Sourdough Tortillas
Sourdough Tortillas.
I always get questions about my Sourdough Tortillas. I first published the recipe together with my Avocado Tacos recipe. However, I decided to write a separate post about it so I could explain a few things a little better.
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Ok, let’s get to it. First of all, your sourdough starter doesn’t have to be active to make these sourdough tortillas.
That means, you can use your discard. Recipes that use sourdough discard are beautiful to me, because I feed my starter so frequently, I always have a tone of it to discard.
If your sourdough starter is active, no problem using that either. Go for it! But you don’t have to go out of your way, feed your starter, and then wait for it to be active to start making these Sourdough Tortillas.
These sourdough tortillas have a much more beautiful texture compared to the regular flour ones, in my opinion. They are so soft, and taste amazing! By far, my favorite tortillas to make and eat.
Depending on your location (altitude and humidity level), what kind of flour you are using, or what kind of starter you have, you might need to adjust the flour quantity. If the dough is too sticky, add some more flour to it. In the instructions, I specify to add only 4 cups of flour to the initial dough, and add the remaining 1 cup as you knead, and as necessary. You don’t want to add way too much flour, this is supposed to be a very soft dough, not too stiff.
I keep my starter at 100% hydration, which means I always feed it with equal amounts of water, flour, and starter. So, if I am feeding my starter, I usually discard everything but 100 grams of it, then I feed it with 100 grams of water, and 100 grams of flour.
You want to take that into consideration when making these tortillas. In case you keep your starter at a lower hydration level, you might want to add some less flour to the dough.
Also, feel free to half the recipe if you don’t wanna make about 30 tortillas. And if you don’t want to half the recipe, you have many options on what to do with leftover tortillas.
Can I freeze sourdough tortilla dough?
You may freeze just the raw dough if you want to. I actually did that this time to experiment. After making my dough, I let it rise, then I portioned it in half, cooked one half and froze the rest for about 1 week.
Then, when I went to use my frozen dough, I let it thaw in the fridge overnight and the next day proceeded to portion it, roll it out, and cook it normally. They came out tasting fresh and delicious! I’d recommend freezing it for up to 1-2 months.
Can I freeze cooked tortillas?
You may freeze already cooked tortillas. I like to place my tortillas between sheets of parchment paper, then wrap them with some foil, place inside a zip loc freezer bag, and they will keep well in the freezer for about 2 months.
How to make tortilla chips with leftover tortillas?
If you have an excess of tortillas, you may slice your tortillas in triangles, then drizzle some olive oil over them and possibly other spices (salt, paprika, garlic powder, za’atar) and bake in the oven until golden brown, about 5 minutes. And you will have yourself tortilla chips! Most likely the best tortilla chips you’ve ever had in your life.
So, lots of options here on what to do with all of these sourdough tortillas!
This last time I made these delicious Cauliflower Tacos with Avocado Crema.
They were so good, it was hard to stop eating them!! The breaded cauliflower was baked in the oven. I added the delicious fresh corn on the cob we got at the farmers market, and it made for a fantastic #tacotuesday!
I hope you like my recipe for sourdough tortillas. If you are an avid sourdough baker, I am sure you will!
Thanks for reading, and have a beautiful day!
If you want to check out some more sourdough recipes, please click here.
Also, check out this recipe for my Spinach Tortillas. And if you want to, you can check out my recipe for regular Flour Tortillas right here.
And here are some Taco recipes to accompany your Sourdough Tortillas.
Sourdough Tortillas
Ingredients
- 125 g sourdough starter (discard 100% hydration) (1/2 cup, 4.5 oz)
- 320 g warm water about 120F (1 1/3 cup, 11 oz)
- 56 g vegetable oil (1/4 cup, 2 oz)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 637 g all-purpose flour (5 cups, 22.5 oz)
- Plus extra flour for dusting
Instructions
- Mix sourdough starter, water, oil, salt, baking powder, and 4 cups of flour in the bowl of a stand mixer and knead with the dough hook for 4-6 minutes, until dough comes together in a smooth, non-sticky ball. If it’s too sticky, start adding the remaining cup of flour until you obtain the necessary consistency. You may not use the whole cup of flour, so just go slowly until you reach a dough that isn't too sticky or too dry.
- You can also mix the ingredients with a wooden spoon and then knead by hand.
- Once you’re done kneading, place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
- Divide the dough into about 32 equal pieces. I use a scale to measure out my dough and I usually go for 30 grams per piece.
- Using the palm of your hands, roll each piece of dough into a ball, by making a circular motion, pressing down slightly on the dough, against the counter. Use very little flour to do this because you need the traction of the counter to shape the balls.
- Cover dough pieces with a towel and let them rest for 5 minutes.
- Start rolling each dough piece into a circle that measures out about 7 inches in diameter.
