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.
If you love to bake or make homemade bread, try our English Muffins, Pizza Dough, or Easy Homemade Breadsticks.
Why I love this recipe:
- Easy – This easy pita bread recipe uses pantry ingredients, and is so quick to make.
- Delicious – Soft and chewy, the flavor and texture are spot on.
- Freezer Friendly – You can freeze the dough, or the cooked pitas. Find my tips for freezing pita bread in the recipe card notes.
How to make Pita Bread:
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.
Serve: Use these soft pita breads in gyros, with hummus, on a salad, or check out more ideas below!
Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions:
To Make Ahead: Pita bread dough will keep for up to 5 days, covered in the fridge. Allow the cold dough to rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before dividing into pieces. Rolled out pita dough circles could be stored, lightly covered, in the fridge for a few hours ahead of time before cooking.
To Freeze: Assemble dough then place in a freezer safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw completely in the fridge, then allow refrigerated dough to rise at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before dividing into pieces. Cooked pitas can also be frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Place a piece of parchment paper between them so they don’t stick together. Warm frozen pitas in the microwave for a few seconds before serving.
Recipe Variations:
- Yeast: Active dry yeast may also be used. Mix it with water and sugar first, to proof. Once it’s foamy, add to a bowl with remaining ingredients and mix dough as instructed. Allow to rise for about 1 hour before dividing in pieces.
- To Bake Pitas: Preheat oven to 475 degrees F with a pizza stone or baking sheet inside. Pan needs to be very hot before adding pitas! Once hot, place pitas carefully on top and cook for 2 minutes. Flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
What to Eat with Pita Bread:
- Gyros: Lamb, Beef or Chicken Gyros
- Steak or Chicken Kabobs
- Hummus
- Toasted on a Salad
- Buddha Bowls
- Chicken Shawarma Bowls
- Buffalo Chicken Dip
- Charcuterie Board
- Kids Lunch
- Shakshuka
Follow me for more great recipes
Recipe
Pita Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast (1 packet)*
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
- 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.
Notes
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
Tag @TastesBetterFromScratch on Instagram with #TastesBetterFromScratch!
Follow Me
This post contains affiliate links.
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.
These are so easy and tasty, I would use them for so many things however, mine break when try to fold them so can’t fill them with anything. I thought I might not be rolling them out thin enough so did that, same thing , they rip. What do I need to know?!!!!
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.