Homemade Pita Bread

Homemade Pita bread is so easy!


Starting with homemade dough, and either baking or on the stovetop, either one is spectacular in taste and nothing like store-bought.


I love using pita bread for sandwiches, pizza, cut into triangles for dips, and so much more!



Amazingly enough, this is an easy dough, baked on high heat, puffs up quick and flattens, and again either baked or in a cast-iron skillet it's delicious!



We love it stuffed and filled with salad greens and cold cut meats then drizzled with olive oil and vinegar.



Many times we even make a greek version with the popular greek salad dressing and feta cheese on top.




You can serve pita bread with any meal and it goes great with chili, stews, and soups as well!



If you love to make ethnic homemade bread of all kinds, do try this versatile dough, it's delicious!



We love to make homemade ciabatta and Italian hard-crusted bread, or Easter bread, Focaccia, Potato Bread, so many favorites!

Where Did It Begin?

Pita bread goes way back and has roots written down that it was one of the prehistoric flatbreads of the Middle East.


They have found evidence as far back from about 14,500 years ago, during the Stone Age.


It was written that the Natufian people in what is now Jordan baked some kind of flatbread from certain grains of cereal.

Tips:

• Roll 1/4 inch thick for best results
• Kneading by hand will ensure the moistness you don't want a dry dough
• Don't over flour the board when rolling
• Always heat the baking sheet first
• Preheat oven
• Using a panini maker cooks evenly both side but will be more of a naan style flatbread no pocket
• Stovetop gridded cast iron works great on medium heat, just watch closely

Making Perfect Pita Pockets

• You must have preheated baking sheets for starters.
• Then high heat starts to dry and set the dough on the top and bottom in the oven, if doing this on top of the stove it will be more of a flatbread but still the same recipe for either one.
• The moisture in the center will make the pocket and then the dough will puff up like a round rock.
• The pressure from the center pushes out the pita from the middle and then inflates it.
• Since the top and sides were already set, that is why it works perfectly.

Cast Iron Gridded

• Shape dough into (10 or 12) 2-inch balls on a floured work surface.
• Cover with a kitchen towel, and let rise 15 minutes.
• Roll balls into 1/4-inch-thick circles.
• Cover, and let stand 20 minutes more.
• Spray or brush the cast iron skillet with canola oil, and heat over high heat.
• Place rolled circle dough on the skillet.
• Cook 1 to 1 1/2 minutes per side, or until pita is puffed, pushing on puffed pita with a spatula to cook edges.
• Repeat with remaining dough circles, continue spraying the pan in between pita.

Recipes To Make With Pita Bread

• Sandwiches
• Pizza with Garlic or Tomato Sauce
• Pita Chips
• Toast
• Topped with Salad

Topping suggestions:

slices of tomato, fresh spinach and ricotta and fresh basil leaves, sliced olives, chopped peppers, cooked meats IE sausage crumbled, sliced pepperoni, crushed meatballs, roasted chicken, ham and pineapple, sliced mushrooms, thinly sliced zucchini or eggplant, garlic oil and butter with mozzarella and a dollop of ricotta cheese.


You can also make a white pizza (shown above) by brushing with melted butter, 1 clove crushed garlic, fresh parsley, and oregano to the top with mozzarella cheese. A light layer of ricotta spread on top makes this extra cheesy!
Use any of the suggestions above in any combination you like.


Place the pita on a lightly sprayed piece of tin foil. Bake at 400 for around 10 minutes, Remove from oven. Top with your favorite sauce, meat or vegetable combinations then cheese, sprinkle with grating cheese. Bake at 400 until cheese is browned and bubbling.


Additional toppings can be used, you can get creative by topping the pita with sauce then adding meats of your choice, peppers, olives, eggplant. Use your imagination whatever kind of regular pizza you love can be made with these. Pizza bites are also a great pita appetizer! Just cut them into small triangles.


I like to toast the pita on cookie sheets sprayed with oil, then take them out add the topping and rebake for a crispier pizza.


Bake them on 400 degrees until the cheese is melted.

Using The Mixer

The mixer is great to get the dough incorporated well.


After it's mixed the dough should still be moist not too dry.


I usually knead it by hand for 10 minutes after that process is completed.

