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Once you realize how easy it is to make these soft, tender sourdough flour tortillas, you won’t want to go back to the store-bought tortillas. Fried in a hot large cast iron skillet until covered with golden brown blisters, sourdough flour tortillas are light and pillowy with delicious flavor. Perfect for your next taco night!

Made with just a few basic ingredients, the dough takes minutes to make with no special equipment. Cook up right away or allow to ferment for added health benefits, this is a flexible recipe that works however busy your schedule is.

Sourdough flour tortillas stacked on wire rack.

Not only are these homemade tortillas delicious but they are gut healthy too, being made easy to digest thanks to the long fermentation process of the wild yeast and enzymes that break down the phytic acid. Plus, anytime I can have more control over what goes into our bodies by eliminating preservatives and seed oils adds its nutritional value in my book.

My cooking journey has been filled with slowly replacing store-bought items with homemade versions and developing my cooking skills. It brings me such a sense of joy learning how to broaden my cooking skills and have our home truly a homestead, bringing all things back home.

Scott was planning to smoke a brisket for Super Bowl Sunday so I thought that it would be a great time to try my hand at homemade sourdough tortillas and make brisket tacos. Oh. My. Goodness. Why did I wait so long to make these? They were amazing! Fresh tortillas are my new favorite foods!

Ingredient List

Sourdough starter-You can use unfed starter or active starter.
All purpose flour-I use organic, unbleached all purpose flour.
Olive oil-You can substitute another healthy oil like avocado or melted coconut oil.
Salt-I always use Himalayan salt for its mineral benefit.
Water

Instructions For Same Day Method

Measure out sourdough starter, warm water, salt, oil and flour into a bowl of a stand mixer.
Using a dough hook, mix for 2-3 minutes, or by hand for 5 minutes until all of the ingredients are mixed and the dough is elastic.
Cover the bowl with a tea towel and allow to rest for 30 minutes to let the flour properly hydrate.
After the dough is done resting, divide it into 12 equal pieces using a bench scraper. Shape the dough into balls by lightly pressing down on the dough with a flat hand, palm down, moving your hand in a circular motion. All of this action will agitate the gluten and it will make the dough stiff to work with. Let it rest for a few minutes, the gluten will relax and be easier to work with.

using bench scraper to divide sourdough tortilla dough into dough balls

Using the palm of your hand rolling the sourdough tortilla dough into a ball

After the dough is relaxed, roll the dough ball on a lightly floured work surface until 1/4 inch thick. Roll from the center out and rotate so that your tortilla keeps a circular shape. You want the flour tortilla to be thin, but not break when lifted. If you find that the tortilla shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a minute and then continue rolling.

Rolling out sourdough flour tortilla with a wood rolling pin

Heat a cast iron pan until medium-high heat. Use multiple skillets to make super quickly. You want the pans to be piping hot before cooking the tortillas.

Sourdough flour tortilla on a hot cast iron skillet with bubbles

Flipped sourdough tortilla on a cast iron skillet

Once the pan is hot, fry the tortilla for 30 seconds to a minute on the first side. The tortilla will start to bubble and rise. Flip to the other side and cook for another 30 seconds to 1 minute or until golden brown.
Place the tortillas on a plate and cover with a towel to keep warm while you make the rest of the tortillas. The steam will help to keep the tortillas soft and chewy.
Store tortillas in an airtight container or plastic bag at room temperature for 2-3 days, or in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Long Ferment Instructions

Measure out sourdough starter, warm water, salt, oil, and flour into a bowl of a stand mixer.
Using a dough hook, mix for 2-3 minutes, or by hand for 5 minutes until all of the ingredients are mixed and the dough is elastic.
Cover with a tea towel and rest at room temperature for 12-24 hours to let the dough ferment.
After 12-24 hours, the dough will have doubled in size and is ready to divide, roll, and cook the same way as above in the same-day method.

Tips

To expedite cooking, use multiple cast iron skillets at one time. This makes the cooking process so much faster. It will save you time versus flipping one at a time.
The first time I made these tortillas, I used my tortilla press and found that I could get the tortillas thinner with a rolling pin. Save the tortilla press for when you make corn tortillas.
Make sure your cast iron skillet is really hot. It may take making a few tortillas to get the temperature right.
If your tortillas are more crunchy than chewy, you are cooking them too long. These cook up quickly, 30 seconds to one minute on each side.

I’d love to hear from you! Please leave a comment and rate the recipe. Tag photos #Lockremhomestead over on Instagram to share your Homemade Sourdough Flour Tortillas!