Pita (pocket bread)

Name: Pita (pocket bread)
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 2 h 15 min
Ingredients: 500 g all-purpose flour; 320 g water; 5 g instant yeast; 1 tsp sugar; 9 g salt; 1 tbsp olive oil

Vegetarian

Soft, thin round flatbreads that balloon in a very hot oven to form a pocket. Rolled evenly and baked for only a few minutes, they stay supple for stuffing or tearing.

Pita (pocket bread) is a Middle Eastern bread, ready in about 2 hours 15 minutes and made with all-purpose flour and instant yeast. It serves 8 and is rated intermediate to cook.

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Prep: 25 min
Cook: 20 min
Rest: 1 h 30 min
Total: 2 h 15 min
Serves: 8
Level: Intermediate
Calories: 246

Ingredients

8 pitas

500 g All-purpose flour (opens in a new tab)Swap: Bread flour (Slightly chewier.); Whole-wheat flour (Replace up to half for a wholemeal pita; add 20 g extra water.)Contains wheat, gluten
320 g Water (opens in a new tab)Lukewarm; 64% hydration.
5 g Instant yeast (opens in a new tab)
1 tsp (4 g) Sugar (opens in a new tab)
9 g Salt (opens in a new tab)
1 tbsp (13 g) Olive oil (opens in a new tab)

Equipment

Method

1
Step 1
Mix all the ingredients and knead 8–10 minutes to a smooth, soft, slightly tacky dough. Cover and leave until doubled, 60–90 minutes.
How it looks · Photo: Klaus Nielsen on Pexels
2
Step 2
Put a baking stone, steel or upturned heavy tray on the lowest shelf and heat the oven (opens in a new tab) to its maximum (250 °C or higher) for at least 40 minutes.
3
Step 3
Divide the dough into 8 pieces (about 105 g), round them and rest under a cloth for 10 minutes so the gluten relaxes.
- 10 min
4
Step 4
Roll each ball into an even 16–18 cm round about 5 mm thick, with no folds or creases. Rest the rounds, covered, for 10 minutes.
- 15 min
- Rolling pin (opens in a new tab)
Even thickness is what makes the pocket: thin spots seal together and stop the puff.
5
Step 5
Bake 2–3 at a time directly on the hot stone for 3–4 minutes, until fully puffed and just pale gold in spots. Wrap straight away in a clean towel so they soften as they deflate.
- 20 min
- 250°C

About this dish

Origin: Not attributed to one place · Origin disputedPocket flatbreads are ancient and shared across the Eastern Mediterranean and Arab world; 'pita' is the Greek and Hebrew name, 'khubz' the Arabic.Also popular in Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Israel, Egypt, Greece, Türkiye
Dish: Lunch · Dinner · Breads & flatbreads
Cooking method: Oven-baked, Fermented
Taste: mild, savoury
Diet: Vegan · Dairy-free · No nut ingredients
All labels
Vegan · Plant-based · Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Ovo-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · Dairy-free · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · Low-fat · DASH-style
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for: Everyday · Budget-friendly · Freezer-friendly
Cook more with: All-purpose flour · Instant yeast · Sugar
Techniques: Baking · Kneading · Fermentation

Allergens

Contains: Wheatfrom all-purpose flour
Contains: Glutenfrom all-purpose flour

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

246 kcal per serving

Calculated

1 serving ≈ 95 g · recipe makes 8

Where the energy comes from

Protein 11%
Carbohydrate 80%
Fat 9%

Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
Nutrient	Per serving	Per 100 g
Energy	246 kcal	259 kcal
Protein	6.7 g	7.1 g
Carbohydrate	48.5 g	51 g
Net carbohydrate	46.6 g	49.1 g
Sugars	0.7 g	0.7 g
Added sugars	0.5 g	0.6 g
Fibre	1.9 g	2 g
Fat	2.3 g	2.5 g
Saturated fat	0.3 g	0.4 g
Trans fat	—	—
Cholesterol	0 mg	0 mg
Sodium	438 mg	462 mg
Salt equivalent	1.1 g	1.2 g

Vitamins & minerals per serving

Potassium: 73 mg
Calcium: 14 mg
Iron: 2.9 mg
Magnesium: 15 mg
Vitamin A (RAE): 0 µg
Vitamin C: 0 mg
Vitamin D: 0 µg
Vitamin B12: 0 µg
Folate (DFE): 197 µg

How these numbers were made

Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
“—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

Without a stone, cook them in a very hot dry cast-iron pan: 1 minute, flip, then press gently until they balloon.

Common mistakes

An oven that is not fully preheated gives flat breads with no pocket.
Baking until brown makes pita crisp and brittle.

Serve with

Fill with falafel or grilled meat, or tear into hummus and baba ghanoush.

Storage

Wrapped, 2 days at room temperature; freeze up to 2 months.

Reheating

Sprinkle with water and warm in a hot pan or oven for 1 minute.

Variations

Wholemeal pita: Use half whole-wheat flour and a little more water.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added 29 Oct 2026 · Updated 8 Nov 2026

Sauces, chutneys & dips for this dish

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Compare with

Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

All-purpose flour500 g

Used in step 1

Baker’s notes

Customise in Bread & Bakery

Timeline and readiness cues

Mix and knead · about 25 min
Weigh everything. Knead until smooth and elastic: a small piece stretches thin enough to see light through (the windowpane test).
First rise (bulk) · about 1 h 15 min
About doubled, domed, jiggly, with bubbles on the sides. A floured finger poked in leaves a dent that fills slowly.
Rest · about 20 min
Covered so it doesn't dry out; relaxed dough rolls and shapes without springing back.
Bake · about 20 min at 250 °C
Deep golden; bread sounds hollow when tapped underneath, or reads 93–96 °C inside (enriched breads 88–90 °C).
Start to finish: about 2 h 20 min. Times are a guide — warmth changes everything; follow the cues.

The dough

The dough in baker's percentages. Flour = 100%.
Ingredient	Role	Weight	Baker’s %
All-purpose flour	Flour	500 g	100%
Water	Water	320 g	64%
Olive oil	Fat	14 g	2.7%
Salt	Salt	9 g	1.8%
Instant yeast	Yeast	5 g	1%
Sugar	Sugar	4 g	0.8%

Total flour: 500 g
Hydration: 64%
With milk, eggs…: 64%
Wholegrain: 0%

Hydration = water ÷ flour × 100. Milk is about 87% water and eggs about 75%, so they’re shown separately as “with milk, eggs…”.

Medium dough (55–65%) — soft and easy to knead; sandwich loaves and rolls.
Salt 1.8% — normal for bread.

If something goes wrong

Pale crust
Likely causes
- Oven too cool
- Too little sugar or no milk/egg for browning
- Over-fermented (yeast ate the sugars)
What to do
- Check the oven with a thermometer
- Brush with egg wash or milk
- Shorten the fermentation
Burnt bottom
Likely causes
- Tray too close to the heat
- Dark tray absorbs more heat
- Too much sugar in the dough
What to do
- Bake on the middle shelf
- Double up trays or use a light-coloured one
- Lower the temperature 10–15 °C and bake a little longer
Tough or chewy flatbread
Likely causes
- Dough too stiff
- Not rested
- Cooked too slowly on too cool a pan
What to do
- Add water until the dough is soft and slightly tacky
- Rest 20–30 minutes covered so the gluten relaxes
- Cook on a very hot tawa or pan — quickly

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