There’s something about puffed-up pita bread that makes me very happy. I refer to it as “poofy pita.”
Whether you want to call them pita pockets, fluffy pita, or pita pillows, they get that beautiful puff from yeast.
Well, they used to.
With this recipe, we’re going to accomplish the fluffiest pita bread without yeast!
That’s right: absolutely no yeast is required for this recipe.
And don’t worry, we don’t need to substitute any wild ingredients here, either. This recipe is made with a simple 2-ingredient base, much like my protein bagels or breakfast bagel bombs.
Each pita is very impressive nutritionally, too: 120 calories, 0g fat, 23g carbs, and 6g of protein!
What ingredients do you need to make pita bread without yeast?
This pita bread without yeast is a play on the “2 ingredient dough” that I’ve used in many recipes before.
Essentially, if you combine flour & Greek yogurt, it creates a dough that puffs up as if you had used yeast.
The major benefit to doing this is:
- You don’t have to wait for the dough to rise.
- The Greek yogurt adds extra protein to the dough, making the overall nutrition more favorable.
Recipes like this often call for self-rising flour, but that is not a staple in everyone’s kitchen. But don’t sweat it; self-rising flour is simply all-purpose flour that has been pre-mixed with baking powder and salt.
In this case, we’re just going to use all 3 of those ingredients instead. But if you have self-rising flour, it will be even easier for ya.
This “hack” is great to use for any bread recipes you may be wanting to make, and I use it as a starting point for many of my recipes before spicing them: Pretzel Biscuits, Pizza Bagel Bites, and Everything Bagel Pull Apart Bread, to name a few.
How do you make pita puffy without yeast?
There is one very important aspect of this recipe that you cannot overlook if you want to accomplish fluffy pita pockets.
Once you mix the dough up, you need to let it sit for one hour.
This dough isn’t going to rise (since we are using no yeast) and after one hour, it is going to look exactly the same.
But this rest time is critical.
When the dough sits, the gluten relaxes and the dough becomes stretchier. It’s going to make it easier to roll out into circles, and it’s going to be the secret to the “poof.”
You can make this pita bread without letting the dough rest, and it will still be delicious, but it won’t accomplish those wonderful pita pockets.
PS: I experimented with letting the dough sit for one hour when I made my protein bagels, and they puffed up SO much to the point that they did not look like bagels anymore. The proof is in the poof.
How to make pita bread without yeast
This pita bread without yeast is so incredibly easy that you’re going to want to make these all the time.
Step 1
Add your dry ingredients to a bowl, then add the Greek yogurt and mix until it forms a dough ball.
Step 2
Separate the dough into 6 equal-sized pieces. The sizes don’t have to be exact if you just want to eyeball it.
Step 3
Lightly knead each ball of dough and roll them in your hands until smooth (you don’t want there to be any large gaps in the dough).
Place on a lightly greased baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap or a towel. Let sit at room temperature for one hour.
Note: the dough is not going to rise during this hour and it is going to look exactly the same. Trust the process!
Step 4
Place one dough ball on a lightly floured surface and sprinkle some additional flour on top. This will help prevent the dough from sticking when rolling it out.
Step 5
Using a rolling pin (or any round object if you do not have one) roll out the dough ball into a flat circle.
I estimate that it is probably 1/8″ thick, but you can estimate based on my photo below. We want the pita to be nice and thin to allow it to puff up in the oven.
Continue for all of the pita bread, then add to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
I could only fit 4 on my baking sheet, so I made this pita bread in 2 batches.
Warning!
Do not bake these directly on a baking sheet- be sure to use parchment paper or a silicone mat. If you bake directly on the sheet, the bottoms of the pita bread are going to crisp up way more than we would like:
Step 6
Bake at 500 degrees F for 8 minutes
Check on the pita bread after 5 minutes. In my oven, it was clear that I had “hot spots” in my oven, as certain pita was puffing up more than others.
At the 5 minute mark, rotate the baking sheet to help the pita bread bake evenly.
They won’t all puff up exactly the same, but that’s just the nature of baking sometimes.
Even if the pita bread doesn’t completely puff up in the oven, you should be able to open it up into a pita pocket, and that is a beautiful thing.
Enjoy this pita bread without yeast in any number of ways: stuffed pita pockets, pita wraps, or cut up and eaten as an appetizer with your favorite dip!
Pita Bread Without Yeast
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Additional Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 13 minutes
No yeast? No problem! We can accomplish some beautifully fluffy pita bread with absolutely no yeast required.
Ingredients
- 180g (1.5 Cups) All-Purpose Flour (can also use self-rising flour)
- 180g (2/3 Cup) Plain Nonfat Greek Yogurt
- 2Tsp Baking Powder (omit if using self-rising flour)
- 1/2 Tsp Salt
- 1/4 Tsp Garlic Powder
Instructions
- Add all your dry ingredients to a large bowl and mix them up.
- Add the Greek yogurt to the bowl, then use a silicone spatula to mix everything up. Once it starts to come together, use your hands to form it into a ball of dough in your bowl.
- Add the dough to a lightly floured surface.
- Break the dough into 6 equal-sized pieces. You can weigh the dough out and divide that by 6 if you want to be exact, but I typically just eyeball it because I don't mind if they are slightly different sizes.
- Knead each piece of dough for just one minute and roll them in your hands until they become smooth balls.
- Lightly grease a baking sheet with oil (I use oil to help retain moisture, but you can use cooking spray as well if needed) and add your dough balls to it. Cover with a towel or saran wrap and let sit for one hour.
- The dough will NOT rise in this hour, but it's the secret to relaxing the dough and creating that "poof" that we want to achieve.
- After the dough has rested, preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
- Flour a surface and place on dough ball on the flour, then sprinkle a little bit of flour on top to prevent sticking while rolling the dough out. Take a rolling pin and roll the dough out into a flat circle. We want these to be nice and thin!
- Place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and continue until all of the dough has been rolled out. I was only able to fit 4 on my baking sheet, so I baked these in 2 batches.
- Add to the oven and bake for 8 minutes. After 5 minutes, I find it very beneficial to rotate the pan. This isn't absolutely necessary, but I find parts of my oven to be hotter, so certain areas will poof up better.
- After 8 minutes, remove from the oven. Each pita will puff up different amounts, so they may not all get super fluffy, but that is okay! They will still be very light and able to be split into pita pockets.
- Continue with your second batch if needed, then enjoy.
Notes
- Parchment paper on your baking sheet is necessary for these. If you bake directly on the baking sheet, the bottoms are going to overcook and become hard.
- You can cook these pitas in a skillet instead of baking in the oven, but they will not puff up the same amount.
- You can store leftover pita at room temperature in an airtight container or Ziploc bag.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 6Serving Size 1 Pita
Amount Per ServingCalories 120Total Fat 0gCarbohydrates 23gProtein 6g
