Sourdough Flour Tortillas (made with discard or not)
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This sourdough flour tortilla dough couldn’t be simpler to mix up — truly it takes 5 minutes to stir together — and after a brief rest, it’s ready to be rolled and cooked. Homemade tortillas are so, so delicious, and so nice to have on hand for enchiladas and tacos of all kinds 🌮🌮🌮🌮
A few weeks ago, I pulled out a bag of my favorite Caramelo flour tortillas to inspect the ingredient list. I had known the company used only high-quality ingredients and very few of them, but I had forgotten if they used some sort of leavening agent, such as baking powder or soda. If you are unfamiliar, Caramelo tortillas char and blister so beautifully due to the presence of myriad air pockets throughout the dough.
It turns out Caramelo uses neither baking powder or soda. Their ingredient list includes: flour, sea salt, fat, and water.
How. Interesting. The simple, flour tortilla recipe I have been making for years calls for baking powder. The recipe works so well I never questioned the necessity of any of its five ingredients, but shortly after this ingredient investigation, I decided to make the flour tortillas without baking powder, and guess what? The tortillas cooked up just as beautifully as ever.
So if it’s not baking powder or some other leavening agent — a sourdough starter, yeast — then what makes a tortilla balloon so dramatically in a skillet?
The more I make tortillas, the more I realize it’s simply a matter of two things:
- Rolling the dough as thinly as possible. Truly: you want to roll until you can nearly see your work surface through the dough.
- Using a hot skillet. I alway find my first 3 or 4 tortillas never turn out as well as the remainder, and this, no doubt, is because my skillet isn’t hot enough initially.
That’s it! There’s no fancy mixing or rolling technique, no leavening agent required. Which might have you wondering:
Why use a sourdough starter to make tortillas?
For a few reasons:
- If you do a lot of sourdough baking, chances are you may find you have a bit of discard on your hands, which as long as it is not many days old, you can use in this recipe.
- Or you may find yourself having mistimed the feeding of your starter. In other words, maybe you fed your starter, but never got around to using it at its peak, and in the meantime, it has collapsed — this happens to me all the time. Rather than feed it again, you could use that collapsed starter in this recipe.
- Or maybe you have extra bubbling, very active starter that you’d like to put to use before you stash your starter back in your fridge.
Regardless if I am using super bubbly active starter or discard, the sour flavor is subtle. This is likely because there really isn’t a fermentation period. After you mix the dough, it rests for 30 minutes, a short period of time that allows the gluten to relax and makes rolling out the dough a teensy bit easier, (though you can get away with skipping this step if you are pressed for time.)
This recipe is a snap to throw together (as is the non-sourdough version), and I hope you give it a go soon, and then treat yourself to a pan of homemade enchiladas. So, so good.
What is the best pan for tortillas? A crepe pan!
I love my Le Creuset Toughened Nonstick Crepe Pan, which costs about $120, because it’s the perfect size for cooking tortillas, large or small. The slightly smaller Cuisinart 10-inch Crepe Pan is a less expensive alternative, at about $25. Note: It doesn’t come with the wooden spreader, which you don’t need for tortillas, and which I never use when making crepes anyway.
PS: If you are unfamiliar with the sourdough process, I have a free email course that covers the basics. Sign up here: Sourdough Demystified.
PPS: A Few Favorite Sourdough Bread Recipes
- Sourdough Pizza
- Sourdough Focaccia
- Sourdough Boule
- Sourdough Boule (Whole Wheat-ish)
- Sourdough Toasting Bread
PPPS: Easy, No-Knead Flour Tortillas
How to Make Sourdough Flour Tortillas
Here’s the play-by-play: Gather your ingredients: flour, salt, softened butter, water, and a sourdough starter.
Combine the ingredients and mix to form a sticky dough ball.
Turn dough out onto a floured work surface and knead gently to combine
Divide into 12 portions and roll each into a ball.
