Did you know that pita bread is likely the easiest Middle Eastern bread to master? Well, maybe not as easy as this lavash bread recipe, but pretty darn close! This pita bread recipe puffs up every time and has a wonderful flavor and texture!
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The Middle East is known for its many delicious breads. From pita bread, to lavash, samoon, manakish, lahm bi ajeen, and khubuz, they are all delicious!
The only challenge to making this Middle Eastern bread recipe is waiting to eat it! And if it doesn't puff up (which is very unlikely) it will taste just as amazing. Just fold it in half like you would with flatbread or Greek pita bread!
But don't worry, I'm here to make sure you achieve the perfect puff every time with this tried and true Middle Eastern bread recipe! Follow these few simple steps, and you will be baking pitas like a Middle Eastern grandma in no time!
Serve freshly baked pita bread with Lebanese hummus, roasted eggplant dip, arook, maftoul, or as part of a falafel bowl. Or use them to make baked pita chips! It's also a staple on many Ramadan tables and pairs beautifully with soups and savory dishes served at iftar. If you're planning your menu, browse my full collection of Ramadan recipes for more ideas.
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😍 Why You'll Love This Recipe
- This Middle Eastern bread recipe is super easy and fun. You can even include your kids in the process!
- Pita bread can be stored in the fridge for up to a week and refreshed in a skillet or over a flame.
- Middle Eastern bread can be stuffed with cheese, beef shawarma, lamb, or chicken shawarma. Or use it to make a falafel wrap or a gyro pita! Or dip into Mediterranean loaded hummus!
🔖 Ingredients & Substitutions
- Flour: This pita bread recipe requires all-purpose flour, but you can experiment with bread flour or substitute half of the white flour for whole wheat flour.
- Oil: I used olive oil, but you can substitute avocado oil or vegetable oil.
- Honey: If you don't have honey, substitute with 1 teaspoon of sugar.
*A full list of ingredients can be found in the recipe card!
🥙 How to Make Middle Eastern Bread
Step 1: Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in the honey and set aside for five minutes or until the water is frothy.
Step 2: Combine flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and add the yeast and water mixture, along with one tablespoon of olive oil.
Step 3: Mix with a wooden spoon, knead by hand, or use a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. Mix until the dough is elastic and smooth.
Step 4: Add dough to a bowl, coated with the remaining oil. Roll the dough to coat evenly with the oil. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and allow to rest in a warm spot for two hours.
Step 5: Divide the dough into eight equal portions. Cover and allow to rest for 15 minutes.
Step 6: Remove the top racks from the oven, leaving only the lowest rack. Place a pizza stone or a cast-iron skillet on the bottom rack of the oven. Preheat the oven to 500°F.
Step 7: Lightly flour the work surface. Using a floured rolling pin, roll out one portion of dough at a time into an 8" circle, and leave the remaining portions covered.
Step 8: Using a spatula, transfer the rolled-out dough onto the pizza stone or cast-iron skillet. Set a timer to three minutes.
Step 9: After three minutes have elapsed, turn the pita bread over with a spatula and cook for an additional minute.
Step 10: Place the cooked pita bread into a paper bag and close the bag. Do the same with the remaining dough. The pita bread will stay soft if you cool it off in a paper bag.
Pro Tip: Another option is to wrap the warm Middle Eastern bread in a clean dishtowel. Repeat with the remaining dough.
You may also be interested in this Arabic flatbread recipe. It's crips on the outside and soft and chewy in the middle.
🫓 How to Store & Reheat Middle Eastern Pita Bread
Store cooled Middle Eastern bread in a ziplock bag. You can reheat it in a toaster, over an open flame, or in a hot pan before serving.
🤷🏻♀️ Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can! Try substituting ½ cup of wheat flour for ½ cup of white flour. Or 2 cups of whole wheat to 2 cups of all-purpose flour.
Although you can cook pita bread in the oven and on the stove top, I have found that Middle Eastern pita bread does not puff up in a pan as often as it does in the oven.
Using either a pizza stone or a cast-iron skillet is a must when making Middle Eastern pita bread. Whichever you decide to use, be sure to heat it in the 500°F oven for 15 minutes first. I have found that cooking the pita bread for 2 minutes, then quickly flipping it over for an additional minute, helps to achieve the perfect puff.
👩🏼🍳 Pro Tips
- Enjoy Middle Eastern bread by itself, with geymar and jam, or with a cup of tea, olives, and some buried cheese.
- Dip pita bread into your favorite stew or soup, or stuff it with kofta kebab, feta, tomatoes, and onions. Or make arayes (meat-stuffed pita pockets).
- Middle Eastern bread makes amazing sandwiches, including an Israeli Sabich Sandwich.
🥐 More Bread Recipes
If you enjoy this Middle Eastern bread recipe, check out these other great recipes!
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📖 Recipe
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Middle Eastern Pita Bread
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in honey and set aside for five minutes, or until the water is frothy.
- Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and add the yeast and water mixture, along with one tablespoon of olive oil.
- Mix with a wooden spoon, knead by hand, or use a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. Mix until the dough is elastic and smooth.
- Add dough to a bowl, coated with the remaining oil. Roll the dough to coat evenly with the oil. Cover with a towel and allow to rest in a warm spot for two hours.
- Divide the dough into eight equal portions. Cover and allow to rest for 15 minutes.
- Remove the top racks from the oven, leaving only the lowest rack. Place a pizza stone or a cast-iron skillet on the bottom rack of the oven. Preheat the oven to 500°F.
