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The humble, tasty tortilla is a food that we can recognize from fifty paces, famously associated with its native countries of Mexico and Spain, it has been exported across the world and is especially popular in North, Central and South America.
Tortilla chips can be found in most local supermarkets, with a vast array of salty, spicy, paprika or herb flavors, not to mention the countless dips that include garlic and herb, tomato salsa and sour cream. These chips rack up millions in profits for their respective companies, proving their enduring popularity at parties, movie theatres and sporting events.
But even if you aren’t a Mexican cuisine aficionado, a lot of people choose the tortilla over the slice of bread, owing to its versatility, simplicity, its inexpensive price and, most importantly, its relatively fewer calories.
Low-Carb Tortilla Recipe
But still, modern tortilla chips are beefed-up, salt-infused versions of their traditional Mexican and Spanish counterparts and chances are you won’t find them on the recommended list of health foods any time soon!
But is there a way to incorporate the tortilla chip into a low-calorie diet? Can you dip without guilt and not squander weeks and weeks of portion control and exercise?
Thankfully, we have the answer for you. Below you will find not only one, but two recipes for low-carb tortillas chips, the first of which is laughably easy to make, the second one aimed at the more daring culinary adventurers who don’t mind getting their hands dirty.
The Ready-Made Recipe For Those That Are Low On Time
Most healthy-eating and keto-friendly diets talk the talk, but it’s much harder to walk the walk and commit to a from-scratch recipe when you have the pressures of modern life sapping your precious time. Often, after a long day at work, you simply don’t have the hours or the energy to knead flour, mix eggs and wait half the afternoon for something to cook in the oven.
We’ll let you into a little secret that most health magazines won’t tell you… sometimes tortillas bought from the shop are just as good as homemade ones!
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The truth is that if health is your main priority, you can purchase some very healthy, very lean tortillas by the bulk for extremely cheap at your nearest supermarket. In fact, most supermarkets now supply whole grain tortillas with only six grams of net carbs. What a bargain!
Don’t get us wrong, homemade tortillas are completely worth the time and effort it takes to make them as the taste is far superior (for those who prefer hand-crafting their own chips, then skip this section and head to our from-scratch recipe underneath).
But for those of you time-starved folks, grab a bag of tortillas and a toaster oven and get ready to rustle up a bag of low-calorie chips in minutes!
Easy Low-Carb Tortilla Chips – Ready-Made Recipe
Equipment: Toaster oven
Servings: 1 person
Ingredients:
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1 low-carb tortilla
Instructions:
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Lay the tortilla flat on the rack of the toaster oven and bake at 350F until crispy.
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Remove and break into chip-sized pieces.
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Enjoy with salsa, guacamole or low-carb dip.
Nutritional Information:
Serving: 1 tortilla
Calories: 100kcal
Carbohydrates: 13g
Protein: 8g
Fat: 3.5g
Sodium: 7mg
Fiber: 7g
Net Carbs: 6g
Fat Ratio per Serving: 31.5%
Protein Ratio per Serving: 32%
Carb Ratio per Serving: 24%
The From-Scratch Recipe For The Culinarily Adventurous
Wow! That was over quickly! Those of you who followed the above recipe, we hope you are now enjoying a plateful of lean tortilla chips with your favorite dip right now. But for those wannabe chefs who fancy something a bit harder, thanks for staying patient.
Below you will find our cook-from-scratch recipe. These tortillas are still low in carbs, but much higher in flavor! However, before you reach for your rolling pin and cast-iron frying pan, there are a few things you need to bear in mind.
Things To Bear In Mind
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Make sure that you have all the ingredients before beginning. There’s nothing worse than getting halfway through cooking a complex dish like this when you suddenly realize you’ve overlooked a small but crucial item!
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A rolling pin might be preferable to using a standard tortilla press and the pin allows you to be more flexible, smoothing out the tortillas to the consistency you desire, depending on what filling you’re planning on using.
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Do not skip putting the dough in the fridge as outlined in step 5, as this will make it much harder to work with much later on.
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If you fry these tortillas for too long, they will end up slightly too crispy and lose their flexibility.
