Sourdough Discard Flatbread
This tasty Sourdough Discard Flatbread is made 100% using spent and unfed discard, and can be made in 5-10 minutes. Enjoy it plain with flaky salt, or add fresh herbs or Everything Bagel Seasoning!
I absolutely love having sourdough in my kitchen and have made my fair share of sourdough loaves over the past year.
But part of the package deal is figuring out what to do with all the discard, and at first I found it overwhelming. That is, until I started making this skillet flatbread.
There are plenty of recipes online using sourdough discard, recipes like pancakes and muffins and even cake. In our house, we do love making batches of these Sourdough Discard Blueberry Muffins from time to time.
But sometimes that can feel like too much of a fuss since the discard would only be one of maybe 10 ingredients that I’d need to bring together to make something new.
Well, not here.
What you see here is just pure sourdough discard, cooked up in the skillet in a matter of minutes. We love this stuff!
What I Love About This Recipe
- It’s made only with sourdough discard. No need to add baking powder or other ingredients.
- It only takes 5-10 minutes to cook in a skillet. Cook it straight from the fridge or from the countertop, wherever you keep your discard. It doesn’t matter if it’s refrigerated or at room temperature.
- Easy to customize the flavor. Most of the time we just add salt, but you can also add your favorite herbs, seasonings, cheeses, whatever!
- Delicious texture and sourdough flavor! It’s crispy on the edges but chewy in the middle. It has great texture, and of course, a classic sourdough flavor.
A Few Notes on the Discard
While it’s slightly easier to spread around a room temperature discard, most of the time we make it cold from the fridge. Either way will work.
This right here is a room temperature discard, so it flows a bit easier:
Since the discard doesn’t have salt, you’ll need to add that to the recipe.
You can either sprinkle some on while the flatbread is cooking in the pan, or you can mix a pinch of salt into the discard while it’s still in the bowl.
Mixing salt directly into the discard will make it more evenly seasoned, but I find it hard to stir in, so I usually just sprinkle it on in the skillet.
How to Make It Step by Step
Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat and add a tablespoon of your desired fat.
Here I am using ghee, but butter is the best if you tolerate it, because it spreads beautifully around the pan.
You can also use olive oil, coconut oil, and so on.
Scoop up the sourdough discard with a measuring cup and pour it into the hot fat:
As quickly as you can, use a spatula to spread it around into a circle. The bottom sets pretty quickly, so you have to sort of wiggle it as you spread the discard around:
Add whatever seasoning you like. It could be salt, or spices, or this Everything Bagel Seasoning. I love keeping that seasoning on hand and also use it for sprinkling on Homemade Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns and this Everything Bagel Cheese Ball.
You can also add fresh chives, which I use below, or fresh thyme, rosemary, parsley, or scallions.
After the top no longer looks raw, check underneath to see if it’s golden brown:
Then flip it over and continue cooking for a few more minutes to crisp the other side.
It’s now ready to slice or serve whole.
We enjoy this on its own, but you can also add it to an Antipasto Platter or enjoy it with some Baba Ganoush and Marinated Olives. Enjoy!
FAQ:
How to Store – Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two days.
Reheating – I honestly find this easiest to reheat in the toaster, where it crisps nicely. You can also microwave for 15 seconds to warm, or warm them in a 250F oven for 10 minutes.
Freezing – These freeze well, stored in an airtight container or bag for up to two months. I suggest putting pieces of wax paper between flatbreads so they don’t stick together.
Cooking Fat – The best cooking fat is butter, if you can tolerate it. It spreads around the pan nicely and has great flavor. I tend to use ghee, but you can also use olive oil or coconut oil.
Cooking Equipment and Scaling – You can use any size nonstick skillet you like, and also make as many of these flatbreads as you want. I do about 1/2 cup of sourdough discard for a 10″ skillet that has 1 tbsp of cooking fat added, and still have good space for flipping. I use this 10″ skillet (affiliate).
Sourdough Discard Flatbread
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter (or ghee, olive oil, etc)
- 1 cup sourdough discard unfed
- 1/8 tsp salt
- everything bagel seasoning optional
Instructions
- Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat and add 1 tbsp of butter, or your desired cooking fat.
- Add 1/2 cup of the sourdough discard to the hot cooking fat and quickly spread it around the best you can using a spatula. I sort of wiggle and spread at the same time, to try to spread it into a circular shape.
