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Easily make these low carb, crispy, flaxseed vegan and paleo tortilla chips and taco shells in less than 30 minutes, using just three simple ingredients!
A while back, you may remember that I came up with a couple of ways to make flaxseed tortillas, one using eggs, and one without. At first I more often made the flaxseed and egg tortillas because I found them to be easier to make. Plus, having hens, I tend to have a surplus of eggs that I want to use up. When I first started making the vegan flaxseed tortillas, the ones without eggs, I used enough water to easily mix the ground flaxseeds with the water. I didn’t realize, though, that I didn’t really need that much water and that the excess water was what was making it take so long for me to make the tortillas really work. During the cooking process, you are working to evaporate off the water so that the dough is no longer sticky and so that it holds up into a perfect tortilla shape.
It wasn’t until I had received several messages from people telling me how much they loved them, and about how great they were baked into chips, that I decided to play with the recipe a bit more and see if I could make the most of the concept and make it the best it could be.
Through the process, I realized that there was a much easier way to use this concept. I greatly reduced the water in the recipe, and I also changed the method I used for making the tortillas themselves.
Originally, I told people to push the dough into the pan and keep pressing it into a tortilla using a spatula while you were cooking it. That method worked well for me and allowed me to make a perfectly circular tortilla (the exact size of the bottom of my pan), but I have to admit that it was a bit of a tedious process that went through various stages of a stickiness, especially when using an excess amount of water, before finally working out right. The idea was to press the tortilla as thinly as possible, which for me was somewhere around 1-2mm thick.
It turns out, though, that if you don’t have a perfectly smooth, silicone spatula like the one I originally used, following that process was easier said than done. Plus, when using an older pan, the dough did stick at times to the bottom of the pan. (I’m using an older pan in my new video about making tortilla chips and you can see that some of the dough does stick in the bottom of that pan when I’m forming my dough. The dough that stuck there did flake off once the moisture evaporated, and I probably wold have been able to make a tortilla in it had I continued with the process, but I can see why that would scare people off from finishing out the process to the end.)
My new method is super easy and quick- so much so that I was able to make the tortilla chips and taco shells in the video using one hand- while filming with the other! 🙂 Also so much so that I have been making the tortilla chips pretty much every week since I made the great discovery. Paired up with some homemade guacamole or salsa, these are pretty great and actually taste pretty close to “regular” tortilla chips made with corn.
While you can use either golden or brown flaxseeds for making this recipe, I think the lighter colored ones make more authentic looking tortilla chips. I used the golden flaxseeds in all of the pictures in this post. That said, since there are black tortilla chips on the market, perhaps the brown flaxseeds wouldn’t really make such strange looking tortilla chips.
I’m concentrating on how to make flaxseed paleo tortilla chips here in this post, but if you want to better see my tips for making tortilla shells, check out my post about making the taco shells on the Rubies and Radishes blog or watch the video below:
Ready to make some paleo tortilla chips?
Flaxseed Paleo Tortilla Chips and Taco Shells
Makes about 24 chips
Instructions
- If you don’t have flaxseed meal, you can easily grind your own in your blender.
- Preheat your oven to 175ºC/350ºF, using a convection setting if you have one.
- Preheat a skillet to medium high heat.
- Mix together the flaxseed meal, water, and salt in the preheated skillet using a spatula to immediately combine the ingredients and push them together into a dough ball. The heat of the skillet helps to make the dough less sticky and more workable, so it’s a good idea to use the spatula to help work the dough in the skillet for around a minute before forming it into a ball and using it.
- With the help of two parchment sheets or sheets of wax paper, roll the dough into a very thin sheet. Make it as thin as possible so that it will crisp up quickly in the oven without getting air bubbles.
- Once the dough has been rolled thinly, cut it into tortilla chip shapes. I find it easiest to cut the dough into round/oval shapes first and then use a pizza cutter to cut each circle into 8 triangles. I can usually form 3 circles from which I can cut 24 tortilla chips with each batch.
- Bake in the oven for 8-12 minutes, checking the dough periodically for crispness.
- Once crispy, remove from the oven and serve with guacamole or homemade salsa.
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Melissa
So the nutritional information provided is for 6 chips (as mentioned in the comments) or for 24? The 5g carbs and 5g fiber cancel one another out? Thank you.
Tracy Ariza
Hi Melissa,
Looking it over, I believe it has to be 4 6-chip servings because you make 4 small tortillas that you cut into 6 chips each. So, yes, 24.
I’m now seeing the comment you are referring to. Because she told me nevermind- I never took the time to actually look at if what she had written was accurate for the recipe. (I guess she ended up with some extra chips.) 😉
Stan
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe Tracy!