Transfer to a small floured board, if you wish — I do this to give myself more space on my work surface to roll out the tortillas. Cover with a tea towel and let rest 30 minutes to 2 hours.
Roll each ball out as thinly as possible. Each ball will roughly be about 8 inches in diameter.
You can layer the tortillas between sheets of parchment paper to give yourself more space.
I recently purchased a box of 8-inch square sheets of parchment. I really like the convenience of having smaller sheets on hand. Just a warning: I have only been able to re-use them once before they start losing their non-stick property.
Once your tortillas are rolled out, cook them in a hot, dry skillet for roughly 30 seconds a side, or until browned to your liking. I love using my Le Creuset nonstick crepe pan for this.
Store the tortillas in an airtight bag or container at room temperature for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Sourdough Flour Tortillas (made with discard or not)
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 to 12
Description
This recipe is adapted from this flour tortilla recipe, which is made with baking powder (as opposed to a sourdough starter). Regardless of which recipe you are using, there are two keys to success here:
- Roll the dough as thinly as possible.
- Get your skillet piping hot.
I love using my Le Creuset crepe pan for cooking tortillas.
Ingredients
- 210 g (1.5 heaping cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 7 g (1 1/4 teaspoons) kosher salt
- 56 g (1/4 cup) softened butter
- 100 g water (1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon)
- 100 g (1/2 cup) sourdough starter
Instructions
- Whisk flour and salt together in a medium bowl. Using the back of a fork, cut the butter into the flour, mixing and smushing it until it is well incorporated into the flour. You can use your hands if necessary to further incorporate the butter into the flour.
- Stir in the water and sourdough starter and mix with a spatula until a shaggy dough forms. Use your hands to gently knead the dough in the bowl, if necessary, to get the mixture to form a rough ball.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for another 1 to 2 minutes or until it is smooth and not sticking to the work surface.
- Cut the dough into 12 pieces for taco- or enchilada-sized tortillas or 6 pieces for burrito-sized tortillas. Shape each piece into a ball. (Video guidance here.)
- Cover with a very light kitchen towel or plastic wrap. Be careful that your room isn’t too hot. Let the dough rest 30 minutes and up to two hours (at room temperature or 24 hours in the fridge. If you need to store the in the fridge, transfer balls to an airtight container.)
- Roll out each ball to about 6 to 8 inches (taco size) or 10 to 12 inches (burrito size) in diameter, or till you can see the counter start to come through — in other words, roll them as thinly as possible.
- Heat a 12 inch non-stick or cast-iron pan (do not add any oil) on medium-high. Lay the tortilla in the pan and cook until it puffs and little brown spots on the underside appear. Turn with tongs or your fingers and cook again till lightly brown. Each tortilla takes about 60 seconds total to cook. If you like a bit of char, keep the tortilla in the skillet until it is charred on both sides. Note: Your first 3 to 4 tortillas may be on the pale side. This is just likely because your skillet isn’t up to temperature. Once you make a few, you’ll find your rhythm and adjust the heat as necessary depending on if you want more or less char.
- Once the tortillas cool, store them in an airtight bag or container at room temperature for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Tortilla, Bread
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Mexican, American
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
450 Comments on “Sourdough Flour Tortillas (made with discard or not)”
I’ve been making homemade tortillas for years, so I’m really looking forward to making this one. I usually use lard instead of butter. Have you used this recipe substituting butter for lard?
I have not but many other people have! Go for it 🙂
I grew up making flour tortillas. I am Hispanic. Tortillas were a staple in our house, more so than bread, and we only ever used lard. Traditional flour tortillas were made with lard – at least in our family. They will be fine. Also a tip if you are finding that your dough balls are getting a crust on the outside before you roll them all out, you can avoid this by first making all your dough balls and then putting a little lard, olive oil, or even butter on your hands and coating the dough ball while it waits its turn to be rolled out. I’ve done all three – lard, olive oil, and butter. All work well, but of course, I really loved the butter ones! So yes, lard will work just as well. I am going to give this recipe a try today – I need to get rid of some sourdough discard.
