This homemade Pita Bread Recipe puffs up beautifully to form that perfect pocket inside. It has a soft, flavorful crumb, and even beginners rave about how easy it is! Watch the video tutorial and learn how to make Pita Bread in the oven or on the stovetop.
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
Helpful Reader Review
“The addition of the wheat flour gave them more flavor. After several attempts with other recipes, these turned out perfect. Thank you!“ – Robin ★★★★★
Homemade Pita Bread Video
Making yeasted pita bread at home is simply so much fun! I love to watch them puff on the stove or in the oven to create a pocket, and the payoff is huge!
What is the difference between pita bread and naan or flatbread?
Pita is a quick-cooking, yeast-leavened flatbread that puffs up when it’s cooked to form a pocket in the center. Pita bread is a lighter bread that is leavened with yeast, while flatbread is not. Naan usually has an egg and yogurt base.
Ingredients for Pita Bread
My homemade pita dough is made with these basic pantry staples.
- Warm water – should be 110˚F to 115˚F on a thermometer
- Instant yeast – 1 packet or 2 1/4 tsp of instant or rapid rise yeast – check the expiration date!
- Sugar – to help jumpstart the proofing process
- Flour – we love a combination of mostly all-purpose flour to keep the pita very soft, with a little whole wheat flour to add flavor and color. You can swap the whole wheat with all-purpose flour, if needed.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil – use extra virgin for the best flavor
- Salt – we use fine sea salt. As with any bread, salt is critical for a great taste!
How to Make Pita Dough
Check out my video tips as you go so you can see exactly how pita bread should look at each step.
- Proof Yeast – Use a large mixing bowl to combine warm water, sugar, yeast, and whole wheat flour with a whisk, and then rest for 15 minutes.
- Add the rest of the ingredients until a shaggy dough forms.
- Knead – Knead for 5 minutes. Add flour if it seems too sticky, since it should be soft and tacky to the touch.
- Proof Dough – Grease a clean mixing bowl and dough with 1 tsp olive oil, and then cover the bowl and place it in a warm (100˚F) place for 45 minutes, or at room temperature for 90 minutes, until doubled in volume.
- If baking in the oven – Once the dough has doubled, preheat oven to 500˚F with a baking stone or inverted baking sheet on the bottom rack position.
How to Form Pita Bread
- Divide dough – Punch the dough down, and then cut into 8 even pieces. Roll the first piece of dough until the dimple underneath is smoothed out. Cover with a damp kitchen towel for 15 minutes.
- Roll dough – Flour the work surface, then press a doughball flat with your fingertips. Use a rolling pin to roll dough balls to 7″ disks, and then cover with a damp towel in one layer for 10 minutes.
Pro Tip:
To keep the dough from drying out, cover it with a damp kitchen towel after rolling. Also, cover the pita bread with a dry kitchen towel 5 minutes after it is cooked, or it will get dry.
How to Bake Pita Bread
- Bake on the fully preheated pizza stone at 500˚F for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. Once puffed, transfer to a rack for 5 minutes, and then cover with a dry towel.
Make Stovetop Pita Bread
- Preheat a cast-iron skillet over medium/high heat. Add olive oil and then cook rounds for 30 seconds. When it begins to bubble, flip the dough and cook 1 minute until it puffs.
Why did my pita bread not puff up?
After many batches (and a freezer packed with homemade pita bread), we identified all of the tips and tricks to get that mesmerizing puff and perfectly formed pocket in the center.
- Fresh Ingredients – Make sure your ingredients are fresh, and yeast or flour is not expired.
- Preheat baking stone or cast-iron pan – Preheat the pizza stone and oven for at least 20 minutes, or preheat the pan until a drop of water immediately evaporates. The super-hot surface traps steam to puff up the center of the pita.
- Generously flour the counter before rolling the dough. If the dough sticks to the counter while rolling, the pita may tear, causing steam to escape so it won’t puff properly.
- Prep the dough – Roll the dough until you no longer see a dimple at the bottom (which can prevent the pita from puffing properly, or cause a tear/deflating). Also, press the dough before rolling to distribute the air bubbles.
How to Serve Pita Bread
Here are some of our favorite ways to enjoy homemade pita bread:
- Gyros – fill with gyro meat, lettuce, tomato, feta cheese, and Tzatziki Sauce.
- Fajita Pitas – put Shrimp Fajitas, Chicken Fajitas (or Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas) over pita bread and serve.
- With Dip – slice up the pita bread into wedges, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, and serve with Tzatziki, Hummus, or Spinach and Artichoke Dip.
- Stuffed Pitas – Cut pita bread in half, open the pita pocket, and fill with Chicken Salad or Tuna Salad.
- Toasted Chips – Follow our tutorial on How to Make Pita Chips alongside – Greek Chicken Bowls, Maroulosalata Greek Salad
Make-Ahead and Storage
We store cooled, fresh pitas on the counter in a zip-top container for up to 3 days, and then store homemade pita bread in our freezer!
