great success after a failed attempt this week attempting to make Crepes with cassava flour. I took the first bite and said, “Mmmmm- these are it!”
1) Living in East Africa where Cassava are grown, I buy cassava flour for 70 cents a pound! Even had success with making pizza.
2) I think the recipe had too much liquid so added more flour.
3) After sticking to the 1 of the parchment papers, I decided to lay the dough side on the griddle with the parchment side up. After a minute or two, was able to peel off the parchment since it dried out.
This recipe is a keeper and I liked the detailed instructions- especially being uniform by weighing out each piece of dough.
Many Thanks!
I’m totally jealous of your pricing, RC! So glad you enjoyed these tortillas!
Try using one whole freezer bag down, floured, ball on top, then flour, then a whole freezer bag on top. Press. I worked soo so well for me. I used African Cassava with the IYA foods tortilla recipe. I want to try this one though..
What else do you make on your griddle. I am trying to justify the cost of one! Can you make things like hamburgers or bacon or anything ? I have a LARGE George Foreman grill and I am wondering if you could cook them – albeit wavy – on that?
Oh man… I use my griddle for so many things! I even just bought a new one, because we love it so much. We use it for biscuits & bacon when camping, pancakes, fritters, sausage patties, tortillas (obviously), grilled cheese / panini’s, quesadillas… I look at a griddle like a big pan. If I’m cooking for one, a griddle is overkill, but cooking for 4 and ALWAYS making extras means the griddle saves me time because it’s a larger cooking surface and I can cook more in less time!
I just tried out this recipe with Anthony’s cassava flour and they turned out a bit stiff. I followed the recipe exactly as it appears. Anyone can tell me where I went wrong. Maybe cooked the too long.
I’d say they were cooked just a bit too long. In general Iris, these will not be quite as floppy as a flour tortilla, and it’s just the nature of the beast. You can under cook them a bit though, and that will help!
I just tried a brand of prepared cassava tortillas and I’m more than ready to make them. 8.99 for 8 tortillas isn’t anybody’s idea of a good deal. They were delicious though so here I am searching for recipes to make my own. I have a couple of questions:
Can I vacuum seal the tortillas and freeze them or will they stick together if not individually frozen or otherwise separated before sealing them up?
I usually use 2 cast iron skillets to press corn tortillas. Do you think this will work with these cassava flour tortillas?
Hi Laura!! They will stick if not flash frozen, or otherwise separated. If you use wax paper, you can re-use those pieces over and over again. I think two cast iron skillets would work!
Do you know if these roll well for enchiladas and such? Some I have tried crack so quickly that I gave up making them. Thanks!
If you slightly under cook them and roll while they’re warm, yes!