Insanely Quick and Satisfying Sourdough Discard Tortillas

Sourdough discard tortillas can be made in less than 3 hours and make any meal feel like an authentic Mexican fiesta! Just grab a few ingredients and let’s get started.

Now Every Tuesday is Taco Night

We are big fans of Mexican food at Circle City Homestead. Quesadillas, fajitas, burritos, street tacos, nachos, Mexican rice and beans are a weekly staple at our house. And that was BEFORE I made these sourdough discard tortillas.

Now, it seems I make these at least once a week! They are flavorful and delicious and work for so many other meals besides Mexican food.

I like to make these tortillas on the weekend and use them in lunches during the week. They make great (and quick) cheese quesadilla for the kids or a chicken salad wrap for the grown-ups.

We’ve also used these tortillas as a healthier substitute for sandwich bread or hamburger buns.

Versatile, easy to make, and taste great. Need I say more? Probably not, but, I will add my most favorite part of this recipe. Using a CUP of sourdough discard.

Often times sourdough recipes only call for 1/2-3/4 cup of active sourdough, and even less sourdough discard. Maybe it’s just the recipes I find, but knowing that I can use a big chunk of my discard and not just throw it away makes me happy.

That also means I get to feed my starter again, which leads to more baking. It’s a pleasant but vicious cycle. But, back to the sourdough discard the tortillas.

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How to Make Sourdough Discard Tortillas

This recipe is a great beginner sourdough discard recipe to try – simple ingredients and simple instructions.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 t salt
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup very warm water
• 1 cup sourdough discard

Recommended Equipment

• Stand mixer with dough hook attachment
• Cookie sheet
• 12-inch (or smaller) cast iron skillet
• Dough cutter

Instructions

Add sourdough discard and warm water to a stand mixer and whisk together. Add the dough hook attachment to the mixer.

Next, combine flour, salt, and olive oil and knead for 2-3 minutes until well combined and no longer sticky.

The dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl.

Allow dough to rest in the mixing bowl for about 10 minutes. After this, transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and roll it out into a large rectangle about 1/4 inch thick.

Divide into 16 equal pieces by first cutting the dough rectangle into 4ths.

Then divide the 4ths in half creating 8 pieces.

Finally, divide each 8th piece in half to create 16 pieces.

Each size will not be equal – that’s okay. If you prefer larger burrito-style tortillas then only make 12-14. Next, take each piece of dough and pinch it together.

Roll each pinched piece into a ball and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Here’s what all 16 look like when they are rolled up.

Cover with a tea towel and let rest for about 2 hours. At the end of two hours, preheat a cast iron skillet (or nonstick pan) over medium-high heat.

You want the skillet to be hot enough to cook the tortillas quickly, but not so hot that they burn. I found that between just over medium heat and hot works well but adjust according to your stove. Add a splash of olive oil in the pan only just before adding a tortilla (if you add it too soon it will smoke up your kitchen…ask me how I know).

While the skillet is preheating, roll out each dough ball on a lightly floured surface (less is more) as thinly as possible and place into the skillet one at a time. Try to keep the tortillas from touching each other otherwise they will stick and be very hard to separate.

Enlist help if you need to! 🙂

Cook the sourdough discard tortillas for 30-45 seconds on each side adjusting the heat as necessary. Push down air bubbles with a spatula before flipping.

Serve immediately or add ingredients inside and cook as a quesadilla.

Options for Sourdough Discard Tortillas

There are lots of options when it comes to these sourdough discard tortillas so I will only mention the ones we have found most helpful.

1. Make a batch of sourdough discard tortillas and use them throughout the week- these tortillas store well in a ziploc bag or airtight container for up to a week (ours never make it past that point) in the refrigerator. This allows us to portion out 2-3 tortillas a day and have them for lunch.
2. Get your kids involved – little helpers in the kitchen can be overwhelming but this recipe is a great place to start. We allow the kids to roll the dough into balls (which I go behind them a reshape sometimes) and practice sprinkling a small amount of flour on the counter and rolling the dough out as thin as they can with kid-sized rolling pins. It can take longer to complete the recipe, but my kids look forward to making tortillas and feel very accomplished after.
3. Keep the dough in the fridge until you’re ready to use – sometimes life gets chaotic and suddenly I DON’T have time to cook my tortillas like I thought I would. If that happens, I just make the dough and then place it in the fridge with a plastic cover. Once I waited almost 6 hours before getting the dough out and dividing it into 16 equal pieces. You should still let it rest once divided, then cook it as normal.
4. Cook on a Blackstone or large griddle- this really makes you feel like a street taco vendor. Roll out the tortillas ahead of time and place as many as you can fit on the Blackstone without them touching. Pay attention to the temperature and flip after pushing down air bubbles. You’ll have tortillas for a crowd in a fraction of the time. Ole!

I hope your family loves this recipe as much as we do. Be sure to tag us @circlecityhomestead on Instagram and let us know how you use these sourdough discard tortillas! Buen provecho and thanks for visiting the homestead.