Gluten-Free Teff Flour Tortillas

Gluten-free teff flour tortillas! These tortillas are also dairy-free, most tortillas are. They’re stiff yet pliable, more suitable for tacos or tostadas than burritos. These have a texture more similar to corn tortillas than flour tortillas. They have a mild, savory and nutty flavor.

Teff is very common in Ethiopian cuisine. It’s used to make a traditional flatbread called injera. Teff happens to be very nutritious. An ounce (dry) of teff contains about 2 grams of fiber, 12% of your daily value of iron, 13% of your daily value of magnesium, 129%(!) of your daily value of manganese, etc. For more teff nutrition facts check out this link: https://bit.ly/3fWbCPD

I have a tortilla press that I use for this gluten-free teff flour tortillas recipe. I don’t use parchment paper with the press because 1) too lazy and 2) it never works for me anyway. What I do instead is I oil the press well between each pressing, I have MUCH less stickage and breakage that way, but to each their own. If your press isn’t made of metal, it may be better to use parchment paper. You can absolutely still make these if you don’t have a tortilla press. I’ll give you a couple of methods.

Method one: use two pie plates! Oil them between pressings like the tortilla press (or be a conformist and use parchment paper). You’ll want the bottom pie plate to be upside down, and the top pie plate to be right side up. Take balls of dough and place on top the bottom pie plate and then place the other pie plate on top. Press down firmly and evenly until the dough is pressed thin.

Method two: use a rolling pin (or, lifehack, a clean wine bottle) to roll out the dough. Oil a cutting board or your countertop and place a ball of dough on top. Roll the dough out until it is thin. trim into a rounder shape if necessary/if you want to.

Looking for something to put in your tortillas? Check out my recipe for beef and bean taco filling! https://bit.ly/340jpJK

Print Recipe

Gluten-Free Teff Flour Tortillas

Author: Mary Ellis Cooking Method: Stove-Top

Difficulty: Medium Prep Time 15 mins Cook Time 15 mins Total Time 30 mins

Servings: 12

Ingredients

Servings

• ¹⁄₂ cup tapioca starch
• 1 ¹⁄₂ cup teff flour + 2 tbsp
• 2 tbsp duck fat (or lard or vegetable oil)
• ¹⁄₂ tsp baking powder
• ¹⁄₂ cup very warm water
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil (for oil pan and tortilla press)

Instructions

1. Measure the flours, salt, duck fat, and baking powder into a bowl.
   
2. Measure out the water and microwave until very warm but not too hot to touch, set aside.
3. Using your hands, work the duck fat into the flour until you can no longer see any large pieces.
   
4. Add the water and mix very well, I also recommend mixing with your hands for this part.
   
5. Cover bowl with a damp cloth. Preheat a skillet on medium-low heat. I use cast iron, but you can use whatever you have.
6. Rub the tortilla press with oil (or use one of the other methods for these next steps if you don't have one). I use a paper towel soaked with oil. Be sure to oil the top and bottom plate of the press before each dough ball is pressed!
   
7. Take a ball of dough that's about two tablespoons in size and place on the press.
   
8. Press the dough out using the press. Oil the pan (do so before placing down each tortilla) be careful! The pan is hot. Gently peel the tortilla off the press.
   
9. Place the tortilla in the pan and cook for 30 to 40 seconds per side. I use tongs to flip but you can use a spatula.
   
10. Remove tortilla from pan and place sheet pan or other pan. Repeat steps 6 through 10 until you run out of dough.
    
11. Cover tortillas with a damp (not wet) cloth or paper towel. These can be kept warm in the oven at its lowest temperature or reheated (again, covered with a damp cloth) at 350°F for 10 minutes. In fact, I recommend making these first and reheating them before dinner is served, the moisture from the cloth helps make them softer.
    
12. Enjoy!