Sourdough Flatbread (Easy Recipe to Use Your Discard)

Sourdough discard flatbreads can be used in a variety of ways. Flatbreads are popularly used as pizza bases or as a substitute for other unleavened breads like naan. In this recipe, you can use your unfed sourdough starter or an active sourdough starter, whichever you have on hand.  Let’s dive into making these delicious sourdough discard flatbreads!

Do not worry about having to turn on your oven, as flatbreads are made on your stove top! I like to make this flatbread dough the night before, then the next day cook it for lunch or with supper. But I also believe it make a fabulous breakfast wrap with cheesy eggs and sausage or bacon!

Flatbread is a type of unleavened bread. These bread products include naan breads, tortillas, matzah, or pitta breads (to name a few). This easy recipe can be used in a variety of ways (as I’ll share below) and you will only need five simple ingredients to make it. There are many variations of flatbreads depending on where you are in the world. You can customize them to make them into a pita bread, naan bread, roti, and more! Since flatbreads are traditionally not leavened, they do not need to rise like a sourdough bread would need to. 

​what ways can you eat flat bread?

• use as an appetizer and dip into hummus or other dips
• replace pizza dough with a flatbread to make mini pizzas
• roll up cooked meat and toppings to make gyros
• swap it for tortillas and use it for tacos
• wrap cold cut meat, cheese, and your favorite sandwich toppings in it
• scramble eggs and top them with cheese and salsa
• a side for your soup or salad

why make sourdough recipes? 

Traditionally, the fermentation process involved grains being soaked and fermented before being baked into fresh bread. Probably unbeknownst to the people at the time, it also decreases the phytic acid content as lactic acid bacteria start the digesting process for you! This is a great way to make your grains easier to digest and increases the ability for your body to absorb the minerals and nutrients that come from what you are eating. 

When you long ferment sourdough products, you are using the wild yeast within the whole wheat flour that you used to start your starter with. This typically involves mixing flour and water with your starter and allowing it to sit for 12-24 hours. Fortunately, if the health benefits are not what you are after for this recipe, you can allow your sourdough mix to sit for 2-4 hours since it does not need to rise. 

Also, when you use sourdough, you usually do not need to use yeast. The process of making sourdough allows the ‘natural yeast’ to do the work for you instead of needing store bought yeast, which only helps the bread rise. 

If you do not have your own starter or want to know how to make one, visit my post here to learn how.

useful tools to have to make this easy sourdough flatbread recipe

• a large mixing bowl
• wooden spoon or stand mixer
• a rolling pin
• plastic wrap or a beeswax wrap
• cast iron skillet 

simple ingredients you will need

• unfed or active starter
• milk – I prefer whole milk but you can try and substitute for a non-diary version like soy or oat. 
• salt – Redmond’s real salt is usually what I reach for, but you could use sea salt too.
• avocado oil or olive oil – Make sure to use a neutral flavored oil in this recipe. I prefer to NOT use vegetable oil because it is not as healthful as it once seemed to be.
• flour – all purpose flour or bread flour will work great!
• lard, tallow, or coconut oil – this is to put in your pan and cook with. You can use avocado or olive oil if that is what you have on hand.

​how to make sourdough discard flatbreads

1. mix 3/4 cup starter, 2 1/4 cup flour + 2 TBSP flour, 3/4 cup milk, 1 tsp salt, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil or avocado oil in a large bowl.
2. if you are using a stand mixer, you may want to put on your dough hook and allow it to knead the bread for a couple of minutes once the ingredients are mixed together.
3. in a greased bowl, place your flatbread dough and cover it with plastic wrap and allow to sit in a warm place. 
4. if short fermenting, this only needs to be for 2-4 hours. if long fermenting, allow to sit 12-24 hours.
5. on a lightly floured surface, divide your flatbread dough into 8 equal pieces (I like to use a bench scraper I found at the thrift store to make this easier). 
6. as you pull your pieces off, form them into even dough balls.
7. next, roll out your dough. as you roll, turn the dough a quarter turn to make them into nearly perfect circles. aim for your circles to be about ¼ inch thick.
8. heat up your cast iron pan and melt about 1/2 TBSP lard, tallow, or coconut oil.
9. in your hot skillet, cook the first side of your flatbread for 1-2 minutes (the uncooked side will bubble some) until it starts to brown. 
10. flip and cook the second side for an additional minute or two, until brown.
11. enjoy your fluffy flatbreads!! (see above for ways to eat them!)
12. store your leftovers in an airtight container or plastic bag for maximum freshness at room temperature

other sourdough discard recipes:

• sourdough discard waffles
• sourdough discard tortillas
• sourdough discard gingerbread cookies

tips for making sourdough discard flatbreads

• Your flatbread will probably puff up when you cook the first side, that’s okay! It will deflate later as it cools. 
• If you dough is sticky as you roll it out, just flour each side to prevent it from sticking.
• Don’t have a bench scraper? No problem! I always used a bread knife before I got one. It requires a hair more work, but since you roll these into balls anyway, it’s no big deal. 
• You can use your choice of skillet if a cast-iron skillet is not something you have. Just make sure it does not allow your bread to stick! 
• Do you not have time to make these after making the dough? No problem! Throw it, covered, in your refrigerator for up to 3 days. Bring it to room temperature before rolling out and cooking. 

pin for later

Making your own products is not only healthier, but can be really empowering! Until I started cooking homemade products, I never knew how easily you could make biscuits, flatbreads, tortillas, buns, etc! Now that I have a sourdough starter, I have even more fun making these products and seeing my sourdough starter after it has been fed truly being “alive”. 

I would love to hear from you. Let me know what some of your favorite sourdough products are to make!