Homemade Pitta Bread
Homemade pitta bread is so easy to make and taste so much better than ready made. The pockets are perfect for all your favourite fillings or eaten with a tasty dip like hummus.
Homemade Pitta Bread is much easier to make than you think, you can even get the kids involved. They will love watching the pittas balloon up in the oven! If your pittas don’t balloon up, it’s usually because the oven isn’t hot enough. Don’t worry though, they still taste delicious and can be eaten with hummus or simply rolled around your filling.
Our favourite filling here at the Kitchen Shed for those handy pockets is Chicken Kebabs Take Away Style.These gorgeous pittas are made with white flour, although I have included a choice of wholemeal too. Fully wholemeal pitta breads can be extra fragile so I tend to use ⅓ wholemeal flour to ⅔ white flour.
Tempted? If you’d like to try this recipe for yourself, here it is an easily printable form. Just hit the PRINT button on the recipe card below.
Homemade Pitta Bread
Equipment
- You will need: 2 or 3 large baking trays/sheets with liners or baking parchment
Ingredients
- 450 g white bread flour or 150 g wholemeal bread flour and 300 g strong white bread flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 250 ml tepid water
Instructions
By hand:
- Mix the flour, salt and yeast in a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the oil and a little water, mix well adding a little water at a time until you have formed a ball of dough.
- Transfer to a floured surface and knead for 10 to 12 minutes.
KitchenAid:
- Add flour, salt and yeast to the mixing bowl, make a well and the oil and water.
- Mix on slow speed number 1 for 1 to 2 minutes and then on number 2 speed for 8 to 10 minutes.
- Check your dough is ready by using the windowpane test.
Prove your dough:
- Place your dough in a large greased bowl and cover and leave to rest in a warm place for about one and a half hours or until doubled in size.
- Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and divide into 90 g portions, 8 balls. I like to weigh them to make sure they get an even bake but you can divide into 8 equal portions by eye if you prefer.
- Shape into balls, cupping in your hands and place them on a large baking sheet.
- Gently press the balls of dough to flatten them a little.
- Cover with greased clingfilm/plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and leave to rest for approximately 10 minutes.
Bake your pittas:
- Preheat oven to 475℉/240℃/Gas mark 9
- Place a baking sheet on the middle shelf of the oven to get nice and hot.
- Roll out your flattened dough balls into pitta shapes as thinly as you can get them, approximately 4 to 5 mm thick and place the rolled out pittas on to a spare baking sheet with a liner, you may only get 3 or 4 to a sheet, you want them spaced well apart so they don’t touch when they rise.
- As soon as you have your first tray ready with rolled pittas, take it to the oven and slide your liner with the pittas on to the hot baking tray.
- You can if you wish place the pittas straight on to the tray with a paddle or your hand, I just happen to be a bit clumsy and either get burnt or fold the pitta. Bake for 4 to 5 minutes until your pittas balloon up.
- Once your pittas have ballooned up remove them from the oven – if you leave them any longer they will go too crispy. Transfer to a wire rack. Once you have a stack of pittas, wrap them in a clean tea towel.
Notes
Pin Homemade Pitta Bread for later:
I’m entering my homemade pitta bread recipe into a couple of challenges:
- Bake of the Week hosted by Helen over at Casa Costello.
- The Alpha Bakes Challenge hosted by Caroline Makes and co-hosted by The More Than The Occasional Baker.
Ok..so we totally LOVE pita bread. I have never attempted to make it at home. After reading this recipe…this might have to be a fun weekend project soon. I just know it would taste so much better than bought…and fresher too!! Nothing beats homemade!!
If you love pitta bread you’ll love homemade pittas even more and you won’t want to go back to shop bought. Do let me know how you get on, thanks for popping by Gloria.
These pitta breads look amazing. Considering how much bread I bake I have never made pitta breads before. Shame on me. Beautifully written, clear instructions I shall be making these, using your recipe, as soon as possible. Thank you for a great post. Sammie x
I’m making these today Sarah, I’ll let you know how I get on. They do look perfect, can’t wait.
Thanks Lindsey, looking forward to hearing how you get on. You can’t beat home made pittas.
Sarah, I don’t think we will ever buy a pitta again. They were fabulous, perfect actually. Thank you.
You’re most welcome Lindsey. Your photos on Twitter were fab, so glad you enjoyed them 🙂
You make these sound so easy! I must try these, thanks!
I made pitta breads for the first time on a cookery course earlier this year, I was amazed at how easy they were and loved watching them puff up in the oven! I like your ‘top tips’ and the chicken kebab recipe looks great too. Thanks for entering Alphabakes!
Thanks Caroline, I just had to enter Pittas for letter ‘P’ for this month’s Alphabakes. They are very easy to make & the first time I made them I was waiting GBBO style for them to puff up, so satisfying!
Am definitely going to try these. Would you reccomend freezing before or after cooking?
Pleased you’re going to try them Sarah, once you’ve tried them you won’t want to go back to shop bought. I prefer to freeze them after cooking.
Thank you! I tried them tonight with the chicken kebabs and they were lovely. Very satisfying to be making my own pitta….and you’re right, I will not be buying them ever again.
Ps there were none left to freeze!
That’s good news, you can freeze some next time you make pitta breads.
That’s great Sarah, I’m so pleased you tried both recipes & enjoyed them.
Once you’ve got the pitta bug, there’s no going back to shop bought 🙂
They look really good and sound fairly simple to make. I will have to try making them at home next time. Thanks for entering AlphaBakes.
You’re welcome, it’s a pleasure to share. They are easy to make and thoroughly recommend trying them.
Ooh this is next on the list to try. Some ones from the shop tast so cardboardie!
They are so easy to make you’ll be surprised and you won’t want cardboardie pittas again 🙂
Lovely! Bet they taste miles nicer than those dry supermarket ones!
Thanks Stuart, they do taste so much better than the supermarket ones, they’re lovely and soft. Once you’ve made your own pitta breads, it’s hard to go back to buying them.