Make your own black bean tortillas, with nothing more than dried black beans (plus water & salt). They are grain-free, oil-free, vegan, and versatile!
I remember when I first stumbled upon the “Will it Waffle?” book. I picked it up in a bookstore and looked at nothing else for the next hour. It is such a clever book, and I loved the curiosity of the author, who ventures to the edges of possibility with the types of edibles that can be made in a waffle maker.
I was thinking about the book in the past weeks, because I’ve been having a similar obsession. Following my 1-ingredient lentil tortilla recipe, and subsequent split pea tortillas, I’ve been contemplating other varieties of legumes, with respect to one burning question: Will they Tortilla?
With nowhere to start but to start, I grabbed some dried black beans –a personal favorite– from the pantry and got them soaking. I blended, and I cooked, and my first attempt had promise. Several batches later, with tweaks to the proportions of water and the heat of the skillet, I have an answer for black beans: yes, they will tortilla!
These tortillas are very hearty and filling, and the flavor reminds me of blue corn tortillas. I have been loving them with an edamame-avocado-cilantro spread I concocted, topped with a bevy of vegetables and herbs from the garden.
Like their lentil predecessors, these tortillas are naturally:
*Grain-free
*Vegan
*Gluten-free
*Oil-free
*Sugar-free
At the same time, they are high in potassium (260 mg per tortilla!), and have good amounts of protein (3.5 grams per tortilla) and fiber (2.5 g per tortilla).
To make the tortillas, soak 1 cup of dried black beans in 2 cups water. You’ll need to plan ahead, as they will need to soak for at least 12 hours. Once soaked, drain and rinse the black beans; they will be glossy and plumped up to almost twice their volume.
Before you proceed with blending (drained, soaked beans + remaining 1-1/2 cups water + salt), I suggest you remove any relatives, roommates, etc. who are prone to teasing from the immediate vicinity. I neglected to do take this precaution. Hence, when I blended my first batch of beans, both my husband and son could not resist noting that the batter looks just like concrete!
But a concrete-like batter is exactly what you want, so ignore any teasing and doubts and keep blending, stopping to scrape the sides of the blender once or twice, until thick and completely smooth. I used a High speed blender to make the batter. It is possible to do this in a regular blender, but I suggest stopping multiple times to let the blender rest (so that it will not burn out). It will take longer with a regular blender, but keep going until the batter is very, very smooth.
Transfer the batter to a bowl (it’s easier to scoop for the bowl than from the blender). Your batter should look like this:
Time to cook the tortillas! As with the red lentil tortillas, I used a well-seasoned, cast-iron skillet for the cooking. If you do not use a nonstick pan, you will definitely need to add a spritz of nonstick spray or a swipe of oil before adding the batter.
Heat the skillet over medium heat. Once warm, add 1/3 cup of batter to the center of the pan (the recipe yields about 3 cups of batter). before spreading the batter, let it sit for 5 to 10 seconds; this allows some of the batter to adhere to the pan, making it easier to spread the remaining batter. Use the back of a metal spoon to spread the batter into a 6.5- to 7-inch circle.
Cook the tortilla for about 2 to 2-1/2 minutes until the surface of the tortilla appears dry. Try sliding a spatula underneath the tortilla; if it will not glide under with ease, keep cooking until it does. Once it does, flip the tortilla. Let the other side cook for another minute or so, to set the other side.
That’s it! Cool the tortillas on a wire rack and repeat with the remaining batter. If using a skillet (as opposed to a griddle) I recommend taking the skillet off of the heat source upon removing the tortilla, to prevent the skillet from becoming too hot.
Note that these tortillas are thicker than the red lentil tortillas, so they do not roll without breaking. However, they are flexible when they are warmed, so load them up for breakfast, lunch and dinner wraps.
Enjoy these hearty, delectable, nutritious tortillas, everyone! I can assure you, I will experiment with other legumes (and vegetables, too!), to create more grain-free tortillas, breads and flatbreads. Expect even more deliciousness in the days and weeks to come!
1-Ingredient Black Bean Tortillas {Grain-Free, Vegan}
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 5 mins
- Total Time: 10 mins
- Yield: 8 7-inch tortillas 1x
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Pin RecipeDescription
Utterly amazing tortillas that are naturally grain-free, oil-free, vegan, and require nothing more than black beans (plus some tap water and salt). They are also a cinch to make!
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry black beans, rinsed and drained (to remove and dust or dirt)
- 3–1/2 cups water, divided
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Combine the rinsed beans and 2 cups of the water in a medium bowl or other container; loosely cover. Let stand, at room temperature, for at least 12 hours; drain and rinse the beans.
- Add the drained, soaked beans, remaining 1-1/2 cups water, and the salt to a blender (preferably a high-speed blender). Blend on HIGH speed until completely smooth (no tiny bumps) stopping once or twice to scrape down the sides of container. The batter will be thick (it looks like cement :). Scrape into a bowl.
- Heat a nonstick skillet (well-seasoned cast iron skillet is ideal), or a nonstick griddle, to medium heat (no hotter).
- Once warm, add 1/3 cup of batter to the center of the pan (the recipe yields about 3 cups of batter). Wait 5 to 10 seconds (this allows some of the batter to set; it makes it easier to spread!), and the use a metal spoon to spread the batter into a 6-1/2 to 7-inch circle.
- Cook about 2 to 2-1/2 minutes until surface of tortilla appears dry. Slide a spatula underneath (if it will not slide under, it is not ready to flip; cook a bit longer) and flip. Cook about 1 minute longer to brown other side. Transfer to cooling rack and cool completely.
