This is my absolute favorite tortilla recipe! I've made these countless times over the years, using them to make cheese crisps, burritos, tacos, and enchiladas. They are absolutely delicious!
Among the most genetically modified foods are corn, soy, and wheat.
To my layman's understanding, genetically modified organisms (or GMOs, as they are known), have basically been tampered with by humans. Their literal genetic makeup has been changed in a laboratory, making them better able to grow, adapt, and thrive.
Why would anyone do this?
Well, what ingredients are in the majority of products? Let's see...wheat...corn...and soy! By George, why would you want to alter wheat, corn, and soy?
If wheat, corn, and/or soy could be genetically engineered to grow faster, more readily adapt to crummy weather conditions, become bigger and fatter, thus yielding more crop at a faster rate then...that means more money for the farmer, as well as the companies that use these foods in their products!
Do you think the consumer's health is a major concern for those that do this? I'd wager not.
Because of all this, I'm inclined to stay away from these foods, unless they come from non-gmo companies.
Food For Life is a great example!
Spelt flour as an alternative
Consider spelt as an alternative to wheat.
It's delicious, and it resembles wheat in taste to such an extent that I don't know if I could tell a difference in a blind test.
Spelt could also replace wheat for you if you're allergic to wheat, not gluten. Given that spelt has less gluten than wheat, it may also suit non-celiac individuals.
These spelt flour tortillas are an excellent way to give the grain a try!
Ingredients and substitutions
Spelt flour - Whole wheat or kamut flour will also work.
Sea salt - This brings out the tortilla's flavor.
Olive oil - Melted butter, coconut oil, or a neutral oil like grapeseed will all work.
Water - Warm water is pretty essential, as it helps the ingredients come together.
Recipe steps
Mixing the batter...
Form your dough ball...dough should be moist, but NOT stick to your fingers...
Rolling out the dough...
Cooking the tortillas...
Tips for making the best tortillas
How you measure the flour will determine how much water you need, hence the wide range. I typically use about 300 grams of this sprouted spelt flour, for reference.
Letting the dough rest before rolling out the tortillas is important because it allows the gluten to relax. This, in turn, makes it easier to roll out, and it tastes better!
Try not to overcook the tortillas, as this will make them 'crisp' up and dry out. See the photos above for the complete process.
Make sure to cover the tortillas on a plate as soon as you take them off the skillet. This is what traps in heat and moisture, thus creating their 'soft and pliable' texture.
Use a non-stick skillet for best results.
Other spelt flour recipes you might like
4-Ingredient Spelt Flour Tortillas
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole spelt flour 300 grams
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil
- ¾ - 1 cup warm water as needed
Instructions
- Mix together the flour and salt.
- Cut in the olive oil (the mixture should be 'pebbly' in texture).
- Stir in the water, starting with 3/4 cup, adding more as needed. The dough should be moistened, but NOT sticky to the touch (see picture below).
- Knead the dough for 1-2 minutes, until all of the ingredients are well combined.
- Make a large ball out of the dough.
- Cover it with the same bowl you used to mix the ingredients.
- Let sit ~20 minutes. This allows both the dough to soften and the gluten to relax. This makes rolling easier and also gives the tortilla a better texture.
- Heat a large non-stick pan over medium high heat.
- Make 8 smaller dough balls (don't knead them).
- On a well-floured surface, roll out each ball of dough into a tortilla.
- Place the tortilla onto the pre-heated pan.
- Cook until you begin to see bubbles form (about 20-30 seconds).
- Flip the tortilla and heat the other side for about 5-10 seconds.
- Carefully place the tortillas on a plate, and immediately cover them with a clean dish towel (this traps the heat, keeping them soft).
- Repeat with the remaining dough balls.
- Eat immediately or store in a sealed, Ziploc bag in the fridge, to maintain pliability.
Notes
Nutrition
A delicious plate of warm tortillas!!
If you have a chance to try this recipe, please leave a star rating and a comment below letting me know how you liked it!
Tali E
Great recipe! Worked good. Much more bendable and better tasting than store bought! Thank you! Will make again.
Lauren
Thank you so much! This is a favorite with my family as well. 🙂
Julie
I made these today. Could not have been easier (I used my tortilla press) or more tasty! Used a dry cast iron skillet for cooking them. Thanks! This is a real keeper!
Nika
Non stick pans are very toxic
Any other options?
Julie
I cooked my spelt tortillas on a cast iron skillet. In my mind it’s the only way to cook a tortilla.
Díana
Easy to make and great taste.. Also flexible!! Thank you so much for sharing!!! Will definitely keep coming back❤️
Lauren
Thanks, Diana! I'm so happy you liked them. 🙂
Tyler
This is a great recipe and very helpful!
I wanted to ask, do these tortillas come out around 6 or 8 inches in length?
