Homemade Vegan Sweet Potato Flatbread

This homemade vegan sweet potato flatbread recipe can be baked or fried with 4 ingredients, including your favorite whole wheat or gluten-free flour.

Jump to:

• ⭐ Recipe Highlights
• 📋 Ingredients and Notes
• ♨️ How to cook sweet potatoes
• 🔪 Pro tips & notes
• 💭 Common Questions
• 🍴 Serving suggestions
• 🌡️ Storage
• ⏲️ Reheating
• 📖 Related recipes
• Recipe

⭐ Recipe Highlights

Baked or fried. After you roll the dough into your desired shapes, you can bake them for a thicker, chewier texture. You can also roll them a little thinner and fry them. The moisture in the mashed sweet potatoes resists sticking, so you can make rollable sweet potato tortillas.

Moist and chewy. Sweet potatoes create a heartier texture than regular potatoes used in potato tortillas. This makes them amenable to making quick flatbread pizzas that stand up to sauce and stacks of toppings.

Regular, gluten-free, or flour-free. We usually use whole wheat flour for making flatbread; however, you can use different flours, including gluten-free fours or blends. If you want no flour, consider chickpea flour or quinoa flour.

📋 Ingredients and Notes

Sweet potatoes – Use sweet potatoes, yams, or purple sweet potatoes. Because sweet potatoes can vary widely, use 2 medium potatoes as a guide. Ultimately, you want enough to make 2 cups of mashed sweet potatoes. Of course, if you end up with more (or less), it just means a difference in the number or size of the flatbread.

Flour – This recipe uses whole wheat flour because it's less refined and loaded with fiber and protein. As noted, you can use any flour you like. Lighter or more refined flours, such as almond flour, may require more. For example, chickpea flour yields a sticky dough, so you'll likely need an extra cup to form a manageable, soft dough. You could also mix blended oats for oat flour and all-purpose flour.

Baking powder – A little baking powder acts as a leavening agent to lift the flour, making the flatbread airier. Using it, you'll notice air pockets form when you cook them. They will flatten as they cool. Baking powder is optional for this recipe.

Salt – If you are salt-free, you can leave the salt out; however, salt balances the sweetness of the potatoes and makes the flour taste better.

♨️ How to cook sweet potatoes

There are five ways you can prepare sweet potatoes for mashing:

1. Simmer – Peel and cube the sweet potatoes. Place them in a large pot, covered with cold water. Bring the water to a boil, then turn down the heat. Cover and simmer the potatoes until they are fork tender.
2. Steam – Add peeled and cubed sweet potatoes to a steamer basket. Fill a pot with water not covering the basket. Bring the water to a boil, cover, and steam the sweet potatoes for about 15 minutes until they are fork tender.
3. Bake whole – Scrub the sweet potatoes and pierce them with a fork. Place them on a baking tray with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Sweet potatoes are notoriously messy when baking. You can also use a glass baking dish. Bake them at 425 degrees (220 C) for 45 to 50 minutes until they are soft and easily pierced with a fork.
4. Baked halved – I used this method to make twice-baked sweet potatoes and am sold on it. Scrub and cut the sweet potatoes in half lengthwise. Lay them flat on a baking tray with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Bake at 425 degrees for 25-30 minutes.
5. Microwave – This is the quickest and easiest method. Scrub the potatoes, pierce them a few times with a fork, then place them on a microwave-safe plate. Cook them for 5 minutes. Turn them over and cook for another minute if they are not super-soft.

🔪 Pro tips & notes

• Once the sweet potatoes are cooked, transfer the cubes to a large bowl or use a spoon to clean out the skins if you've baked them. Use a potato masher to mash the potatoes until they are smooth. You can also use a hand beater or food processor to accomplish this task.
• It's a good idea to measure the amount of mashed sweet potatoes you end up with. This will guide the amount of flour you'll need. If you end up with more than 2 cups, adjust the baking powder and salt accordingly.
• Add 2 cups of flour, baking powder, and salt to another medium bowl. Mix the dry ingredients and then add the sweet potatoes. Measure out another cup of flour and keep it handy because you're about to get your hands messy.
• Use your hands and mix the sweet potatoes and flour. It's gonna be sticky and messy. Remember that extra cup of flour? Add it as you mix until you have a dough that doesn't stick to your hands and can form a ball. I used nearly another full cup of whole wheat flour for 2 cups of sweet potatoes.
• A note about flour: The amount you'll need depends on your flour. Don't panic if you use more than 3 cups. Just keep working the dough until you have a manageable dough ball.
• It’s easiest to separate the dough into equal pieces if you roll it with your hands into a cylinder. Then cut it and form little balls. Do all this dough work on a lightly floured surface.
• Use a rolling pin just your hands to form flat, round flatbread. Try to keep them about ¼ inch thick.
• To use a tortilla press: If you are making wraps, you may want to use a tortilla press. In my experience, you are better off making a stiff dough that you can get the sweet potato tortilla off the press and into your frying pan. Use parchment paper to cover the bottom and top of the dough ball.

Baking flatbread

Baking is a great way to cook flatbread because they can all be done in one go, and the flatbread tends to brown evenly. It’s a preferred method for thicker flatbread. You may need to use more than one baking sheet. Line them, so they are easy to flip. Bake at 425 degrees for 8 minutes. Then, flip them over and bake for another 4-5 minutes.

Frying flatbread

Heat your pan over medium heat. Then add a flatbread right in the middle and let it cook for about 2 minutes. Then flip it and cook for another minute. The flatbread should be brown and firm.

Watch the heat of the pan. Once it starts to get hot, you can quickly burn flatbread. Try to coordinate the process so that while you cook one flatbread, roll or press another.

💭 Common Questions

🍴 Serving suggestions

Sweet potato flatbread makes a delicious side dish with curry, soup, or stew. Perhaps our favorite is using them as a base for individual flatbread pizzas. We like making them with hummus, artichoke pesto, Pesto Rosso, or leftover French onion dip or black bean dip. Then add chopped veggies and garnish with cilantro or parsley. It's on!

🌡️ Storage

Store flatbread in an airtight container and keep them in the refrigerator if the room temperature is hot. Flatbread will keep fresher for longer in the fridge – about 7 days.

If you freeze flatbread, wrap each individually in plastic wrap or keep them in a freezer bag. Separate each flatbread with a small piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap. This makes thawing easier, and you can just grab a few flatbreads when you want them.

⏲️ Reheating

Baked flatbread can quickly be reheated in the oven. If you are making mini-pizzas and are cooking the veggies, you don't need to preheat cooked flatbread. They'll heat as the toppings cook. Wrap them in foil to keep them from getting too brown.

📖 Related recipes

Print

Recipe