Last weekend, I did a couple book signings with my friends Sarah Ballantyne (The Paleo Mom) and Stacy Toth (of Paleo Parents). It was a lot of fun. On Saturday night, Sarah and Stacy slept over at our house, so I offered to make dinner for them; Sarah and Stacy follow a modified version of the Autoimmune Protocol (a more restrictive version of the Paleo diet meant to reverse autoimmunity, see this post or Sarah’s book for more info), so I knew I had my work cut out for me. How do you treat your friends (and food bloggers at that) to a delicious meal with a limited cupboard to work with?
For the main course I made a modified version of my Beef Rendang recipe, where I subbed some butternut squash puree for the bell and chili peppers, and used mace instead of nutmeg. I think the squash added a good amount of body to the dish; it turned out well. I served it with cauliflower rice sautéed in coconut milk, turmeric, cinnamon, and raisins – also good.
But I wanted to add another texture to the dish, so I tried out a more savory version of my pizza crust recipe, made AIP-friendly by eliminating the dairy and egg typically used in the recipe. I couldn’t have been happier with the results – the bread was nice and crisp, and adding nutritional yeast imparted a rich, buttery taste.
Grain-Free Flatbread
1 1/2 cups tapioca starch
1/2 cup coconut milk
2 tbsp coconut oil (olive oil, lard, ghee, butter okay)
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp dried rosemary, divided
1/2 tsp dried oregano
olive oil for drizzling
sea salt flakes or kosher salt for sprinkling
1. Place a pizza stone, cast iron skillet, or heavy duty baking sheet in the oven, and preheat it to 500F. Place the tapioca starch in a mixing bowl and set aside.
2. As the oven heats, add the coconut milk, oil, and salt into a small pan and heat over medium heat until just about to boil, then pour it into the mixing bowl. Mix with a spoon until incorporated into the starch, then set aside for five minutes to cool.
3. Add the nutritional yeast, half of the rosemary, and the oregano and white pepper to the dough, then knead together to incorporate everything. Carefully remove the hot pizza stone from the oven, then (again, carefully!) spread the dough over the stone, to about 1/4″ thickness. It doesn’t have to be pretty. Drizzle a little olive oil over the dough and sprinkle on the remaining rosemary, then place in the oven. Bake until crispy and firm to the touch, 8-10 minutes.
4. Drizzle with more olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt flakes; slice and serve.
** Serve warm alongside curries or pasta dishes, or use as a pizza crust.
Served with Baked Meatballs and rice-based penne pasta
The Domestic Man 
I love flatbread and there’s so many yummy ways to use it. My fav is flatbread pizza -:)
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I have to make this soon! My daughter’s eczema has improved with a gluten-free diet, but she misses her bread :)
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Some AIP’s eliminate tapioca as well as it is gluten cross reactive but arrowroot starch might be fine replacement. I’ll try this with arrowroot starch, it looks delicious and I miss bread! :)
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yes, this is true. My doctor has me eliminating tapioca while essentially doing the autoimmune protocol (he is not as strict about eliminating seed spices). I will try the arrowroot starch.
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What exactly is the difference between tapioca and arrowroot starch?
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Pat, arrowroot and tapioca are both starches from different plants (arrowroot and tapioca, respectively). There are several plants that fall under the classification of “arrowroot”, including tapioca itself, so arrowroot starch can be from various sources. Overall, it’s less stretchy than tapioca starch and tends to behave more like corn starch, and is less prone to lumping than potato starch. Arrowroot also does a pretty good job of staying thick when cooled, as opposed to other thickeners like potato starch. Hope that helps!
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Tapioca is from the cassava plant root
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I think tapioca is from the yucca leaves and cassava is from the root.
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Arrowroot is very constipating, as my husband and I have found to our sorrow! We were eatting an arrowroot/coconut based flatbread daily but got ourseves in big trouble w/constipaion. Found through online research that it was the arrowroot.
