How to make homemade Pita Bread from scratch! A simple, easy step-by-step recipe that turns out perfectly puffed and golden every time! With a video. Includes a sourdough version- see notes.
Here’s a quick and easy recipe for Homemade Pita Bread that turns out perfectly puffed and golden every time! Using Instant yeast shortens the rising time in this recipe and you’ll have warm pita bread in your hands in about 1 1/2 hours -with only 20 minutes of hands-on time.
Such a fun little project to make with kids, I have such fond memories of my own mom and I making this together when I was a child. Imagine the surprise of seeing the fragrant pita bread puff up in the oven for the first time. I’ll never forget this!
How to make Pita Bread | 75-sec video
You’ll find a million uses for homemade pita bread! Serve it with hummus, baba ganoush, labneh, delicious falafels, creamy Tzatziki Sauce, chicken shawarma together with the Israeli Salad, or this amazing, slow-roasted lamb shawarma or even this simple Balela Salad. So yummy!
Or simply brush with olive oil and sprinkle with zaatar for a tasty treat!
Pita Bread Ingredients:
- instant yeast (or see notes for sourdough starter)
- olive oil
- salt
- water
- flour- all purpose flour, bread flour, wholewheat flour, spelt, einkorn
How to make Homemade Pita Bread from Scratch:
- Mix the dough ingredients together. Knead 3 minutes, and cover.
- Let the dough rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
- Divide into 8 balls.
- Roll into 1/4 thick disks.
- Bake in a 500F oven until puffed, about 3-4 minutes.
What flour can be used in homemade pita bread:
- Organic All-purpose flour
- Organic Bread flour
- Whole wheat (use a mix of white and whole wheat for best results)
- Buckwheat or rye ( just use 1/2 cup)
- Spelt
- Einkorn
For basic 6-inch pita bread, roll the dough into a log and divide it into 8 golf ball-sized balls. Let rest 10-15 minutes, covered with a towel.
On a floured surface …roll out balls to 1/4 inch thick rounds, about 6 inches in diameter.
Place the rounds on the hot pan or stone and bake for 3-4 minutes. Resist the temptation to open the oven door, and look in through the window if possible.
After 3-4 minutes, the pita bread should puff up. Turn over and bake 1-2 more minutes.
How to make pita puff up in the oven:
- Let the dough rise until it has doubled in size. This is really important. Using quick-rising yeast will cut your time down significantly! Once the dough has risen and you have made the balls, let them rise again for at least 15 minutes, before rolling out.
- When ready to bake, make sure the oven is thoroughly preheated to 500F with the baking sheet or stone in it. A baking stone is even better! The baking sheet or bread stone should be hot. If it is not, your pita may not puff up. Bake on the lowest rack. They cook very quickly, so don’t walk away.
- Resist opening the oven door until ready to flip them.
- When done, place them in a covered bowl or basket, which will keep the steam in and keep them from drying out.
Wrap the warm pitas in a kitchen towel until serving.
What to serve with pita bread?
How to make Zaatar Pita: (a tasty snack or appetizer)
For a tasty Middle Eastern snack, brush the homemade pita bread with olive oil and sprinkled generously with Zaatar, then place back in the oven again, for 10 minutes. Serve warm!
Growing up these Zaatar Pitas. were a quick and satisfying snack- great with this lentil soup too!
Give this Pita Bread a try and let us know what you think in the comments below!
You may also like:
- Authentic Baba Ganoush
- Zaatar Spice Recipe
- Rainbow Veggie Hummus
- Tandoori Hummus
- Lemony Artichoke White Bean Dip
- Fattoush
- How to Make Labneh
- Israeli Salad
- Zhoug Sauce
- Authentic Falafel
xoxo
Print
Simple Homemade Pita Bread!
- Prep Time: 80 mins
- Cook Time: 5
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Yield: 8 6-inch pitas 1x
- Category: Bread, baked
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
- Diet: Vegan
Description
How to make quick and easy homemade pita bread- a simple step by step recipe that turns out perfect every time! Allow 1-1 1/2 hours rising time.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Pita Bread Recipe
- 2 teaspoons Instant Yeast or quick-rising yeast ( if using active dry yeast please see notes)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup warm water (or sub 1/2 cup plain yogurt for 1/2 of the water and skip the oil- see notes.)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 2 1/2 cups flour (all-purpose white, whole wheat, or a mix of both – see notes for other fun options) More for rolling. 330-350 grams
- sesame seeds- optional
Instructions
- NOTE: When using instant yeast (or quick-rising yeast, which I LOVE) you do not need to dissolve the yeast in water first (the granules are smaller) and you’ll shorten the rising time by half! If using ACTIVE DRY YEAST, see notes below.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer (with paddle attachment) stir yeast, lukewarm water, olive oil, salt and mix until combined. Using wood spoon stir in flour, and mix until combined. The dough should feel tacky and slightly wet.
