My recipe for Soft Pita Bread makes the fluffiest, most light and tender little breads. Cooked on the stovetop, they puff up to perfect soft pockets, ideal for filling with your favorite sandwich ingredients.
This Pita bread is super easy to make and keeps soft for up to 3 days. Prepared with basic ingredients,its budget friendly and so much better than store bought.
Ingredients for Soft Pita Bread
Scroll down to the end of the page for the printable recipe card with all measurements and complete instructions
- Flour: You can use either all purpose or cake flour. I used cake flour for this recipe.
- Yeast: You can use active dry yeast or instant / fast acting dry yeast.Always read the label on the yeast package confirming whether it is active dry yeast or instant/fast acting yeast. Instructions for both are given in the recipe card below.
- White granulated sugar
- Salt
- Warm water
- Warm milk
- Oil: Either olive, canola or any type of neutral flavored oil is fine to use.
How to make Soft Pita Dough
This is just the overview so you can see the process. When you are making your pita bread, you’ll want to use the full recipe at the bottom of the page.
Note: This visual only contains steps for instant dry yeast
- Combine the ingredients
Dry ingredients: Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and instant dry yeast in a large bowl.
Wet ingredients: In a separate jug or small bowl, combine the warm water, warmed milk and oil.
Pour the combined wet ingredients into the bowl with the whisked dry ingredients.
- Knead the dough - leave to rise (1 hour)
Note: The dough can be kneaded by hand or with a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment.
By hand: The dough is very soft, so if kneading by hand you can add an additional ¼ to ½ cup of flour to your dough.Turn the dough out onto a very well floured surface and knead the dough for 10 minutes.
Then transfer the well kneaded dough to a large lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Leave the dough to rise in a warm area for 1 hour.
Kneading the dough with a stand mixer: Use the dough hook attachment on your stand mixer, to knead the dough on slow speed for 10 minutes. Once kneaded transfer the dough to a large lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Leave the dough to rise in a warm area for 1 hour.
How to shape / form Pita
Divide the dough into equal pieces. Dust extra flour on your work surface.
Press the dough pieces into disks with your fingertips before rolling it out. This eliminates air bubbles, helping the pita puff up more evenly
Roll out each disk into a circle about 6 inches (15cm) round and ⅛ inch (3mm) thick. Avoid rolling it out thinner than ⅛ inch (3mm). It needs the thickness to help it puff up during cooking.
Cover the rolled out pita breads - leave to rise (30 minutes)
Place each rolled out pita on parchment paper, dusted well with flour. Cover with plastic wrap and leave once more to rise for 30 minutes. This is an important step in ensuring the pita breads puff up and maintain a soft texture when cooking.
How to cook Pita Bread
Heat a non stick heavy based skillet over medium heat. Place one pita at a time on the skillet.
Cook on medium heat for about 1 ½ minutes on each side. Flip the pita every 30 seconds to prevent burning.
Some pitas might begin to puff even before the first flip. Others might puff at the last minute.
Cover the Pita breads as you cook them. This will ensure that they keep their soft texture.
How to serve Soft Pita Bread
- Stuffed pita: Fill with your favorite salad or veggies. Or add strips of chicken, meat or lamb.
- Mini pizza bases
- Cut into wedges and serve with olive oil or a dip like hummus and tzatziki.
- Delicious shawarma sandwiches: Top with chicken, lamb, or even veggies. Then wrap it all up in a warm pita
Storage
Room temperature: Once the cooked pitas are cooled, store in an airtight container for up to 3 days
Freeze: Store cooled pita in an airtight container or freezer safe bag. Seperate each pita with a sheet of parchment paper to prevent them from sticking together.
To reheat: Warm pitas in the microwave, stovetop or oven until just warmed through.
Frequently asked questions
Active dry or Instant (Fast acting) yeast can be used in this recipe.
Active dry yeast needs to be activated in the liquid before adding to the dry ingredients.
Fast-acting / instant dry yeast is added directly to the flour and does not need to be dissolved in water first. This is the type I prefer to work with, It is really convenient and easy to work with.