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Reblogged this on global_food.
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Can the nutritional yeast be eliminated?
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Cynthia, you could most certainly make it without the yeast, but you’d need to add more starch and the flavor would be much more subtle.
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Thank you – I seem to have an allergic reaction to nutritional yeast.
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This looks delicious!
Do you deliver? haha :)
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I too was wondering if the nutritional yeast coukd be left out. It is typically labeled as gluten free, but it has a high cross-reactivity rate and some people (like me) are still sensitive to it.
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Is the texture of the finished flatbread such that you could punch out rounds to act as grain-free buns for burgers and the like?
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Jon, I think they’d work well as a bun – maybe a little crispier than your typical bun but still good!
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Yum, Yum, Yum! I’ll be trying this one very soon. Looks wonderful.
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I’m pretty uneducated on this whole Paleo diet thing, but the ingredients list really makes me believe this actually TASTES good, which is reason enough for me to try it. :)
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Yum! This looks and sounds absolutely perfect.
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What’s the difference between nutritional yeast and regular yeast?
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Nutritional yeast is a deactivated bacteria grown from beets. Since it’s deactivated, it doesn’t cause the dough to rise like you might expect.
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I don’t have a pizza stone so could I use my cast iron skillet flipped over on the bottom so I don’t burn my arms trying to spread it out with the skillet already being hot?
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Molly, I would say either try it on a regular baking sheet before flipping over a cast iron skillet.
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Tha looks like a Latin American recipe. Doesn’t it?
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You’re right – this dough is modeled after a Brazilian cheese bread! Good eye!
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This looks wonderful
I am not in possession of tapioca starch or arrowroot starch–I have an odd assortment of things like spelt flour, almond flour, etc. do you think another type of flour could be substituted?
Thank you!
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Julie this recipe hinges on the starchy/stretchy properties of tapioca or arrowroot. To be honest I don’t bake often with other flours but I don’t think they’ll turn out the same as with a starch.
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Do you think this would work with potato starch. I have a suspicion we don’t tolerate tapioca well unfortunately. Thanks
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Did you use full fat coconut milk from a can or just the kind from a carton? Looks delish. Thanks!!
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Hi Kelly, we use canned coconut milk but I think the carton kind would be okay – you may need to add more starch to offset the thinness of carton milk.
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This was so yummy! I dipped it in olive oil to eat and then decided to try my grass fed Liverwurst on it and it was delicious that way also. Thanks for this great flatbread recipe!
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If we are going to use this for pizza, would you put the sauce, cheese and toppings on the un-cooked flat bread before putting in oven? Or would you cook for a few minutes, take it out, put on pizza toppings, and then finish the cooking? Thanks!!
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Mark, I would cook it for 3-4 mins before putting the toppings on.
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Thanks for the recipe! I made it tonight and my boys (6 and 3) both loved it. I was a little worried when I poured the coconut milk into the tapioca flour because it wasn’t wet enough, but I warmed a few more tablespoons of coconut milk in the hot pot and then added it and mixed and it worked out well.
I often make rolls with tapioca and coconut flour, but they take 30+ minutes. I’m so excited to have a quick recipe for tapioca bread!
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Emily, glad to hear you enjoyed it!
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I’ve made this at least once a week since my first comment – we call it “pizza bread”. I end up using about 3/4+ cup coconut milk (I measure the tapioca flour with a scale so maybe that makes a difference). This last time, I added an egg to make it more like your pizza recipe (but without cheese) and it was even better than ever – less crispy and more dough-like. Thanks again!
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I wonder if I could add a gelatin egg to make it more chewy?
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I tried this tonight. It tasted good, but it didn’t turn out quite right. First, the batter was much too dry, so I added more coconut milk (didn’t warm it first, though). I pressed it into the bottom of a pre-heated cast iron frying pan. It never really browned, but it puffed up on one side. The flavor was good, but the texture was odd. It is hard on the outside and spongy on the inside. The spongy part kind of reminded me of dim sum pork dumplings. Next time, I might try adding the nutritional yeast, and maybe spread it on a baking sheet. The coconut milk I used had guar gum in it. Do you think that might have made a difference?
