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.
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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.
If you use straight quinoa flour they will taste bitter, has anyone used something besides rice flour? (We cannot have rice anything)
Nancy – While the flavor may be different, I think you could use almost any gluten free flour as a sub.
I always buy tortillas but they go off quickly – especially as we don’t eat them all the time. If i don’t have a tortilla press can you just roll them? Thank you for sharing
MissFoodFairy – Yes, you can roll them. They freeze well too.
Hi
Is it possible to substitute the brown rice flour with just more Quinoa or maybe something like Chia Seeds? I am trying to avoid eating grains, and so I want to avoid, Wheat,Rice and Corn, i do use a lot of Chia Seeds though, so wondered whether they could substitute the Rice Flour. I had heard you could substitute Chia Seeds 1 for 1 with Wheat Flour, but have never tried it.
i would be keen to hear what your thoughts are on this.
Grant – To be honest, I’m not sure. I haven’t tried it. But grain free tortillas are definitely on my list. For the time being, try googling “Cauliflower Tortillas”. I believe the the only thing in them is cauliflower and eggs. But can’t remember for sure now. Hope that helps!
Ok, why didn’t these work for me?? Mine were all sticky, did not look like dough at all.
Megan – My guess would be that something was mis-measured. How did they cook?
I didn’t even get that far… they were too sticky to do anything with, more like a paste than a dough. I’ll try again and make sure to measure everything carefully.
Megan – Okay. Be sure you have the right flour as well. Let me know how they turn out!
Do these tortillas roll up? or are they stiff? Does that make sense?
Amy – They get stiff when they are cold, but are more pliable when warm.
These are amazing. I just had the best ever cod fish tacos with these tortillas, romaine with vinaigrette drizzles on top, steamed cod with olive oil and sea salt drizzled on top and big pieces of avocado that were also dressed in the vinaigrette. Best lunch ever. I envision making these again and again. I ground my own flour with my blendtec. I used short grain brown for the rice flour and white quinoa. Cook these in a little olive oil for even more flavor. Yummy.
Kathleen – Yum!! Sounds amazing!!
What a great flavor! I’m completely impressed and the family loved them. I rolled them out and found it far too sticky to succeed – so I told the kids they should probably get me a tortilla press for Christmas! They’re all over it. Thank you!
Anne – My pleasure! If you find they are too sticky, feel free to add a bit more flour to make it more manageable.
There seem to be a lot of accolades for this recipe (based mostly on the photos) but I just spent a very frustrating hour following this recipe to a “T” and still ending up with what I can only describe as crackers and unusable ones at that. Is there a difference in the recipe between sea level and higher elevations? If so do you have a conversion table? Much a appreciated. Thanks!
T – Sorry you’re having trouble with it. Yes, elevation makes a HUGE difference. I don’t personally know any conversions because I’ve never lived at a higher elevation. But if you google it, I know they are out there. All of your cooking/baking will most likely need adjustments and higher elevation. Sorry, wish I could be more help!
Hey! i just discovered your your blog and im loving it! aspecially this recipe, but! i live in europe and i simply cant find a substainable conversion table for “cups” to a weighing measure. How much does a cup of quinoa/brown rice flour weigh?
Helene – I’ll have to get some and measure. I’m not sure off the top of my head. Most of my recipes do not have metric measures. But it’s something I’m working on changing. Today is a holiday for us, so I will try to find out when the weekend is over.
Just made them and they are great! I did need to add an extra 1/4 cup of water and another tsp of oil. The dough was still dry but I was able to make them super thin and got double the number of tortilla about the size of my palm or a little bigger for an hors de ovres party. Serving them tomorrow night so I’m hoping they will re heat well. My daughter is allergic to wheat and eggs so she’s been stuck with rice wraps and little else if she wants a bread product. I’m going to buy the press this week as this will be a staple. Hope the price of quinoa flour comes down!
Amy – It’s often cheaper to buy quinoa and put it through a processor or blender yourself. Worth a shot. I hope you enjoy them!
I’m making these right now, making a half batch and substituting one cup of quinoa flour for oat flour. Quinoa flour costs me $10 for 4 cups so this recipe makes a very expensive tortilla!!
Heather – Great! Let me know how they turn out!
Hey Tiffany. Can these be frozen and reheated once you are ready to eat them?
Sharon – Yup!
I’m allergic to rice, Corn, oats, and wheat can you give me a substitute flour to use in this receipe. I can have flaxseed, tapioca, black bean flour etc. Please help I have limited foods that I can eat I need some good receives.
Mary – Any gluten free flour that you can have will work to replace the rice flour. I’m not sure how much it would change the flavor, but anything should work.
Maybe buckwheat flour
I have been making these for my son for a while now and today I wondered if it could make EZ Pocket dough and bake ok. OMG it was amazing!!! The dough cooked perfectly in the oven and browned easily. Thank You for the recipe!!! http://www.amazon.com/EZ-Pockets-EZ-1000-Non-Stick-4-Piece/dp/B00E3E3GW8
Alison – Awesome! I might have to try that myself! 🙂
The recipe looks terrific, but the post was sheer poetry! Thank you for sharing!
Ann Mc – Thanks so much! 🙂
Is there another flour I could substitute for the rice flour? Found out I have an allergy to rice, corn and potato.
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!
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!!!!!
Jennifer – Wow! Even egg rolls! Might have to try that myself!! I’m so happy you’re enjoying it. 😀
My step-son cannot have rice flour, so what would be a good substitute?
Kim – You could try oat flour.
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?
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.