- Use the dough hook in stand mixer and kneed on med-low for 3 minutes- or kneed right in the bowl with the palm of your hand – folding, turning, folding, turning. If very tacky, use a wet hand.
- Coat the bowl and dough with olive oil. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and place in a warm spot for 1 -1 1/2 hours (double the time if using active dry yeast) or until the dough has roughly doubled in size. ( I like to place dough on TOP of the stovetop with the oven turned on to low.) At this point you could refrigerate for later use, letting the dough come to room temp before using.
- Preheat oven to 500 F ( with the sheet-pan or pizza stone inside) and make sure the oven rack is on the bottom of the oven, with no additional racks above. You’ll need this room to maneuver and prevent burning yourself.
- Once the dough has doubled, on a floured surface, gently shape dough into a rope, and divide into 8 equal pieces, rolling into balls. Don’t mess with them too much. Place the balls on a floured surface. Let rest covered with a kitchen towel for 10-15 minutes. ( You can make smaller ones or bigger ones, no problem)
- Roll out each ball of dough with a rolling pin into 6-7 inch rounds, about 1/8- ¼ inch thick. Let them rest for a few minutes before baking. By the time you get done rolling them all out, the first ones will be ready to bake. You could roll some sesame seeds on top of each one for cool presentation and flavor.
- Bake each pita for 3-4 minutes or so, until the pita bread puffs up. Carefully, using a kitchen towel or oven mitt, turn over and bake for 1- 2 more minutes. ( Using tongs may puncture the pita, deflating them!) It’s good to start with one tester. If your pita is not puffing up, make sure your oven is truly at a very hot 500 F and make sure your pan or stone is hot too. If pitas are rolled too thin, sometimes they will not puff up all the way.
- Carefully remove each pita with a spatula from the baking sheet and add additional pitas for baking.
- Immediately place baked pita bread in a dish or basket, lined with a kitchen towel,folding it up and over the pita- this will keep the steam in and keep them warm and moist. Serve soon, while warm.
- If making ahead, let them cool slightly, then seal in a ziplock bag to retain moisture. Reheat until pliable in a toaster oven. Freeze, tightly sealed, and reheat in a toaster oven.
Notes
- If using ACTIVE DRY YEAST: In a large bowl or stand mixer, stir yeast, 1 teaspoon sugar and lukewarm water. Let sit for 10 minutes uncovered, until water is frothy and yeast is activated. Then add oil, salt, and flour. Follow the instructions above, mixing and kneading. Allow 2-3 hours of rising time.
- If using all whole wheat flour, start with 300 grams, adding more as needed. You want a slightly wet tacky dough and whole wheat tends to soak up the moisture.
- YOGURT: Often in Middle Eastern cooking, yogurt is substituted for some of the water- so in this case you could sub ¼- 1/2 cup plain full-fat yogurt for equal parts of the water, which will add a nice chewiness. Up to you.
- Play around with using different flours. Sometimes I’ll sub 1/2 a cup of buckwheat flour or rye for deeply colored pitas. Spelt and Einkorn are great options too! If unsure, blend with white or whole wheat. Key is a tacky, elastic dough- not too dry! Have fun!
- Make this with sourdough starter. Stir 1/4 cup starter with the water. Stir in salt and olive oil. Stir in flour, and knead for 4 minutes. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and let rise 8-12 hours until almost doubled. Proceed with recipe.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 pita
- Calories: 175
- Sugar: 0.4 g
- Sodium: 293.2 mg
- Fat: 4.6 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 30.4 g
- Fiber: 4.7 g
- Protein: 5.9 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
I made these again and they all puffed up! 🙂 feeling really happy and proud. Next time I’ll try it with sourdough starter 🙂
Yay, such a good feeling isn’t it?!
It’s the best 🤩🤗
🙌♥️
Hi, can I use baking soda instead of yeast for this recipe?
Hi Allison, this is typically a yeasted bread. Not sure that baking soda would work here?
So good! I forgot to buy pita at the store last week, so I made these instead 🙂 5 out of 8 of mine puffed all the way up, which I feel is pretty good for a first try! I am definitely encouraged to try again and will let you know 🙂 thanks team!
