Greek Flatbread
A soft and chewy, this easy to make Greek Flatbread is the perfect base for a gyro and is great for dipping in creamy hummus.
Are Flatbread And Pita The Same?
This pocket-less pita bread more closely resembles the flatbread that has been around for centuries.
You can find similar versions of this around the globe, like naan in India or focaccia in Italy.
Classic pocket pita bread is leavened slightly and cooked over high heat, creating an air-pocket inside the cooked bread that makes it quite easy to separate and stuff with fillings.
This Greek flatbread (also sometimes called pocketless pita, Mediterranean pita, or gyro flatbread) doesn't have a pocket, which makes it a bit sturdier. Its texture is also softer and more chewy than a traditional pita.
How To Serve This Pocketless Pita Bread
While we love homemade pita bread, we find that this flatbread is ideal for topping with gyro or souvlaki meat and folding up for a delicious sandwich. (We often find that pita bread with a pocket often isn't sturdy enough to hold up to the weight and juices from these meats.)
There's a reason it's often called gyro flatbread!
Another great way to eat this pocketless pita bread is as an appetizer. It is the bread that is traditionally cut into sections and served with tzatziki sauce, other spreads, or creamy cheeses.
Making Our Easy Greek Flatbread Recipe
The dough for this Greek flatbread is incredibly basic to make.
- Dissolve your yeast in honey water.
- Mix flour and salt.
- Add yeast mixture, oil, and milk to the dry ingredients.
- Mix until the dough comes together and knead until soft and smooth.
We like to add a touch of honey and a splash of milk to our dough for a slight sweetness and a creamy texture. It just gives the flatbreads something a little extra!
It is a simple dough that kneads well, and after resting is very easy to roll out. Don't worry about rolling your flatbread perfectly round. A rustic shape gives them character!
They bake up quickly on a baking sheet in the oven. So, they are great to roll out is batches and roll more while you have some in the oven!
Another nice thing about these flatbreads is that they will keep for a couple of days, staying nice and tender, ready to be filled with your choice of meat, or dunked in some hummus or tzatziki.
So, make a big batch and get ready to enjoy some soft and fluffy flatbread!
Greek Flatbread
Ingredients
- 1 c water, warmed to 80F
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 - 4 ½ c unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ tablespoon olive oil
- ½ c milk
Instructions
- Dissolve honey in the warm water.
- Add yeast and let it dissolve and start to foam.
- In a large bowl, mix together salt and 3 ½ cups of flour. Add the yeast mixture, oil, and milk.
- Mix with a wooden spoon until the dough begins to come together. Then, turn the dough out onto the counter and knead until smooth, adding the remaining flour as needed to create a soft dough that doesn't stick to your hands.
- Place the dough back in the bowl, and let set, covered, for 1 hour, until doubled in bulk.
- When you are ready to cook the flatbread, preheat your oven to 375F.
- Knock back the dough and divide it into 8 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a ball.
- Roll the pieces out into circles ¼” thick using short strokes of the rolling pin.
- Place the rolled out flatbread on a greased baking sheet and let rest for 10 minutes.
- Bake for 7-8 minutes, until cooked through and springy to the touch.
- Remove the cooked flatbread from the baking pan and immediately place them in a paper bag to cool. (The steam from the cooling bread in the bag will keep the flatbread soft and pliable.)
Notes
Sarah founded Curious in 2010 as a way to save her recipe creations and share culinary experiences. Her love for cultural cuisines was instilled early by her French Canadian Grandmother. Her experience in the kitchen and in recipe development comes from over 10 years working in professional kitchens. She has traveled extensively and enjoys bringing the flavors of her travels back to create easy-to-make recipes.
I made it today. Instead of milk I used Greek yogurt. Also grilled it in a cast iron pan. Super good!
Sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing Trixie!
I replaced the milk with yogurt. Is it possible to cook in skillet, as opposed to the oven?
Hi Trixie. You could definitely cook this in a skillet. I'd keep the heat around medium and flip once they start to get puffy and golden on the first side. Definitely let us know how they turn out for you!
My grocery store just stopped carrying a wonderful authentic whole wheat Greek flatbread from Aladdin Bakers in Brooklyn, NY. I've been using it a lot for sandwiches and personal pizzas. Without these available commercially, I thought I might try making my own and I came across your post here when looking for a recipe. I'm so anxious to try this. But I have a question: I wonder if I might make these with whole wheat flour? Have you ever made them with it? Do I need to adjust anything as is sometimes necessary? I can't wait to get started. I can almost taste them now!