I have made similar flax crackers in the dehydrator before usually with some portion of whole flax seeds but never thought of making torilla chips with just flax meal. My wife and I used to enjoy nachos together but haven’t been able to since I switched to low carb. This suggestion of yours will give us yet another meal we can sit and eat together, which I have really missed since going low carb (my wife is not – she loves rice and noodles too much!)
Do you know if this will work in the dehydrator too? It obviously won’t have quite the same “baked” flavour but allows me to make larger batches with less effort.
Tracy Ariza
Hi Stan,
Yay! I’m happy that it will help you.
I know all too well how difficult it can be when only one person in the family follows a particular diet. (Luckily, lately, my husband is not only on board with me. He’s actually now stricter than I am.) 😉
I would imagine that it would work just fine in a dehydrator. I haven’t personally tried it, but I don’t see why not.
If you try it, I’d love to hear how it goes!
Did you see the post about making them into “Doritos like chips“? Those are really good too. 😉
Jenn
Yum! This recipe was perfect for me because I had never tried or used flax seeds in recipes before and was craving something with a bit of a crunch. I will definitely be making these again. Thank you!
Tracy Ariza
Hi Jenn,
Thank you!
I’m so happy you enjoyed them! 🙂
They’re one of my favorites too.
Siobhan
Nevermind – I see now. 6 chips 🙂 Looking forward to trying this!
Tracy Ariza
No problem!
I’m glad you were able to figure it out, and hope you enjoy them. 🙂
Siobhan
Going to try this recipe today. Just wondering about the serving size on the nutritional information? How many grams per “serving”?
Helen
Could I use ground chia instead of flax? Unfortunately I can’t eat flax seeds.
Tracy Ariza
Hi Helen,
That’s a great question because chia and flax do behave in a similar way. To be honest with you, I hadn’t even considered it so I’ve never tried it. If I do give it a try, I’ll let you know. (I’d also love to hear how it goes if you give it a try.)
John Urbanowski
Can I bake these on a pan? My oven’s shelving has wide spaces between the “wires.” If baked on pan’ should I bake on parchment ?
Tracy Ariza
Hi John,
Yes, I’ve baked them on a baking sheet before without any issues. The only inconvenience to doing it that way, is that you may have to flip the chips partly through the baking process to make sure they brown well on either side and the moisture from both sides can escape. I usually bake on parchment (or a reusable silicon sheet), but you probably don’t need to for this recipe because the flaxseeds don’t tend to stick. That said, I’d probably use the parchment paper at least the first time you try it, while you’re familiarizing yourself with the process. Once you feel more comfortable with the process, you can experiment more. 😉
Sunny
I use my cookie cooling racks over top of my cookie sheets while I’m baking them because I have the same issue with my oven. I like to do it like that because then I don’t have to flip them 😉
Tracy Ariza
Hi Sunny,
Sounds like a great compromise!
Thanks for the tip. 🙂
Marilu
I made the flaxseed chips last nite and I love them but they were soggy the next day. Do you have any idea how to keep them crispy for the next day. I was planning in baking some to give away
Tracy Ariza
Hi Marilu,
I’ve had luck saving them, but they have to be completely dry when stored, and need to be saved in something airtight. They seem to easily absorb any moisture in the air and get soggy.
If you are still having issues with them getting soggy when stored in an airtight container, you could try lowering the temperature of the oven somewhat, and leave them in the oven longer to make sure that they are completely dry and crisp before trying to store them. You should make sure they are completely cool before storing them, though, too. You want to avoid any possible condensation from forming inside the storage container.
You have very lucky friends! I have to admit I’m a bit jealous. I’m usually the one making things to give away myself. 😉
Kelly
What if you put a cracker, piece of bread, or marshmallow in the airtight Tupperware also to help absorb moisture as you can do with brown sugar? Not sure it would work, but I just thought of it. I’m going to try making these with lunch today.
Tracy Ariza
Hi Kelly,
That’s an idea that I haven’t tried. I haven’t had any problems keeping them crispy when sealed tight on their own, but perhaps a few grains of rice in there or something like that would also help. Many people use rice grains to remove residual moisture from phones that have fallen in water, or also add them to salt shakers to keep salt from clumping together, so that may be a good choice. 🙂
Andi
The bread or marshmallow will add moisture to the crackers, that is why it is added to brown sugar containers. The brown sugar takes the moisture from the item and doesn’t get hard. The suggested rice is the best idea.
Marilu
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to my question. You are awesome!!!
Tracy Ariza
Aww, thanks, Marilu! (Blushing) 🙂
Adriana Gutierrez
Most plastic storage containers and ziplock bags are not truly airtight. I find that OXO POP containers are airtight, also glass canning jars or spring top jars with rubber gaskets work well.