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Been missing sandwiches or bread while on the AIP Diet (Autoimmune Paleo Protocol)? This easy-to-make flatbread may be the answer to your dreams!
Table of contents
- Life Without Bread?
- Paleo Naan Bread to the Rescue
- AIP Flatbread Video
- AIP Flatbread Tips and Tricks
- Using Tigernut Flour Vs Cassava Flour
- Freezing the AIP Flatbread for Later
- Troubleshooting
- You May Need
- Use this Flatbread with the AIP Gyro Wrap
- More Helpful AIP & Paleo Resources in the Freebie Library
- AIP Flatbread Recipe
- You May Also Like
Life Without Bread?
There are people in this world that hear they can't have bread again, shrug and go on their merry way.
I am NOT one of them.
When I first heard I was Celiac and wouldn't be able to have glutenous, crusty french bread, pita bread, and pretty much anything else that had made up the majority of my diet my whole life, I was crushed. I mean, what was the point?
And then to make matters worse, as soon as I learned I was Celiac I went straight onto AIP. No eggs and no almond flour meant even fewer options – even my beloved Paleo muffins and quick bread were out.
Now mind you, this was back in 2014, the Dark Ages of AIP. Even pancakes were rare. Today there are MANY more options luckily.
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Yet, even when I went back on AIP for a few months in 2018 I still missed some sort of way to make sandwiches. My kids were a lot older this time around and that meant we were constantly going out on adventures every weekend. Sandwiches would have just made things easier – easier to tote around, not have to have completely chilled, not need a fork and knife – the list goes on and on.
I heavily relied on Squirrel in the Kitchen's crepe recipe from her book Simple French Paleo to make simple wraps, and while they were great, I wanted something a little more substantial.
See Also: The ULTIMATE Guide to the AIP Diet – Everything you need to know to be successful
Paleo Naan Bread to the Rescue
Fast forward a few months later when I was back on regular ole' Paleo (what I typically eat to keep my Hashimoto's and Celiac diseases under control) and I made a regular favorite recipe of ours – My Heart Beet's Paleo Naan.
Now if you've never had Ashley's Paleo Naan, you must do it. Well, if you aren't currently on AIP or can have almond flour that is. It's freakin delicious, makes the BEST side for curries, Indian Butter Chicken, and well, any other Indian dish you can think of. I've even passed this recipe on to non-Paleo Indian friends and they've loved it, plus I've served it to countless non-Paleo friends and they rave over it. So try it.
One evening recently I was making some of this Paleo Naan as a side to an Indian dish and wondered to myself – what if I replaced the almond flour with cassava flour to make it AIP-compliant?
So the next day I set about trying it out. It took a few tries as the ratios weren't exactly the same, but once I hit on the right ration I was PSYCHED!
I tried it again with tigernut flour and again, success. I know some of ya hate cassava flour, so I'm lookin' out for you 🙂
After making a ton of batches to make sure it wasn't a fluke, I decided to share it with you.
AIP Flatbread Video
For a full explanation of the process, watch this video on YouTube.
AIP Flatbread Tips and Tricks
To make this a successful recipe I have these tips for you:
• Use a small non-stick crepe pan if possible, as that will work the best for this. If you have to use a larger non-stick pan that's fine, you may have to cut your flatbread in half once you cook it to make it manageable and you might also have to cook it longer. When I've used a large pan I've almost doubled the time per side.
• The batter should be runny, not super thick. If you need to, add more milk or water to make it this way.
• I state in the recipe to cook it 4 minutes a side at first, and then you may have to adjust the time downwards as your pan gets hotter. This is a good starting point, but if you notice your breads are gummy in the middle or aren't flipping easily, give it more time. They will bubble up at first and then once the bubbles recede you can flip them.
• I like to put these on a baking rack after cooking to let them get air all around them. If you do not have a rack you can put them on a plate, but they tend to get a bit sticky/gummy/wet if you stack them before they are completely cool. So make sure to not stack them.
Using Tigernut Flour Vs Cassava Flour
I liked both the cassava flour version and the tigernut flour version, but I did notice that the tigernut flour version was a bit sweeter, darker, and also seemed to be a bit thinner. It seemed like a thick crepe to me.
The cassava flour one felt and tasted a lot more like a traditional pita bread or naan than the tigernut one.
Unfamiliar with either tigernut flour or cassava flour? See AIP Foods You May Not Be Familiar With
It really is up to you what one you'd make, but if you can't decide, I'd go with tigernut for a sweeter application (maybe a jam and tigernut butter wrap?) and with cassava flour for a savory sandwich (like the gyro wraps I'll share next week).
Freezing the AIP Flatbread for Later
One of my favorite parts of this recipe is that they freeze BEAUTIFULLY. This to me is a game changer in itself.
