homemade pita bread

My family's authentic, fool-proof pita bread recipe is easy to make and requires a few ingredients you may already have on hand! Mix up the very simple dough, let it rise, and experience the magic of fresh, warm, perfectly puffy homemade pita bread. Baking and stovetop instructions included!

Homemade Pita Bread Recipe

Water

tsp active dry yeast

tsp sugar

tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Make sponge

In a large mixing bowl add 1 cup lukewarm water and stir in yeast and sugar until dissolved. Add 1/2 cup flour and whisk together. Place the mixing bowl in a warm place, uncovered to form a lose sponge. Give it 15 minutes or so, the mixture should bubble.

Form the pita dough

Now add salt, olive oil and almost all the remaining flour (keep about 1/2 cup of the flour for dusting later). Stir until mixture forms a shaggy mass (at this point, the dough has little to no gluten development and just looks like a sticky mess and you can easily pull bits off). Dust with a little flour, then knead the mixture inside the bowl for about a minute to incorporate any stray bits.

Knead the dough

Dust a clean working surface with just a little bit of flour. Knead lightly for a couple minutes or so until smooth. Cover and let the dough rest for 10 minutes, then knead again for a couple more minutes. The dough should be a little bit moist, you can help it with a little dusting of flour, but be careful not to add too much flour.

Let the dough rise

Clean the mixing bowl and coat it lightly with extra virgin olive oil and put the dough back in the bowl. Turn the dough a couple times in the bowl to coat with the olive oil. Cover the mixing bowl tightly with plastic wrap then lay a kitchen towel over. Put the bowl in a warm place. Leave it alone for 1 hour or until the dough rises to double its size.

Divide the dough. 

Deflate the dough and place it on a clean work surface. Divide the dough into 7 to 8 equal pieces and shape them into balls. Cover with a towel and leave them for 10 minutes or so to rest.

Shape the pitas. 

Using a floured rolling pin, roll one of the pieces into a circle that&#8217;s 8-9 inches wide and about a quarter inch thick. It helps to lift and turn the dough frequently as you roll so that dough doesn&#8217;t stick to your counter too much. (If dough starts to stick, sprinkle a tiny bit of flour). If the dough starts to spring back, set it aside to rest for a few minutes, then continue rolling. Repeat with the other pieces of dough. (Once you get going, you can be cooking one pita while rolling another, if you like). You have two options for baking the pita from here.

To bake pita in the oven: 

Heat the oven to 475 degrees F and place a heavy-duty baking pan or large cast iron skillet on the middle rack to heat. Working in batches, place the rolled-out pitas directly on the hot baking baking sheet (I was only able to fit 2 at a time). Bake for 2 minutes on one side, and then, using a pair of tongs, carefully turn pita over to bake for 1 minute on the other side.  The pita will puff nicely and should be ready. Remove from the oven and cover the baked pitas with a clean towel while you work on the rest of the pitas.

To cook pita on stovetop: Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. (Test by adding a couple drops of water to the skillet, the skillet is ready when the beads of water sizzle immediately). Drizzle a tiny bit of extra virgin olive oil and wipe off any excess. Working with one pita at a time, lay a rolled-out pita on the skillet and bake for 30 seconds, until bubbles start to form. Using a spatula, flip the pita over and cook for 1-2 minutes on  the other side, until large toasted spots appear on the underside. Flip again and cook another 1-2 minutes to toast the other side. The pita is ready when it puffs up forming a pocket (sometimes, with this method, the pita may not puff or may only form a small pocket. Try pressing the surface of the pita gently with a clean towel). Keep baked pita covered with a clean towel while you work on the rest.

This looks like an awesome recipe and I'm excited to try it!

These were so good!! My family devoured them. I should have doubled the recipe:)
Thanks!

Hello! Best proven recipe! I'm back! But now Please help! Do I deflate the dough and cut into balls to store in the fridge overnight?

Turned out delicious. However, I needed a lot more flour than is suggested when I went to mix the dough together. Other than that, good recipe.