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Colleen, it’s hard to say what happened here. There’s a lot of variance between tapioca starches and coconut milk, so that may have affected the dryness of the dough. It should be pretty dry but not crumbly. The nutritional yeast helps to harden the flatbread. Not sure if the guar gum affected the dough, but it’s possible. It won’t ever really get super brown, just more like a golden color. Hope that helps!
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I had the same thing happen to me. The middle was gooey…like uncooked dough. I think it just wasn’t thin enough so it would cook all the way through. Next time I’ll try a baking sheet too since that’ll be easier to flatten the dough out on.
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So, I tried it again tonight. This time I used coconut milk with no guar gum (I very rarely have that on hand since it’s hard to get where I live). I also used the nutritional yeast. I cooked it on a cast iron skillet in the oven. When I added the coconut milk and oil to the starch, it was much too dry. I added some olive oil and some more coconut milk to make it a workable dough. I spread it out on a cutting board then transferred it to the skillet. Again, I think I didn’t have it thin enough. I think I might try this on a baking sheet next time. It was tasty, but the middle was quite chewy. I had 2 large pieces with some chicken soup my husband made. It was quite yummy. I have some left for tomorrow, but I’m not sure how it will taste the next day. Last time, it had a very squeaky mouth feel after it cooled. Next time, I’ll make sure to clean the oven before I make this. The smoke alarm kept going off because of the skillet in the hot oven
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I am trying a wheat free diet to feel better but I love bread. Where do I find tapioca flour and nutritional yeast??
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Hi Monica, both tapioca flour and nutritional yeast can be found in most health-minded stores (Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, or health food stores). If one of these stores isn’t local to you, Amazon sells them for a good price (links in the recipe above).
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This recipe looks terrific! We host the Sunshine Coast Paleo/Primal/Real Food Meetup Group here in Australia and have scheduled this to post on our Facebook page for our followers to try :)
Question, could you use arrowroot instead of tapioca? And is the yeast crucial?
Thanks! Aimee
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Aimee, you can definitely use arrowroot instead of tapioca, and the yeast isn’t crucial to have the bread hold together – you’ll just need to add more starch to create a doughy texture. But in terms of taste, leaving out the nutritional yeast will remove the rich, buttery taste to the bread. I don’t think it’ll be inedible or anything, but you may want to add a bit more salt and seasonings to offset the bland taste. Maybe some minced garlic, too?
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I made this last night to go with our Paleo meatballs & marinara sauce. Since I had previously made and loved the Brazilian Cheese Buns, and now, sadly can no longer have cheese, I couldn’t wait to try this. Delish!! It’ll be the perfect base for pizza! Thanks for a great recipe, again.
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Melissa, happy to be of help!
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Russ, for those of us PHD-ers who can and do eat modest amounts of cheese: how about using the raw milk aged Parmesan Reggiano that I buy at Whole Foods in lieu of the nutritional yeast? Gets me hungry just thinking about it!
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Also, I don’t have coconut milk because I haven’t been able to find any pure, but I’d heard that it can be made from dried unsweetened coconut flakes and purified water in a Vitamix, all of which I have. Would that work, and if so, what ratio of dried flakes to water would you recommend for this purpose? Thanks!
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Susan, if you’re looking for a PHD-friendly version, I’d simply use Pao de Queijo ingredients (https://thedomesticman.com/2012/10/30/brazilian-cheese-buns-pao-de-queijo/) but use the method in this recipe above. If you want to use coconut milk, here’s a great recipe: http://studio-snacks.com/2014/01/18/homemade-coconut-milk-coconut-flour/
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Of course, I put a thin coat of coconut oil on my skillet after cleaning it. Would any other oil be needed to keep the crust from sticking? Thanks!
