If you have been searching for perfect homemade sourdough tortillas, look no further! These sourdough tortillas are soft, flexible and easy to make at home! Make the best homemade flour tortillas that come together with just five simple ingredients and minimal hands-on time. This is a flour tortilla recipe without lard, using just sourdough starter, butter, salt, flour and water.
Jump to:
- Why these are the best sourdough tortillas
- Ingredients
- Instructions
- How to make the perfect amount of tortillas
- Helpful equipment
- How to make tortillas without a tortilla press
- How to store leftover tortillas
- Best way to freeze tortillas
- Recipe
- HOW TO MAKE THE PERFECT AMOUNT OF TORTILLAS
- HOW TO MAKE TORTILLAS WITHOUT A TORTILLA PRESS
- HOW TO STORE LEFTOVER TORTILLAS
- THE BEST WAY TO FREEZE TORTILLAS
- Comments
Why these are the best sourdough tortillas
Let’s be honest, I’m a sucker for homemade tortillas. The pillowy dimpled dough with charred bits is just the perfect mix of textures. Load the tasty tortillas up with seared meats, fresh veggies and homemade salsa and WOWZA. Just try and stop me from eating them all!
Making soft flour tortillas was something that always intimidated me and I’ve tried and failed more times than I can count. This dough just wants to work, if that makes sense. The flour and starter combine in a smooth and soft dough that is malleable and easy to press into tortillas. If you have tried tortillas in the past and were burned, learn from my mistakes! I've figured out the secrets for perfect sourdough tortillas and I'm going to share them with you!
This recipe is perfect for a beginner, and doesn't require a tortilla press or lard. Don't get me wrong, I love lard tortillas. But for most of us, lard just isn't a common pantry staple these days, so today we are using butter. Everything you need to make this recipe is probably in your pantry already. If you don't currently have a sourdough starter, I have a Guide to Making a Sourdough Starter that can help you make one!
This was inspired by my Street Tacos and Chicken Taquitos on this site, and pairs well with this Mexican Street Corn. Add in a Fresh Margarita and it sounds like we've found ourselves a party!
Ingredients
This simple flour tortilla recipe is very simple and only requires five basic ingredients: salt, butter, flour, sourdough starter and water. These are very soft homemade flour tortillas, and can be cooked and served fast, or ferment in the refrigerator overnight for fully fermented no lard flour tortillas.
- Salt: I like to use Redmond's Real Salt, Celtic salt, Himalayan salt or sea salt.
- Butter: full fat, unsalted butter is best for this recipe. I put my butter in the freezer for about 15 minutes before using it in this recipe.
- Flour: I have tested this recipe both with Bob's Red Mill Organic All-Purpose flour and Jovial Einkorn All-Purpose flour. Both were delicious! If you are baking with whole wheat flour, I recommend making the recipe with white flour the first time, them experiment with ratios. When I tried making these sourdough tortillas using fresh milled hard white wheat, I had to add about ¼ extra cup of flour and still felt like the dough was sticky. I will update this recipe when I figure out the proper ratios for fresh milled flour!
- Water: Use hot water for this recipe. Around 100 degrees is perfect.
- Sourdough Starter: One of the cool things about this recipe is that it can be made with either fed (active) sourdough starter or hungry (discard) sourdough starter. I prefer to use active, but it is also a great sourdough starter discard recipe!
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
How to make the sourdough tortilla dough
- If you have a food processor, add the dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, salt and cubed unsalted butter. Pulse until mixture resembles coarse, crumbly sand. To combine flour mixture and butter by hand, add the ingredients to a large mixing bowl and use a pastry cutter to work the mixture until well incorporated. Pea sized crumbs are okay, but the smaller the better.
2. In a small bowl, stir together the warm water and sourdough starter. Add the flour mixture to a large bowl and make a well in the middle to pour in the sourdough starter mixture. Work the dough until it forms a ball that no longer feels sticky. If the dough is sticky, add a small amount of flour one tablespoon at a time.
3. Knead the dough by hand on a lightly floured work surface or in a stand mixer on a low speed for three minutes. The dough will feel very soft.
Use the same bowl that the dough was mixed in to let the tortilla dough raise covered in a warm area for a minimum of two hours. For a long fermentation, place the covered dough in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours.
4. Divide the dough into an even amount of balls. I am making 8 six-inch tortillas today. The goal is for the tortillas to be as thin as possible.
How to bake sourdough tortillas
Okay, it's time to bake the best tortillas you will ever eat! We're going to preheat a cast iron skillet to medium heat. The skillet should be very hot but not smoking. If it begins to smoke, turn the heat down, remove the skillet from the burner, and let it cool down before trying again. Use a tortilla press to shape the tortillas if you have one. However, I do not have a press, so I used the bottom of a sauce pan to flatten my dough balls. You can also use a rolling pin. Also, using parchment paper to sandwich the dough will make life so much easier!
These tortillas cook fast! Using the preheated hot skillet, cook each tortilla for about thirty seconds on the first side and thirty seconds on the second side. The tortilla will puff up slightly and release easily from the skillet. If the tortillas are becoming too brown or blackened, turn the heat down and take a break until the skillet cools a bit. The trick to making chewy flour tortillas is to cook them just enough, without overdoing it.
