Quinoa Tortillas Recipe

Grandma’s tortilla hands“.

That’s how my childhood friend described them, as her grandmother sat at the small kitchen table with the blue, plastic tablecloth that sat just under the kitchen window. The morning sun gently tickled her soft gray hair and made it glisten like diamonds with each breath she took. She made tortillas one at a time, humming as she patted each tortilla in a rhythm I’m almost certain I could have danced to.

Clean Eating Quinoa Tortillas Recipe

Grandma’s tortilla hands were rough. They were wrinkled, and they had the most beautiful bronze-colored skin I had ever seen. Some of that warm caramel color was natural, but some was simply from being kissed by the sun as she gardened.

Her garden was the most important duty after making tortillas. Then, came story-telling, and then fiestas…. in that order.

Grandma had her priorities. And in that moment of sunshine-sparkly hair, patty-cake rhythms, and plastic table cloths, she somehow managed to make me feel as though I was her number one priority. No matter how many tortillas she had to make that morning.

Grandma’s tortilla hands have long since stopped making tortillas. But I thought of them as I made these today.

While a tortilla press does not supply the tortilla-making staccato of the traditional, handmade method, the bowl of soft dough and the wafting smells of the warming tortillas cooking in the pan on my stove made me smile.

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QUINOA TORTILLAS RECIPE:

Clean Eating Quinoa Tortillas Recipe

Quinoa Tortillas Recipe

These are not the flimsy tortillas you buy at the store. These are sturdy, fill-you-up tortillas. They are best eaten warm. These do not have a long shelf life. Store them in the fridge and eat them within 3 days. (See process photos below)
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Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Mexican
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 18 tortillas
Calories: 123kcal

Ingredients

  • 4 cups quinoa flour
  • ¾ cup brown rice flour
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. olive oil
  • 1 ¼ cups hot water

Instructions

  • Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Mix, knead (until you have a smooth dough) and separate into about 18 balls.
    Clean Eating Tortillas
  • This is what my tortilla press looks like. I think this is a pretty standard type of press these days. (see link above to find it on Amazon)
    Clean Eating Tortillas
  • Open the press and sandwich a semi-flattened dough ball between two sturdy plastic bags. Place on top of your press fold the handle over and flatten the tortilla. Carefully peel off the plastic bags. If the tortilla really sticks to the plastic, the dough is too wet. It should come off fairly easily with out too much resistance.
    Clean Eating Tortillas
  • Place the tortillas in an un-oiled, non-stick pan and cook for about 1 minute on each side.
    Clean Eating Tortillas
  • This is about done.
    Clean Eating Tortillas
  • These are overdone.
    Clean Eating Tortillas
  • These are fantastic just out of the pan, and definitely better warm than cold!
    Clean Eating Quinoa Tortillas Recipe

Nutrition

Serving: 1tortilla | Calories: 123kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 1g | Sodium: 114mg | Potassium: 19mg | Fiber: 2g | Calcium: 11mg | Iron: 1.2mg

Recipe republished from the Gracious Pantry archives. Originally published 3/11/15.

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182 Comments

  1. The recipe looks terrific, but the post was sheer poetry! Thank you for sharing!

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Ann Mc – Thanks so much! 🙂

  2. Is there another flour I could substitute for the rice flour? Found out I have an allergy to rice, corn and potato.

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Castula – Pretty much any flour, except coconut flour, should do the trick. Let me know what you end up using and how it turns out!

  3. These have been such a life saver for me and my family! We cannot live without these in the fridge/freezer at all times. lol We do not have a tortilla press, so we roll ours out on parchment paper with some brown rice flour so they don’t stick. We fry them in coconut oil….some lightly so they are more pliable, others longer to make them nice and crunchy. We then salt them generously with Real salt immediately after being removed from the skillet. We eat them as tacos, with huevos rancheros, with avocado egg salad and just on their own like chips. I don’t know ANYONE who doesn’t love these (even people who don’t like quinoa!) My husband even used the dough to make egg rolls. I really can’t thank you enough for this recipe!!!!!

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Jennifer – Wow! Even egg rolls! Might have to try that myself!! I’m so happy you’re enjoying it. 😀

  4. My step-son cannot have rice flour, so what would be a good substitute?

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Kim – You could try oat flour.

