Brazilian Tapioca Crepes (3 Colors)
Brazilian Tapioca Crepes are a street food with indigenous roots from my Northeast region in Brazil. They are made from a mixture of tapioca flour, water or juice, and salt, and then cooked for less than a minute in a skillet, making a budget-friendly breakfast, vegan snack, or gluten-free lunch or dinner.
Servings 1
Calories206.7 kcal
Cost $ 0.50 per person
Equipment
- 1 small nostick skillet
- 1 metal spatula with thin edges
- 1 Medium mixing bowl
- 1 blender ONLY if coloring the tapioca crepes with juice
Ingredients
For the Vegetable Juice
- ¾ cup water if you prefer to make your tapioca crepe white, use water only and skip making any vegetable juice.
- 1 cup baby spinach fully packed -- chopped kale (for the GREEN crepes). Or, peeled chopped beets (pink tapioca crepes) or baby carrots (yellow crepes). For making brown crepes, use prepared black coffee (liquid), unsweetened.
- A pinch of ground turmeric optional (only if using carrots)
For the Tapioca Crepes
- ½ cup tapioca flour If using pre-hydrated tapioca flour, you'll need less juice, about 1 to 1 ½ tablespoons, to color your crepes. Alternatively, you can swap tapioca flour with sour starch, or polvilho azedo, a by-product of the cassava root
- A pinch of table salt
Instructions
- Prepare the juice to color the tapioca crepes: In a blender, blend one of the vegetables (spinach, beets, or carrots) with water until smooth. Using a fine-mesh sieve, strain the liquid and discard the pulp (or use it to make something else). Reserve the strained juice. NOTE: If you prefer to prepare the most common type of tapioca which is white, simply use water instead of juice. The vegetable juices won't flavor the crepes. They only color the tapioca flour with natural food coloring.
- Prepare the tapioca crepes: Add the tapioca flour to a medium bowl. Then, combine a pinch of salt and 3 tablespoons of the strained juice, mixing them well with your fingers until homogeneous and moistened but not to the point of forming a uniform liquid slurry.
- Place a spoonful of the tapioca mixture in one of your hands and press it tightly. If it forms a fairly moist yet well-set dough that can crumble when placed back into the bowl, the consistency is correct. TIP: However, if it gets too soft or liquid like a slurry, stir in a little bit of the tapioca flour. If too dry, combine just a little bit more of the juice.
- Sieve the tapioca flour mixture and cook: Heat a small (5-½ inch diameter) non-stick skillet over medium-high heat for about 1-2 minutes or until hot. Place the wet tapioca flour in a medium sieve. Use one hand to hold the sieve over the skillet and the other to press/rub the starch through the sieve into the skillet.
- Sieve the starch in such a way that when it falls into the pan from the sieve it will form a uniform circle. Reduce the heat to medium.
- Let the heat bind and glue the grains so that the starch solidifies and forms a crepe/tortilla (pay close attention, because the crepe/tortilla will be ready in 15-30 seconds).
- Make sure that the edges have as much starch as the center- that way, the edges will not be prone to breakage. Flip the tapioca over using a metal spatula with thin edges and cook very briefly on the other side, or simply slide the tapioca crepe onto a plate.
- Fill the Brazilian crepes: Place on a plate, spread butter on one of the sides of the tapioca crepe, and fill with any filling of your choice such as chicken or tuna salad (with less mayo), scrambled eggs, melted cheese, shredded meats, Nutella with sliced strawberries, or peanut butter with sliced bananas, etc. TIP: If the filling is too wet, it will make the crepe break apart.
- If filling with shredded mozzarella cheese, place the tapioca crepe on a plate, spread butter on both sides, fill with shredded cheese, roll the tapioca crepes up (like an enchilada), or simply fold it like a taco, return to the skillet over medium heat, and let the cheese melt. Remove from heat and serve immediately.
- NOTE: Between making one tapioca crepe and the next, please remove the skillet from heat and wipe both the bottom and sides of the skillet clean with a wad of paper towels (being careful to not burn yourself), so that the next tapioca won't be browned by the singed leftover grains of starch.
- MEAL PREP AHEAD TIP: Store any leftover juice for later use in a Mason jar for up to 3-4 days in the fridge. Or, mix each juice with enough tapioca flour and store each in a separate airtight container in the fridge for up to 7 days.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- Polvilho Azedo/ Sour Starch/ Almidón Agrio (alternative tapioca starch) is available at local Latin Markets, Brazilian Stores, and online. It is naturally gluten-free.
- Brazilian tapioca crepes are better eaten right away. Otherwise, they will harden after cooling.
- Once cooled, the non-filled tapioca crepes may be stored in sealable plastic bags (with air removed as much as possible) or in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one day. You may use them as canapés (called beiju). But be aware they won’t be soft like when they were first made. I am not fond of beiju (hardened tapiocas) but you are welcome to form your own opinion.
- Make sure to mix in just enough liquid (water or vegetable juice) with the tapioca flour to obtain a fairly moist yet well-set dough that can crumble easily. Test the correct consistency by placing a spoonful of the mixture in one of your hands and pressing it tightly to form a dough cylinder or ball.
- Cook the Brazilian tapioca crepes in a nonstick skillet; otherwise, the moistened dough will stick to the bottom of the pan.
- Preheat the skillet over medium-high heat before start cooking your Brazilian crepes. Then, reduce the heat to medium when cooking them.
- Use a metal spatula with thin edges to flip the Brazilian crepes.
- Use a fine-mesh strainer to strain the tapioca flour mixture in such a way that when it falls into the hot skillet from the sieve it will form a uniform circle.
- Let the heat bind and glue the grains so that the tapioca starch solidifies and forms a crepe/tortilla (pay close attention, because the crepe/tortilla will be ready in 15-30 seconds).
- Make sure that the edges have as much starch as the center- that way, the edges will not be prone to breakage.
- Before making another tapioca wrap, remove the skillet from heat and wipe both the bottom and sides of the skillet clean with a crumpled paper towel so that the next tapioca won't be browned by the singed leftover grains of starch.
- Tuna salad
- Chicken salad
- Melted cheese (use any melting cheese such as mozzarella, cheddar, Pepper Jack, etc)
- Scrambled eggs
- Dulce de leche spread or peanut butter with sliced bananas, a drizzle of honey, and some chopped nuts
- Nutella and sliced or chopped strawberries
Nutrition
Calories: 206.7kcal | Carbohydrates: 53.3g | Protein: 0.9g | Fat: 0.1g | Saturated Fat: 0.02g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 23.7mg | Potassium: 179.4mg | Fiber: 0.7g | Sugar: 0.1g | Vitamin A: 2813.1IU | Vitamin C: 8.4mg | Calcium: 29.7mg | Iron: 1.5mg
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