I'm thinking of making big burritos at home (like the large ones at restaurants) and I figure I need about 12 inches. In this case if they're 6 inches I'd need to divide into 4 parts, and if they're 8 inches it'd be into 6 parts.
Sorry for my OCD there. ^_^'
Lauren
Ha, no problem, Tyler.
These are closer to 8 inches, as the dinner plate in the photos is 9-inch. It will depend on how thin you roll them, how many dough balls you make, etc. I typically make eight tortillas from this recipe. Hope that helps and that you like them! 🙂
Suus
Love the recipe! Is it possible to keep the dough in the fridge for a day or 2 and take some of the dough just for 1 tortilla so I’ve got a fresh tortilla every time?
Lauren
I think the dough would keep for a day or so, but not much longer. Keep in mind it will be more difficult to roll out cold, so I would let it come to room temperature before cooking. 🙂
Liz
I cook my tortillas only half way, so that they have a little color but you can still see raw spots, then complete cooking them as I use them-- they taste fresh this way and last about a week (at least b/c they don't last longer than that anyway)
Lindsey K
I am loving your recipes as I’m avoiding many foods right now! Just an FYI from a Kansas wheat farmer, no one grows GMO wheat. Many companies label things non-GMO even when there are no ingredients that would be a GMO ag product. Most wheat varieties are bred at universities, although a few seed companies have tried to create wheat varieties recently. We save seed from the varieties that perform well and plant again the next year. The soybean and corn seed market is completely different though!
Laura
Hi! I tried these and they were WAY too sticky to roll out! I followed the directions precisely. Any tips on how to fix this??
Thanks,
Lauren
Hi there,
How much water did you add, as there is no precise amount given for that. If they were sticky, you added too much and should add more flour to compensate.
Lauren
I used 1/2 cup of water and they came out perfectly.
Laura
Step 1 says:
Mix together the flour, salt, and baking powder.
How much baking powder? I love your recipes. Thank you!
Lauren
Sorry about that, there is no baking powder needed! 🙂
Laura
Oh! Wonderful! Thanks, I will give this a try.
Leslie
The instructions say to cover entire dough ball then divide and cook however, the pictures with instructions say to make the smaller balls and cover with dish towel for 30 minutes, can you please help with the confusion, thanks
Lauren
Either way works! 🙂
Amber Smith
Very tasty, thanks!
Lou
Hi!
Are these big enough for a burrito wrap?
Thanks!
Lauren
You can make them as big or small as you like! 🙂
Valerie
Hi Lauren — Thanks for the recipe! But how in the world do you get the tortillas to roll out evenly? I started off by pressing the balls in a cast-iron tortilla press, which made them perfectly round — but only about 4” diameter and too thick. I tried rolling them, but they basically became flat spelt amoebas. I also tried running them through my pasta machine, but it’s too darned narrow and creates nice flat spelt cow-tongues. (It was quite the experimental odyssey.) Any rolling techniques to get them to resemble proper circles would be greatly appreciated.
Lauren
Hi Valerie,
I would press the dough out a bit with your hands first, then roll from the center out, in a clockwise fashion. If you go slow, you should be able to get them pretty circular! 🙂
Alice.
I was so happy for this recipe! And it came out really well. It's just that I have discovered I am allergic to spelt! 🙁 It's the first time I've used this sort of flour and oh well, the last time too, I guess. I tried your choco chip cookies with spelt flour too, and I had the same reaction... But the cookies were very yummy 🙂 As for the tortillas, the first 2 came out a bit hard, but that's my fault because I had them too long in the pan. The rest was fine. My kitchen towel didn't help that much, but maybe it's just my towel. When I used to make whole-wheat tortillas, I always put them in a glass storage container and covered the container with its plastic lid slightly ajar - that was doing a good job at softening. But I found out, with these spelt tortillas, that if you put them in the microwave for about 20 sec. along with a small bowl of water, just a little water to cause the steam (like a tablespoon or two, no more) this will soften them too 🙂
Alice.
Oops, forgot to rate the recipe, sorry! 😉
Lauren
Hi Alice! Thanks for your ratings, I'm happy you liked both recipes, but it stinks that you've found yourself allergic to spelt! My husband has just discovered that he is having trouble with both wheat and spelt as well, so I will be experimenting more with almond, oat, and buckwheat flours for him. Maybe you will have better luck with those flours! 🙂
Heather
These were the crunchiest tortillas I've ever made. Super disappointed. I followed the recipe exactly and they were literally falling apart. The towel cover did nothing.
Lauren
How much water did you add Heather? The recipe isn't 'exact' in that regard, and it sounds as if you needed a bit more.
TK
How smal
l should I make the balls to flatten?
TK
How small*
Lauren
You should have 7-8 equal sized balls.
TK
Thank you
Tal
Hi Lauren! How long can I keep these for? And do they freeze well?