Hi Bonnie, We haven't tried these with whole wheat flour yet. But they should work just fine. I would add in 1 Tbsp of vital wheat gluten. The wheat gluten will help them to have a chewier texture with the whole wheat. You also will probably need less of the final 1/2 cup of flour, so just add as much as you need to get a nice dough. Enjoy!
Thank you for your advice. I might have to hunt a bit to find vital wheat gluten, but I have a couple of stores in mind to try. I understand about the dough, too, so I'll keep that in mind. I make poppyseed rolls when I can and the flour needed varies for that dough, too. My first time eating flatbread was at a local GyroFest many years ago, and now I prefer them for sandwich-making. I use white whole wheat flour at home so I'll try that first, then maybe with regular whole wheat just to compare. Thanks, again, for your recipe and advice!
White whole wheat and red (regular) whole wheat would be a really interesting comparison. (We love using white wheat!) Actually, I bet the white wheat would work very well in these. Bob's Red Mill has vital wheat gluten, if you have stores that carry their product near you. (Or you can order it online.) Enjoy!
Hi, I made this yesterday and couldn’t get the dough to rise. I made bread two days ago with yeast from the same jar, and it rose just fine. I attempted a second batch, and it also hardly rose. The yeast proofed well...
I still cooked them (5 minutes each side), and they were ok. Just not as fluffy as they probably should’ve been.
We're sorry you're having trouble Kendall. Our first thought would be that maybe your water was too hot and killed your yeast. But if you say the yeast proofed well, then either the temperature in your rising area was too cold (it should be around 70F), or you may have needed to let your breads rest for a bit longer after rolling out.
Wow! I cannot make bread (according to my dozens of previously failed attempts) - but this was so, incredibly easy. And tasty too! Followed exactly (I did warm the milk to 100° prior to adding, and I used parchment instead of a greased cookie sheet). Thank you for such a great recipe!
We're so glad you enjoyed our recipe!
Turned out perfect but increased baking time to 5 minutes per side.
Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I am making this now and have a quick question for the future. I see in the recipe that the estimated time is 2 1/2 hours but given the directions and 1 hour of rest/rise time, I can't figure out where at least an hour comes from. Is there supposed to be a second rise at some point?
Thanks for your comment M. The extra time is just for prepping the dough and rolling it out. An hour does seem a bit excessive though, so we'll cut it back a bit to avoid confusion. We hope you enjoyed the breads!
Which type of yeast do you use? instant, rapid rise or active dry?
We use active dry yeast.
I just made these this morning. I did roll them out to 1/8” instead of 1/4 and that was perfect. My oven is perfectly calibrated but I still ended up cooking them for four minutes on each side. At this point, they were just cooked and still not browned on the outside. Perfect. This is definitely a keeper recipe. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed the bread! Thanks for sharing!
What would this recipe look like without yeast? I have a sensitivity to it and would rather avoid it if possible. Thank you!
Hi Nikkole! Without the yeast, the flatbread won't be as fluffy. In fact, it will probably be a bit dense. If you wanted to try it without the yeast, I would suggest seeing what adding 1 tsp of baking powder would do. It might help the texture a bit. We haven't tried this bread without yeast, but if you give it a go, let us know how it turns out!
Can you freeze it?
These could definitely be frozen Cheryl. Enjoy!
I like the idea to add milk and honey to your flatbread to make it much sweeter and creamier. I happen to love Greek food and my wife and I have been planning on making some for a family dinner this weekend. I think that it would be perfect if were able to get some fresh, fluffy, flatbread from a bakery to go with our meal.
That's the great thing about being able to make flatbread yourself! It's quite easy and you don't have to find a bakery that carries it. Enjoy!
I just tried this recipe and it turned out fabulous! Easy to make and oh my what a fantastic flavor!
Thank you for stopping back by to let us know how your flatbread turned out Damaris! We're so glad you liked it!
I am making flatbread for my class in History!
We are learning about Greece.
Thank you.
Wonderful! We hope your class enjoys the flatbread!
Oooo! I'm so excited to try! I've been looking for a good flatbread. Going to make the venison gyros too! We still have a little venison left in the freezer. And my kids love gyros!