January 21, 2020

Quick Pita Bread Recipe

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A Quick Pita Bread Recipe that is so easy and you probably have all of the ingredients in your pantry already. Once you make these puffy rounds of deliciousness, you will want them all the time. The possibilities of what to put in them or on them are endless!

homemade pitas on a wooden board

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There is nothing better than homemade bread. Your house smells good, it’s better for you, and the first bite of warm bread fresh out of the oven, or in this case off the pan, is probably one of the best things in life.

This is a recipe that is very easy to execute, but you have to make time for the dough to rest, around 2.5 hours, so plan for that. It’s worth it, I promise.

Ingredients Needed to Make Quick Pita Bread

There are only 5 ingredients needed to make this Quick Pita Bread Recipe and you most likely have them in your pantry: active dry yeast, warm water, all-purpose flour, olive oil, and salt. Those small packets of yeast you bought in a pack of 3 and only used once could be lurking in the back somewhere. If not, they are inexpensive and have a lot of uses. Just make sure they haven’t expired.

stack of homemade pitas

How to Make Easy Homemade Pita Bread

  • Place the yeast, warm water, and 1 cup of flour into the bowl of a mixer. Whisk together by hand and let it stand for 15 to 20 minutes. Add olive oil, salt, and the rest of the flour. Use the dough hook attachment and mix at low speed, until dough is soft and just slightly sticky. Knead for 5 minutes.
  • Place the dough onto a floured work surface and form into a ball. Place the dough ball inside a large bowl that has been wiped with olive oil. Cover the bowl with clear wrap sprayed with cooking spray and let the dough rest until it has doubled in size, about 2 hours.
  • Remove the dough from the bowl and place it onto a floured work surface. Lightly pat the dough into a flat rectangle shape about ½ inch thick. Cut the dough into 8 pieces.
  • Form each piece into a small round ball by tucking the ends underneath a few times to make it nice and tight and smooth. Cover the balls with lightly oiled plastic wrap and let them rest for 30 minutes. After resting, gently pat each dough ball flat with your fingers.
  • Brush a cast-iron skillet with olive oil and place it over medium-high heat. Cook 1-2 minutes on each side. Repeat for all of the pitas and enjoy!
homemade pita breads on a cutting board
Baked pita bread ready to eat!

Recipes to Make That You Can Use Your Homemade Pita Bread With

Once all of the pitas are cooked, they are ready to go! I must warn you they are REALLY good right after cooking while they are still warm and are delicious all by themselves. Or, you can cut them open and stuff them with your favorite goodies or use them as a wrap. Below you see a picture of the fresh pita stuffed with kalua pork made in the Instant Pot. Yum!

homemade pita bread cut in half and stuffed with instant pot kalua pork
Homemade pita bread stuffed with kalua pork!
cooked pitas on board

Easy Homemade Pita Bread

Make Easy Homemade Pita Bread for a snack or to add to your next meal!
5 from 15 votes
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Resting Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time: 3 hours 20 minutes
Servings: 8 pitas
Author: EmilyFabulous

Equipment

  • cast iron pan
  • stand mixer with dough attachment

Ingredients

  • 1 package active dry yeast (2¼ tsp)
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 2¾ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1½ tablespoon olive oil (plus a little more for bowl and pan)
  • 1¾ teaspoon salt

Instructions

  • Place the yeast, warm water, and 1 cup of flour into the bowl of a mixer. Whisk together by hand and let it stand 15 to 20 minutes until the mixture is bubbly.
    yeast, flour and water after resting for pitas
  • Add 1½ tablespoons olive oil, 1¾ tsp salt, and the rest of the flour into the mixture. Use the dough hook attachment and mix at low speed, until the dough is soft and just slightly sticky. If the dough is sticking to the sides of the bowl too much, add a little more flour, but no more than another ¼ cup.
    pita dough with all flour added
  • Continue to mix/knead the dough on low speed for about 5 minutes. It should all combine together nicely and be stretchy and smooth.
    pita dough after 5 minutes of kneading
  • Place the dough onto a floured work surface and form into a ball, tucking under to create a smooth surface.
    pita dough before rising
  • Wipe the inside of a bowl with olive oil and place the dough ball inside. Cover the bowl with clear wrap sprayed with cooking spray and let the dough rest until it has doubled in size, about 2 hours.
    pita dough before rising
  • Remove the dough from the bowl and place it onto a floured work surface. Lightly pat the dough into a flat rectangle shape about ½ inch thick. Use a knife to cut the dough into 8 pieces.
    rolled out pita dough cut in 8 pieces
  • Form each piece into a small round ball by tucking the ends underneath a few times to make it nice and tight and smooth. Place each ball on a surface you can cover, I used a baking sheet with a silicone mat.
    pita bottom before rising
  • Cover the balls with lightly oiled plastic wrap and let them rest for 30 minutes.
    pita balls ready to rise
  • Sprinkle a small amount of flour on your work surface and gently pat each dough ball flat with your fingers, forming a flat round disc about ¼ inch thick.
    rolled out pita dough
  • Brush a cast-iron skillet with olive oil and place it over medium-high heat. Place the dough round into the hot skillet and cook until bread begins to puff up and the bottom has brown spots, about 1-2 minutes. Flip and cook for 1-2 more minutes. Flip again onto each side for 30 more seconds each. Your pitas will start to bubble and fill with air (some more than others). Once evenly cooked on both sides, remove the pita from the skillet and place it on a plate for cooling.
    pita cooking on hot pan
  • Brush a little more olive oil in the skillet when needed and repeat cooking the rest of the dough rounds. Watch your heat as you are cooking, if the oil starts smoking or the pitas burn, turn down the heat and wait a few minutes before continuing to cook the rest of the pitas.

Notes

  • Pita bread will last a few days in a sealed container or bag.  Adapted from Chef John’s pita bread recipe on allrecipes.com.

Any nutrition calculations are only estimates using online calculators. Please verify using your own data.

homemade pita bread cooking on a cast pan
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Did you Make This Quick Pita Bread Recipe?

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