Lauren
Hi Tal,
Mine last about a week in the fridge. I've not tried freezing them, we usually eat them all. I've frozen other store-bought tortillas, so I think these would be okay! 🙂
Carol
Great!
Kurt
I eat these all the time! This is my favorite tortilla recipe and i am a tortilla fanatic!!!
Carrie
I'm so happy to have a truly whole grain tortilla recipe, thank you!
K Ashburne
Just FYI, the header is misleading. Spelt IS wheat. It's an ancient wheat grain and much gentler on the body...but wheat nonetheless. I enjoy it greatly, but those with celiac should avoid!
Lauren
Thanks K, you are right and I've updated the recipe. 🙂
K Ashburne
Awesome. Just wouldn't want anybody to get sick if they have a severe allergy to wheat of any kind. Thanks for the recipe though. This will save me a FORTUNE!
Martina
I came to say the same, that Spelt is a kind of wheat. Your article says it's not wheat and the recipe says "Keyword: Corn-free, Vegan, Wheat-free". I'll be trying this recipe today. I use whole grain spelt for all my baking as it has less gluten than other wheat flour. So much gentler on my tummy.
Lauren
I understand your angle, but I just wanted to highlight that spelt is its own grain. Many who don't tolerate wheat, can tolerate spelt, which was where I was coming from with labeling it 'wheat-free'. I hope you like these if you do try them, this one of our favorite recipes!
Nicola Timms
Hi there, these tortillas are very good!! Thank you so much for posting. They came out quite crispy, which made for some messy eating, but it was still worth every bite. Any idea why I made them crispy?
Lauren
Hi Nicola,
I would guess you cooked them too long? Also, be sure to keep them warm and moist by covering them with a towel once they've cooked. This is really what keeps them pliable. 🙂
Amanda
I am so confused. I input the ingredients into weight watchers and it is telling me the tortillas are 5 points each but then I input your nutrition information you wrote and it says 2 points. Where am I going wrong?
Lauren
Wow, I was way off here, not sure what happened. Sorry about that! I've fixed my numbers now, so hopefully this lines up with what you're getting as well.
Gabby @ the veggie nook
I also LOVE that movie! One of my all time faves and I could quote it line for line too. "Baby fish mouth!"
Lauren
Hahaha! xo
Bekka
Lauren thank you for another great recipe! I was just looking last night and found that my favourite tortilla chips were gmo. I haven't noticed because I was so worried about gluten free and dairy free and nut free and sometimes it feels like I can't eat anything, so I was really irritated when I saw that. I do not understand how food companies can get away with putting gmo in our food and calling it natural or not labeling it at all. So now I have to revamp my pantry to double check. The tortillas I use do not claim to be gmo free so I am so happy you posted this as I was wondering how to make some. I do not know if I have a gluten allergy or if it is more of a yeast thing, but either way I am going to try these, but I think I might try them with buckwheat flour as well if they are any good I will post back to let you know, or have you tried them already and it didn't work?
Lauren
Hi Bekka,
Yes, the more I learn about GMOs and how food companies try to hide if they contain such ingredients, the angrier I get! I haven't tried these with buckwheat, but please let me know if they work for you!
Caren
I look forward to trying this recipe!
I like using spelt and all kinds of other grains, which I also grind, BUT I find my spelt doughs are very sticky. To be more accurate, this happens when I substitute spelt in recipes calling for wheat. Do I understand from this that spelt requires less water than wheat? Do you more-experienced bakers have any tips for me?
Lauren
Hi Caren,
I haven't had trouble swapping wheat for spelt, so I'm not sure what's happening. Perhaps there's something with fresh-grinding (which I don't personally do)?
Sorry I couldn't be of more help!
Shelley Linthorne
Could you give me a gluten free flour instead of spelt?
Lauren
Hi Shelley,
You'd have better luck googling 'gluten-free tortilla recipe', as I'm not sure.
Linn
It's possible that gluten free oat flour would work as a substitute for spelt flour, plus a tablespoon ground chia sees to h ererlp with sticking together...not being crumbly.
Lauren
I'm not certain Linn, as I've not tried. You might just google 'oat flour tortillas' and see if someone has had success!
dawn
can i change out the spelt w/ chickpea flour if i wanted to? thanks Lauren!
Lauren
Hi Dawn! I'm not sure, as I've never tried...if you have any luck, let me know! I'll have to work on a chickpea tortilla recipe. 🙂
Mike@TheIronYou
I don't use spelt enough. Actually, now that I've been thinking about it I don't think I've ever used it. I need to get on board asap. Thanks for the inspiration Lauren!
Charlotte Moore
I grind my own wheat and I have spelt, kamut, and a few other things I have ground. We LOVE the bread I have made from spelt. It has such a great taste. I have been adding it to pancakes and muffins also. I made have added it to cookies, but not sure.
Lauren
Yum, I'll have to take a stab at spelt bread sometime as well! 🙂