Our household burns through a ton of tortillas. I used to purchase 1-2 packs at Trader Joes each week, though upon closer inspection to the ingredient list… I decided I better try my hand at homemade tortillas. And W-O-W. These tortillas are so much fresher, so much tastier, and only five simple ingredients compared to store-bought ones.
Here are the ingredients for TJ’s organic mini flour tortillas:
- Organic wheat flour
- Water
- Organic sunflower oil (seed oil)
- Organic palm oil (seed oil)
- organic cultured wheat flour (a preservative)
- Citric acid (a preservative)
- Organic rice flour
- Microbial enzyme
- Salt
- Organic sugar (why?)
- Sodium bicarbonate
- Organic sunflower lecithin
- Xanthan gum
- Sodium acid pyrophosphate (another preservative)
- Organic guar gum (what even is this?)
- Monocalcium phosphate (another preservative)
These aren’t the worst ones on the market, but sixteen ingredients compared to five simple ones… The recipe below comes together very quickly, most of the work is hands-off for a 30 minute rest.
If I know I’ll need tortillas for dinner, I’ll knead the starter, oil, water, flour, and salt together, cover with a damp dish towel right before I leave for school pick-up. Once we’re back home, my kids like to help roll them in to flat circles with the rolling pins. They like to be involved with the process.
Sourdough Tortillas
Equipment
- medium sized bowl
- Skillet or griddle
- Rolling Pin
Ingredients
- ½ cup sourdough starter discard
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ⅓ cup water
- 1½ cup all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- In a medium-sized bowl, mix the sourdough discard, olive oil and water. Stir to combine.
- Add the all-purpose flour and salt, mixing until the dough is formed. Knead for 1 to 2 minutes, until everything is well combined and dough is showing no dry spots. If your dough is too sticky, add 1 tablespoon more of all-purpose flour and knead until absorbed.
- Cover the dough with a damp towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.
- Preheat a large skillet or griddle on high heat. Divide the dough into 8 to 10 pieces on a lightly floured surface. Flatten each ball with the palm of your hand.
- Roll open each piece of dough into a circle, using a rolling pin. The tortillas should be rolled thin (about ¼ inch thickness), and will look almost see-through.
- Cook individually on high heat for about 1 minute on each side. Flip it as soon as bubbles appear. Aim to have golden brown spots on each side.
- Serve warm.
I do still occasionally purchase Trader Joe’s mini organic tortillas, because I’m human, and can only do so much. But more often than not, I’m making my own tortillas at home these days. Whatever we don’t use for dinner that night, I’ll throw in a plastic baggie and keep in the fridge. They can hold in the fridge for up to a month. They also freeze beautifully.