Homemade pita bread recipe made with 6 simple ingredients, no water to heat, one rise, & no shaping technique required. Great for Greek food, like couscous, Marinated Greek-Style Chicken, or sandwiches!
Greek flavors are a favorite in the Crumbs house. There isn’t a meal plan made without at least one night dedicated to the fresh Mediterranean tang. If it were up to my husband, he’d combine this pita bread recipe with couscous every night of the week for dinner.
I’m not going to lie – I like couscous too. In fact, I love to create a complete Mediterranean meal night for my family with tzatziki sauce, hummus, marinated chicken with greek dressing, and steamed veggies.
The only thing left is the pita bread! Fresh out of the oven, homemade pita bread beats store-bought pita from the grocery store any day!
Homemade Pita Bread
This recipe is excellent for beginner bread-makers. Even those who are direction-challenged will find this recipe to be a cinch! It’s also great because it has:
- Six simple ingredients.
- There is no water to heat.
- There’s only one rise.
- No shaping technique required (oval pitas taste just as good as round ones).
- A super quick bake and you’re done!
What do you eat pita bread with?
Besides enjoying this pita bread recipe on Mediterranean night, you can serve peanut butter banana roll-ups for lunch instead of sandwiches, or wrap up your favorite chicken salad for a delicious variation on sandwich night.
What type of flour can I use to make homemade pita bread?
There are two variations of the recipe. The first uses all white flour and the second gives adaptations for whole wheat Einkorn flour. Einkorn flour does have more nutrition, but either way, homemade bread is always better than store-bought bread.
How long does it take to make homemade pita bread?
The entire pita bread recipe making process takes 1 1/2 – 2 hours. It adds a little bit more to the time required to make dinner, but most of that time is in the rise (1 – 1/2 hours) so you’re definitely not stuck in the kitchen the whole time.
If you start this at 4 pm and then come back at 5 pm to start everything else, you’ll be baking pita’s by 5:30 pm and eating by 6. Of course, if you know you won’t have time during the week, pita bread can be made a few days ahead of time. Make a batch Sunday afternoon and plan your Greek night during the first half of the week.
You can reduce even more time spent in the kitchen by skipping making bread this week and making a double batch of pitas instead.
Ingredients for Homemade Pita Bread
- Flour (all-purpose white or wheat flour)
- Honey
- Salt
- Yeast
- Butter
- Water
That’s it!!! You cannot get any simpler than that!
How to cook homemade pita bread
- In either a stand mixer or a large bowl, combine all ingredients and knead.
- Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, cover with a clean kitchen towel. Allow to rise.
- Punch the dough down and divide into 8 pieces.
- Roll each ball into a circle.
- Bake for about 3 minutes.
What is the difference between pita bread and naan?
Pita bread is a flatbread that was originally eaten in middle eastern and then Mediterranean cultures. Naan bread is a flatbread originally eaten in India. Pita bread uses simpler ingredients, whereas naan may contain a number of spices, garlic, ghee, and yogurt ingredients. Both are less than an inch thick.
More Easy Bread Recipes
No-Knead Artisan Bread
Rosemary Olive Oil Bread
No-Knead Einkorn Sourdough Bread
Man Bread
Homemade Pita Bread
Homemade pita bread recipe made with 6 simple ingredients, no water to heat, one rise, & no shaping technique required. Great for Greek food or sandwiches!
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 5 mins
- Total Time: 2 hours, 5 mins
- Yield: Yields 8 pita breads
- Category: Breads
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
Ingredients
- 3 cups bread flour
- 1 1/2 tbsp sugar (or honey)
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 tsp yeast
- 2 tbsp butter, melted
- 1 1/4 cups water, room temperature
Instructions
- In either a stand mixer or a large bowl, combine all ingredients and knead on low-medium until the dough is smooth, soft, and elastic – approximately 10 minutes. Add flour or water as needed for the dough to be tacky but not sticky.
- Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, turn it over to coat and cover with a towel. Allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, 1 – 1/2 hours.
- Punch the dough down and divide it into 8 pieces, rolling each piece into a ball. Cover with a towel and let rest for 20 minutes while preheating the oven to 450°F.
- Roll each ball into a circle approximately 8″ in diameter and 1/8″ thick and place the round onto either a baking stone or an inverted baking sheet. Mist the stone or baking sheet with water (I get my hand wet and flick the water on there) and wait 30 seconds. Place as many rounds as you can on the stone or baking sheet and bake for about 3 minutes for the dough to puff into a balloon (which may or may not happen, but it really neat to see if it does!). Wait 30 seconds and remove each bread to cool on a rack.
Notes
Variations for this Pita Bread Recipe:
- White Whole Wheat Option:
Use white whole wheat flour in place of all the bread flour and replace 1/4 cup water with 1/4 room temperature milk. - Whole Wheat Option:
Replace 2 cups of the bread flour with whole wheat flour. You may replace all of the bread flour with whole wheat flour and substitute 1/2 cup water with 1/2 cup milk, but the pitas may not inflate or turn out as fluffy.
Keywords: pita bread
Continue Reading…Homemade Pita Bread