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Mary Anne, you shouldn’t need any other oil to keep it from sticking. You’ll be surprised to find that this dough doesn’t stick to the surface at all, it comes right off!
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Outstanding!! I made this today substituting Herbs de Provence for the nutritional yeast (I didn’t have any). It was delicious!! Easy to make, true to the times you have listed for prep and cooking. It’s so nice to have an AIP-friendly bread option– I’m allergic to plantains and bananas and hadn’t found a good plantain- and banana- free bread recipe until yours. Thank you for posting it!
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Sarah, my pleasure!
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I made this last night with arrowroot powder for starch, and left out the nutritional yeast . I upped the herbs and added sage and some garlic salt. It was wonderful – crisp and cracker like. Wondering now if a sweeter version with cinnamon could be made?
I also really enjoyed the taste of the drizzled olive oil. Would it still crisp up if the coconut oil was replaced with olive oil?
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Well, I was very excited to try this tonight but I botched it. Gluey and terrible. Oh well.
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I’m new to your blog and I find all of your recipes amazing I can’t wait to try some of them. Have you ever tried cauliflower crust pizza?
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We LOVED this!! The taste and texture was great. One question, the middle tasted good but was almost translucent like it hadn’t cooked all the way. I used a heavy baking sheet instead of a stone. Would it help it to cook all the way through to cook it at 450 or so for a little longer?
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I’ve tried this recipe twice, and both times I end up with a crumbly mess – I could not knead it. Am I missing something? I’ve followed the recipe exactly.
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Isabelle, there is a lot of variation between brands of tapioca/arrowroot starches, even from the same brand you’ll often get different results. I would just add some more liquid (warm coconut milk or water) and knead it until it becomes more dough-like. Sometimes when we make it, it will turn out liquidy, and we’ll have to add more starch – the key is just to adjust the ingredients until you get a consistency you can work with. Hope that helps!
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Thanks, Russ. Will give it another go soon!
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I would love to try this, but I’m working with a gluten free diet AND an autoimmune sensitivity to coconut. That combination seems to be killing a whole lot of possible recipes. Do you (or anyone else) have some suggestions of what I might try to substitute for the coconut milk and oil??
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Russ. I also have coconut sensitivity and would like to know if you have a suggestion for replacing the coconut milk. I’m okay with dairy (thankfully!).
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Alex, if you’re okay with dairy I would check out my pizza crust recipe, which is what this flatbread recipe is based on: https://thedomesticman.com/2012/12/13/cast-iron-skillet-grain-and-gluten-free-pizza/
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Trying this with garlic powder (not as much) as my nutritional yeast became a home for pantry moths. It sure does smell good!
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This stuff was……UH…MAZE…ZING! I have worked with tapioca starch before and was nervous about being able to “knead” it out and I was impressed with its simplicity to make, bake and eat! Thank you! Everyone in the house, while not all Paleo, loved it! Thanks for a quicker replacement for other Paleo breads:)
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This was awesome and really easy to make. Had it with balsamic and olive oil.
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Would I use the same amount of arrowroot powder as tapioca?
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Yes, I would use the same amount initially, although you might need a little more once you have it in dough form to get a more dough-like consistency.
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Could you pass along the recipe of your cauliflower rice with coconut milk, cinnamon and raisins too?
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Hi Linda, I don’t have a recipe like that. There is a cauliflower rice recipe in my cookbook, but I don’t have one online. I like Melissa Joulwan’s recipe: http://theclothesmakethegirl.com/2014/03/25/roasted-cauliflower-rice/
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Did anyone else’s turn out like a hockey puck? It was so hard and dry! The only changes I made were to omit the nutritional yeast, add about 2 more tbsp of coconut milk since the dough seemed really dry and bake at 425 degrees for about 19 min (my oven can’t get to 500 degrees without setting off my smoke alarm) and broil for 4 min to try to get the top brown. Was it the broiling that made it so hard??