- Freezing: once cooled, store in a freezer-safe zip-top bag with all the air removed in the freezer for up to 3 months. Don’t pack them tightly stacked because they will be difficult to separate later.
- To Reheat: Warm pitas in an oven, air fryer, or microwave until thawed and just warm.
There’s no match for soft and fresh homemade pita bread. This recipe makes for the best pita pockets every single time! Bake in the oven or on the stovetop for, and let me know how you love to enjoy pita.
Homemade Pita Bread Recipe
Homemade Pita Bread is easy to make and puffs up to form a stuffable pocket inside. They are soft and flavorful and taste so much better than store-bought! We included instructions for baking in the oven or cooking pita bread on the stovetop. These freeze well, so you always have homemade pita pockets on hand!
Ingredients
Servings: 8 pita breads
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 1/4 tsp instant yeast, 1 packet
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus another 1 tsp to oil the bowl
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more to dust, measured correctly
- 1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
Instructions
How to Make Pita Dough:
- Proof yeast – In a large mixing bowl, combine warm water, sugar, yeast, and 1/4 cup whole wheat flour. Whisk to combine, then set aside for 15 minutes until puffy and foamy on top.
- Add olive oil, 2 1/2 cups flour, and salt, and stir together with a wooden spoon until shaggy.
- Knead – Turn out onto a clean, smooth surface and knead vigorously for 5 minutes. The dough should feel sticky to your hands but will get less sticky as you knead and should not be sticking to the counter. If the dough is too sticky to knead, sprinkle with a little more flour and continue kneading. Dough should be soft and tacky to the touch.
- Proof dough – Wash and dry the mixing bowl and grease the inside of the bowl with 1 tsp olive oil inside the bowl. Add the dough and turn to coat in oil. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and place in a warm (100˚F) place for 45 minutes, or at room temperature for about 90 minutes until doubled in volume.
- If baking in the oven: Once dough has doubled, preheat oven to 500˚F with a baking stone or baking sheet on the bottom rack position. You need to let the stone heat up for at least 20 minutes, or the pita won’t puff properly
How to Form Pita Bread:
- Divide dough -Punch dough down and transfer dough to a clean surface, and divide into 8 even pieces. Cup your hand around each dough ball and roll until you no longer see a dimple or seam underneath. Cover balls with a damp kitchen towel and rest for 15 minutes for the gluten to relax and make it easier to roll them out.
- Roll dough – Place a dough ball onto a surface generously dusted and press gently into a disk with your fingertips to disperse bubbles. Roll dough balls to 7” wide and less than 1/4” thick. Move the disk several times while rolling to ensure it doesn’t stick to the counter. Keep rolled disks covered with a damp towel so they don’t dry out. Do not stack pitas. Let the disks rest 10 minutes before baking, and they will puff better.
To Bake Pita Bread:
- Bake – Place 2-3 pieces of dough on the preheated pizza stone and bake at 500˚F for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes or until puffed. Remove from oven and transfer to a rack for 5 minutes, then cover with a dry towel to keep the pitas from drying out.
Stovetop Instructions:
- Preheat cast iron skillet over medium/high heat and brush lightly with olive oil. Lay pita on the hot skillet for 30 seconds. Once you see bubbling, flip the pitta and cook for 1 minute – it will puff, then flip and cook another minute.
Notes
Storage – once cooled completely, store in a ziptop bag on the counter for 3 days. Be sure to squeeze out as much air as possible to keep the pitas fresh.
Freeze – Pack cooled pita bread into a freezer-safe ziptop bag for 3 months, removing as much air from the bag as possible. You can stack the pitas, but be sure not to pack them tightly, because they may be difficult to separate.
Reheat – thaw in the air fryer, oven, or a skillet until just warmed through.
Nutrition Per Serving
198kcal Calories34g Carbs6g Protein4g Fat
Nutrition Facts
Homemade Pita Bread Recipe
Amount per Serving
Calories
198
% Daily Value*
Fat
4
g
6
%
Saturated Fat
1
g
6
%
Polyunsaturated Fat
1
g
Monounsaturated Fat
3
g
Sodium
440
mg
19
%
Potassium
88
mg
3
%
Carbohydrates
34
g
11
%
Fiber
2
g
8
%
Sugar
1
g
1
%
Protein
6
g
12
%
Vitamin A
1
IU
0
%
Vitamin C
1
mg
1
%
Calcium
9
mg
1
%
Iron
2
mg
11
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Filed Under
More Homemade Bread Recipes
These easy bread recipes will make you feel like a pro. Enjoying a warm slice of homemade bread makes the process completely worthwhile.
- Foccacia Bread
- Soft Dinner Rolls
- Classic French Bread
- Banana Bread (or Pumpkin Bread)
- Irish Soda Bread
- Brioche Bread
- Sourdough Bread
- Homemade Hamburger Buns
Clear instructions, turned out great! I did the stovetop method – all puffed up although a few didn’t puff entirely so I couldn’t use them as pockets, but that’s user error for sure. Thank you for a great recipe
You’re very welcome, Evelyn! Thank you for trying the recipe.
