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platter of homemade tortillas outside

Homemade Sourdough Tortillas

AuthorTaylor
These homemade sourdough tortillas are golden gems of flavor that add a delicious & hearty note to any meal. This recipe makes 10 taco-sized tortillas or 4 large burrito-sized tortillas that also work great for quesadillas. This recipe can be used with all-purpose flour or freshly-milled flour.
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Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Resting Time 30 minutes
Total Time1 hour 15 minutes
Servings10 tortillas

Ingredients  

  • 210 g (1.5 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour or freshly milled flour
  • 8 g (1 1/4 teaspoons) kosher salt half if using fine sea salt
  • 56 g (1/4 cup) softened butter
  • 100 g (1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon) room temperature water
  • 100 g (1/2 cup) sourdough starter, fed or unfed (discard)

Instructions 

  1. Whisk flour and salt together in a medium bowl. Using the back of a fork or pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour, mixing and smashing it until butter is incorporated. Use your hands to further incorporate the butter into the flour if needed.
  2. Stir in water and sourdough starter and mix with a spatula or hands until a shaggy dough forms. Use your hands to gently knead the dough in the bowl to get the mixture to form a rough ball. 
  3. Turn dough out of bowl onto a floured surface and knead for another 1 to 2 minutes or until smooth and not sticking to the surface.
  4. Cut the dough into 10 pieces for taco-sized tortillas or 4 pieces for burrito-sized tortillas. Shape each portion into a ball using your hands and tension of the work surface.
  5. Cover with a very light kitchen towel or plastic wrap on work surface. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes, up to two hours. If you are making the dough in advance, you can store the tortillas balls in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
  6. Using a heavy rolling pin, roll out each ball until very thin (when you start to see the work surface through them.) For taco-sized, the balls should roll out to about 6 to 8 inches. For burrito-sized, about 10 to 12 inches.
  7. Heat a 12 inch pan (cast-iron is best) on medium-high heat. Do not add any oil to the pan. Wait until pan is HOT to start cooking. Lay the tortilla in the pan and cook on first side until it puffs slightly (around 30 seconds). You will hopefully see little brown spots on the underside appear, this means time to flip! Flip with spatula or tongs and cook again till lightly brown. If the skillet is hot enough, cooking time should be about 60 seconds/1 minute total).
  8. Stack tortillas on a plate or in a tortilla holder and cover with a light kitchen towel while you continue making the rest of the tortillas.

Notes

  1. The dough should come together nicely within a couple minutes of kneading- not too sticky, not too dry. Depending on the hydration of your starter & the humidity in your home, they made need a bit more flour or water. Add a tiny amount of flour if too sticky or a splash of water if a bit dry. Add and knead until you reach a smooth texture.
  2. Tortilla presses help speed up this process, but I've had better luck getting them thin by rolling them out with a heavy, marble rolling pin. If you do have a tortilla press, I would recommend pressing twice per tortilla or using rolling pin to further roll each tortilla after pressing if necessary. Use pieces of parchment paper on either side of press to prevent tortilla from sticking. Depending on your press, you may not need to roll at all.  
  3. Thinness of these tortillas is personal preference. Leave them thicker if you prefer a meatier tortilla. You can experiment with the thickness as you go!
  4. If you like a bit of char, keep the tortillas in the skillet a bit longer. 
  5. If your first few tortillas are on the pale side, the skillet probably isn’t as hot as it should be. Crank up the heat. Once you make a few, you will find a rhythm and get a better feel for the heat setting and timing of each tortilla.
  6. This recipe will make around 10 taco-sized tortillas or 4 very large burrito size tortillas perfect for quesadillas. 
Storage: 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. Thaw them at room temperature when ready to eat and heat in skillet or oven on low to warm them up.
You can also store the rolled out tortillas (before cooking) in the freezer. Just make sure you separate each tortilla with parchment paper before freezing in airtight bag or container. When ready to cook, thaw to room temperature and cook like normal with instructions above.