- Lightly flour your work surface. Roll out one portion of dough at a time into an 8" circle, leave the remaining portions covered.
- Using a spatula, transfer the rolled out dough onto the pizza stone or cast-iron skillet. Set timer to three minutes.
- After three minutes have elapsed, turn the pita bread over with a spatula and cook for an additional minute.
- Place the cooked pita bread into a paper bag and close the bag. Do the same with the remaining dough. The pita bread will stay soft if you cool it off in the paper bag.
- Another option is to wrap the warm pita bread in a clean dishtowel. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Place cooled pita bread in a ziplock bag. Heat in a toaster or a pan before serving.
Nutrition
Video
Notes
- Enjoy pita bread by itself, with butter and jam, or with a cup of tea, olives, and some buried cheese.
- Dip pita bread into your favorite stew or soup, or stuff it with kofta kebab, feta, tomatoes, and onions. Another option is to make arayes (meat-stuffed pita pockets).
- Pita bread makes amazing sandwiches, including an Israeli Sabich Sandwich.
- Store pita bread in a ziplock bag in the fridge for up to a week or freeze for longer storage.
Laura says
My absolute favorite type of bread. I could enjoy anything on pita bread. This recipe is perfect! I love the soft texture on the inside. It's just as tasty plain as it is dipping it in tasty dips. So happy to have this great recipe now!! Thank you Hilda!! For all of your wonderful recipes!
Hilda Sterner says
You are very lucky, Laura, enjoy!!
Kathy Fisher says
These pita pockets were so easy and fun to make. Let your kids watch them puff up in the oven. And, eating them while warm is simply wonderful. There's no end to the way to use these. Try tearing off a piece and scoop up some hummus...heavenly. Perfect recipe.
Hilda Sterner says
Yes, whenever I make them, I imaging Jesus tearing off a piece and passing it to the disciples at the last supper...
Sheila says
I told my friend about these and she was visiting and wanted to try. Since I've made them before I assisted her in making them. She was like a little kid all excited watching them puff up in the oven, it was great. Delicious as always
Hilda Sterner says
Haha, reminds me of a friend I once taught how to make pita bread. Getting ready to teach a whole new group of friends today!
Emily says
Several years ago I made pita bread for the first time. It turned out perfectly. It was easy. I ate it all. I was so happy! It was Spring and since I wasn’t going to crank up the oven, I put my collection of printed recipes away. A few years later I decided to make pita bread again so I got out my weird stack of recipes. I looked through them but couldn’t find the recipe I originally used. I tried another. And then another. And then another. I tried to find that original recipe so many times (in the house, in my office, Google) but I could only recall a few things; a well (for the yeast), 500 degree oven, lowest rack, inverted baking sheet if I didn’t have a stone. I didn’t remember a lot of kneading or different flours. I tried about 15 recipes (and variations of those recipes). Most of them went into the trash. They were pretty and poofed, but they were not what I wanted. I’m all about flavor. I wanted that yeasty sweetness balanced perfectly with salt, perfect amount of chewiness.
This year, my quest continued (year #3). I started with the most basic, highly rated recipe I could find (a variation of Rose Leavy? Bread bible author). It was close but still not right. I made 3 variations. Still not right. Then I decided to look for a no knead recipe… and I found this one. There’s a well, 500 degree oven, lowest rack — was this it?? Was this the recipe I’d used years ago?
I made my first batch yesterday, did a pretty fast rise because I was tight on time.
After roughly 3 years, I produced the first batch of pita bread that will be fully consumed. I have a half recipe rising (I’m trying it with instant yeast - I hope it turns out okay).
I can attest this is the best recipe online. I’ve tried so many. It’s easy. It tastes great. It poofs. The dough is manageable. It’s a PERFECT recipe and I’m so glad I found it (again). Thank you!!
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Emily, This has to be the LONGEST comment I've ever received, haha. Luckily, it had a nice ending! I'm so glad you love my pita bread recipe. I hadn't made some in a while and so I baked some earlier in the week. I ate most of them. 😬 Can I get you to leave a star rating too? 😘
Laura M. Stahl says
I never thought that pita bread was so easy to make. I was very pleased with the pita bread recipe. It is so simple to make. I use pita bread with many dishes. It is delicious and simple to make.
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Laura,
I'm glad you were happy with the results. I love pita bread too, but try not to make it too often because my husband doesn't eat much bread and I can't stop eating it. 😉
susan says
I see that you put the cast iron pan in the hot oven...but should you put oil in it everytime you make a pita ? thx
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Susan, that's not really necessary, only if you see that the pita bread sticks to the pan, but I've never had that problem.
Heidi says
So good and easy! I even forgot to add the olive oil before I mixed the dough and ended up added it then mixing some more. LOL It was so fun and satisfying watching it poof! Your friend Andrea B. Gave me your blog/recipe. Excited to try other recipes now. Be well and stay safe.
HildaSterner says
Hi Heidi, I'm so glad you enjoyed making your first batch of Pita Bread! I really appreciate that you took the time to come back and review the recipe too. Stay safe as well and say hi to Andrea for me! 😘
Andrea and Sophie says
If I had know that making fresh pita bread was so easy...I would have been making this years ago! The taste is SUPERIOR to even a good storebought brand. And warm pita?! I died...
HildaSterner says
Haha, I'll get right on that!
anastaciast says
This looks like fun. I am looking forward to the pitas you will be sending to me. That's the best part of the recipe. 🙂