Homemade pita bread. Whip up these easy flatbreads for a Greek style feast. Learn how to make the perfectly puffed classic breads with this recipe. Great for wrapping and dipping!
If you think making beautiful flatbreads from scratch is not an easy task, trust me, it’s not as hard as you think. Read on to learn about the most important elements of creating homemade flatbreads and customize them to your liking.
Pita bread, the classic Greek flatbread, is the base of your favorite falafel wraps and gyros. In fact, a Greek style feast is incomplete without this traditional puffy bread. To make this, all you need are a few pantry staples including flour, yeast and oil.
How To Make Pita Bread
Start with activating the yeast. Instant yeast or active dry yeast works best in this recipe. Combine it with warm water and sugar to start the process. You will also need to add a little flour to this yeast mixture. Once all the ingredients are well combined, set it aside to allow fermentation.
When you see a light foam on the yeast mixture, it’s time to add in the remaining flour, oil and salt. Mix everything together and knead to form a soft and sticky dough.
Next up, leave it to rest for about 1-2 hours or until the dough doubles in size. The exact time depends on the temperature in your kitchen. Now, punch down the dough and divide it into 8 equal portions. You need to roll this again into soft balls and let it rest for another 10 minutes.
Well, it’s time to roll out the dough. With the cooking method, you have two options - stovetop or oven. I love to cook pita bread over stovetop as I adore those brown charred marks on them.
And there you go! Delicious pita bread made from scratch - so easy, so delicious!
Homemade Pita Bread (Stovetop and Oven) | Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup lukewarm water
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- ½ teaspoon white sugar
- ¼ cup all purpose flour plain flour, to mix with yeast
- 3 cups all purpose flour plus extra for dusting plain flour, to make dough
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Place water, yeast, sugar and ¼ cup flour in a large bowl. Whisk to combine. Set aside for 10 minutes or until the yeast froths.
- Add 3 cups flour, olive oil and salt. Mix together with a wooden spoon and then use clean hands to bring everything together.
- Dust a clean work surface dusted with flour and tip out the dough. Knead for 5-7 minutes or until the dough is soft and slightly sticky.
- Grease the bowl with oil, and place the dough in it. Coat the dough in oil. Cover and set aside for 2 hours or until the dough has doubled in size.
- Punch down and tip out the dough onto a dusted surface. Divide into 8 (for large pitas) or 10 (for small pitas) equal portions.
- Roll each portion into smooth soft rounds. Cover with a damp tea towel. Set aside for another 10 minutes.
- Pat and flatten the dough with your hands, and then use a rolling pin to roll each ball into 8-10 cm rounds, roughly ⅓-inch thick. Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet. Cover with damp tea towel.
- Meanwhile, heat a cast iron pan or frill pan over high heat. Brush with oil.
- Place the flatbread, one at a time, in the pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until it bubbles. Flip it over, and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until it puffs.
- When cooked, transfer to a plate and cover with clean tea towel. Repeat with the remaining rolled dough.
- To make this in the oven, preheat a pizza stone at 250 C or 500 F. Place rolled out pita bread on the pizza stone and wait to puff up. When it puffs, remove from oven
and repeat with the remaining rolled out dough.
Video
Notes
- Always cook pita bread over high heat
- Make sure you roll out the dough evenly
- Customize this bread with your favorite flavors like garlic, chopped herbs etc
- Oven baked pita bread will get a light wheatish color while the charred brown spots will only appear on stove top version
- Wrap these breads in aluminum foil and freeze for later use
Nutrition
More Flatbread Recipes:
- Butter Naan
- Garlic Naan | Garlic Butter Flavored Flatbread
- Bullet Naan
- Cheese Naan | Cheese Stuffed Flatbread
- Keema Paratha | Minced Meat Paratha
- Malabar Paratha | Kerala Parotta
- Lachha Paratha | Layered Paratha
Like this pita bread recipe? Then join Nish Kitchen on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. Watch exclusive recipe videos on YouTube.
Natashya says
Fantastic recipe! I have tried a couple of pita bread recipes before but this is the best by far!!
Rose Mary George says
Thanks so much!:)