To freeze, simply make up a batch (or 2 or 3) and then put a piece of parchment paper in between each bread. Put into a bag or freezer-safe container and freeze.
When you want to eat them, remove one or more from the freezer, thaw on the countertop or in the fridge for a few hours, over low heat in a pan or in the oven for a few minutes, or in the microwave for 10-15 seconds. Then use as desired.
I now have a batch of this in my freezer ready to go any time I need to have a sandwich ready to go in minutes, or have some sort of bready side to go with a curry, etc.
Troubleshooting
As soon as I posted this video on YouTube some viewers took to their kitchens to make this bread and helpfully shared some tips that may help you as well:
- This recipe does not do well on stainless steel pans, use a nonstick pan if possible.
- I used Native Forest Simple Coconut Milk with no guar gum but a viewer (Jen G, thanks!) used Golden Star Coconut Milk and had to add some water to make it less thick. She stated she was able to get 7-8 flatbreads out of the recipe as a result.
- A nonstick griddle can work as well (thanks GeekGirlGA!)
- You can put them back over the heat if you discover they aren't done
- I used Anthony's Cassava Flour and Organic Gemini Tigernut Flour – you may have different results with different brands (update: it sounds like Bob's Redmill Cassava flour and Lya Cassava flour lead to gummy breads – so do NOT use these. So interesting how cassava flour can differ so much between brands!)
- IF you do get a gummy flatbread, some people have reported that putting them in the microwave for 10-30 seconds seems to get rid of some of the gumminess. Again, I think this is based on the cassava flour you use, but this may help!
You May Need
These are the things I found helpful for making this recipe:
8-inch non-stick pan (this is the frying pan I used but you can also use a crepe pan)
A baking cooling rack for letting the air flow around the breads as they cool
I personally like Anthony's Cassava Flour the best, but use whatever brand you're loyal to
I like the Native Forest Simple brand of guar gum-free coconut milk, but there are several others. You can also make homemade milk.
Use this Flatbread with the AIP Gyro Wrap
One of my favorite ways to use this flatbread is with my AIP Gyro Wraps!
The meat is actually pretty easy to make, and it freezes well, so you can have a genuine-tasting gyro sandwich in minutes from frozen!
More Helpful AIP & Paleo Resources in the Freebie Library
If you find this recipe helpful, you may really enjoy the resources in my Paleo & AIP Freebie Library! There's a “dump” freezer meal plan, a list of AIP-compliant breakfast toppings, and so much more. Plus, you'll get even more ideas sent to your inbox! Get the password here.
AIP Flatbread Recipe
I hope you enjoy these flatbreads! If you make them I'd love to hear how it turned out! Either comment below or share a pic on Instagram and tag me @thrivingautoimmune!
AIP Flatbread Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 13.5 oz can Coconut Milk (OR use 1.5 cups homemade Coconut Milk or Tigernut Milk per 4 tortillas)
- 3/4 cup Cassava Flour (OR Tigernut Flour)
- 3/4 cup Tapioca Flour (OR Arrowroot Powder)
- 1 Pinch Sea Salt
Instructions
- Preheat a small nonstick pan over medium heat.
- Mix all of the ingredients into a bowl. If using tigernut flour, really make sure all of the lumps are broken apart (it really likes to clump). Make sure the batter is somewhat runny, you don't want it really thick. Add water or more milk if necessary.
- Pour enough batter into the pan to cover the bottom of the pan + about 1/8-1/4 inch thick. These are a tad bit thicker than crepes.
- Cook for 3-4 minutes per side, adjusting the time up above 4 min if the batter doesn't look completely dry when you flip it, and adjust the time down if you get too many brown or black spots. Black or brown spots are totally fine, just don't want to burn these!
- You'll notice that the cooking time will get less as you continue to cook the breads, since the pan gets hotter. If the bread is gummy inside it needs to be cooked longer. (This all sounds kind of fussy and complicated but trust me, you'll figure it out after a few – it's just different pans, cassava flours, coconut milks, amount of heat, etc all makes it a little bit different for everyone).
Notes
Nutrition
Delicious and easy. Next time I’ll use a mix of coconut milk and water as the coco milk I used had a lot of fat and the flatbreads were pretty oily. Sprinkled a bit of AIP seasoning blend on while they were cooking. Yummy! We used these for hamburger “buns” and they were great. Partner ate the rest by themselves. Definitely adding these to our regular recipe rotation! Thank you!
Yum, I don’t think I’ve thought of using these as hamburger buns but that is a great idea! Glad you enjoyed!
Should it be a little gooey/rubbery on the inside? I made them and while yes, they are still pliable and good for wraps, the texture seems odd. Maybe they should be cooked longer?
