Being a big fan of Greek food, we eat in on the regular in our home. I perfected some other homemade recipes for Greek food over time, but pita eluded me for a while. Never being satisfied from store-bought varieties, it was time to see if it could be made from scratch.

I found and failed on several recipes until I found just the right one from Pinterest. I’ve made this time and again and the pitas turn out perfectly. However, the way the recipe was written, just didn’t work for me and I messed it up every single time I made it. So, to combat wasted ingredients and time, I am sharing here in my own words to help it make sense for me going forward. The recipe is not my own, all credit to Sweet Simple Vegan for the original. I just had to rewrite it for my own use.

First important detail: this recipe takes over 3 hours to prepare. With the various dough rising/resting steps, it is a long, but worthy process. Once you try homemade pita bread, you’ll never want store bought again.

Homemade Pita Bread

• 1 cup warm water between 105 and 100 degrees
• 1 packet yeast
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 cups flour
• 1 3/4 teaspoons salt

In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir until just combined the warm water, sugar, yeast, and 1 cup of the flour. Set aside for 15 minutes.

This mixture should create little bubbles and foam up during this step which is what you need. If it doesn’t bubble and foam, your yeast did not react properly and it’s best to begin again. Speaking from experience.

Add the olive oil and 1 1/2 cups of the flour. Mix on low with a dough hook for 5 minutes. Add more flour if the dough is too sticky. I added about another 1/3 cup.

Once ready, roll into a ball and place inside a large oiled bowl. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise for 2 hours or until doubled in size. Mine usually takes about 1 hour and 40 minutes.

Flour your work surface and plop the dough out. Divide into 8 equal pieces. I used a food scale for this and the last batch divided into 8 portions about 76 grams each.

Roll each piece in a ball pinching together on the bottom. Place an inch apart on your floured work surface. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough balls into circles about 1/4 inch thick. Pampered Chef makes a unique Baker’s Roller which I prefer over rolling pins and is just the right size for these little pitas.

Let the dough sit on the work surface for 15-30 minutes. The longer, the better for the best chance of developing the classic pita pocket!

Heat a non-stick skillet to medium high. Add one pita at a time and cook on each side for about 3 minutes.

Some may puff up during cooking, which is great! The pita below developed a beautiful pocket! It’s also ok if they don’t. The pita bread will still separate to make a pocket.

Remove cooked pitas to a plate and cover with a clean kitchen towel to keep warm while you prepare the rest.

Homemade pita bread is best served fresh from cooking. Serve with our Greek Chicken or make Vegetarian Greek Pitas with our other recipe. Don’t forget some Perfect Homemade Tzatziki Sauce!

Store any leftovers in a sealed container and keep in the fridge. Warm up in a skillet or in the microwave when it’s time to enjoy these again as super yummy leftovers!

How good does this look?!

We serve our Homemade Pita Bread with all the fixings like feta cheese, kalamata olives, cucumbers, spinach, hummus, tzatziki, dolmades, lemon, tomatoes (none for me, thanks lol). Works out similar to a taco kind of night. One of our favorite meals with a wealth of healthy, colorful, customizable options the whole family enjoys.

I could eat it everyday and hope you will too! Enjoy!