- I like to roll out as many dough pieces as my counter space will allow me to lay out, before cooking them.
- I’ve actually already used my pasta machine to roll the dough pieces out too, and it works fantastic, btw!
- Start cooking the tortillas by heating up a cast iron frying pan or a non-stick frying pan over medium high heat. (I actually use 2 or 3 pans sometimes to speed up the process)
- When the pan is hot, add tortilla. Cook on one side for about 1 minute, flip it over and cook on the other side for about 30 seconds.
- You don’t want your tortilla to burn, so cook it until it’s just slightly browned. If you burn your tortillas, they might become hard after they cool down.
- Lay out cooked tortillas on a baking sheet and let them cool slightly before placing them in a tortilla warmer or closed container. That’s because if you immediately put the tortillas away while hot, they will become soggy.
Notes
Nutrition
This is an easy to follow recipe with great results even for a beginner ! I used 100 grams of organic spelt flour and the rest organic unbleached ap flour and avocado oil. I had intended to add some herbs but forgot and next time I might add. It’s a bit of a rush at the end rolling and cooking at the same time but I caught up and used parchment paper for the ones waiting to be cooked. It really is important to use flour when rolling so they are easy to get thin and don’t stick! I tried using a griddle as well as my cast iron frying pan thinking I could cook two at the same time but didn’t like how the one on the griddle turned out so did them one by one in my cast iron pan. They cook so quickly it really isn’t an issue. Thanks for great recipe!
I woke this morning and remembered this recipe. I made it once, back in 2020 when and still gab about it. Suddenly, I had a craving. Luckily my friend Angelica has had a sourdough starter for years named Le Bron that she so generously shared during a recent artist retreat in the Catskills. After a late afternoon kayak our appetites were peaked! It’s also so nice to have good friends like my friends Lacey and Jane, because when I mentioned my hankering they agreed to help! They said let’s make ramen and papusas! Lacey always makes non-denominational meals so it perfectly inspired. I made the dough, Jane wo-maned the skillet 😉 and Lacey stirred the noodles close by while bopping her hips to some old favorite tunes from the 90’s. To say we were left satisfied would be an understatement. We’re still salivating 🤤 and can’t wait to eat them in the morning with peanut butter or Indian curry who knows!! These are so versatile is crazy ❤️ Do yourself a favor and make these treasures. Thank you so much for this recipe. For years to come, will I look out the window while the birds fly across the sunset sky with the sweet smell of sourdough on a skillet. Good night! 🌙
this is my favorite comment ever! thank you so much! cheers!
These were fantastic! I will add a little more salt next time. The 30 g per ball was a great size for breakfast tacos! Thanks for sharing the recipe. I’ve made several different recipes for tortillas and these turned out the best.
Awesome thank you so much!!!
I love the taste of these tortillas and have made it at least 3 times, but rolling them out has been an awful experience every time. So I asked for a tortilla press for my birthday and tried it out with a ball of dough I thawed from the freezer. I pressed it between wax paper and it stuck to the paper so bad, there was no getting it off. Am I doing something wrong or is thawed dough just too sticky for a press? I literally only got the press to make this recipe easier, so if it doesn’t work, I don’t think I’ll be able to keep making this. 🙁
have you tried rolling with a pasta maker? Maybe your dough is too wet for the press, try adding some more flour or adding flour to the wax paper.
I have made SD tortillas before and would love to try your recipe. I never used vegetable oil and baking powder before. What is the purpose of the bask in powder?
Baking powder is a rising agent. It gives the tortillas a puff and makes them fluffy too.
These are fabulous! We made them with a gluten free sourdough starter and King Arthur Measure for Measure gluten free flour and they were perfect. Thank you for such a well thought out recipe.
Thank you so much!!!!
I read most of the comments (made adjustments recommended such as letting the dough rest for the full time) and followed the recipe exactly. The tortillas were extremely difficult to shape, flavorless (desperate need of salt), just not good. I’m not new to yeast doughs/sourdough so I’m not sure what the issue is. I will keep searching for a recipe.
I have tried this recipe twice. Both times I have followed the recipe to the letter. Both times have resulted in “tortillas” that shrunk back to pucks within seconds of being stretched (both with a rolling pin and with a tortilla press) making it impossible to make tortillas out of these. The best we have managed is to cut and fry them into pita-ish chips and even that was a stretch and a ridiculous amount of extra work. There won’t be a third try in our kitchen!
sorry it didn’t work for you, even though this recipe has over 100 raving comments and reviews of people who have loved it, and dozens of people that’ve made them and posted about them on pinterest and instagram and it worked for them. And I make this recipe on a regular basis at my own house, and have been doing that for years, so maybe it was an issue on your end, I am sorry it happened and you didn’t have a good experience. Thanks for taking the time to come write about it!
Have a great day!! Stay well!