Learn how to make sourdough tortillas with five basic ingredients: sourdough starter, flour, water, oil, and salt. They are perfect for a quick summer wrap or your favorite tacos.
After sharing “What We Eat in a Week” videos with healthy meal ideas for breakfast and dinner, I had soooo many requests for healthy lunch ideas.
Truth is, since we are all together as a family for lunch, I usually just make more of the same. It’s something along the lines of meat and veggies, eggs, salmon, avocados, and sauerkraut.
Last week was a craaazy week, with the magazine crew here for four out of five days. I sent my husband and kids out of the house a lot, and had to think of something to send with them to eat on-the-go.
It made me think of the sourdough tortillas I used to make all the time. After whipping up a couple batches, I wondered why I ever forgot about them.
They are so easy and convenient!
We had cilantro chicken wraps with purple cabbage and honey mustard for lunch today, and I just got some more dough going tonight.
I already have a bunch of leftover chicken in the fridge, so tomorrow’s lunch is going to be as simple as rolling out a couple tortillas and packing them with meat, veggies, and herbs.
Sourdough tortillas may be vying for the top spot in my favorite sourdough creations. Right next to English muffins…or pancakes, maybe pizza crusts.
Ok, I really love all things sourdough, but these tortillas are going to be a staple in lunches this summer. Quick. Easy. Not hot. They make the best sourdough wraps.
Who wants hot meals on a 90 degree summer day?!
Why I Love This Recipe:
These can be made with any wheat flour: all purpose, whole grain, or freshly milled. I often use hard white wheat berries that I grind fresh in my Mockmill.
Long fermentation is the traditional way to prepare grains. The bacteria present in the sourdough starter pre-digest the grains and make them easier for the body to process.
Many people who are very sensitive to gluten have told me that they can actually tolerate it when fermented for 24 hours or more!
Isn’t that amazing?!
It makes sense why so many people can’t have gluten today. Grains are no longer prepared traditionally. Also, many species of wheat have been hybridized and modified, so that they are no longer in a form that our body is prepared to handle.
If you are super sensitive to wheat, I suggest letting your sourdough goodies ferment for at least 24 hours before cooking/baking. Also, it’s better to use ancient einkorn wheat flour, which hasn’t been hybridized. You can find my einkorn tortillas recipe here.
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Tips For Making Sourdough Tortillas:
- To make cooking super fast and easy, I love getting four cast iron skillets going at one time. This makes this process so much easier. A serious game changer rather than sitting in front of one skillet flipping tortillas one at a time.
- All-purpose and whole wheat flour will work well for this recipe. For lighter and fluffier tortillas, use unbleached all-purpose.
- You can use active sourdough starter or discard.
- No need for a tortilla press, you can easily just roll these out with a rolling pin.
Tools you may need:
Measuring cups and spoons
Rolling pin
I use the professional Kitchenaid Stand Mixer, because it has dough hooks that do the kneading for me. If you plan to make a lot of sourdough bread and tortillas, this thing just makes life so much easier.
You can turn on the kneading hooks and walk away to tend to the children who are pulling blueberries out of the freezer and dumping your good Castile soap down the drain. Anyone else have a two year old?
I also like that it holds a higher quantity than the original KitchenAid. It can knead more loaves of bread at one time. #largefamilymom
Ingredients
- Unbleached all-purpose flour or whole grain – Both will work, but all-purpose flour makes these tortillas lighter.
- Sourdough starter – You will want to use sourdough starter that is active. It should be fed 4-12 hours before starting the recipe, and be nice and bubbly.
- Water
- Extra virgin olive oil – you can also substitute another healthy oil like avocado oil or melted coconut oil.
- Salt – I love Himalayan salt.
How To Make Sourdough Tortillas
Add the sourdough starter, water, oil, salt, and flour to a mixer with a dough hook.
Knead for 2-3 minutes in a mixer, or 5 minutes by hand. The ingredients should be fully incorporated, and the dough slightly elastic.
Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with a tea towel, and allow to sit at room temperature for 12-24 hours. (If you are gluten intolerant, 24 hours is better.)
The next day, divide the dough into 12 equal parts.
On a lightly floured work surface, roll each ball of dough out to about a 1/4 inch thickness. Get them as thin as you can, without them falling apart.
Cook them in a preheated cast iron skillet in a little coconut oil. One minute on each side is sufficient.
FAQ:
Is sourdough bread better for you?
For sure. Due to the fermentation process, not only is sourdough easier to digest, but also the nutrients that are naturally occurring in the grains are more bioavailable for your body to absorb; thus sourdough is a better choice than typical grain products.
How do you heat up sourdough tortillas?
If you want to heat up a bunch at one time you can set your oven to 350 degrees. While the oven is heating up add your tortillas for about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and they should be perfectly heated up without being hard.
Microwave: place them on a microwave safe dish, and add a damp towel. Heat for 30 seconds to one minute until warm.
Can you freeze sourdough tortillas?
Yes! Freeze the tortillas on a cookie sheet without overlapping the tortillas. Once frozen, you can stack them and then place them in an air-tight container. Or freeze with parchment paper between each tortilla so they don’t stick together, and place in an air-tight container.
What can you use sourdough starter for?
Sourdough starter can be used to make so many recipes. From pizza, to muffins, to biscuits, pancakes and so much more. Check out my sourdough page to see all my favorite recipes.
What is the best flour for sourdough?
