Soft Gluten Free Flour Tortilla Recipe (Commercial Yeast-Free Naan Bread)

I already have a few gluten free tortilla recipes: Low-Sodium Gluten Free Tortillas (my first attempt – very similar to Trader Joe’s brand – chewy and a little stiff), Gluten Free Naan Bread (so good, but is thick and calls for instant yeast), and Soft Whole Grain Gluten Free Wraps – Tortillas (when you use Expandex modified tapioca starch these are the best!). However, I will continue to work on a soft flour tortilla using easily accessible and natural ingredients without the use of yeast. Today, I present you with another soft gluten free tortilla recipe.

Note: Though this recipe does not contain commercial yeast, it calls for buttermilk or vinegar which both contain different types of yeast used in fermentation.

They are thicker than the standard tortillas you are used to, but it is up to you how thin you wish to spread them once in the frying pan. The larger your spatula, the thinner you will be able to spread them. At first, this new recipe for gluten free tortillas did not roll easily without cracking a bit. So, I made the whole batch and stored them in the refrigerator. I warmed one up on “reheat” for a few seconds in the microwave last night as a midnight stack and I could not believe how pliable and soft they were. They were just perfect. I hope you enjoy this recipe; and I will continue to perfect them in months to come.

Soft Gluten Free Flour Tortillas

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Yield: Makes five 6-inch tortillas.

Soft Gluten Free Flour Tortillas

A soft gluten free flour tortilla that may be rolled without cracking. It is a thicker than a standard tortilla, but oh so good!

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup brown rice flour
  • 1/4 cup potato starch + more for dusting
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch (or more potato starch for corn-free)
  • 1 teaspoon guar or xanthan gum
  • 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
  • 1/4 cup hot water
  • 1/2 Tablespoon honey
  • 3 Tablespoons buttermilk* (or 1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar* + enough milk to make 1/4 cup) (gluten free rice milk for dairy-free/vegan)
  • 3 Tablespoons cooking oil
  • 1 large egg, beaten

Instructions:

  1. To a bowl, add the dry ingredients, whisk thoroughly, and set it aside.
  2. In a larger bowl, dissolve the honey in the warm water. Add the buttermilk, oil, and beaten eggs, and whisk well.
  3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and using a rubber spatula, stir them until the dough reaches the consistency of creamy mashed potatoes. Allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes to prevent the rice flour from creating a gritty texture.
  4. Once the dough is just about ready, preheat a heavy skillet, preferably made of cast iron, over medium heat.
  5. Scatter at least 2 tablespoons of potato starch to a clean, flat surface. Scoop 1/4 cup of dough at a time and add it to the floured surface. Knead the dough with dusted hands, adding additional potato starch as needed. Shape the dough into a disk shape as wide as your spatula and dust the top with starch. Using a large spatula (a pizza spatula works well), transfer the dough disk to the preheated skillet. (Alternatively, you can dust a sheet of plastic wrap and roll the dusted dough out as thin as possible. Then just pick up the plastic wrap with the rolled out dough and flip it into a preheated pan. Tuck any excess plastic wrap behind and between your fingers so that it doesn't melt on the hot skillet.)
  6. Using starched fingers or a starched pastry roller, immediately flatten and distribute the dough within the pan, working from the center, moving outwards. (Be careful not to burn your forearm on the pan.) Then using the back of the spatula press the naan down to even it out. Fry each tortilla on each side for approximately 2 minutes.
  7. Repeat with the remaining dough, adding additional potato starch as needed. Allow them to cool and store in a zipper storage bag in the freezer. They are best served once they are reheated in the microwave at a low temperature or steamed for a short period in colander over simmering water. As you are rewarming them store them in a tortilla warmer between sheets of parchment or wax paper.

Tips

* Vinegar contains yeast, therefore, if you are on a yeast-free diet, please avoid it.

The next time I make these I will be using less starch and more rice flour. I think that may perfect this recipe.

Visit Carla’s Gluten Free Online Store.

24 Replies to “Soft Gluten Free Flour Tortilla Recipe (Commercial Yeast-Free Naan Bread)”

  1. I cannot use potato or corn starches. What would you suggest as a substitute when both are in the recipe? I do use tapioca and arrowroot, but which would you substitute for which? In equal amounts?

  2. I just made these. They were easy and are very good the best that I’ve had. I think that I might have cooked then a little longer then I should have. The next batch will be a little shorter cooking time. Thank you so much for the recipe. Its hard eating the nasty breads
    .

  3. These were incredibly easy to make and tasted good, too. I used sugar instead of honey, because that’s what I had. I used potato starch to flour my hands, dropped the sticky dough onto sprinkled potato starch and pressed into shape, no kneading. It worked like a charm. A potato starch floured rolling pin leveled them off a bit, then I dropped them on a griddle. You can wrap them around the rolling pin loosely, if needed, to transfer to the cooking pan. Thank you for this recipe. I’ll be using it often.

  4. I have tried this recipe twice now, the tortillas are very good and they do come out soft. Warming later or the next day is great! The only problem I’m having is that my dough is so sticky and hard to work with, it has happened both times I’ve tried. Not that we don’t get tortillas but it’s work! Any advice on what I might be doing wrong? I’ve tried your other recipes, hamburger buns is one of my husbands favorites, I’ve also made them twice, the second time perfection and now he wants me to make them often. So any help would be awesome! Thanks

      1. I’ll check out the yeast version, made the corn tortillas over the weekend and they came out wonderful! Thank you

  5. I’m looking for something dairy free. Any ideas of subbing the buttermilk. I’m a big fan of rice mile and I’m wondering if I could use that.

  6. I made these last night and they were fantastic! It’s the first time I’ve been able to have soft tacos with the rest of my gluten eating family since going gluten free. Thanks!!

  7. I have GF family members and just had to make this recipe for them and everyone who might be over for dinner. I followed your recipe exactly, using all potato starch (no cornstarch), and for the oil, I used a mix of vegetable oil and bacon grease. This is certainly a recipe for any level cook, and the texture of the bread is just perfect for any use (soft tacos, naan, burritos, etc.)! Thanks for sharing, and I hope my site could help give you inspiration for other recipes.

  8. Dear Carla,

    Thank you for sharing your nice recipes and insights to GF bread making.
    I am using brown rice /white rice flours from Indian foodstuff stores. Usually, when I bake with brown rice with such a high % in the recipe, the out come is dark and very hard bread (pita or chapatti). Do you think that the brown rice mixture you use may have less bran or so to come out white and pleable?

    I have not yet tried your recipe, but if you think that it was hard to work with, I may replace part of the potato starch with white rice flour. Personally, i will try it with sorghum flour instead of brown rice flour.

    Will let you know. And would welcome any suggestions for. Sorghum flour based pita bread.

    Thanks and best regards

    Maha

    1. Hi Maha,

      This recipe turns out light and pliable because of the high amount of buttermilk. This dough/batter is very easy to work with. I wouldn’t replace the potato starch in this recipe as it makes the dough softer.

      If you use sorghum flour, please let us all know how it turns out.

      Enjoy!
      Carla

  9. this is a great recipe thanks for posting i think i will attempt to make these my stomach is pretty done with gluten these are great finds for me

  10. Do ya think I could get buy with subbin’ sorghum or somethin’ besides rice flour? Can’t do rice :(

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