Curious if anyone has made these without any butter or fat in them?
Haven’t tried the recipe yet but wanted to thank you for listing both units of measurement!!!! This gal really appreciates it.
Sure thing!
These turned out super tasty and cooked up easily.
For me, it was a bit too salty so will reduce salt to 5g next time.
I also had to also heavily flour even when rolling between baking paper sheets
This recipe is a keeper and we all loved them, thanks!
Hi, just wondering what the blue on the tortillas is?
It’s just the charred spots on the tortillas beneath slightly visible through the tortilla on top.
These were amazing and came out perfect. So nice to add a sour dough recipe to the roster that doesn’t need to sit for hours!
Great to hear, Kristen 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks for writing.
These were tasty. I was curious to see if I could get more of a sour flavor so I tried sticking a few of the balls in the fridge for a couple of days, but it didn’t seem to make much of a difference except that the resulting tortillas seem to break more easily (though it’s also possible I just rolled them thinner).
Hi, so the entire point of me looking for a sourdough tortilla recipe is for the health benefits. You can’t be getting any benefits if the dough is only fermenting for 30 minutes. Can this recipe be used with an overnight or 8 hour fermentation time or something?
I’ve never tried but it’s worth a shot. It’s possible the dough will be stickier with a longer fermentation so you may need to use more flour when you’re rolling out the tortillas.
There are health benefits to it even if it didn’t ferment. The sourdough itself offers health benefits.
These are so good! My discard were whole wheat, so I was afraid it would affect the texture, but it turned out light and delicious. Definitely hoing to my recipe’s book. Thank you 🙂
Great to hear, Jessica!
Thanks for the great recipe! I have not made tortillas since I lived in CA, just across the border. We had a household of 12, so we made them every day. These are wonderful!
I made a double batch to use up all of my discard – so efficient. I am not sure I want to cook them all immediately.
I have a question about freezing: Is it better to freeze the dough in individual balls, in bulk, or to make the tortillas and freeze them already cooked?
Great to hear, Marie! I think it’s best to freeze the cooked tortillas. I don’t have great luck freezing sourdough dough.
Just made the dough (want to ferment for 24 hours in the fridge) but I accidentally melted the butter instead of softened it (it was frozen and I was using the microwave to soften). The dough is really sticky- do you think it’s salvageable? It’s for company tomorrow (I have store bought back-ups) so just wondering if I should spend the time cooking them up tomorrow, or cut my losses haha. Thanks!!
It should be fine! Sticky just means it needs a little more flour. Don’t be afraid to use flour when you divide the dough, roll the balls, and roll out the tortillas.
Made this tonight. My husband truly enjoyed it. I haven’t tried it yet. Not sure if I rolled it out too thin, but they did not puff up, or get pillowy. It’s ok. Sorta reminds me of a thinner version of naan bread or flatbread. I was just happy to use up some discard. May need to make more so that can get rid of discard I have left over.
Great to hear! I don’t think you did anything wrong… it’s possible your pan wasn’t hot enough?
I decided to change up my sourdough game this weekend and wanted to try your sourdough tortilla recipe/method after watching your video. I even bought a round Lodge cast iron griddle/crepe pan after watching that video! I’m a little mad that these tortillas are that delicious that I’ll never want to go back to store-made ones. Considering how many tortillas we go through in our house weekly, my new griddle will be getting a lot of use. I need more practice rolling out the tortillas and I really should have used the parchment paper method instead of just picking up and placing the rolled out tortillas on the griddle. Thanks for another fabulous recipe. I will try the non-sourdough version next.
