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I made this tonight to accompany a corn chowder. I usually make corn bread but switched it up. It was just as described and my whole family devoured it and asked for more!
Maren
Hello and welcome and I’m happy to report that, yes! you CAN make the most amazing, crispy, golden brown, flaky, bready, versatile dipping / scooping / rolling / topping flatbread called socca with just one ingredient.
Thank you for asking.
Socca is brand new to me as of a few months ago when some friends made it for us. It is kind of like a thinner, more crispy naan, or a thicker, more crispy tortilla. It’s French, I believe? It’s what I’m dipping in my chili in that first photo. Because I’m sure the French would love that?
Socca is:
- golden and crispy
- nice and thin
- still bready enough to not feel like a cracker
- embarrassingly easy
- gluten free
- my new obsession
I know the sticklers are out there, and yes, technically, it’s four ingredients. But there’s a very good chance that water, olive oil, and salt are already in your pantry, right?
So our singular ingredient focus is on this guy: CHICKPEA FLOUR.
I have been heavily influenced by my friend Melissa and her Minimalist Kitchen movement, and buying a different / new-to-me ingredient just for one recipe (like chickpea flour for socca) is not how I roll.
But I make exceptions to that new-ingredient rule. Such as:
- Chinese five-spice for egg roll bowls
- Harina blanca (pre-cooked cornmeal) for arepas
- Good quality canned salmon for salmon burgers
- Espresso powder for brownies and peanut butter pies
And now, chickpea flour for socca.
Here we go. You ready?
How To Make Socca:
Whisk your (basically one) ingredients together.
Now, pour into a pan with hot oil.
Bake, and done.
You guys, I could list almost every Pinch of Yum recipe here as something that socca would go perfectly with. Soups, salads, wraps, bowls… the whole fridge, pretty much?
So far, I’ve used socca as my scooper for this ancho turkey chili, a nice little side-carb-action for these roasted veg bowls with green tahini, a salad-crisper for this avocado kale caesar, and an excellent dipper for this ridiculous tomato soup.
Or there’s always the eat-it-straight-out-of-the-hot-pan option. Golden brown flaky shards all over your shirt, that mix of crispy and bready in each bite, and melt-in-your-mouth savory flavor… hard yes.
One ingredient socca, here you come.
Check Out Our Video For How To Make One-Ingredient Socca:
One Ingredient Socca
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
One Ingredient Socca! Amazing, crispy, golden brown, flaky flatbread that requires just ONE ingredient. Just mix, pour, bake, and done!
Ingredients
- 1 cup chickpea flour (affiliate link)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (and extra for the pan)
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cups water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Whisk all ingredients until smooth.
- Pour 1-2 tablespoons additional olive oil into a large cast iron skillet. Pop the skillet in the oven for five minutes to heat the oil. (See notes on skillet sizing.)
- Pour the batter into the hot, oiled pan and swirl to spread evenly across the pan. Depending on pan size, you might want to do this in two batches (see notes). Bake for 15-18 minutes, until golden and crispy around the edges. Annnnd you’re done! Good luck not eating the whole hot, crispy thing in one sitting!
Notes
Pan size: The size of your cast iron greatly impacts the end product and how thick / thin / crispy it will be. I used a 10-inch cast iron skillet and I actually split the batter in half and made two separate soccas in order to get them extra thin and crispy. In theory, you could pour all of the batter in and cook it all in one shot. But personal preference: those crispy, thin edges are EVERYTHING. So I prefer to split it into two batches when working with my 10-inch cast iron skillet.
Pan type: I have only used my cast iron for this. (affiliate link) I think it could work with another oven-safe skillet but I have not tried it. Let us know in the comments if you try it!
How To Clean a Cast Iron Pan After Cooking: (My Go-To, Everyday Method)
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Side
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: French
Keywords: socca, socca bread, chickpea flour bread
Link above is an affiliate link!
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our collection of easy baking recipes. Check it out!
Can Socca be made a day ahead
Is this supposed to be gooey on the inside? It’s been cooking for like 25 minutes and still wet.
Hi Joseph! It should be crispy!
Query. How much is a cup in grams. Only the liquid part of your recipe changed when I requested metric and there’s one thing that confuses the rest of the world and that’s how a cup weighs differently for many ingredients. Love your recipes but have a lot of difficulties with the quantities needed
Yes the French did import the recipe but its origins lie in Italy. Genovese specifically, where it is called farinata.