Whether you use active dry yeast or instant dry yeast, the pita bread will turn out exactly the same.
When rolling out the dough, ensure that you dust your worktop well with flour. Dough that sticks to the work surface is bound to tear. This forms holes in the dough, which cause steam to escape when cooking. Such tears will cause steam to escape and won’t puff up the pita.Don't roll your dough out too thin. Try to keep it at least ⅛ inch (3mm) thick
Tips for making perfect Soft Pita bread
- Roll the dough out evenly. If the dough is uneven, then it might puff up more in certain areas and stay flat in others. Avoid tearing or cracking the dough, which will let moisture out and deflate the pita.
- Don't skip the second rising: The rolled out pita breads must be left covered to rise for 30 minutes before cooking. Place on parchment paper dusted with flour so they do not stick to the surface and tear.
- Liquid temperature is important: The temperature of the water and milk is very important. If the water and milk is too hot, you end up killing the yeast and your pita will never rise. On the other hand, if your water is too cold then the yeast will not activate, leading to the same flat pitas. If you have a thermometer, it should read between 100°F – 115°F ( 37°C – 46°C).
Enjoy ♡
More Pita Bread Recipes
- No-knead 4 ingredient pita
- Greek Pita Flatbread
- Yeast Free Stove Top Pita Recipe
- 2 ingredient Pita (No yeast)
Soft Pita Bread
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose or cake flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon instant dry (fast acting yeast / rapid rise dry yeast) see notes for active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon white granulated sugar
- ½ cup warm water see notes
- ½ cup warm milk
- 1 Tablespoon oil see notes
Instructions
Make the dough
- Dry ingredients: Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and instant dry yeast in a large bowl.
- Wet ingredients: In a separate jug or small bowl, combine the warm water, warmed milk and oil.
- Pour the combined wet ingredients into the bowl with the whisked dry ingredients.
- The dough can be kneaded by hand or with a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment.
- By hand: The dough is very soft, so if kneading by hand you can add an additional ¼ to ½ cup of flour to your dough. Turn the dough out onto a very well-floured surface and knead the dough for 10 minutes.
- Then transfer the well kneaded dough to a large lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Leave the dough to rise in a warm area for 1 hour.
- Kneading the dough with a stand mixer: Use the dough hook attachment on your stand mixer, to knead the dough on slow speed for 10 minutes. Once kneaded transfer the dough to a large lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Leave the dough to rise in a warm area for 1 hour.
Shape/form the pita bread
- Divide the dough into equal pieces. Dust extra flour on your work surface.
- Press the dough pieces into disks with your fingertips before rolling it out. This eliminates air bubbles, helping the pita puff up more evenly
- Roll out each disk into a circle about 6 inches (15cm) round and ⅛ inch (3mm) thick. Avoid rolling it out thinner than ⅛ inch (3mm). It needs the thickness to help it puff up during cooking. (See notes on rolling dough)
- Place each rolled out pita on parchment paper, dusted well with flour. Cover with plastic wrap and leave once more to rise for 30 minutes. This is an important step in ensuring the pita breads puff up and maintain a soft texture when cooking.
Cook the Pita Bread
- Heat a non-stick heavy based skillet over medium heat.
- Place one pita at a time on the skillet. Cook on medium heat for about 1 ½ minutes on each side. Flip the pita every 30 seconds to prevent burning. Some pitas might begin to puff even before the first flip. Others might puff at the last minute.
- Cover the Pita breads as you cook them. This will ensure that they keep their soft texture.
Storage
- Room temperature: Once the cooked pitas are cooled, store in an airtight container for up to 3 days
- Freeze: Store cooled pita in an airtight container or freezer safe bag. Seperate each pita with a sheet of parchment paper to prevent them from sticking together.
- To reheat: Warm pitas in the microwave, stovetop or oven until just warmed through.
Notes
Nutrition
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linda says
can you use gluten free in these
The Gardening Foodie says
Hi Linda, sorry I have not tried this recipe with gluten free flour, so not sure how it will turn out.