Absolutely delicious and perfectly puffy!  And easy!I used half whole wheat flour which ended up being a little more than half because I didn’t need all of 1/2 cup of  reserved white flour.  Baked  1 or 2 at a time on my large pizza stone. Thank you for the recipe!

Absolutely fantastic. My wife asked, "can we have chicken souvlaki and Greek salad and homemade pita for dinner?" I, being the cook of the house and a devoted husband, said without hesitation "sure!"

Well, yikes, I'd never made pit bread before, but why not? I'll give it a try. She found this recipe and forwarded it to me. Well, the result was amazing. (Sadly, the old yeast we had never really bubbled as much as it ought to have, but oddly enough, it still worked out fine. I recall there being about 3 bubbles.) And by "amazing" I mean it tasted awesome and my wife and 7-year-old daughter ate all 7 breads in less than a day. I think they left me 1. Famly love, LOL. I followed the recipe exactly, made no additions or modifications, and it turned out perfectly. (Note: in terms of leaving it in a warm place, our kitchen was about 25°C/77°F.)  As an added touch, if serving straight out of the oven, perhaps a very light brush of EV olive oil would work.

Delicious!
The dough it looked quite dense, they were light and tasty. 
I've used heavy duty mixer with dough hook and might use dough cycle on my bread machine next time as i am a bit too lazy to mix it manually

Thanks!

Made the dough on Sunday, and cooked an individual pita dough ball every time I wanted to eat one. The dough stayed well in the fridge the remainder of the week and I was able to enjoy hot, fresh pita bread every day! I was so impressed with how fluffy and delicious this bread considering how simple the ingredients/preparation was. Will ABSOLUTELY be making again!

delicious and easy, mine didn't puff but i am sure it was something i did wrong but we still enjoyed them greatly

Homemade Pita Bread is easy to make and puffs up to form a stuffable pocket inside. We included instructions for baking in the oven or cooking pita bread on the stovetop.

water

instant yeast (1 packet)

whole wheat flour

all-purpose flour (plus more to dust, measured correctly)

tsp fine sea salt

In a large mixing bowl, combine warm water, sugar, yeast, and 1/4 cup whole wheat flour. Whisk to combine then set aside for 15 minutes until puffy and foamy on top.

Add olive oil, 2 1/2 cups flour and salt and stir together with a wooden spoon until shaggy.

Turn out onto a clean smooth surface and knead vigorously for 5 minutes. The dough should feel sticky to your hands but will get less sticky as you knead and should not be sticking to the counter. If the dough is too sticky to knead, sprinkle with a little more flour and continue kneading. Dough should be soft and tacky to the touch.

Wash and dry the mixing bowl and grease the inside of the bowl with 1 tsp olive oil inside the bowl. Add dough and turn to coat in oil. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and place in a warm (100˚F) place for 45 minutes, or at room temperature about 90 minutes until doubled in volume.

If Baking Pita: Once dough has doubled, preheat oven to 500˚F with a baking stone or baking sheet on the bottom rack position. You need to let the stone heat up for at least 20 minutes or the pita won’t puff properly

How to Make Pita Dough:

Punch dough down and Transfer dough to a clean surface and divide into 8 even pieces. Cup your hand around each dough ball and roll until you no longer see a dimple or seam underneath. Cover balls with a damp kitchen towel and rest 15 minutes for gluten to relax and make it easier to roll them out.

Place a dough ball onto a surface generously dusted and press gently into a disk with your fingertips to disperse bubbles. Roll dough balls to 7” wide and less than 1/4” thick. Move the disk several times while rolling to ensure it doesn’t stick to the counter. Keep rolled disks covered with a damp towel so they don’t dry out. Do not stack pitas. Let disks rest 10 minutes before baking and they will puff better.

How to Form Pita Bread:

Place 2-3 pieces of dough on the preheated pizza stone and bake at 500˚F 2 to 2 1/2 minutes or until puffed. Remove from oven and transfer to a rack for 5 minutes then cover with a dry towel to keep the pitas from drying out.

