Pork rind tortillas: A keto-friendly recipe that replicates our go-to shells for tacos, fajitas and more

While diets like keto and Whole30 can seem restrictive, switching up your regimen may not have to mean giving up all of your go-to comfort foods. Case in point, this recipe for tortillas from Leanne Vogel’s cookbook The Keto Diet. Along with being flour, dairy and oil-free, they’re soft and bendy just like the traditional kind, meaning they’ll make the perfect shell for your favourite taco or fajita fillings when you’re just not in the mood for another lettuce wrap.

Bendy Tortillas

By Leanne Vogel

To make a successful batch of Bendy Tortillas, follow the key steps outlined below. Like, for real; you have to follow these steps or you’ll end up with crispy, burnt tortillas that don’t bend, and you’ll be frustrated.

• You’ll need an 8-inch (20 cm) nonstick frying pan (I use a ceramic-coated pan). If you want to save loads of time, have more than one nonstick frying pan on hand so that you can cook multiple tortillas at once. I have three pans, so a batch of tortillas takes me under an hour to prepare.
• If you notice that the edges of your tortillas are crisping or browning, the heat is too high. The key to all this is patience. Low heat and a longer cooking time create the best tortilla. This allows the ingredients to “gum” together, resulting in the perfect bendy tortilla.
• It’s imperative that you spread the batter thinly in the bottom of the pan. This helps the tortillas cook evenly and ensures that you don’t end up with tortillas that have an omelet-like texture. Spreading the batter thin is easy to do when you add it to a cool pan; however, if you add the batter to a hot pan, it will instantly begin cooking, making it difficult to maneuver and form a perfect circle. This is why the pan must be cooled between batches (and why having more than pan comes in handy).

Ingredients

• 1 ¹⁄з cups pork dust or roughly ground pork rinds
• 1 ¼ cups water
• 3 large eggs
• ½ tsp finely ground grey sea salt (optional)

Preparation

Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Transfer to a medium-sized bowl and set beside the stove.

Scoop 3 tablespoons of the batter into an 8-inch nonstick frying pan. Spread the batter evenly with the back of a spoon or by rotating the pan until the batter reaches the edges. Don’t allow the batter to go too far up the sides of the pan or it will burn. Once the batter is spread evenly, cover the pan and set over medium-low to low heat, closer to low.

Cook until the tortilla is easy to flip and lightly browned on the underside, 7 to 10 minutes. Flip the tortilla and cook, covered, for an additional 6 to 8 minutes, until lightly browned.

Transfer the tortilla to a cooling rack. Remove the pan from the heat and allow it to cool for a couple of minutes before repeating with the remaining batter. As the batter sits between batches, it will thicken slightly; that’s okay. If the batter gets too thick to spread easily, add a couple of drops of water until it reaches a similar consistency to when you initially prepared it.

Recipes excerpted from The Keto Diet by Leanne Vogel. Published by Victory Belt Publishing. Photos: Leanne Vogel.