Ingredients You Will Need

• flour
• active dry yeast
• white sugar or honey
• salt
• olive oil
• warm water ( this should be lukewarm to the wrist)

Pizza Recipes

Here's all you need to get started:

• store-bought pita bread or this homemade pita bread recipe
• any store-bought jar sauce of your choice
• mozzarella cheese slices or shredded
• garlic, olive oil, sesame seeds, freshly chopped basil, dried oregano

Pin for later Homemade Pita Bread

Cooking Methods:

1. Stovetop in a grided cast-iron skillet
2. Baked on a cookie sheet
3. Using a panini maker
4. Waffle Irons also work great but more like flatbread

Recipes We Love:

Panettone Bread
Quick Easy Soft Pretzel Sticks
New York Style Bagels
Cinnamon Rolls
Italian Bread Sticks
Cheesy Garlic Knots
Zucchini bread regular or chocolate
Zucchini Pizza

Easy To Make

The bread is easy to make and so much worth the time and effort over store-bought.



Of course, if you're in a hurry, by all means, buy the packaged ones to make quick dinners for the kids for pizza.



Just remember there is nothing like the taste of homemade dough, no preservatives and the smell of this pita bread baking is wonderful!

Print

Homemade Pita Bread

Yield: 18

Author: Claudia Lamascolo

Prep time: 25 MCook time: 5 MTotal time: 30 M

Homemade pita bread is perfect for sandwiches, pizza and so much more. Toasted with butter is a favorite breakfast bread here in our family. This middle eastern bread is soft and delicious with any meal you make.

Ingredients:

• 8 cups flour
• 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
• 2 teaspoons  white sugar or honey
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2  cup olive oil
• 2 1/2  cups warm water ( this should be lukewarm to the wrist)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 430 degrees.
2. Dissolve the yeast in1/2 cup of warm water and let it ferment for 10 minutes.
3. Using an industrial mixer, add the flour into the metal bowl then stir in the yeast, sugar and oil.
4. Add the salt, then it's time to knead the dough after this is blended evenly.
5. Make sure you use a dough hook attachment if you don't have that you will have to knead this by hand for at least 10 minutes until its smooth.
6. This dough will be soft.
7. I usually place this on top of my stove with it on to rise on the stovetop.
8. Cover it with an oil sprayed piece of plastic wrap and a soup pot cover.
9. After this rises an hour, divide the dough into 16 to 18 pieces and make them into a ball.
10. Then roll them into around 1/4 to 1/2 inch in thickness with a floured board using a rolling pin.
11. You can mist each one with water or oil.
12. Bake them on a pre-warmed cookie sheet sprayed with oil at 430 degrees for 6 to 8 minutes
13. I have made this 3 different ways.
14. On top of the stove in a cast-iron pan.
15. Shape dough into (10 or 12) 2-inch round flat balls on a floured work surface.
16. Cover with a kitchen towel, and let rise 15 minutes.
17. Roll balls into 1/4-inch-thick circles.
18. Let rise again for around 20 minutes.
19. Spray or brush the cast iron skillet with canola oil, and heat over high heat.
20. Place rolled circle dough on the skillet.
21. Cook 1 to 1 1/2 minutes per side, or until pita is puffed, pushing on puffed pita with a spatula to cook edges.
22. Repeat with remaining dough circles, continue spraying the pan in between pita.
23. Waffle Iron or Panini Maker same method as the cast iron directions:
24. The panini maker or waffle iron looks funny but tastes great, add the dough to a greased waffle iron and bake until both sides are browned around 3 minutes to 5 minutes depending on thickness..
25. Pita bread Uses:
26. Sandwiches
27. Pizza with Garlic or Tomato Sauce
28. Pita Chips
29. Toast
30. Topped with Salad

Calories
240

Fat (grams)
5

Sat. Fat (grams)
0.5

Carbs (grams)
60

Fiber (grams)
2

Sugar (grams)
2

Protein (grams)
10

Sodium (milligrams)
750

Cholesterol (grams)
0

https://www.whatscookinitalianstylecuisine.com/2010/03/pita-bread-recipe.html

how to make pita bread, pita bread from scratch, pita bread recipe

bread, middle eastern foods

Middle Eastern , American

Created using The Recipes Generator

Pin for later Homemade Pita Bread

More Recipes to Try:

Hoagies
Artisan
Pizza Dough
Sausage Roll
Pizza Fritta

Disclosure: This recipe was originally shared in 2010. It was edited and re-published in 2020.