To Bake Pita Bread:

Preheat cast iron skillet over medium/high heat and brush lightly with olive oil. Lay pita on the hot skillet for 30 seconds. Once you see bubbling, flip the pitta and cook for 1 minute - it will puff then flip and cook another minute.

Stovetop Instructions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ee4-fClbmt0

This homemade Pita Bread Recipe puffs up beautifully to form that perfect pocket inside. Learn how to make Pita Bread with instructions for baking in the oven or on the stovetop. 
⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️ RECIPE BELOW  ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️

PITA BREAD INGREDIENTS: 
►1 cup warm water
►2 1/4 tsp instant yeast 1 packet or 7 grams
►1/2 tsp sugar
►1/4 cup whole wheat flour 30 gr
►2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil plus another 1 tsp to oil the bowl
►2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus more to dust (312 gr)
►1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt

🖨 PRINT RECIPE HERE: https://natashaskitchen.com/pita-bread-recipe/ 
Tzatziki Sauce: https://natashaskitchen.com/tzatziki-sauce-recipe/

⭐️TOOLS, USED IN THIS VIDEO (affiliate):
►MkOne Thermometer: https://www.thermoworks.com/thermapen-one?tw=NK
►Kitchen Scale: https://amzn.to/2VIBObX
►Cast Iron Skillet: https://amzn.to/3Bdf2sY
►Rolling Pin: https://amzn.to/3koWIr8
►Quick-Rise Instant Yeast: https://amzn.to/3ij9NiM
►Rapid-Rise Instant Yeast: https://amzn.to/3B5nvOW
►Magnetic Measuring Spoons: https://amzn.to/3xJZbjD
►Pizza Stone: https://amzn.to/3wHB2J3
►Food Scraper: https://amzn.to/3rdeWgz
►Cooling Rack: https://amzn.to/3hGAVJE
►Wooden Pizza Peel: https://amzn.to/3B6BrZb
►White Dutch Oven: https://amzn.to/3ijSLkM

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⏱️TIMESTAMPS⏱️
0:00 Intro
0:48Water and yeast tips
2:05 How to measure flour
2:33 Making pita dough
3:11 Kneading pita dough
4:38 Diving and rolling dough into balls
6:03 Rolling dough into disks
7:26 First method of baking pita bread
7:48 Second method of baking pita bread
8:24 Difference between both methods
9:28 Taste test
9:50 Pitta bread serving suggestions

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#natashaskitchen #pitabread #bread

Pita Bread Recipe (2 Easy Ways)

Making homemade pita bread is easier than you might expect. Once you try making this bread at home, you may never go back to store-bought!

all purpose flour

instant yeast

sugar

salt

olive oil (extra virgin)

Put flour and yeast and sugar and salt in a stand mixer and mix.&nbsp;

Then add olive oil and water. Mix until the dough is formed. It can be a little sticky. Add a little flour if needed.&nbsp;

Cover and rest for 1 hour so the dough is doubled in size. Do not punch the dough down.&nbsp;

Preheat the oven and a pizza stone to 500F.&nbsp;

Divide the dough into eight pieces and cover for 15 minutes to rise.&nbsp;

Take one dough ball and keep the rest covered.&nbsp;

Use your fingers to shape the dough into a disk and don't let the air out. Gently roll out the dough using a rolling pin. The disk shouldn't be thicker than 1/4 inch.&nbsp;

Place the rolled disk on the hot pizza stone (or baking sheet) and close the oven door. Let it bake for two minutes, it will puff.&nbsp;

Flip the bread and bake for another two minutes.&nbsp;

Place the baked pita bread on a plate and cover with a towel.&nbsp;

Continue baking the remaining pita breads.&nbsp;

Store tightly in a plastic bag.&nbsp;

Did you know you can make homemade pita bread with just four ingredients that you likely have in your pantry? You can! And it's really good.

Homemade Pita Bread

active yeast

Dissolve yeast in warm water for about 5 minutes in the bowl of your stand mixer.

Add salt and 1 ½ cups flour and with the dough hook, beat to make a batter.

