Easy 5 Ingredient Sweet Potato Flatbread

Easy + Delicious sweet potato flatbread! Gluten free and vegan recipe made with 5 simple ingredients. Fluffy and foldable bread everyone will love.

My favorite quick bread to make is this sweet potato flatbread. It has only a few ingredients and comes together so fast in the pan or on an electric skillet. Similar to naan or a chewy pita, this bread is perfect for everything from dipping into hummus, folding around tacos, or just eating with a little jam!

Free From: wheat, gluten, dairy, casein, eggs, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, coconut, fish, shellfish, crustaceans, mollusks, celery, corn, sesame, mustard, lupin, sulfites, and more

Making a vegan and gluten free flatbread doesn’t have to be difficult! In fact, it’s quite simple to make and even more fun to eat. The recipe gets the structure from the sweet potato and the tapioca starch that turn it into a pillow-y dough that turns into the softest flatbread after cooking.

You’ll love this recipe even more when you find out how simple it is to make. Simply start with some left-over sweet potatoes, add your gluten free flour of choice, tapioca starch, salt, and baking powder. Combine and let rest for 10 minutes. Press it out between two sheets of parchment and cook it up on either a cast iron skillet on the stove or an electric griddle - both work fantastically!

Sweet Potato Flatbread

Why do I use sweet potatoes and not regular potatoes? Well, you can use potatoes if you like! The normal potato will result in a dough that is a little easier to work with, but the end flatbread won’t be as fluffy as the sweet potato version. Also, as the name implies, the sweet potato flatbread will be, well, sweeter!

The role of a sweet potato (or a potato) in gluten free bread is twofold: One is that it helps to retain moisture into the bread. The starch of potatoes attract and hold more moisture in the dough, making the dough softer and easier to work with. Two, potatoes help with the final crumb of gluten free dough, since they replace the gluten strings and allow for a lighter, and more delicate structure of your final baked good.

In this recipe, the sweet potato helps to give structure to the flatbread, while binding it together, negating the need for an egg.

Basically, adding a bit of sweet potato to your gluten free baking is going to help you become a better gluten free baker!

But the main reason for why I’m using sweet potato is that it does not qualify as a nightshade.

What are Nightshades?

Nightshades are a group of vegetables that contain two chemicals in their structure, alkaloids and saponin, that cause gastrointestinal upset in some people. For some reason, nightshade intolerances are higher in people with gluten and dairy allergies and intolerances. It can be difficult to diagnose since the symptoms overlap so much. But a good way to start your investigation into your health is to see how you feel after eating them if you’ve been gluten and dairy free for some time!

Nightshade plants include: Tomatoes, white potatoes, all colors of peppers, and eggplants

Pepper, the kind you sprinkle on your food at dinner, is not considered a nightshade so you are free to use that as much as you want!

 

Tips for Gluten Free and Vegan Flatbread

Making this sweet potato flatbread can seem a little tricky at first if you've never made flatbread before! But I promise it's super easy.

First, make sure that you roll your dough out between two pieces of parchment paper! Gluten free dough is a wetter dough than wheat dough and you want to make sure that you are able to get the dough off of the paper and into the pan! If you find that your dough is still sticking to the paper, simply spray the paper with a bit of oil or water before pressing the dough out.

You can use a rolling pin to shape your flatbread, but I find my hands work best for getting the right shape and thickness.

Place your fully cooked flatbreads under a tea towel while you are making the remaining flatbreads to keep them warm.

To store your flatbreads, wrap them in plastic or keep them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. These can be frozen for up to 3 months.

To reheat your flatbread, you can wrap them in a damp paper towel and warm them in the microwave or toast them in a toaster for a crunchier version!

What to Make with Your Flatbread

This gluten free flatbread can be enjoyed in so many ways! Here are some of my favorite to get your ideas cooking:

• Pita sandwich
• Taco night (related: no onion taco seasoning recipe!)
• With cinnamon and fruit for a breakfast
• With butter and herbs for a snack
• As a side to any main entrée
• In place of sandwich bread
• Baked in the oven into mini pizzas!

Did you make this recipe?

Please let me know how this turned out for you! Pop over to the Facebook Page to share your success or tag me over on Instagram with the hashtag #livingbeyondallergies I love to see your creations!