Great to read all of this, Marisa! Thanks so much for writing and sharing this. So fun to have a new pan in the arsenal, too 🙂 🙂 🙂
An update to my comment: I’ve made this a few times now and my rolling-out game has not been strong since the dough was a little sticky and I had difficulty positioning them onto my griddle. I decided to re-watch your video. I realized that I had been severely under flouring when shaping and rolling out the dough and not flipping the dough several times in the process. Yesterday, made these again (this time with 3T of avocado oil) and very generously floured as I was rolling out the tortillas. Results were round, easy to handle, soft and supple (but with nice char) tortillas. And to think I almost succumbed to buying a tortilla press! No need – just follow the directions.
Great to read this update, Marisa! Thanks so much for writing and reporting back 🙂
Thank you! The tortillas were lovely! I made them last night for today; ‘s lunchbox. The only change is making it vegan with coconut oil (30ml instead of 60 since kid may complain about the oil fragrance) made rolls with hummus, mushrooms and black beans. I do use the softer whole wheat flour we grow here in India rather than the all-purpose flour
Great to hear! Thanks so much for writing and sharing all of these notes. Sounds delicious!!
Well, it’s a bit different, but I like it. My husband said it wasn’t bad and my son said they were fine. Definitely something I could use to use up some discard and maybe these will easier on the digestion. Great recipe, Alexandra! Definitely a keeper to add to my binder.
Great to hear, Monica! And thank you for sharing your tips as well 🙂
These really are foolproof. I only had about half the amount of butter needed, so subbed in olive oil for the rest. I also didn’t want to cook right away, so refrigerated for about 18hrs beforehand. I ALSO don’t have a great cast iron skillet. Despite all that, these turned out fabulous. So much better and healthier than store bought.
Made these today. Process went well. Only issue is they were quite stiff rather than floppy so couldn’t use as a wrap. Worked as enchiladas – but only if I wrapped them up straight out of the pan.
I just tried your recipe, because I wanted to make burritos, but of course I forgot to buy wraps. My EXTREMELY SUPER picky son wondered around the kitchen while I was making it and he said he is willing to try it, as it looks and smells good! (He would never go even near a store bought one, or restaurant made one) I can’t even tell you how much he loved it! I stuffed his with cheese, rice and veggies and he ate it like I’m in tears!
Thank you so much! 🥰
Awwww I love reading all of this so much. Thank you for writing. Great to hear 🙂
This sounds like a wonderful recipe..im going to give it a try
These are absolutely delicious! My husband would rather have this than naan-bread, and that’s really saying something!
Great to hear, Bonnie! Thanks for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂
So these are so pliable which is just what ive been looking for. Nice and chewy, they really are great, can’t wait to see how they hold up in a day or 2. You mention alot about ensuring the pan is super hot, is it possible for it to be to hot as i feel mine went straight to charring too fast. Also, do every single one of yours puff up, only some of mine did. Thanks for the help.
Hi! It is definitely possibly that your pan is too hot… definitely play around with temperatures to find what works best for you… a little lower may be ideal. Not everyone of mine puff, but most do. Also, back to the temp of the pan, at one point I was messaging with the people at Caramelo Flour Tortillas (which are amazing), and they actually recommend using NOT a scorching hot pan because if it’s too hot some of the butter/fat in the tortillas will seep out, which reduces the flakiness of the tortillas.
These were so delicious! I had to use quite a bit of flour when rolling them out but it may have been because my starter is on the watery side. Will def be making these again!!
Great to hear, Megan! Thanks for writing 🙂
I make these all the time! I use lard instead of butter and it makes them even more delicious.
Great to hear! Thanks for writing 🙂
My tortillas didn’t puff up and it looks like you had more dough than I did. Also, my dough was super sticky, even after kneading it on the counter for a couple minutes. What did I do wrong?
Thanks!
Hi! Sorry for the trouble here and apologies for the delay. Did you use a scale to measure?
It sounds as though you just need to use more flour. Your starter may have been higher hydration than mine, which might contribute to the wetness of the dough.