Really any flour will work for sourdough since the starter needs a starch to feed on. All-purpose, einkorn, spelt, whole wheat will all work.
I have multiple times changed up the flour I’ve used to feed my starter.
If you are gluten free, you can create a gluten free sourdough starter. Find the recipe here.
Check out my other sourdough recipes:
- Sourdough English Muffins
- How to Make a Sourdough Starter from Scratch
- Sourdough Pizza Crust
- Our Favorite Sourdough Pancake Recipe
- Healthy One Pot Meal- Sourdough Skillet
- Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
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Sourdough Tortillas
Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup sourdough starter, 210 g
- 3/4 cup water, 160 g
- 1/4 cup olive oil, extra virgin (60 g)
- 1.5 tsp salt, 11 g
- 3 cups unbleached all-purpose or whole wheat, 420 g
Instructions
- Add the sourdough starter, water, oil, salt, and flour to a mixer with a dough hook.
- Knead for 2-3 minutes in a mixer, or 5 minutes by hand. The ingredients should be fully incorporated, and the dough slightly elastic.
- Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap, and allow to sit at room temperature for 12-24 hours. (If you are gluten intolerant, 24 hours is better.)
- The next day, divide the dough into 12 equal parts.
- On a lightly floured work surface, roll each ball of dough out to about a 1/4 inch thickness. Get them as thin as you can, without them falling apart.
- Cook them in a preheated cast iron skillet in a little coconut oil. One minute on each side is sufficient.
Notes
- To make cooking super fast and easy, I love getting four cast iron skillets going at one time. This makes this process so much easier.
- All-purpose and whole wheat flour will work well for this recipe. For lighter and fluffier tortillas, use unbleached all-purpose.
- You can use active sourdough starter or discard.
- No need for a tortilla press, you can easily just roll these out with a rolling pin.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
After I flattened my tortillas they sucker Back in and ended up being thick, Any thoughts?
Sounds like the gluten needs a chance to relax a bit. Roll them out halfway and then walk away for about 10 minutes. They’ll be less stretchy after that.
I love watching your videos. I enjoy your relaxed attitude and your cooking from scratch. You are doing a fantastic job and raising children who are being taught so many skills.
Thank you so much for such a kind comment.
I love this recipe and have made it multiple times! My only issue is that they shrink when I roll them out and pick them up. Any tips??
Sounds like the gluten needs a chance to relax a bit. Roll them out halfway and then walk away for about 10 minutes. They’ll be less stretchy after that.
Could gluten free starter and flour be substituted for regular?
Probably not. Maybe if using a gluten free one for one flour, but usually it’s hard to substitute gluten free flour for regular flour.
I started the souring process last night with Einkorn starter and I used Einkorn flour. I soured them for about 19 to 20 hours. I did not knead them. I just mixed them till the dough was completely incorporated using a wooden spoon. The starter was not active and bubbly. It had been fed within the last 24 hours. I just used a little bit less water. I read a number of the comments, which I always learn so much from someone mentioned chapatis, and someone mentioned making mini pizzas. Trying to roll them out too thin didn’t work so great for me. Halfway through I started going more towards a chapati thickness. Success! Then I decided to do a pizza. Same amount of dough as the others just made them thicker. I used my fingers just to press it out instead of rolling it. When I turned it, I added very thick spaghetti sauce and cheese and put a domed lid over the top of it. When the cheese is melted, I added quite a bit of zaatar and sea salt. OK, this is going to be a wonderful, quick snack or meal on the go. Such a great win! I love all the recipes on this website! And I deeply appreciate Lisa’s hard work and ability to teach and share!
Thanks for sharing! Sounds delicious!
This is such a great recipe! The dough is perfect- I would recommend covering it with plastic wrap instead of only a tea towel since I had a little crust develop. No worries, I was still able to use it to make a perfect tortilla. It does help if you have previous experience making tortillas so you can differentiate a technique issue vs starter/dough consistency issue. My tortillas came out perfect the first time- I use plain AP flour. They are very soft, tangy, delicious, and perfectly stretchy for breakfast burritos. Thanks for the recipe!
Glad you enjoyed them! Thanks so much for sharing!
I would so love to be able to make nice tortillas. You know…like the ones made in mexico.😋 If you wanna share your recipe and techniques, I would be ecstatic!!. I made these sourdough ones with whole wheat. I was thinking I needed to practice at making regular flour tortillas then try this recipe again. Then read your post here so i figure I’m on the right track. These turned out delicious, but didn’t turn out quite as thin and pliable. They will work and get eaten, I just want to do better. 😁
Thank you Lisa fir this recipe. I need to find the corresponding video. Maybe that will help me too. 😊
I’d like to make these tortillas using discard. If that’s the case, could the dough just rest for an hour instead of 12-24?
Hello Lisa!
Looove your blog!
I made the dough and it’s been 12+ hrs. Now, can I put the dough in the fridge? If so for how many days do you think it could stay good for? Company rescheduled on us until 2 days later.
Thanks ☺️
Yes, that would be totally fine. It will be good for a few days.
Can I make these the same day and can I use bread flour as I don’t have any other flour on hand
Yes and yes!
First time trying this. My dough doubled in size and looked great, but when I went to divide the dough and make the tortillas I realized my dough was soft and gooey. Batter consistency. Any troubleshooting ideas?
Hmm. It could have over fermented. You could always try to salvage it by adding more flour.