There is no comparison between this recipe for pita bread and what you can buy at the store. It is not only incredibly simple to prepare but also great to eat!
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 10 mins |
| Additional Time: | 2 hrs 35 mins |
| Total Time: | 3 hrs 15 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 8 pita breads |
Ingredients
- 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
- 1 cup warm water (90 to 100 degrees F/32 to 38 degrees C)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ¾ teaspoons salt
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, or more as needed
- 1 teaspoon olive oil, divided
Instructions
- Place yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer and add 1 cup warm water and 1 cup flour. Whisk together, then let sit until mixture bubbles and foams, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Add 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil and salt into the yeast mixture, followed by 1 3/4 cups flour. Mix at low speed, using a dough hook attachment, until dough is soft, supple, and slightly sticky. If dough sticks to the sides of the bowl, add up to 1/4 cup more flour, a little at a time.
- Knead dough with machine on low speed until slightly springy and still soft, 5 to 6 minutes. Turn dough out onto a floured work surface and form into a ball.
- Wipe inside of bowl with 1/4 teaspoon olive oil. Turn dough around in bowl to cover with a thin film of oil; cover bowl with foil and let sit until dough has doubled in size, about 2 hours.
- Remove dough from bowl and place onto a floured work surface. Lightly pat into a flat shape about 1-inch thick. Use a knife to cut dough into 8 equal pieces.
- Form each piece into a small round ball with a smooth top, pulling dough from the sides and tucking the ends underneath the bottom.
- Cover dough balls with lightly oiled plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Transfer the dough balls to a lightly floured work surface and sprinkle the tops with flour. One at a time, gently pat the dough with your fingers, forming a flat, round bread about 1/4-inch thick. Let the shaped dough rest for 5 minutes.
- Brush a cast iron skillet with remaining 3/4 teaspoon olive oil and place over medium-high heat. Lay dough into the hot skillet; cook until puffy and the bottom has brown spots and blisters, about 3 minutes. Flip, cook 2 more minutes, and flip back onto original side to cook for about 30 more seconds. Pita bread will begin to puff up and fill with hot air. Stack cooked breads on a plate; when cool enough to handle, slice breads in half and open the pocket inside for stuffing.
Reviews
I didn’t get a pocket and only a couple puffed up, but so easy and they were really delicious. I will work on this one.
Delicious and easy to follow
Love it, easy to follow. Came out great
Delicious the best
Very easy!!! Just have to be around while it rises, but so worth it!!!
Very tasty, but heavier than should be. It probably has to do with where I live and the flour; as my yeast is active, but I always find it necessary to add a little baking powder, baking soda, or fraction (1/4) of a pinch of yeast; depending on what I’m making, to get that soft, puffy, inflated rise to my breads, especially anything that requires pockets. I just forgot to do that. Will make them again. I’m certain they’ll be perfect next time. Just a little baking powder is needed.☺️. Thank you so much for taking the time to post the recipe, as they are all always helpful and can be tweeked, according to one’s individual taste and texture, no need to give up on them. ☺️
Awesome vdo and good detail. Thanks!
End result, no pockets, mediocre tasting flat bread at best. I was hopeful this would work out, but I had my doubts when I saw the flour measurement in cups rather than weight. And the cooking temp of “medium high” was a red flag, but I gave it a try anyway. It was an awful weather day, so not much lost.
Followed the recipe but put a pizza stone on the gas grill. At 500 degrees the pocket formed almost immediately. A little salty. Served with a lentil soup. A new family favorite.
How much fun was this?! OK, so a few mods to the recipe. I made the dough in the food processor with rapid-rise yeast. I rolled the dough balls out by putting them through the widest setting on my pasta machine. And because I don’t use cast iron (glass-top stove), I put the dough circles on cookie sheets and broiled them on High, turning as described. Wow, did they ever puff up! I will surely make this again and again.
Made this over the weekend and the best recipe ever !! Will be a regular in my kitchen.
I didn’t get a pocket but I don’t care. These were fantastic. I’ve only recently gotten into baking and so far, I’ve baked Cuban bread, bagels, challah, Italian bread, cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls, and some other stuff I’m forgetting. These by far had the most noticeable difference from store bought. I can’t wait to make them again.
They were soft and tasted great. It is a good base recipe as well. You can add other ingredients to flavor the dough as you desire.
Delicious, and easy for a bread! I used my food processor, following the pizza dough method, for this very similar, but unique, flatbread. Very well worth it, Chef John, as usual!
I followed the recipe strictly. Taste, five ⭐️, but mine only created partial pockets, and didn’t open in areas. Used them to roll wraps and pita pizzas and they were delicious, but couldn’t make stuffed pockets. Suggestions?
I cooked them on the BBQ on a stone and they are absolutely delicious. Quick and easy.
Worked great for me, but here’s some things I learned: When you put it in the pan, wait 15 seconds and flip. Wait 15 more seconds and flip again. Resulted in much better chance to fully puff. Pressing on the bubbles didn’t work for me, it just popped them. Roll them small! Less than 1/4 inch. They come out more even if you flip them as you put them in. The air pockets migrate toward the surface as they rest, so you want that side down so they will move toward the center when they first cook. Recipe would be better for 6 slightly larger pitas instead of 8. If you are sensitive to salt, use less. These are pretty salty, perfect for me but I love salty food.
My go to Pita Bread! I’ve made this several times and my husband loves them! Easy recipe, just fantastic!!
I used a budare to cook the bread. It’s a thick metal plate used to cook arepas. It’s perfect for pita bread: it’s extremely hot and the dough never sticks.
They did not puff up when cooked. Tasted good. Will try again.
I probably didn’t let the yeast bloom enough. They tasted great, but didn’t split very well…still pretty good with taziki! The burnt looking one was because I should’ve added more oil to the pan between frying.