Sourdough Tortillas
on Oct 09, 2024
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If you’re looking for a fun and easy way to use your sourdough starter, these homemade sourdough tortillas are just what you need! Made with only five basic ingredients—sourdough starter, water, flour, salt, and butter—these homemade tortillas are soft, flavorful, and incredibly versatile. Whether you’re using active sourdough starter or discard, these tortillas come together quickly, making them perfect for tacos, wraps, or as a base for flatbreads.
These homemade sourdough tortillas are a simple recipe that transforms your sourdough starter or discard into soft, flavorful flatbreads. With just five basic ingredients, you can create versatile tortillas perfect for an easy taco night, flavorful chicken ranch wraps for lunch, or just as a base for creative flatbreads.
The best part? You don’t need a tortilla press; a rolling pin will do the job beautifully, making this an accessible recipe for cooks of all levels. The dough can be used immediately after mixing or can be left to go through the fermentation process for 12-24 hours, allowing you to fit the recipe into your schedule.
🍞🥖 New to sourdough? Find out how to make your own sourdough starter here, find my most popular and basic bread recipe here, and search the sourdough archive here.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Simple Ingredients: Just five everyday ingredients are all you need to create these delicious tortillas.
- No Tortilla Press Needed: You can easily roll these out with a rolling pin—no special equipment required.
- Use Sourdough Starter Discard OR Fresh Starter: Perfect for using up any leftover sourdough starter you have on hand or you can just use your starter, whichever is easier for you.
- Versatile: Great for tacos, quesadillas, wraps, or even as a side for soups and stews.
Recipe Ingredients
- Sourdough starter or sourdough discard
- Water
- Butter – Substitute another fat if needed.
- Salt – I prefer fine sea salt.
- All-purpose flour
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Easy Sourdough Tortillas
Step 1: Combine the ingredients and knead until the dough is smooth and slightly elastic.
Step 2: Let dough rest for 12-24 hours in a greased bowl covered with a tea towel.
Step 3: Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces, shaping each into a ball. Roll out each of the dough balls on a lightly floured work surface until about 1/4-inch thick.
Step 4: Cook in a preheated skillet over medium to medium-high for 1 minute on each side until they are puffy and golden brown. Keep warm in a towel while cooking the rest.
Recipe FAQs
Yes! This recipe works beautifully with sourdough discard or active starter, making it a great way to reduce food waste.
Store leftover tortillas in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days, or freeze them for up to a month. Reheat them in a skillet before serving.
Butter adds richness and flavor, but you can substitute it with olive oil or another fat if you’d like.
Expert Tips
- Rolling the Dough: For the best results, roll your dough as thin as possible without tearing. The thinner they are, the more like traditional store-bought tortillas they will be. If the dough is trying to pull back in on itself when you are rolling, try patting out all of the dough into discs and letting them rest for 10 minutes before rolling them again.
- Multiple Skillets: To speed up cooking, consider using multiple cast iron skillets at once. This makes the process faster and more efficient.
- Flour Choice: Both all-purpose and whole wheat flour work well in this recipe, but for lighter, fluffier tortillas, stick with unbleached all-purpose flour.
More Sourdough Recipes to Consider
Sourdough Recipes
Sourdough Cinnamon Swirl Bread – A Perfect Breakfast Loaf
Sourdough Recipes
No Knead Sourdough Bread {Easy Beginner’s Recipe}
Sourdough Recipes
How to Feed a Sourdough Starter: Prepping for Perfect Loaves
Sourdough Recipes
Soft & Fluffy Sourdough Challah Bread
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Sourdough Tortillas
Ingredients
- 1 cup 200 g sourdough starter or sourdough discard
- 3/4 cup 180 g water
- 1/4 cup butter, 60 g, melted
- 1.5 tsp 11 g fine sea salt
- 3 cups 405 g unbleached all-purpose
Instructions
- In a stand mixer with a dough hook (or by hand), combine the sourdough starter, water, melted butter, salt, and flour. Knead for 3 minutes in the mixer, or about 6 minutes by hand, until the dough is smooth and slightly elastic. You made need to add a little more flour depending on the thickness of your starter or if using sourdough discard.
- Transfer the dough to a greased bowl that is not metal, cover with a damp tea towel, beeswax wrap, or plastic wrap, and let it rest at room temperature for 12-24 hours. You can also use this dough right away without a long rest period! See notes for details.
- The next day, divide the dough into 12 equal portions and shape each one into a ball.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll each dough ball into a thin circle, about 1/4 inch thick. Try to make the tortillas as thin as you can without tearing the dough.
- Preheat a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Cook each tortilla for about 1 minute on each side, until they puff up and develop light golden spots.
- Cover the cooked tortilla with a clean dish towel while cooking the others to keep it warm and the little bit of steam they make keeps them soft.
- These tortillas are best enjoyed warm, but they can be reheated in a skillet or oven. Use them for tacos, wraps, or as a flatbread base for your favorite toppings!
Notes
- You don’t have to wait for these to ferment overnight, you can use the dough right away after they are mixed in the stand mixer. I often do that! They are great both ways. And if I don’t have a full 12 hours but remember in the morning, I’ll often just mix them up and let them sit at long as I have until dinner. They are really flexible.
- You can use either active sourdough starter or sourdough discard for this recipe. I prefer to use active starter because it has a milder flavor. If you are using discard, you may need to add a few tablespoons of flour to adjust for the thinner consistency. I like to use discard that is no more than 10 days old and has been kept in the fridge, the fresher the better in my opinion.
- If your skillet isn’t seasoned well and things are sticking, you can add a little butter or oil to the pan to help them not stick to the pan.
- Both all-purpose and whole wheat flour work well in this recipe, but for lighter, fluffier tortillas, stick with unbleached all-purpose flour.