A moment on Google could help you from making these mistakes which you have done a few times. If you are going to talk about things outside of the recipe make the smallest effort to ensure you are giving correct information
One Ingredient Socca… that contains 4 ingredients lol
Oh Lindsay this is so darn deadly good!!! I’m trying not to eat the other half. I ate it right after I cut it out of the pan!!! I’m impatient for good food. I will make this a lot. I really like that it’s got 9 grams of fiber. I don’t buy bread and this is perfect! That you for sharing 😋
I’d like to make this for 6 people… would you recommend making 1.5 recipes and baking in batches? And what would be the best way to keep them warm so I can serve everyone at the same time?? Thanks! I’m excited to try this for my gluten free friend!
This looks delicious but unfortunately, I can’t eat chickpea flour….if anyone has made this with regular all purpose white flour, please let me know. Thanks!
This looks so good-I ran out to get the garbanzo flour but all could find was a garbanzo fava flour. I think that should be ok-I know it will alter the taste a bit-it’s Bobs Red Mill so I know it’s good quality. Thoughts?
Anxious to try
This would work in a muffin tray. I cook yorkshire puddings in muffin trays and they come out great! just have to make sure your oil is nice and hot before you put them in.
you are right the socca is french , from the south of my country , from the city of Nice, this dish is named farinata in genova in Italy and you can find other versions of that “flat bread” with chickpea flour all around mediterranean sea , if you like chickpea flour you may try panisse an other way yo use your leftover chickpea flour (i have some recipes on my blog of panisse , my favorite is this one :https://keskonmangemaman.blogspot.com/2017/07/toasts-de-panisse-mousse-danchoiade.html ), excuse me for my english… i’m french ^^
This is absolutely delish! Made it tonight with the amazing smoked lentil soup. Just in love! Thanks as always!
Glad to hear it, Rachel!
I absolutely loved this! Made it into two batches per your suggestion…my only question is, how can you reheat the leftovers?!?!
Has anyone tried cooking this solely on the stovetop? We are under kitchen renovation right now and I am without an oven. I may try it anyway, but just wondering if I could get a quick answer! Thanks!
I used a pan other than cast. I used a 10 inch Calphalon and it worked great! I heated 3 pans, a 6 and 8 in. cast and the 10 in. Cal. then added the oil and heated for 5 min. I made a double recipe. It came out great. I should have let it get a bit crispier. I used te 10 inch for pizza for my husbands lunch. He liked it! Thank you! The cook times varied by size incrementally.
You wanted to know if anyone uses a different pan than cast iron. I did. It was a 10 inch Calphalon. I doubled the batter and used a six in. cast, a 8 in. cast and 10 in Cal. Heated the pans then added the oil then heated for 5 more minutes. It worked great in the Calphalon. It is a wonderful bread. I used the larger one to make my husband a pizza for lunch. I should have baked them a tad longer to get them crispier. They are so yummy though. Thank you!
Ah…I had forgotten this flatbread. Thanks for the reminder. I’m going to be very happy today. Woohooo
It’s nice when i made it though i don’t really eat chickpea. The thing was surprisingly sweet and i am luckily a sweet tooth.(Actually it’s monagasque.)
Easy, delicious, a smidge salty so keep that in mind for what you pair it with. Will definitely make again!
How should you store this/reheat?
Lovely site and enthusiastic host make it very watchable even if the recipes aren’t really what they are suppose to be
Socca or farinata (Nice or Genoa) is a soft ish pancake like mix that is eaten plain (just pepper) or check it out with
stracciatella Which is a soft mozzarella from the Puglia region south of Italy
The mix should be rested for more than 30mn. I leave it over night or morning for evening
It should be crisp outside and soft inside like a crème caramel texture inside
In Marseille they do the panisse (more like stick shape with the same mix adding fried onions
I experimented with swapping the oil that goes into the socca with a dollop of tahini, I don’t regret that one bit! Doesn’t make any difference to the fat content, but it is adding a bit of sneaky calcium, and it’s yum! 😀 I’ve also cut the salt down by half without any ill-effects. 🙂
My daughter and I are gluten free ☹️ and I bought a bag of gram flour today And then looked up good recipes. This one came up and I tried it: wow!!! Super easy / super yummy and the top tips were so right (use half quantities in a 10 inch skillet). I used a non- cast iron frying pan that can go in the oven and it worked brilliantly . Thank you SO much. We will definitely be making this again … and again.
Kate (from the UK 🇬🇧)
So happy to hear you like the recipe, Kate!
“Socca” is new to me too. Thanks for sharing! It looks delicious.
Enjoy!