Homemade Pita Bread

4.84 from 6 votes

Pita bread is surprisingly easy to make and watching the rounds puff up in the oven is so, so satisfying. I like to stuff these puffy pockets with chicken or tuna salad, or other sandwich fillers, or cut them into triangles and use them to scoop savory Middle Eastern dips like my Curry Hummus, baba ganoush, or tzatziki. This recipe is from my latest cookbook, available in stores now, The Complete Convection Oven Cookbook. You can make this bread in your convection oven (or using the convection setting on your oven), or in a standard oven.

Course Side Dish Recipes

Cuisine Middle Eastern

Keyword homemade pita bread, pita bread recipe

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 1

Additional Time 1

Total Time 2 30

Servings Pita bread

Calories 176kcal

Author Robin Donovan

Ingredients

1 tablespoon instant yeast
1¼ cups warm 105ºF to 110ºF water
Pinch sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus more for the work surface and rolling pin

Instructions

In a large bowl, stir together the yeast, warm water, and sugar. Let stand for 10 minutes until the mixture becomes foamy.
Using a wooden spoon or an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, beat in the salt and 1½ cups of flour. Add the remaining 1½ to 2 cups of flour, ¼ to ½ cup at a time, until a shaggy dough forms. Note: You may not need the last ¼ or ½ cup of flour. The dough should be slightly tacky, but not sticky.
On a floured work surface, knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Alternatively, using the dough hook of an electric mixer on low speed, knead the dough for 4 to 5 minutes.
Divide the dough into 8 equal-size balls. Using a floured rolling pin, roll each ball into a ¼-inch-thick disk and arrange them on a baking sheet. Let the disks rise at room temperature for about 40 minutes until they begin to puff up.
Select Convection Bake and preheat the oven to 400° (If you are using a conventional oven, set the temperature to 425ºF).
Flip each dough disk over on the baking sheet and bake for 8 to 12 minutes, until the pitas are puffed and light golden brown.
Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack before serving. Serve warm. To serve after they’ve cooled, wrap them in aluminum foil and heat in a 350ºF oven for 10 minutes before serving.

Notes

• If you are making the pitas ahead, cool them to room temperature and store them, in a resealable plastic bag, for up to 2 days at room temperature or up to 3 months in the freezer. Make a double or triple batch and you’ll have homemade pita bread any time you need it.

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