Add additional flour until a rough, shaggy mass is formed. Knead 8 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic. Add more flour if it is too sticky.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into six pieces for large pitas or ten for smaller.

Form dough into balls, then flatten with a rolling pin into ¼ inch thick discs. Try and keep an even thickness as this is what helps them ‘puff’.

Let rest on the floured surface 30-40 minutes until slightly puffed.

While the dough is resting, preheat oven to 425F.

With a large spatula, flip the rounds of dough upside down onto a baking sheet. Bake 10-15 minutes until light golden.

Learn how to make the best pita bread from scratch and enjoy homemade pita anytime you&#039;d like! It&#039;s soft and only requires 6 ingredients!

instant dry yeast (1 packet)

all purpose flour (plus more for dusting)

olive oil

In a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with hook attachment, dissolve sugar in the warm water. Sprinkle in yeast and let stand until mixture is foamy, about 5 minutes.

Add 1 cup flour, olive oil and salt and stir with a wooden spoon. Slowly add remaining flour until a shaggy dough is formed. Knead for 10 minutes in the stand mixer until the dough comes together and is smooth.

Cover dough with a moist kitchen towel. Allow dough to rise in a warm, dark place, until the dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down and separate dough into 12 round pieces by pinching off some of the dough. Use your hands to tuck the sides and roll into an even ball, covering the pieces with a moist kitchen towel as you work. Allow to rest for 10 minutes.

Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough as evenly as possible. This is important to ensure that the pita puffs up. Transfer the rolled out pita onto small squares of parchment paper floured lightly.

Preheat oven 550°F (or to the highest temperature it will go) with the baking sheet inside the oven. While the oven is heating, allow the pita rounds to rest for about 30 minutes.

Flip the rolled out pita onto the heated baking sheet. Bake on the bottom rack of your oven until lightly golden brown and puffed, about 3-5 minutes. Wrap them in a clean kitchen towel as soon as they come out of the oven.

Homemade Pita Bread is so easy to make! Perfectly pillowy and just the right amount of chewy, these pita loaves will become your new favorite sandwich bread.

dry active yeast

all-purpose flour (divided)

Whisk together the sugar and yeast in a large bowl, then stir in the warm water. Let the yeast activate for about 5 minutes, or until frothy.

Add the salt and olive oil, and then using a wooden spoon, add 2 ½ cups of flour.

Continue stirring and add a tablespoon of flour at a time until the dough starts to pull away from the sides.

Dust a counter with some of the remaining flour. Turn the dough out onto the counter and knead it for 15 minutes. If you have a stand mixer with a kneading attachment then you’ll only need to knead for 10 minutes.  Add a dust of flour as it gets too sticky to handle, but don’t overdo it or the dough will become hard. The dough should be tacky but not too sticky to knead.

Tuck in the edges of the dough then coat the same bowl with olive oil that you used before. Add the dough and roll it around in the bowl to coat it in the olive oil.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a tea towel and let it rise for about an hour, until it has doubled in size.

Remove the dough from the bowl and cut it into 10 equal pieces that weigh about 2 ounces each.Tuck in the edges of each of the pieces to form balls then cover them with a towel and let them rest for 20 minutes.

Roll one of the dough balls out into a ¼ inch thick disk that’s about 6 inches across. (These do not have to be perfect, just form the best circle or oval that you can.)

Let the uncooked pita rest for five minutes as you heat a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Lightly coat the pan in some olive oil then place one of the uncooked pitas in the pan.

Cook for 20 to 30 seconds or until you see 4-5 bubbles start to form, then flip the pita over and cook for another 20 seconds then flip it again and cook for 1 minute and allow the bread to puff up.

Flip it again and let it puff up more then remove it from the pan and cover with a towel to trap the steam and keep them soft. (Not all of the pitas will puff up, but they should all form large bubbles.)

Repeat the process with the remaining uncooked pitas, then serve!

