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.
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.
Recipe Supplies
More Healthy Flatbread Recipes
SUBSCRIBE
Remember to subscribe to my free newsletter to receive all my latest recipes in your inbox. Click here to sign up!
QUINOA TORTILLAS RECIPE:
Quinoa Tortillas Recipe
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.
- 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)
- 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.
- Place the tortillas in an un-oiled, non-stick pan and cook for about 1 minute on each side.
- This is about done.
- These are overdone.
- These are fantastic just out of the pan, and definitely better warm than cold!
Nutrition
Recipe republished from the Gracious Pantry archives. Originally published 3/11/15.
Can you use pastry flour to make these?
You could. You might have to adjust the amounts a bit, but it should work okay. Quinoa flour tends to soak up more liquid than wheat.
These look great, I have been looking for a gluten-free recipe for tortilla. I suppose if I don’t have a tortilla press then I should put the dough between two pieces of wax paper and roll with a rolling pin?
Yes, that would work.
Feel free, I only ask that you do not use my photos and that you include a link back to my site. Glad you enjoyed them!
Thanks!
Can you keep the dough in the fridge?
Yes, but I would wrap it tight with plastic and don’t keep it any longer than a day or 2 at the most.
I haven’t tried myself, but I would think you could substitute any gluten free flour.
It’s quinoa flour. Not whole quinoa.
Thanks for the recipe. I have been looking for a GF tortilla recipe. I just made them tonight. They came out good. Takes a little while to get use to the quinoa flour taste, but overall a good recipe. Have you tried another flour?
Not yet.
Do you have a brown rice alternative for this recipe. I’m allergic to rice ;(
You could try using oat flour instead.
Hi, I’m looking forward to trying these out! How flexible are they? Thank you! 🙂
Hot off the pan, they are as flexible as any tortilla. But they do stiffen up after being in the fridge. Good news is, you can rewarm them and they become almost as pliable as they were at first.
Awwww…. Loved your back story on your Grandma!! I love my grandma’s tortillas!!! I need to do my tamale-making post with pics of my grandma barely reaching inside the big pot because she is so short!!! 🙂
And I love quinoa!! Can’t wait to try these! Thank you for posting!!
would it be ok to use white rice flour instead of brown?
You can, but it won’t be clean eating at that point. Also, you may have to play around with the amounts used to get the right consistency
For those asking about quinoa flour, you can make it yourself! Take your quinoa and grind it in a spice or coffee grinder – mine makes it fine enough to use in all my recipes that call for quinoa flour 🙂
I have just made these tortillas & they are quite good… I did use my rolling pin to roll them out, since I don’t have a press, & it worked wonderfully… only problem is there was hardly enough water to wet the flour & I had to add some extra… has this happened to anyone else or did I do something wrong?
Could be the brand of flour or even your elevation. Could be a lot of things. I wouldn’t worry about having to add some extra water though if they turned out well. Glad you enjoyed them!
Thank you for this recipe! I saw some people were saying they couldn’t find a tortilla press. If you cannot find one just do the same process but with a big pan. Put the dough in a ziplock or plastic bag then with the pan or pot press it down with even pressure. It worked for me when i didn’t have a press.
Awesome idea! A rolling pin works too. 🙂
Do they actually have the taste and texture of regular tortillas? I have had such a hard time finding good tortillas (I ate them every day) since I went GF after finding out I have Celiac Disease.
The flavor is different than corn or tortillas, but it’s very tasty. The texture is pretty comparable, though they do get tougher faster.
I’m so looking forward to making these tonight! Since this recipe makes 18 and I live alone, I’m guessing I could just portion the ingredients equally to make a smaller quantity right? Otherwise I’ll be eating a lot of wraps!! Thanks for the great recipe – I’ve been searching a lot for quinoa flour recipes and they’re hard to find!
I would just cut the recipe in half to make it easy. Hope you enjoy them!
Hi there! I’m on a strict candida diet and has been searching for a “bread” recipe I can easily make at home. I found this recipe last night and decided to make it today. I substituted the brown rice flour with milled flax seeds (because i wasn’t sure if i should be taking rice so early on in my candida diet). Oh boy, these babies taste so so so good! They were soft, even when they’re no longer warm. I served it with a minced curry. Many many thanks for your generous sharing! 🙂
Wonderful tip Jo! Thanks!
I am so excited to try these! I was wondering…are they pliable so you can use them to make Taquitos or Fajitas?
Emily – They are when they are hot off the pan, but they get a bit tougher to bend as they cool.
Could these be baked to make tortilla chips? I have all these awesome clean-eating salsa recipes I want to try but no clean and healthy chips to use them with! Maybe baking would make them last longer too?
Lea – I haven’t tried myself, but I see no reason why not. They should bake up just fine!