That is awesome! Doesn’t it feel amazing watching them puff up like that?
Yes! It was amazing!! 🙂
Hello,
Can I use sourdough (or sourdough discard) instead of yeast, and in this case in which proportion? Thank you!
Hi Marianne- yes I think you can, but I don’t have specifics for you, so you would have to experiment.
Thanks for your answer! I saw you added a note on using. sourdough starter: I am making the dough right now ! I will let you know …
Yes please do!
Hi Sylvia, can you freeze the falafels until ready to fry to prevent from them falling apart? They are very wet. Didn’t add any flour and haven’t fried them yet.
Hi Danette, they do tend to feel a little wet. I would fry first then freeze!
Hi, thank you for sharing.
Can I use gluten free self raising flour?
Hi Annabell- I have not personally tried either, so not sure! My guess is yes, either should work, but not positive.
can the yogurt be far free and still work?
Yes should should be ok!
I would love to make these, but going gluten-free for a bit now, after the holidays. Have you ever tried to make these with Cup 4 Cup gluten free flour? Do you think I would need to change anything else in the recipe?
Hi Lisa, I have not tried with GF Flour, so not super sure here! Let me know how it goes!
Hi Sylvia,
Thank you for this recipe! If I were to use wholegrain spelt flour only in this recipe would this have any effect on the amount of water which would need to be added? Thanks.
You may need to add a bit more water? Spelt can be “thristier”.
Thanks!
Hi Sylvia!! Thanks for this recipe. Quick question- I don’t see any salt in this recipe yet it has 293.2mg sodium. Where is the sodium coming from?? The AP flour?? Thanks!!!
There is 1 teaspoon salt in the recipe- scroll down to recipe card. 😉
This is the worst recipe ever. Where are the ingredient amounts? How much flour? Water?
Hi Nikki, sounds like you missed the recipe card. Scroll down to the bottom of the post to the card. 🙂 Or you can use the jump to recipe button at the top.
Absolutely fantastic. Followed to the letter and they were absolutely perfect.
Great to hear!
Used yogurt. They turned out great!
How long can I keep the dough fridged before baking? I was thinking of making it today and using it in around 24 hours. Is that too long? Thanks!!
Give it a try! I’m not sure, but curious! Please let me know how it goes.
Does the dough freeze? Or can the recipe be halved?
Yes, half the recipe! Not sure about freezing.
These turned out great, and the process was surprisingly easy! I used pizza yeast (because that’s what I had on hand), half spelt and half all-purpose flour, and omitted the yogurt. I poured a generous amount of olive oil on my ball of dough before letting it rise and also made 7 (instead of 8) that were not rolled out too thinly, so perhaps that’s why the pitas turned out soft and delicious while still remaining vegan 🙂
These turned out great, and the process was surprisingly easy! I used pizza yeast (because that’s what I had on hand), half spelt and half all-purpose flour, and omitted the yogurt. I poured a generous amount of olive oil on my ball of dough before letting it rise and also made 7 (instead of 8) that were not rolled out too thinly, so perhaps that’s why the pitas turned out soft and delicious while still remaining vegan 🙂
Love this recipe, I did use fresh yeast, as its what I prefer to use.
I mixed 50 -50. An Italian Manitoba flour and wholewheat flour. I did only do 330g, plus I went with the Yogurt and water (50-50)
This is a very nice recipe If you have a thermomix , you can put all the ingredients in together and put on the dough setting.
Glad you liked it!
These were great! I just have a question. Since I am vegan and can’t use yogurt, do you have a suggestion to make these more soft? They came out just a bit crunchy, but still very good.
You could a little 1 T more oil ( 1 T less water), or try nut milk for part or all of the water, or vegan yogurt?
Successfully puffed up, look beautiful, a bit crunchy. Used half regular flour, half sprouted grain flour. It’s a high protein flour so wondering if using yogurt would soften them up a bit? I’m a yeast-phobe and was so excited to see the dough double! Thx for a great recipe!
You are so welcome. Yes, I really like using yogurt.
Turned out perfect!
These were excellent! Clear directions, used the fast rising yeast and a blend of white, wheat and rye. Froze the leftovers and simply toast as needed. Delicious !
These turned out so good. Used 1/2 cup yogurt as you suggested and the Instant Yeast! So fast and easy. Made with whole wheat flour. Everyone loved them.
Excellent and easy!
In number 1 in the instructions you say to add oil, salt and flour but there is no oil listed in the ingredients. Please help!
Opps sorry about that! Somehow it got deleted…it is back in there now. 🙂