  5. When I make regular white flour tortillas I find that using lard like my grandma used to, rather than using oil makes the tortillas much softer. I’m wondering if you would have a lard substitute for this tortilla recipe instead of using the oil. I don’t know if it’ll keep the tortillas softer. Thinking maybe coconut oil?

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Yvonne – You could certainly give coconut oil a try. I’ve never cooked with lard, so it’s hard for me to make a comparison. But it should work just fine here. The only issue would be making sure that the oil gets incorporated well enough due to how it hardens quickly. So make sure the dough is warm from the water to get the oil dispersed well enough.

  6. Thanks for the recipe! I tried making this today but failed :(. I ground quinoa into flour in my magic bullet as quinoa flour is quite expensive I thought I would try making my own but I think it wasn’t ground fine enough… When I tried to make a dough it was very crumbly and impossible to roll out thinly without it crumbling apart. Ended up adding more water to make a thin pancake batter consistency instead to salvage it but the “tortillas” ended up quite thick. Oh well will try again if I end up buying quinoa flour.

    Quick question, what is the purpose of the brown rice flour here? Does it add anything to the texture or is it just for nutrition?

    Thanks!

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Cherry – Did you use hot water? Was it measured correctly? I am guessing it could have been the grinding of the flour, but I can’t be positive. The brown rice flour is both for flavor and texture.

  7. Hi,
    Would this recipe be best frozen as raw dough or the cooked tortilla?

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Tash – I would say as a cooked tortilla.

  8. Hi, we have just discovered my little 2 year old daughter is not allowed to eat wheat anymore. Has been a learning curve for us both. Gluten is in pretty much everything in a box. So we are making loads from scratch. Shes really missing her bread. I am very grateful to have stumbled on to your blog. Here’s hoping she likes the quinoa tortillas. ( she’s off dairy too- it’s a challenge)

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Claire – I’m off diary as well. And yes, it’s a rough adjustment. I almost think that dairy is harder to give up than wheat. But with time, you do get used to it and you learn what makes for a good substitution. Hang in there!

  9. Made these today and they were amazing, added some cumin for some extra flavour but otherwise they worked out fine, thank you

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Charlie – Fantastic! I’m happy you enjoyed them! 🙂

  10. I am wondering if you think Tapioca flour would be an ok sub. for the Rice flour? My son cannot have rice, I was so excited to find this recipe, however need a substitute for the rice flour, my options are Teff, Tapioca,- maybe potato? Any thoughts are appreciated!

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Sara – I think you could get away with anything that is a bit grainy like the rice flour. If memory serves, isn’t tapioca more like cornstarch? If so, I would try something else. Maybe the Teff…

  11. I feel like my aunt might be your friend’s grandmother.

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Anna – Haha! You never know! 😉

  12. Heather @ Simple Fresh Natural says:

    I cannot wait to give these a try! I had a tortilla making disaster shortly after buying a tortilla press that came with no instructions (should have been my first clue things weren’t going to go smoothly). It ended with tortilla particles all over the kitchen. It gave me a good laugh though. I feel like with all the pictures you provided, I should be able to make these successfully!! Thanks for the post!

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Heather – Oh no!!! Maybe the dough was too dry? Let me know how your next attempt goes. There really is nothing like homemade tortillas. So delicious!!

  13. I tried quinoa tortillas for the first time tonight, and they were really bland. I had used homemade quinoa flour that I don’t think was ground fine enough. I tried adding different things, and it just kept getting worse!

    I wrote a blog post about my experience, and then I started looking for other quinoa tortilla recipes to see where I might have gone wrong. I stumbled on this in the process, and it looks a lot like the recipe I had followed (or tried to). I wish I had seen your’s first – sounds like some others had the same problem I did!

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Jayni – I’m confused. Was it my tortillas that were bland?

  14. I’m sorry for the confusion. I found a recipe for quinoa tortillas at the bakerette.com that has your exact ingredients. My tortillas turned out awful, but I think for a couple of reasons. I tried making my own quinoa flour, and I think I burnt some of the quinoa in the process. Plus, I don’t think I ground it fine enough. (I had the same situation as Cherry).

    I was saying I wish I had seen your post to begin with. Your pictures and explanations could have saved me a lot of grief.