Some people seem to find them gooey on the inside. I really haven’t figure out why – I *THINK* it’s because of the brand of cassava flour? I’ve had like 1 gooey one out of 100, and that wasn’t even a cassava flour one (it was a tigernut flour one with tigernut milk) so I’m really not sure. I just can’t seem to recreate the gooeyness but it seems if people use other brands it happens…
Oh, thank you very much dear. I just tried it after trying maybe recipes. It gave me the most easy and beautiful bread 🙂
Oh I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Could I use almond milk for these? Coconut products don’t agree with me.
You could, but almond milk isn’t AIP-compliant so if you’re trying to do AIP, that wouldn’t work. I’d do tigernut milk instead. However, if you aren’t doing AIP, I’d instead do the almond flour Paleo naan recipe I link to up above from My Heart Beets since it’s a little less finicky.
Have you tried adding herbs or spices? I am thinking of adding basil, rosemary & thyme or cinnamon. What do you think?
I haven’t, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t! It sounds like a GREAT idea actually! Let me know how it turns out!!
I made these and they are great! Very easy to make in bulk also. I’m wondering how long do you think these will keep for in the fridge? I am freezing some of mine, but wondering if you or anyone has played with the expiration date. Thanks!
I personally don’t like them much after 3 days in the fridge as they start to get hard (at least around the edges) and sometimes a bit soggy as well. So if I plan on having them after that I just freeze them. Glad you like them!
Can’t find cassava in Australia..too expensive online also! so I used Tigernut and topiaca. It gooey! Like a pancake. I might try lower heat and longer.
If you try again – try putting it in the microwave for like 30 seconds (if you have a microwave). Someone told me that really helped with the gumminess.
After many attempts during the same batch, using Otto, I added a bunch of water to the batter, made it very runny, spread it thin, cooked it 4Mins one side and 4 the other. They turned out semi translucent and crispy. Some I even microwaved… they remind me of the chewy rice flour treats in Taiwan and Japan- muaji. The texture is definitely something that takes getting used to.
I used otto’s cassava flour, everland arrowroot powder, and whole 360 full fat coconut milk. I got an extremely thick paste that was difficult to even stir. I ended up adding another 1/2 can coconut milk and around 3/4 cup water to get the right consistency. They looked to cook well, (bubbled up, browned lightly). Even though I made many adjustments to time and temperature (as much as 8 minutes per side), all I ended up with was a slightly crispy shell with a slimy glue centre.
Yeah, I really haven’t heard many good results from Otto’s cassava flour- think it must be a totally different product than the other cassava flours by the way it acts in so many different recipes (like I tried to make a recipe the other day that had been created for Otto’s using Anthony’s and it totally didn’t work out). The two products are as different as night and day! Did you try the tip about using the microwave to cook the inside of ones made with Otto’s?
Perfect pita flatbread! Used Ottos Cassava and arrowroot. It was just like making a crepe. I found I really only needed 2tbsp of the batter on my nonstick 9” skillet as once I swirled it around with the back of my spoon it was the size I wanted. Enjoyed one hot with coconut oil and honey too what a treat!
Followed this recipe and mine turned out terrible. With the one 13.5 oz can of milk my batter was not runny at all. Thicker than pancake batter. Ended up added more milk, probably should have added water. As they cooked they looked very oily and translucent.
Can I ask what brand of coconut milk you used? This seems to be a pretty picky temperamental recipe in that it only seems to work with certain brands. Before I wrote this recipe I had NO idea that the quality/texture/consistency of each of the brands of coconut milk, cassava flour, tapioca flour, etc all differed so much! It’s kind of crazy. You’d think cassava flour is cassava flour but apparently, they are as different as night and day between brands. Also, did the coconut milk you used have guar gum in it? I haven’t tried to make these with guar gum coconut milk, which is typically much thicker than the type without.
I used Otto’s cassava flour, Bob’s Red Mill Tapioca flour, and the only can of coconut milk we had on hand, Sprout’s organic coconut milk which I believe does contain guar gum.
This recipe looks great. Has anyone tried it on a cast-iron pan?
I believe I had one person mention SOMEWHERE (I can’t find it now – it was either on YouTube or in my Facebook group) that they did and it worked out, but you might need to use a little coconut oil to make sure it doesn’t stick. If you try it, please let me know how it turns out so at least I have it somewhere on record, haha!
I just used cast iron and voila! No extra fat needed and they are so so good!!! I used Otto’s Cassava flour and Trader Joe’s coconut milk. I had to add at least 1/2 C. water to get the right consistency, but they are so good and I’m so pleased. They were very easy. One note about cast iron – you need much lower temps because it holds the heat so well. I used medium-low or it burned. Yield: 6 to 7
Ah, I’m glad the Otto’s cassava worked for you! And thanks for the tip on the cast iron too!
I cook mine on cast iron and perfect every time
I did these on my cast iron well seasoned griddle with a bit of coconut oil and worked great. Going to try again with less oil.
