Easy Sourdough Pita Bread, How to make these Delicious Pockets

This sourdough pita bread recipe lets you enjoy warm, freshly baked bread in just one day. Each pita is wonderfully soft, delightfully chewy, and brimming with that rich, tangy sourdough flavor we all love.

• What are pita breads?
• Ingredients for sourdough pita bread
• How to make sourdough pita bread
  • Tips for this recipe:
  • Method
    • Proof and Bake
• Serving Suggestions
  • How to make sourdough pita bread chips

What are pita breads?

Pita breads are actually one of the oldest breads around going back thousands of years. They originate in the middle east with each country having it’s own version. They are also known as pocket bread, Arabian bread, Syrian bread or even khubz and kmaj in some areas.

The name pita is actually the Greek term for this bread but it probably the most common name that we all tend to know this bread as.

They are a variety of leavened flatbread, this means is that it has some sort of leavening/rising agent. Now this could be in the form of yeast or sourdough culture. For this recipe we will be using a sourdough culture. This tends to have more beneficial health benefits than say an active dried yeast.

Being that is is a flatbread it means you only need to do one round of proofing which makes it a lovely quick sourdough bread option if you have limited time but want all of the sourdough goodness.

Ingredients for sourdough pita bread

• All purpose white flour, this recipe doesn’t require any special or specific flour which makes it very accessible for everyone.
• Active sourdough starter, it should be lovely and bubbly. Try and aim to feed it around four to six hours before you need to use it.
• Water, the best water I have found for sourdough bread should be at room temperature. Cold water slows the whole process down and if it is too hot then you run the risk or killing your culture completely. I have also found filtering the water helps as well if you can.
• Olive oil, a good quality extra vigin olive oil this will add a wonderful flavour.
• Sea salt, when making bread you definitely need salt. It may look like a lot when you add it but it is needed so don’t panic.

How to make sourdough pita bread

Tips for this recipe:

• If you start this recipe in the morning at around 8am and the room where you will proof the dough is warm then this bread will be ready in time for dinner.
• This isn’t a no knead recipe but it can be made that way if you prefer.
• The kneading is done in two stages this allows the dough to rest in between which I have found the dough responds to really well making for better breads.
• By dissolving the sourdough starter in the water enables the culture to distribute throughout the dough evenly.
• Do not add more flour when you are kneading the dough even if it is a bit sticky.
• It is a sticky dough and so you will need a well floured surface to roll them out on.
• Don’t worry if some puff up more than other this can happen.
• Try not to overwork the dough when rolling them out.
• If you have stone bakeware or a pizza stone you can preheat and cook them on use it for best results.

Method

Begin by placing the sourdough starter and water in a mixing bowl and mix until the starter has dissolved.

Next add in the oil and stir it well. Now add the flour and salt and using a spoon mix all of the ingredients together to form a very rough looking dough ball. You can use your hands to do this but it can be messy so a spoon makes this a lot easier.

Place a damp tea towel over the bowl and leave the dough to rest for twenty five minutes.

Now do your first round of kneading, knead the dough for around two to three minutes then cover it once again with the damp towel and let the dough rest for another twenty minutes.

Do one more round of kneading once again for two to three minutes or until the dough ball looks smooth and you can do the window pane technique. Check out this short video to learn how to do this if you are unsure.

Now either you can leave it in the bowl or transfer it to another plastic container. Whichever you choose make sure to oil it first then place the dough in. Cover the container with some sort of plastic wrap and then a dry tea towel and place in a warm area to proof.

Proof and Bake

Let it proof for around eight hours or until the dough ball has doubled in size. Take the dough out of the bowl and divide it into eight even sized pieces.

Preheat the oven to 375F, 190C

Now repeat this process with the rest of the dough. You should be able to fit around four breads on one large baking sheet, so you will need two baking sheets for this sourdough pita bread recipe.

Flour your work surface and also the rolling pin really well. Take one of the dough pieces and shape it into a ball, now roll it out nice and this. You may need a little more flour if it starts to stick. Place it onto a baking sheet.

Note: If you would like to bake your pita breads on a preheated stone then place your rolled out dough onto individual pieces of parchment paper. Then when you bake them transfer them with the paper to your stone to cook.

Place baking sheets into the preheated oven and bake for around eight minutes.

Remove them from the oven and let them cool for a few minutes so they aren’t piping hot but you do want to serve them while they are still warm if you can that is when they are at their best.

They can be stored for around four days and warmed up in the oven to soften them back up, they also freeze really well.

Serving Suggestions

• Greek gyros, fill them with chicken, lettuce, cucumber, tomato, hummus and tzatziki
• Fill them with your favourite curry I like this beef masala curry by gastrosenses.com or serve them on the side.
• Fill them with my Mediterranean quinoa salad for a healthy fresh lunch option
• Make a toastie style sandwich with them with mozzarella, spinach and tomatoes.

How to make sourdough pita bread chips

If you end up not using all of your pita breads before they go a little stale do not fret they can still be used. Now we are not talking about moldy or pitas that have gone bad, we are talking about when they are little stiff and a bit dry.

Pits chips are super easy to make. Just cut the bread into triangles roughly the same size as tortilla chips and brush or stray them with a little oil.

Place them onto a baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes in a 400F, 200C oven or they can be also be cooked in an air-fryer at 375, 190C for around 3-4 minutes. Watch them though as they can burn easily.

Enjoy them with dips like hummus or tzatziki or with a salad as a crunchy element.