Homemade Pita Bread Recipe

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

I love making homemade bread, you've probably seen my barbari, lavash and Turkish pide bread on the blog. This pita bread recipe is among my favorites. Whether I serve it with chicken gyro, beef shawarma, use it to make arayes, or turn it into pita chips to have with homemade hummus, this recipe always delivers.

Table Of Contents:

• Why this recipe works
• The ingredients
• Instructions
• Serving suggestions
• Making this bread crispy
• Freezing instructions
• Frequently asked questions
• Notes and tips
• More bread recipes
• Step-by-Step Recipe

Why this recipe works

We all have had those lovely pita pockets at Middle Eastern and Mediterranean restaurants. I'm talking about those airy and light breads that are hollow in the middle and stuffed with all the good stuff. You've probably also tried the store bought ones, but let me tell you, nothing beats homemade pita!

I promise you that it's much easier than you may be thinking. And it's so much fun to make your own bread at home and have freshly baked bread with your meals, especially if you're having a Mediterranean feast!

The ingredients

• Flour: Quality flour makes all the difference. Both all purpose flour and bread flour would work for this recipe. Keep in mind that using any other flour such as gluten free or whole wheat flour would change the texture and the amount of liquid you need to use.
• Yeast: I use instant yeast and add it directly to the flour. If you use active dry yeast, make sure to dissolve it in warm water with just a bit of sugar before adding it to the dry ingredients. Read about active dry yeast vs instant yeast on The Kitchn.
• Olive oil: You can use regular or extra virgin olive oil.
• Water: Water should be warm to touch, but not hot. If the water is too hot or too cold, the yeast won't activate.

Instructions

Prepare the dough and let it rise

Place the flour, instant yeast, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk to mix. Pour the olive oil and warm water into the bowl and start mixing on medium speed using the dough hook.

Once the dough has come together, shape it into a ball and place it a bowl. Cover with a towel and let it rise for one hour until it doubles in size.

Pre-shape the dough

Place a pizza stone or a baking sheet in the oven and preheat the oven to 500°F. Take the dough out of the bowl and divide it into eight pieces. Cover with a kitchen towel and let the dough balls rise for another 15 minutes. 

Shape the dough

Take a dough ball while keeping the others under the towel and shape it into a ball. Then press gently with your fingers to make it into a round disk without tearing it or letting the air out. Using a rolling pin, gently roll out the dough until it's no thicker than ¼ inch.

Bake the bread

Place the rolled dough on the hot surface in the oven and bake for two minutes. The bread will start to puff. Flip and bake for another two minutes. Place the freshly baked pita on a plate and cover with a towel so it won't dry. Continue with the remaining dough.

Serving suggestions

You can serve this classic middle eastern bread with every meal. Here are a few suggestions:

For dipping: Pita is a great addition to a mezze platter. It's perfect for dipping in tzatziki sauce, melitzanosalata, spicy hummus, baba ganoush, labneh and muhammara.

Pockets and sandwiches: Pita pockets are perfect to serve with dishes such as beef shish kabob, shish tawook, chicken souvlaki, beef shawarma and chicken shawarma. With some toum, zhoug and pickled turnips, you can make a delicious sandwich or wrap. You can also make a vegetarian sandwich using Lebanese spicy potatoes (batata harra).

Making this bread crispy

Crispy pita bread is like Middle Eastern croutons! You can it in different salads, the most popular being fattoush salad, and it's so easy to make:

• Heat olive oil in a pan.
• Tear the bread into bite size pieces.
• Fry in the olive oil with some salt and sumac.
• Place on paper towels to get rid of excess oil.

Freezing instructions

Place a large aluminum foil on the counter and place one pita on the aluminum foil. Cut a piece of parchment or wax paper and put it on top. Top with another bread and repeat the steps until you have a stack of pita bread with wax paper between each layer. Wrap tightly with the aluminum foil and freeze for up to two months.

To defrost, allow frozen bread to thaw properly in the fridge or at room temperature. Preheat the oven to 250°F. Wrap a few pita breads in an aluminum foil and place it in the oven for about 10-12 minutes until they're fully warm. Serve immediately.

Frequently asked questions

Notes and tips

• Homemade pita bread must be baked on a hot surface. I always bake mine on a pizza stone, but a baking sheet would work very well too, just make sure it's completely hot.
• Once the dough has doubled in size after one hour, don't punch it down. The dough needs the air to puff and be hollow in the middle. While rolling it out with a rolling pin, make sure you're not pressing the rolling pin on the dough but simply rolling it on the dough without much pressure. However, even if the pita isn't hollow in the middle, it will still be absolutely delicious!
• I used a stand mixer with a dough hook to make the dough. However, I've tried making the dough in a large bowl and mixing by hand, which also yields great results. Use whichever method works for you!
• This recipe yields 8 pita breads. I baked them one by one, rolling out one while waiting for the other one to bake. You can do two at a time if you like, but these don't take much time to bake anyway.

More bread recipes

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Step-by-Step Recipe