Hint: Use parchment paper to sandwich the tortilla dough and keep it from sticking to the press! If you are like me and don't have a tortilla press, use a heavy pan to push the sourdough tortilla dough into a flat disc.
How to make the perfect amount of tortillas
For easy reference, this homemade flour tortilla recipe can be divided into 12 dough balls, which will make approximately three inch tortillas. For eight inch fresh tortillas, divide the dough into six balls.
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Helpful equipment
Equipment can have a big impact on how a recipe turns out. This recipe can be made entirely by hand, but if you want it to be a little easier, here are a few helpful tools:
How to make tortillas without a tortilla press
A tortilla press would be very helpful for making these delicious homemade tortillas, but if you don't have one, rest assured it isn't necessary! I don't have one, either!
If you want to make tortillas, find a heavy cast-iron skillet or pan. Place the tortilla dough ball in between two sheets of parchment paper and press straight down with the bottom of the pan flattening the dough. To make it even thinner, you can gently roll it with a rolling pin after using the pan. I do this with the parchment still on the dough to prevent sticking.
How to store leftover tortillas
Let the tortillas cool completely before storing in a beeswax wrap, plastic wrap, or an air tight container. The tortillas are best enjoyed fresh, but can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three days.
Best way to freeze tortillas
I also had good luck freezing a batch of tortillas for a future meal! Let the cooked tortilla cool, then freeze in a single layer on a baking sheet. Once the tortillas are frozen, after about thirty minutes, they can be separated by sheets of parchment paper and put in a freezer bag or vacuum sealed and stored for up to three months. When you are ready to thaw the tortillas, set them out at room temperature about one hour before the meal.
If you make this recipe, please leave a comment below! This provides helpful feedback to both me and other readers. For more delicious recipes from scratch and homesteading tips, follow me on instagram @NinnescahHomestead
Recipe
Sourdough Tortillas
Equipment
- tortilla press or heavy pan
- Parchment paper
- Mixing bowl
- cast iron skillet
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 6 tablespoons butter chilled
- ½ cup sourdough starter active or discard
- ½ cup water warm
Instructions
- If you have a food processor, add einkorn flour, salt and cubed unsalted butter. Pulse until mixture resembles coarse, crumbly sand. To combine by hand, add the three ingredients to a large mixing bowl and use a pastry cutter to work the mixture until well incorporated. Pea sized crumbs are okay, but the smaller the better.
- In a small bowl, stir together the warm water and sourdough starter.
- Add the flour mixture to a large bowl and make a well in the middle to pour in the sourdough starter mixture. Work the dough until it forms a ball that no longer feels sticky. If the dough is sticky, add a small amount of flour one tablespoon at a time.
- Knead the dough by hand or in a stand mixer on a low speed for three minutes. The dough will feel very soft.
- Use the same bowl that the dough was mixed in to let the tortilla dough raise covered in a warm area for a minimum of two hours. For a long fermentation, place the covered dough in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours.
- When ready to bake, preheat a cast iron skillet to medium heat. The skillet should be very hot but not quite smoking.
- Divide the dough into an even amount of balls. For easy reference, 12 dough balls will make approximately thee inch tortillas, while 6 dough balls will make approximately eight inches tortillas. I am making 8 six-inch tortillas today. The goal is for the tortillas to be as thin as possible.
- Use a tortilla press to shape the tortillas. I do not have a press, so I used the bottom of a heavy pan to flatten my dough balls. Using parchment paper to sandwich the dough will make life so much easier!
- These tortillas cook fast! Using the preheated skillet, cook each tortilla for about thirty seconds on each side. The tortilla will puff up slightly and release easily from the skillet. If the tortillas are becoming too brown or blackened, turn the heat down and take a break until the skillet cools a bit.
- Serve the tortillas warm and fresh. Tortillas can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days or refrigerated for up to one week.
Aaron
These were excellent with thinly sliced grilled venison steak and roasted peppers. Soft but sturdy. Highly recommend.
Maricela Woodall
I made these sourdough tortilla’s for my family and they were definitely a hit! 10/10 recipe, will be making again. Super easy to follow recipe and tasted amazing!
Meg
Ahhh, YAY!!! I'm so glad they were a hit at your house! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a rating and review. Happy cooking!
KB
Very good recipe! I used discard starter and let ferment in fridge for ~14-15hrs with no ill effects. Rolled them out on my butcher block and did not use parchment. They rolled out just fine with no sticking. Next time I will make smaller than 8" as these were more than I needed in one tortilla! I will also try to roll them thinner next time.
Would love to find a substitute for the butter....canola oil, olive oil?
Meg
Hi! Thank you so much for this helpful review! I have not tried substituting a different oil, but I would like to experiment with avocado oil (love the neutral flavor) and possibly coconut oil. My gut instinct is that it would work, because I've used both of these as butter substitutes in bread before. Olive oil might change the flavor. Please let me know if you try it! Thanks!