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Well that’s embarrassing- I somehow read 20 min in the oven but I just retread the recipe and I guess it’s 10 min. Don’t over bake it people ;)
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Thanks so much for this recipe – it came out perfectly even w/o nutritional yeast. I live in Ecuador where tapioca starch is really typical (we have pan de yuca which is probably similar to the Brazilian cheese bread this is based on). Great recipe!
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Thanks for the recipe! I tried it tonight with arrowroot instead of tapioca. The top and bottom of the flatbread got crispy, but the middle was sort of translucent…kind of like uncooked dough. Is the middle supposed to be like this or did I not roll it out thin enough?
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This is delicious and really hits the spot when I want “bread”. Very easy recipe to put together. I baked mine at 450deg for 8 minutes and it came out perfectly! thank you!
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Hello! Any and all tips woudl be greatly appreciated! I tried making this bread in anticipation of biting into somethign delicious! Unfortunately…. I coudl barely cook it to find out if it were delicious :\ I followed this recipe and my dough seemed rather sticky. (not sure how it is supposed to be). That being said, I tried cooking the bread in a pan on the stove top, in a well oiled pan… However the bread it stuck to the pan like it was holding on for dear life and burned… my fire alarm went off and everything…. was a disaster. I honestly dont have a stone to cook this one, so I am wondering how other people are doing it without it sticking to the pan.
Thanks in advance for your help!!!!!!
Brad
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Brad, the recipe calls for baking it in the oven, not on a stovetop…do you have access to an oven? I’ve never had any problem with it sticking to a dish.
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I have access to an oven, I suppose i just wanted to try it on a stove top, thinking it would be the same concept. I will try it in the oven next time! Is the dough supposed to be very sticky though? Or should it be mold-able like regular dough. Thanks so much!
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Brad, it will be sticky and a bit runny, depending on the ambient temperature in your kitchen (the warmer it is, the runnier it will be). Once you throw it in the oven it should firm up just fine. Good luck!
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thanks for the tip! Can’t wait to try it again! Appreciate it :)
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I just tried this and the flavor is great! It was my first time baking with tapioca flour so I was totally clueless, though. I thought the dough was too dry so I only baked half and when it came out gummy like some others described, I added more coconut milk to the remaining dough. It still came out gummy. I measure and weigh everything when baking so I know my ingredients and lack of tapioca baking knowledge are to blame here. ;) If I lived in the US, I’d just buy some Bob’s Red Mill tapioca starch and the coconut milk you linked to but unfortunately, I’m currently living in Germany.
I’ve read all the comments and saw that the dough should be dry but not crumbly. So should it not be kind of pliable, similar to wheat-based dough? The first half of dough was kind of like Play-Dough and once I added more milk, it was definitely more pliable but still just as gummy. So I picked off all the crispy crust and had a ball. :D I can’t wait to try again!
By the way, I saw the Tom Kha Gai / Paleo Takeout post on Gutsy by Nature and have eaten that for breakfast every day since then. I also bought your book and have tried a few recipes and I’ve loved them all! I just started AIP so I really appreciate all the time you took to come up with those modifications. It’s making this AIP thing much less painful and even fun! Thank you! :)
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I made this yesterday and it was gone in a few hours :) going to make it again today! Yum!
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The flavor is fantastic! Mine came out a little chewy on the underside, but I cut it into small strips, and cooked it a bit longer, flipping the pieces every few minutes and that helped. Thanks for a great recipe!
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Hi Russ – I love this bread, but I’ve become sensitive to coconut milk….any ideas for a substitution? Thanks! Camille
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Hi Russ or anybody can you please confirm yes or no is the middle supposed to be pink and gooey. 1st batch was measured to 1/4″ thickness or 6mm and baked at 260c/ 500f using bobs red mill and baked for 10mins. Two batches the second at 4mm still gooey? Thoughts please
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When I added the coconut milk back to the flour, it wasn’t very doughy. It seemed rather dry. I used the amount recipe called for, should i try more milk next time?