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Jayni – Oh!!! I’m really sorry they didn’t turn out! That’s always a disappointment. But I hope you’ll try them again because they really are delicious!

  15. I just tried making these for the first time tonight but the tortillas came out really bitter…did anyone encounter the same issue? I used quinoa flour I purchased from the grocery story but maybe the flour wasn’t fresh? Any ideas to solve this mystery would be appreciated! 🙂

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Amy – That’s odd. The only thing I can think of is the flour. I know when quinoa isn’t rinsed before cooking it can sometimes have a bitter taste. So maybe it was just that particular brand of flour?

  16. Christina says:

    Do these freeze well? We’re empty nesters and I think it would take us a while to get through all of them, since quinoa flour is pricey. I would definitely like to freeze them if possible.

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Christina – Sure! I would recommend putting a small piece of parchment in between each one to keep them from freezing into one big brick, or freezing in smaller portions. Maybe 2-3 tortillas in one package. Also, be sure they are packed air-tight. If packed properly, they will probably last about 2 months in the freezer, give or take a little.

  17. Would it be possible to freeze these? I love wraps during the week, but with a baby I don’t have a chance to make them during the week. It would be nice to just be able to pull one out of the freezer for a quick lunch

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Erin – Sure! I would recommend putting a small piece of parchment in between each one to keep them from freezing into one big brick, or freezing in smaller portions. Maybe 2-3 tortillas in one package. Also, be sure they are packed air-tight. If packed properly, they will probably last about 2 months in the freezer, give or take a little.

  18. hello, can i something other than the rice flour , i am allergic to rice. thanks

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Art – You could try simply using more quinoa flour or sub with oat flour.

  19. I just tried a test tortilla even though the dough was a bit sticky but i don’t think i rolled it out flat enough (after squishing it between two layers of baking paper using the bench and my chopping board haha) because it broke in half when i tried to bend it. What should one do when the dough is too wet? I had to put extra water in there because i didn’t have enough quinoa flour and so i put more brown rice flour in to make up for it, but then i put a little too much flour in! I put some extra brown rice flour in to make it drier and that’s when i chose to try a test tortilla.

    I’m keen to keep trying though and thanks very much for your recipe!

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Freya – Ya, changing the flour ratios can have a big impact! I would add more quinoa flour if you can get to the store for some, then adjust the water for a nice dough. Rice flour has no “stickiness” in a dough. So things tend to fall apart.

  20. Hello, this is the first time I’ve been to your site. I’m collecting all quinoa flour recipes. This looks great and boy do I miss tortillas! My question is, can I substitute something else for the brown rice? My kids and I are on a special diet to heal leaky gut syndrome and we are not allowed to eat rice because of the lectins. Any advice is much appreciated! Thank you!

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Kara – I haven’t tried it with any other flour, but you could certainly substitute with a flour you can have and give it a try. The only one you definitely want to avoid is coconut flour. Just keep in mind you may have to play with the amount of liquid used. Different flours have different absorbency rates.

  21. Hello. I am very excited to try this recipe. It looks delicious! I was curious…have you ever tried freezing these? I am going to make some freezer quesadillas and wanted to try these for that. Any thoughts?

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Courtney – I have frozen them and they do quite well for short amounts of time. I wouldn’t go longer than a month or two though.

  22. Hi, would these taste the same using only quinoa flour and no brown rice flour? My granddaughter can not have brown rice flour. Thanks!

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Kathryn – I haven’t tried it, but I’m sure you’d probably get pretty close. The thing is that quinoa flour soaks up more liquid than rice flour. So you may have to adjust the recipe slightly to accommodate that.

  23. Can buckwheat flour be used?
    I mean instead of brown rice flour, I know you posted it long ago but I just came across it, and I think it will work for me.

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Tracey – It might. I believe buckwheat has gluten though. So you may have to play around with the amount you use a little. Let me know how it turns out!

  24. I made the tortillas. They taste is amazing and they will be a lifesaver! The only problem I have is they crack when I roll them. I tried adding a little water but no change. Any suggestions?

    1. Meghan – Hmmm. Maybe try adding a little arrowroot or cornstarch to the next batch? Also, make sure they are warm when you roll them. Let me know if that helps.