Easy Homemade Pitas From Scratch

This homemade pita recipe really is 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!

Click on image to PIN to your board!

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 is probably one of the best things in life. Ok, maybe not, but it's definitely up there on the list.

There are only 5 ingredients needed to make these and you most likely have them in your pantry. 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.

This is another recipe that is easy, but you have to make time for the dough to rest, like over 2.5 hours, so plan for that. As always, it's worth it. This recipe makes 8 pitas.

Ingredients

1 package active dry yeast

1 cup warm water

2 ¾ cups flour

1 ½ tablespoons olive oil, plus more for bowl and pan

1 ¾ teaspoons salt

1. Place yeast, warm water and 1 cup of flour into bowl of mixer. Whisk together by hand and let stand 15 to 20 minutes for mixture to rise and bubble.

2. Add 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil, salt and the rest of the flour into mixture. Use the dough hook attachment and mix at low speed, until dough is soft and a just slightly sticky. If dough is sticking to the sides of the bowl too much, add a little more flour, but no more than another ¼ cup.

3. Continue to mix/knead dough on low speed for about 5 minutes. It should all combine together nicely and be stretchy and smooth.

4. Place dough onto a floured work surface and form into a ball, tucking under to for a smooth surface.

5. Wipe the inside of a bowl with olive oil and place dough ball inside. Cover bowl with clear wrap sprayed with cooking spray and let rest until the dough has doubled in size, about 2 hours.

6. Remove dough from bowl and place onto a floured work surface. Lightly pat into a flat rectangle shape about ½ inch thick. Use a knife to cut the dough into 8 pieces.

pita dough that has been pressed into a rectangle before cutting

pita dough that has been pressed into a rectangle and cut into 8 pieces

7. 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 silicon mat.

8. Cover the balls with lightly oiled plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.

pita dough that has been folded into a ball before resting

pita dough balls that are on a silicon mat covered in plastic wrap to rest before cooking

9. Sprinkle a small amount of flour on your work surface and gently pat each dough ball flat with your fingers, forming a flat, round bread about ¼ inch thick. You might hear some air escape, don’t worry because you are going to rest the dough one more time for at least 5 minutes before cooking.

pita dough that has been pressed into a flat round before cooking

10. Brush a cast-iron skillet with olive oil and place over medium heat. Place the dough round into the hot skillet and cook until bread begins to puff up and 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 both sides, remove from skillet and place on a plate for cooling.

pita dough in hot skillet cooking on first side with bubbles

pita dough cooking in hot skillet that has been flipped once and has an air pocket

pita dough cooking in hot skillet that has been flipped onto air pocket

11. Brush a little more olive oil in the skillet and then repeat cooking with the rest of the dough rounds. I re-brushed after each pita and it worked out well. Once you cook one or two, you will start to know how long it will take your skillet to cook them.

12. 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 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! Click HERE for the recipe. The next day we made breakfast sandwiches with them. I think I'm going to make a play on flatbread pizza tonight for my little guy, can't wait!

side view of pita bread that has been cut in half to show air pocket

side view of pita bread that has been pushed open to show air pocket and space for filling

fresh pita bread cut in half and filled with kalua pork, cabbage, onions and cilantro

Adapted from Chef John's pita bread recipe on allrecipes.com.