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I didn’t have a pizza stone, so I fried these in a little bit of olive oil instead. I got great elephant ear memories from the resulting bread rounds. A great treat to fight to carb cravings.
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Hi Russ, how do you think this would do with cassava flour? Would you use the same amount?
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Hi TSnow, straight cassava flour will be too crumbly on its own for this recipe. Instead, I would recommend using half of each (or half cassava flour and half arrowroot starch), which would give a nice texture and pliability to the bread.
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Thank you.
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Hello,
Just thought you would want to know, peppers are not AIP-friendly during the initial elimination phase, so maybe modify the recipe and in the ingredients add “(omit for AIP)” next to the pepper.
:)
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Jillian, thanks for pointing it out – I thought I had changed this years ago! It’s fixed now.
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I’m on the Repairvite diet and can’t have yeast. Will this recipe work without the yeast?
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Would these do well in the freezer? Like if I made several batches and then froze some to have on hand later?
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Yes, I think they’ll freeze well – I recommend separating them with parchment paper so they don’t stick together.
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I love this flatbread. I’ve been AIP over 2 months now and this is my go to “bread”. I make it about once a week, eat about a quarter of it straight out of the oven, and use it for leftovers with my meals. I think the flavor is really great. It’s very difficult not to eat the whole thing right out of the oven! Thank you for your recipes. We like the Gyro meat from Paleo takeout and Pollo al Ajillo (with omissions for AIP), they taste good to the rest of the family who are not AIP.
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Do you use canned coconut milk or the dairy alternative carton kind?
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I use canned, but either version will work fine!
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Oh my gosh! Delicious! !! Thank you soooo much!!!
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I love this! I used ground up roasted organic almonds instead of nutritional yeast. It is wonderful!
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One of my favourite recipes that I’ve adjusted in a few ways to suit my dietary requirements and allergies:
No nutritional yeast – i’m allergic to yeast ;-)
I add various flavours depending on what cuisine I’m having – cumin and fresh coriander, or oregano / basil for pizza base etc..
This recipe works well if you swap the 1/2 cup of tapioca for ground flaxseed meal, it comes out super spongey almost like a pitta bread. I make them into small pitta bread circles for dipping into curries or soups.
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I love this bread so much! Great flavour, lovely crunch and a bit of gooeyness in the middle. I see lots of people concerned it isn’t cooked right when it’s chewy in the middle but for me that is one of the best parts about the bread. I sometimes use minced garlic and mixed herbs instead of rosemary and oregano and that’s really nice. I also tried a sweet version with honey and cinnamon. It was nice but nowhere near as good as the savoury version. Thanks Russ! Ps your AIP Tom Kha is also absolutely amazing.
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I am on AIP diet and I’ve been enjoying this recipe but I think I’m noticing I have an intolerance to coconut. Could it be made with water or another liquid and stay AIP?
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I just use boiled water and turns out the same. Super yummy!
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Does this work as leftovers? Can it be successfully served reheated?
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This sounds great. will be making it tomorrow. Any thoughts on using cassava flour? Thank you!
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My family loves this recipe – we’ve been making it every weekend for years. I do AIP so I eat it as flatbread with olive oil and make pizza with it for the rest of the family. My husband says it’s so much better than regular pizza crust. We love to make it with 1 cup of tapioca starch and 1/2 cup of cassava flour – really helps the elasticity, but tastes so good too.
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Thanks so much for sharing your recipe – has made life on AIP so much nicer. :)
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Hi,
Any suggestions for a chewy/ gummy inside? We use Bob’s tapioca starch and Whole Food’s Coconut Milk. The flavor is good, but the consistency isn’t great. Thanks!
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I couldn’t get rid of the gummy centre, so rolled it super thin & baked it til crisp….delicious crackers!
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