- Repeat with the remaining batter.
Notes
Storage: Store the cooled tortillas in a covered container at room temperature for 1 day, the refrigerator for 2 weeks or the freezer for up to 6 months.
Tip: Just in case you are curious, these tortillas will not work with cooked or canned black beans.
- Category: Tortilla, Bread
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 tortilla
- Calories: 50
- Sugar: 0.5 g
- Sodium: 72.7 mg
- Fat: 0.3 g
- Saturated Fat: 0 mg
- Trans Fat: 0 mg
- Carbohydrates: 11 g
- Fiber: 2.5 g
- Protein: 3.5 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Having been both gluten free and vegan for 18 years, and having rejected all of the unhealthy gf flour substitutes, I am delighted to find your website. You are truly a breath of fresh air, very creative and innovative. I fancy myself rather creative in the kitchen, and I am ready to concede your superiority. I can’t wait to try some of your recipes and will buy your books.
Thanks.
Thank you so much for the kind and generous compliments, Lumi! So glad that our paths have crossed 😊
Having been both gluten free and vegan for 18 years, and having rejected all of the unhealthy gf flour substitutes, I am delighted to find your website. You are truly a breath of fresh air, very creative and innovative. I fancy myself rather creative in the kitchen, and I am ready to concede your superiority. I can’t wait to try some of your recipes and will buy your books.
Thanks.
Just got done blending in high speed Blendtec. Batter seems very runny. Any idea how to thicken before I try to cook these? Should I have added the water as needed?
Hi Kim,
Hmm, The batter should not be runny, it is definitely more on the fluffy, medium thickness side. I am wondering if perhaps too much water was added. That has happened with a few other people, that is, they did not drain the soaking water beforadding the remaining one and a half cups of water, or something to that effect. After the black beans are soaked, they are drained. The drained soaked beans (the 1 cup beans nearly double in volume) are blended with the remaining 1-1/2 cups water. That should not produce a runny batter. Might you have added more along the way (e. G adding 3-1/2 at the end of not draining the beans after soaking)?
A coffee grinder will mill almost any bean into a flour that can be made into tortillas, I’ve done white and butter beans in the past you can also do oat flour and rice flour but the rice meal is not that good for tortillas they are too hard
Thanks John, great tip!
@John what kind of coffee grinder to grind the beans?
I gave this recipe a go and I’ve had some issues with my attempt. Even after soaking overnight it was a bit of a problem for my blender to chew through which ended up with me switching to the food processor, and after cooking it still had a raw bean taste. Other than that it held together like a champ.
PS. There’s a typo with the intro to the recipe saying “red lentils” rather than “black beans”.
Hi Elizabeth,
Thanks for pointing out the error, I have fixed it.
I am sorry you had some issues with the batter and the results! Based on your feedback, I have added a note about using a regular blender (I used a high-speed blender). YOu can use a regular blender, but you will need to let it “rest” along the way to keep it from burning out. But keep blending and blending until the batter is super smooth. I suspect that that is what led to the uncooked bean flavor (i.e., larger piece of bean in the batter that remain uncooked). The batter should be so smooth that it is almost fluffy. Thanks Elizabeth!
Just curious. Is the short cooking time here enough to deal with the lectin issue with dried beans? I know that regular cooking of beans will deal with it but is this enough cooking in this recipe? If it is I will definitely be trying these.
Apologies, Lesley, my knowledge of lectins is too limited to know for certain.
New follower and definitely look forward to try other recipes. Tried your black bean tortilla recipe last night for taco dinner and it was a big hit on the table. Thank you so much! You can also try with split green and split red lentils(orange) the same way. I put raw garlic and ginger at the time of blending for taste.
Excellent, thanks Pretti!
Do you think this recipe would work with pre-cooked, canned beans?
Hi Sheila,
No, it will definitely not work with cooked beans. 🙂
Black bean flour is available from Bob’s Red Mill. I’m curious to try making your tortillas with the flour. Unless you’ve already tried it!
Hi Deb! Yes, I am sure you can make tortillas with the black bean flour (you could use my chickpea flour tortillas recipe as a guideline)! That would save the step of waiting around for the beans to soak, and blending!
You are definitely a genius! I can’t wait to try this!. Thank you so much!
I am so glad you appreciate my wacky creations, Laura! 🙂
I’m confused. you said in the description 2 cup water and 1 cup beans and soak 12 hrs.
Recipe calls for 3 1/2c water, which is correct?
Hi Pat! Sorry that it is not making sense. The recipe calls for 3-1/2 cups of water, divided. In step one, you soak the beans in 2 cups of the water (this is enough to cover the beans). When you are done soaking, you drain the beans (end of step 1). In step 2, I instruct to blended the drained, soaked beans with the remaining 1-1/2 cups water and the salt (so 2 + 1-1/2 = 3-1/2). I hope that clarifies!
“Heat the skillet over medium heat. Once warm, add 1/3 cup of batter to the center of the pan (the recipe yields about 3 cups of batter). before spreading the batter, let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes; this allows some of the batter to adhere to the pan, making it easier to spread the remaining batter. Use the back of a metal spoon to spread the batter into a 6.5- to 7-inch circle.” You have 5 to 10 seconds in the recipe section, but you may want to correct your blog portion to seconds instead of minutes.
Looks like a great treat! Cannot wait to try it!
Oh my goodness, Angela, thank you so much for catching that! That would give an entirely different meaning to BLACK bean tortillas! I have made the change. Thanks again! 🙂