Yes, I just made my first batch on my cast iron griddle without any problems.
Just cooked it on a cast iron pan. Melted a little coconut oil in the pan for the first round, just cuz I didn’t believe I’d be able to get it out of the pan otherwise. But it turned out to be unnecessary in later rounds. Loving this – am a new AIPer & very grateful to have something resembling bread to munch on. 💕
Dear Michele,
I want to thank you very much for the dramatic shift you encouraged me to take. Last October I was in a really rough spot of Hashimoto symptoms. I have been on Synthroid for 22 years beginning at the age of 21. I don’t think things were as bad at that point, but as you know things get worse as you get older. I found out in August of last year that I had the autoimmune form of hypothyroid. You gave me the courage to start looking deeper at diet; almost all was homemade up to that point ferments, sourdough, raw milk etc. Since October I have eliminated several foods and found several I never guessed I was sensitive to! I have bounds more energy now! Looking forward to spring for gardening, pursuing aromatherapy from a business aspect, helping encourage others that each little step really does make a difference.
When I was in my late teens and working at a fast food restaurant people often commented that I sang as I worked (I didn’t realize it until it was pointed out to me). In the last month I have found myself singing again as I am working around the house! Somewhere along the way the energy for singing left me; it was all I could do to get through the day’s tasks of taking care of my family anything beyond that was overwhelming. You helped me to get ME back, thank you.
Wow Sarah, I seriously teared up reading this! Thank you SO SO much for taking the time to leave this comment, I really do appreciate it!
COULD I USE COCONUT FLOUR INSTEAD?, STILL WATCHING THE CARBS & TRYING TO DO A PALEO/KETO AIP TYPE OF DIET.
I haven’t tried it, but I’d highly doubt you could use just straight coconut flour. If you could, you’d definitely have to play around with the ratios as coconut flour needs a LOT more liquid than either cassava or tigernut flour. Sorry!
Øøøh… Tapioca and cassava is the same thing…. What am i missing here?
They actually aren’t the same thing -yes, they are made from the same root, but they’re processed completely differently and tapioca starch is JUST the starch while cassava flour is the dried and ground root – fiber and starch and all. I go into more detail in this post if you want to know more: https://thrivingautoimmune.com/aip-foods-that-you-may-not-be-familiar-with/
I finally have mastered this great recipe. I use tiger nut flour and arrow root flour. The cooking took me a few times, but buy golly I got it. To me the tiger flour doesn’t have a distinguish taste like cassava. Plus I have an issue with cassava flour.
Thank you for recipe.
I’m not going to blame your recipe but I followed it precisely and proceeded to make the grossest, slimy goo sandwiched between two thin crispy layers of tigernut flour. It’s probably the brand I used but anyway….that stuffs expensive. Anyone have any tips? I tried cooking it at a lower temperature in hopes of it cooking through but no success. Oh well. Maybe I’ll try cassava flour next time.
Gah, I’m sorry. I really don’t know why some of the brands do that. I have noticed that if I do get a gummy one, it’s usually the tigernut flour that does it, but it’s so random and rare for me. I don’t feel like I do anything differently, but for all I know I am. I wish this recipe wasn’t so temperamental because I want everyone to be able to enjoy how good they can be!!
Just tried these with cassava and had the same results no matter how long I cook them. Crispy on the outside slimy mess inside 🙁
You used the brands I mention in the post? Cassava flour brands are as different as night and day so that’s the first place I always check.
I did but I realized tonight my coconut milk has gum in it and I hadn’t noticed that before so I’m wondering if that’s the issue. I made them again tonight and cooked them a little longer and they were good. Still gummy inside a tad but next time I’ll try the coconut milk non gum version and see if that makes the difference. Either way I will make them again. Makes me feel like I’m not missing out on bread 🙂
I tried diff temps and cool times but the inside seemed uncooked. Moist I guess is a good word. I noticed when I’d flip them, the underside had area that looked like they were bubbling. Probably the other side of where it was bubbling up.
This recipe was a game changer for me! Thank you! The only thing I would suggest is making sure people know to add more water or coconut milk so it is a runny consistency.. I added about a third cup to half a cup more on mine. If someone doesn’t cook often prior to aip I think it makes it difficult to feel like you can alter.
I loved them!! A little gummy on a few where I didn’t thin it out enough.. But reminded me of dumplings haha!! Thank you!
Hello my cassava flour is more beige coloured I used tapico starch instead of flour kind ofjelly like but they tasted yummy do you ever use coconut flour with the cassava flour? I justed JEB foods cassava flour. Next time I’ll use arrowroot or coconut to try them out. They did not look as good as yours. My fault!
Made these tonight for fish tacos. They came out amazing! I just used water. Next time I would add the water a bit at a time as my batter was super runny. Definitely will make again.😊👍