Gluten Free Fry Bread

One of the hard things when first having to go gluten free is the feeling of losing out on memories or opportunities to connect through food. Sometimes there are really strong memories associated with specific foods. My dad’s fry bread is one of those specific foods that holds so many fond memories for me.

My dad makes the best Navajo (Dine) fry bread. He served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on the Navajo (Dine) Reservation in the New Mexico area in the late 50’s. It was while he was there that he first learned to make fry bread. Later, he moved with his small family to Southeast Utah–where I grew up. We were again close to the Navajo (Dine) Reservation and ate fry bread at home, at the summer festivals, and during half time at high school basketball games. When I was a teenager, he taught me how to make fry bread. As he showed me how to shape the dough, he told stories of how we had to leave a hole in the dough in order to let the devil out because that was what the Navajo (Dine) people did with everything–their fry bread and their rugs. I treasure those memories and times I got to learn from him.

But, now that I am gluten free, there are struggles when I try to replicate foods that mean so much to me, especially breads. Either they fall apart or the texture is just way different. Honestly, sometimes I don’t even bother–I just avoid it or make something that is supposed to taste different. But I really, really wanted to try to make fry bread and let the taste take me back to my childhood. So, I used my dad’s original recipe and changed the milk to plant-based, added real mashed potatoes instead of potato flakes, and used a gluten free flour blend in place of the flour. And while I have tried to avoid frying foods for the last several years, I decided to just go ahead and do it. I used avocado oil with a high heat index to do it. And the results were AMAZING! The fry bread tasted so good. It didn’t taste exactly like the original, but close enough. I was so happy.

So the last time I visited with my parents, I asked my dad to make some fry bread with me. He made his original recipe and I made the modified one. We used different skillets for frying, but we did it at the same time. The experience made me feel like I could connect through food again and it helped my heart heal. Thank you, dad!!

How to Make Gluten Free Fry Bread

Equipment Needed:

Glass or Stainless Steel mixing bowl

Cast iron skillet

Silicone tongs

Instructions

In a glass or stainless steel mixing bowl, add the warm milk and mashed potato and stir until dissolved. If using potato flakes, warm the milk in a saucepan or a small glass bowl before adding to the mixing bowl. Let the potato flakes sit in the warm milk until dissolved and it begins to thicken.

Add remaining ingredients and mix and knead until a dough forms. More flour may be needed to make a soft dough. Let the dough sit, covered, for 30 minutes. 

Heat the avocado oil in a cast iron skillet on the medium setting until hot and ready for frying.

Pinch off a 2-inch piece of dough and begin to form into a flat round. Keep it around a half an inch thick. You may need to use oil or flour on your hands to keep them from sticking. If you want a bigger fry bread, go ahead an experiment with the size of the round. 

Carefully place the formed dough round into the hot oil. Cook for around 1-2 minutes or until the bottom begins to brown and crisp. Flip the fry bread and cook on the other side for 1-2 minutes more. 

Remove from the oil and let drain on a plate with paper towels. Repeat with the remainder of the dough. Depending on the size of the rounds, more than one fry bread can be cooked at once.

Serve warm!

The fry bread pictured above has gluten free on the left and my dad's white flour ones on the right. I was excited that they even looked similar!