Quick & Easy Sourdough Tortillas With Only 6 Ingredients!

If you have never made fresh sourdough tortillas at home, then consider this your sign! These sourdough tortillas, are incredibly easy and contain only a handful of ingredients that I bet you already have on hand! I always thought tortillas would be a pain to make, or that I would need fancy equipment, but that is not the case! Not only are they super easy, but they freeze very well for long term storage. They are the perfect item for meal prepping, or to have on hand in your freezer for an easy to throw together dinner. It is also a great recipe if you are looking to use up some of that sourdough discard in your fridge.

Sourdough tortillas pair so well with leftovers, to transform them into an easy taco night. Say you made a chicken one night, chicken wraps the next night. Or steaks for dinner one night, and the leftovers can be paired with tortillas in fajitas! We have taco night at least once a week. I love them for things like enchiladas, breakfast burritos, or even rolled up with some PB & J!

What you’ll need:

• A mixing bowl
• A wooden spoon or danish whisk
• Frying pan
• Tongs
• Tea Towel
• Rolling Pin

Do I need a tortilla press?

No! I just hand roll mine with a rolling pin. You could use one, but I have heard that even with a press you end up rolling them out to the appropriate thinness anyways. It is a little extra work, I call it my weekly arm workout.

Ingredients

• Flour
• Baking Powder
• Salt
• Lard or Olive Oil
• Sourdough Discard
• Hot Water

Why do I choose Lard for my Sourdough Tortillas?

Now I know that these days lard may seem like an old school ingredient, but trust me when I saw it shouldn’t be and it is a game changer when it comes to this recipe! and no not crisco… or some fake animal fat. Yes you definitely can use a neutral oil, if thats what you have on hand. I have tested out olive oil and avocado oil. They still turn out really well, but the lard is definitely superior- if you have it! It adds a sort of buttery softness to the tortillas, that I find the oils cant quite recreate, but like I said a neutral oil will still work well!

Why Flat Sourdough Discard?

The state of your sourdough discard is important. You want to ensure you are using totally flat sourdough discard- or inactive sourdough starter, this will help keep your sourdough tortillas thin, with a chewier texture. As opposed to them rising and resembling more of a naan style flat bread. It isn’t the end of the world if your discard has a bit of life to it, but just know that the texture of the tortillas may change.

Why make Sourdough Tortillas?

Like anything made with sourdough, if you are a fan then you will like these! It gives it an extra flavour profile that is just hard to beat. They definitely do have that distinctive sourdough tang, especially the flatter the discard you use. So while they may differ a bit from a traditional, I think they really enhance any meal!

How to make them?

Add your flour, baking powder and salt to you mixing bowl. Give it a whisk until all of the dry ingredients are incorporated.

Then add in your lard or oil, using your fingers break apart and work it into the flour, until the flour is crumbly and the lard is distributed evenly throughout.

Once mixed together, add your sourdough discard and hot water.

At this point you are going to give a quick mix, just until things start to come together, and then you will let it rest for about 10 minutes. Giving the dough a chance to cool before kneading.

After resting, knead the dough until smooth. You should not need to add any flour to work surface, the dough should not be sticky. (The reason you don’t want to add any additional flour if not necessary, is that it can make your tortillas tougher.) If it is sticky, try to add as little flour as possible, but enough to be able to work with it.

Once dough is smooth, wrap in plastic wrap or in a sealed container and let it sit for 30 minutes, this can be longer if needed. After it has rested, it is time to divide and roll!

How to Shape them?

Start by using a knife or bench scraper to evenly divide your dough into 8-16 pieces. Now the size is up to you and what you are making. For things like tacos, or fajitas go smaller and make about 14-16. If I am making them for wraps, burritos, enchiladas etc. go with a larger size tortilla and divide the dough into about 8-10 pieces. If you want to be precise with your sizing, weigh your entire dough ball, and then divide the number by the amount of tortillas you would like. Then weigh each piece you cut and adjust as necessary, so they all weigh the same.

Take each piece of dough and roll it into a ball. Cover and let them rest for 20 minutes. At this time you can get your pan heating. If you are cooking in a seasoned cast iron, you don’t need to add any oil to your pan. If sticking is a concern, rub a very small amount of oil, tallow or lard in your pan. You do not want to have enough that the tortillas are going to fry! This will result crispy tortillas.

Now it is time for your arm workout! It’s really not that bad but I pretend it is…. two birds one stone!

Roll out each ball, as thinly as you can get them! I like to roll out a few at a time to have them ready for the pan, because the cooking goes very fast.

How to cook them?

Set pan on medium heat. Place tortilla in the pan for 30 seconds, then flip and cook for 30 seconds on the other side. You can pop the bubbles, I have found that they deflate and are fine when left. Cooking is really important, because if you cook them too long it will make them hard and crispy! So make sure you are really fast, and just 30 seconds max each side!

I generally like to roll a few out, have them ready. As I cook I will either wrap them in a tea towel or put them in a tortilla basket. These sourdough tortillas are the PERFECT texture, they are soft and chewy and have the most amazing flavour! Serve right away, while they are still warm! or see my storage notes below, for when you are batching them ahead of time.

Substitutions:

Flour: You can substitute whole wheat, fresh milled whole wheat and spelt for all purpose in these, but just note that with the bran content they will have a slightly different texture. If you are working with a fresh milled flour, be gentle as it can be a more delicate dough and you may need to decrease the amount of flour, or increase the amount of water you use.

Lard: As mentioned, you can substitute your lard for olive oil or avocado oil, they work perfectly!

Storage Tips:

If you are making these to save, they will stay soft if kept in a sealed bag or container, for about 3-4 days. I do find freezing them to be be the best bet for any long term storage.

For Freezing: Make sure they have cooled, but not cooled to the point that they have been left out and gotten hard. Once they are cool- but keeping them soft, you can put them in a sealed bad or container. When you want to thaw, just bring them out and allow them to come to room temperature, then just give them a quick warm before serving. They will last in the freezer for a few months!

I have tried to leave them in the fridge and pull them out as needed, they didn’t keep more than a few days without getting tough, so I do not suggest this method.