Hi Jessica, Thank you for your reply. I printed out the recipe as it was, then realized I needed to make a little more so I scaled it up to 10 and printed. Then I thought 5 cups of flour may make too much so I scaled it back down to maybe 8? I can't remember, but it changed to 3 tablespoons of sugar and 4.5 cups of flour. I actually ended up making 12 pitas with that recipe. They were a decent size for us to stuff with your chicken slouvaki recipe. I also used your recipes for Greek seasoning, Greek salad dressing and Greek salad for a Greek themed birthday dinner for my son. Everything was great. The pita dough was beautiful to work with.

The yield states 6-7 pitas but the instructions say divide into 10 pieces. Could you give an idea of the size differences if I were to divide into 6 vs 10 balls of dough? I have been searching for a pita recipe like the ones used at OPA restaurants. I know they are a "fast food" type restaurant so they may not be particularly authentic but I love how fluffy and chewy their pitas are compared to the drier pocket type pitas available in grocery stores.

Delicious taste and easy to make. Thanks for the recipe!!

Just made this recipe and ummmmmm it’s amazing!!!! So so easy to make, I will be making another batch tomorrow :)

I replace the water with milk simply because I prefer it that way but absolutely love these. They’re amazing and it’s so simple

This homemade Pita Bread recipe is soft, fresh, and will be the star of your next meal! It&#039;s quick and easy to make, and all you need are basic pantry ingredients.

Pita Bread

instant yeast ((1 packet)*)

fine sea salt

all-purpose flour

Make Dough: Mix water, yeast, sugar, salt, olive oil and 1 cup of flour together. Add more flour, a little at a time, until the dough comes together but is still a little sticky. Flour your hands and knead it in the bowl for a minute or so until it’s smooth. The dough should be very soft and not overly sticky.

Rest: Place dough in a well-greased bowl, cover, and rest for 40 minutes (or refrigerate until ready to use).

Divide dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece into a very thin circle.

Cook: Heat a griddle or large skillet over medium high heat. (See notes for oven instructions, if desired). Once the pan is hot, lightly grease the pan with oil and lay pitas flat. Cook for 2 minutes, or until lightly golden on the bottom. Flip and cook for another minute or so, then remove from heat and place inside a clean, dry kitchen towel to keep warm while you cook remaining pitas.

These were delicious and I enjoyed making them. They disappeared quickly:)

It seems to be too much water for the amount of flour. My dough was too sticky and unmanageable, despite everything being measured exactly. I ended up adding about 50 more grams of flour.

Best pita recipe ever! I doubled the recipe for my family of eight and they came out literally perfect.

Hi!  I've made these pitas twice and each time they have been amazing!  Would this dough also be able to be used to make individual pizzas?

I hadn't even thought to make pitas! I've been looking for whole wheat pitas here and can barely find regular ones! I'm going to modify it a bit for whole wheat. Thanks so much, Lauren!

Delicious! I substituted the olive oil for sesame oil, as that is simply our household oil preference as it has more flavor, and I lightly salted both sides of the pita bread as I was frying each in the skillet. They turned out so wonderful! We ate this alongside with Lauren's chicken tikka masala recipe, which I served atop jasmine rice cooked in an instapot, and the meal as a whole was just incredible.

https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/pmIfncPv.mp4

It’s incredibly quick and easy to make homemade Pita Bread and once do, you’ll never go back to store-bought. Homemade pitas are soft, fresh, and will be the star of your next meal.

Looking for the perfect bread to make your shawarma sandwiches, dip in hummus, and make pita pockets? This Authentic Lebanese Pita Bread recipe will give you all the tips and tricks to make warm and soft pita bread - so good that you’ll never buy pita from the store again!

Soft Authentic Lebanese Pita Bread

Cups all-purpose flour (377 g)

whole wheat flour (100 g)

Cups water

tsp salt

Tbsp yeast

Tbsp olive oil, as needed (15 mL)

See how to make the best authentic Arabic pita breads for shawarmas at home with this easy recipe! You will learn how to make soft Lebanese pita bread in the oven and pita bread over the stove. This easy pita bread recipe will give tips and tricks on how to get excellent flavour and how to prevent pita bread from drying out.

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Top 9 homemade pita bread recipes from across the web

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