Well, my first try and I forgot the salt! Ughh. Tried both cooking methods. Puffed up great in the oven, but fell flat in the pan. Still taste good but it does need the salt. DON’T Forget the salt. Easy to execute and patience is a virtue!!!!
Thanks again Natasha for your GREAT recipes!
I messed up but we enjoyed them with butter anyway! I tried both ways to cook…but I think I made them too thin…so gonna try them again. Liked the taste! But have to work on technique
I have failed at a couple other pita recipes but this one was great!! I made them along side of a chicken rice bowl – just delicious, your recipes never disappoint, thank you!
I’m so happy to hear that, Debi!
Not gonna lie, I struggled a bit with this one but they came out great. I doubled the recipe so for me, it would have been nice to have a weight for size of dough ball but overall, the recipe works wonderfully. I probably should have cut the dough in half then quartered, etc…. I think because it was my 1st time making pita, although I’m a very experienced cook and baker, I was just overly nervous. I had no back up for our Greek meal, these pitas had to come out and they DID! Everyone loved them, they puffed up as they were supposed to and were enjoyed by all!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Christine!
Followed recipe to a T. Read and reread the instructions, pita was awful. I remeasured my rounds, they were exactly the size that was called out, but they came out thick, heavy and not properly baked. I’m a very seasoned baker and make bread twice a week. I believe lack of weight measurements for the dry ingredients makes this recipe too unpredictable to be useful.
Hi Pamela! I’m so sorry that it didn’t turn out for you. There is a metric option in the refilled card if you prefer to measure your ingredients. Just click on the metric button and it will convert the ingredient list for you.
Love this recipe. It’s so simple either baked or skillet cooked.
Thanks for sharing
Fantastic! I had made a recipe from a Mediterranean website, and no puff. I made these, and they were puffy, soft, pillowy, and opened up great the way you want a pita to so you can stuff things inside. I was getting discouraged about making pitas at home. Not anymore thanks to you. Thank you for the great instructions too!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Craig.
very good, being on low sodium diet, I used only half of the salt called for. Can wait to bake them in my pizza wood oven snowing today . Thanks for sharing.
Can you use only all purpose flour and omit the wheat flour?
Hi Jan! Yes- see my note in the common questions section under, “Can I omit the whole wheat flour?”
Can you use Active Dry Yeast or does it have to be only be fast acting ?
Hi Marc! I’ve only tested this with fast acting yeast.
These were so good and even better with your hummus recipe! Instead of the combination of whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour could you use strictly whole wheat for a little healthier version?
Hi Michelle! I haven’t made them with all wheat flour. I think you could but wheat flour is higher in protein and absorbs more water so you might have to experiment with the amount to use do you don’t end up with dry/dense pitas.
Made these for a party last night and they were a hit! In the past, I have always made pitas stove top with the cast iron skillet, but decided to try the oven yesterday and they puff up so much better! My pitas of the past were more like flatbread, I was so excited to see these turned into true pockets. I don’t have a pizza stone so just used the inverted baking sheet. Anyway, we loved them! 🙂
That’s great, Holly! Thanks for sharing.
Absolutely perfect every time. Quick and easy and makes pita that far outshine any pre made pita on the market. Whenever we make the pita the kids always enjoy sitting in front of the oven watching them puff up!
That’s lovely! I’m happy that your family loves our homemade Pita Bread recipe!
bake them in my pizza wood oven they turn out excellent and fun to see them pop-up
Awesome, it’s always great to see good feedback and review. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Natasha,
I’m a big fan of your recipes.
I’m new to sourdough starter and would love to try sourdough pita bread.
I’m planning a Mediterranean dinner this week and wanted to make them to go with my 2 different homemade hummus.
Can I sub the commercial yeast with sourdough active starter in your put bread recipe?
Would the ratios be the same?
Thank you
Hi Gina, I bet that could work, but I haven’t tried it myself to provide ratios or test it out. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
These turned out just wonderful. Can I safely double the recipe or should I do 2 seperate batches?
Hi Darenda, doubling it may work, but I have tried it myself. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
I’ve made several pita bread recipes and so far yours turned out the best. I started with the oven method. I used my pizza stone and my cast iron griddle, so I could do a few at a time. Got a great puff. Unfortunately, it looked like my oven was losing a little steam from being on so long, so finished the last two on the stove. Got a little puff, not as good as the oven. I’ll be looking to make these again. Great recipe!
Yay, that’s a sure win! I’m happy to hear that our recipe gave you the best results. Thank you for sharing.
My favorite pita bread recipe ,i used only this one .Eveytime is very soft,tasty and easy to make it.I’m Big fan of her ,good job Natasha ,I want show U my gyros with yours pita bread recipe 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Bozena!
Hey Natasha,
I am a bit nervous about kneading by hand. Could i use the hook attachment on a stand mixer for this dough? Thanks