- Before the top sets, quickly sprinkle it with salt, everything bagel seasoning, or whatever flavoring you desire.
- Cook until no more raw discard remains, about 3-4 minutes, then check underneath to see if the bottom is golden and crispy.
- Flip over the flatbread, and cook for a couple more minutes, until golden and crispy on the other side.
- Repeat with the remaining butter and starter. Serve while hot and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
60 Comments on “Sourdough Discard Flatbread”
So easy. My picky husband actually liked it and said it tasted like a bagel. This is the easiest!! Who wants to take hours to make bread or flatbread? Not I. This recipe rocks.
My family LOVES your recipe! Every week as I feed my sourdough starter, my family looks forward to the flatbreads that we make from the discard. We have tried so many seasoning mixes that each bread is an adventure.
Thank you, thank you!
So simple and tastes absolutely amazing. Could think of many things to use these for and may even try a sweet version in a few days. Thanks!
Let me know how it turns out! so glad you love it
I have been trying to get my starter going so over 2wks I have lots of discard to use. I added some fennel seeds, ground cumin, salt and pepper to about 6 cups of discard. Used olive oil instead of butter on a hot pan pouring 1/2 cup each time tilting pan to spread batter thinly and cooked until natter was done on first side before I turned over. Family loved them ~ was told they are a favourite! Thank you for sharing, I am now not so antsy about discard accumulating in my fridge!
This is fantastic. I have tried many times to fry discard in a skillet with limited success. The difference was that I tried to thin the discard with water because it would always be too chewy and underdone in the middle. Using this recipe I instead “pulled” the batter with a spoon to spread it. I had also been using oil. Switching to butter and the “stretching” of the dough in the skillet (a large metal spoon worked great) made all the difference. I used salt, garlic powder, and anything bagel. I also used a small cast iron skillet, on medium to medium-high heat, and made sure to get it nice and browned before flipping. I used week old discard, fed it afterwards, and then loved it so much that I made another with the discard I had just fed. Both worked equally well. Yummy!
I’ve tried 3 times..1. Fresh discard with 1T butter and nonstick skillet. Too thick; couldn’t spread. 2. Month old refrigerator discard in cast iron with less butter. That was thinner and I was able to spread but quite the tang. Tried again this morning with fresh discard in cast iron… too thick. Maybe add some water next time?
Rarely do I write reviews – this is worth it for the simplicity though. After being discouraged by all of the ‘discard’ recipes out there that use minimal discard loaded with tons of other ingredients, I am glad that I found this one that uses the one thing I set out to use – DISCARD! How obvious and simple, yet something I didn’t think of, so… THANK YOU! My new favorite. Crusty outside, chewy inside and so delicious topped with salt, pepper and garlic powder and used as a dipper for my soup.
These are so good!! We ate them with carnitas. Delicious!
I was just looking at the diatary information on this recipe and see that there is 1g of sugar… just wondering where that came from as there is no added sugar in these ingredients? Thanks! Trying to keep count of sugars and carbs for a diabetic diet.
I made this for breakfast this morning, with EbtB seasoning, and Mikes Hot Honey, it was really good! I can see this being useful with many different toppings
Oh my goodness, this is so good! Thank you!!!
The first one I made it, it came out to thick and gooey on the inside. So I made the second one thinner, spreading it out more but it was still gooey. This morning as I was making crackers I decided to try again since everything was already out (and I could use all of my discard until I feed tonight) I decided to add about a tsp water and thin it and get it nice and thin in the skillet, looked great but the inside was still gooey. the next one I made thinner, cooked longer with a lower heat …all 4 were fails! Any advice? I have to keep trying, it looks so simple!
These were so simple and easy, and very good. Will definitely make again.
I like the simplicity of this recipe, but it just did not turn out great at all. I’m not quite sure if it was the way I did it or not. Maybe I didn’t spread the discard thin enough? Or maybe Olive oil doesn’t work well?
I don’t know. I’m going to try it again later and see if anything changes with using butter and getting it thinner.
My discard is quite eh em aged as it were. Like I don’t even know how old, lol though I do have it in varying age levels, if you will. Do you think this will still turn out? Like if it smells like nail polish remover?
It will still turn out fine, however it may taste very sour and vinegary.
Wow! This was so easy and so good! I sprinkled salt and dried roasted garlic while cooking, flipped and added some tomato sauce, cayenne pepper and grated marble cheese while it finished cooking. Delicious! My kids will love this easy flat bread pizza!!