Easy Low-Carb Tortilla Chip – Cook-From-Scratch Recipe
Equipment: Rolling pin, parchment, 10 inch cast-iron frying pan
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes]
Servings: 10 tortillas
Ingredients:
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1 cup almond flour
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¾ cup flax seed, ground
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¼ cup coconut flour
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2 tbsp whole psyllium husks
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2 tbsp chia seeds, ground
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1 tsp salt
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1 cup water lukewarm (add 2-4 tbsp if the dough is too dry)
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2 tbsp coconut oil or ghee for greasing
Optional seasonings:
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1 tsp paprika + ¼ Tsp chili powder + 0.1 g net carbs per serving
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½ Tsp onion powder + ½ Tsp garlic powder + 0.2 g net carbs per serving
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½ Tsp curry powder + ¼ tsp ground cumin + ¼ tsp turmeric powder + 0.1 g net carbs
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0.5 Tsp dried oregano + ½ Tsp dried basil + ½ Tsp dried thyme + ¼ tsp dried lemon zest or 1 tsp fresh lemon zest + 0.1 g net carbs per serving
Instructions:
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Put flax seeds, coconut flour, almond flour and psyllium husks into a bowl.
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Add any of your favorite seasonings or you can make it without seasoning.
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Add the ground chia seeds. To grind them, use a blender and pulse until powdered.
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Pour in the water. Using your hands, mix until well combined. If needed, add a few more tablespoons of water. Be careful with the water, as if you use too much, the dough will get too sticky and become difficult to roll.
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Put the dough in the fridge for an hour.
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Remove from the fridge. Cut the dough into 10 equal pieces.
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Place a piece of the dough between two sheets of baking paper
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Roll out until the dough is very thin. Alternatively, you can use a nonstick silicon-covered roller and a silicon mat.
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Use an 8-inch lid or bowl to cut out the tortillas.
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Repeat with the remaining dough. You should combine the cut-off dough until you have 10 tortillas (If you have any dough left, use it for making nachos!)
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Preheat a heavy-bottom pan greased with just 1 teaspoon of oil, ghee or lard.
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Place the tortillas, one at a time, on top of the hot pan.
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Cook over a medium heat on one side for 1-2 minutes until lightly browned.
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Turn on the other side and cook for 1 minute more.
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Grease more when needed and repeat for the rest of the tortillas.
Nutritional Information:
Serving: 1 tortilla
Calories: 114kcal
Carbohydrates: 1g
Net Carbs: 1g
Carb Ratio per Serving: 3.51%
This recipe is vegan. See if regular tortillas are vegan.
Other Tasty Low Carb Tortilla Tips
Almond flour is a great low-carb substitute for plain whole flour, although if you are cooking these for other people, ensure they do not have any nut allergies.
If you are cooking for people with nut allergies, then sunflower seed flour is a brilliant swap-out. It does have a different flavor profile to the finely-ground almond flour, although they do share a similar fat and protein content.
You can also use entirely coconut flour in this recipe, although it behaves slightly trickier than almond flour and your finished chips will have a distinctive coconut taste.
However, be careful with coconut flour as it burns a lot quicker than other flours, so keep an eye on them to avoid your chips becoming burned and black!
Oat fiber is generally considered to be the most effective substitute for the almond flour, possessing that similar grainy texture. It is also almost completely without carbs with its 3 grams of carbs to 3 grams of fiber totalling an unbelievable 0 net carbs!
Try adding 1 egg to the cook-from-scratch recipe, as it will make the overall mixture a lot thicker, as well as giving it that added protein boost.
Read: Can you freeze tortillas?
Conclusion
From the experienced chef ready to do battle with flours of all types to those who prefer to eat-on-the-go, we have provided you with two low-carb tortilla recipes with two very different approaches!
Tortilla chips are a great supplement to most parties, events and larger gatherings, so why not cook a batch of these using both methods, invite a few health-conscious food friends over and see if they can spot the difference!
Don’t skimp on the seasonings, in addition to the list we’ve provided above – which includes garlic, paprika, curry, basil, thyme, curry powder, basil – you can find a wealth of even more obscure flavors online, so don’t be afraid to try them out and give your lean chips that extra kick.