I‘m really bad with surprises. It’s not that I don’t like it when someone surprises me, that is, unless they are hiding under my bed to “surprise” me–that is something bordering a heart attack. I really love surprising people it’s just that I have a difficult time for the “waiting to execute” part. Take my first Christmas with Matt. Two weeks before the big day, I begged for him to open one gift. The gift that I knew he would be so excited to open and would need before Christmas morning (it was probably something like a shirt). Next thing I knew it was 3 days before Christmas and we already opened every gift. Even the stocking stuffers.
If I have something special in store for you, I don’t see why I should wait so long to share it. All that to say, this recipe was scheduled for next week but I just couldn’t stand it anymore! I had to share it with you today because, well, read the first paragraph.
This gluten-free vegan pita bread is soft, chewy, bendable, flavorful, and still tastes great warmed up two days later (that’s as far as I got). You can slice right through it and stuff it with your favorite pita pocket treasures.
I’m so jazzed about it (she says with her sparkle fingers). No but for real, this pita is delightful. I have made three different recipes now. The first one was decent but didn’t slice well and surely didn’t have the softness that I was looking for. I was an amateur back then. The second one I made I shared on Instagram. They were beautiful! Much prettier than these above but they turned hard as a rock after they sat on the counter. I broke my toof, methinks. This one though, this…this is the golden child. I have made it a couple of times now and it’s delicious!
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Gluten-Free Vegan Pita Bread
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 7 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 7 mins
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
Soft, pillowy, and chewy. It’s everything you want your pita bread to taste like minus the gluten, eggs, and dairy.
Ingredients
- Wet Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 tsp. dry active yeast
- 2 c. warm water (approx. 100 degrees)
- 2 tsp. maple syrup or agave
- 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil (or whatever oil you choose)
- 2 Tbsp. psyllium husk powder (I used Secrets of the Pysllium from Trader Joe’s)
- Dry Ingredients:
- 1 c. white rice flour
- 1 c. superfine brown rice flour
- 1/2 c. potato starch
- 1/2 c. arrowroot powder
- 3 tsp. xanthan gum
- 1 tsp. salt
Instructions
- Mix the warm water, yeast and syrup together. Allow to sit for 10 minutes undisturbed until frothy. If this does not happen you must start again.
- Add the oil and psyllium to the mix and stir.
- In a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together.
- Add the wet mix into the dry and stir with a wooden spoon until combined. Your dough will be slightly sticky (as you can see in the pictures). It should remove from the bowl however it shouldn’t stick completely to your fingers either.
- Cover and leave on your counter in a warm, draft-free zone for 45 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Divide your dough into 8 equal balls. Line your counter with parchment paper and lightly flour it (you will need to do this). Take one ball and using your hands, gently create a circle by pushing the dough out from the middle. You don’t want to completely flatten it though. Leave a little pillow of thickness.
- Transfer to the baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes. Turn over the pita and bake another 2 minutes until barely browned. Repeat with the remainder dough.
- Allow to cool completely before you slice.
Notes
Makes 8 pita breads but 16 pita pockets when (and if) sliced in half.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 8
- Calories: 217
- Sugar: 1g
- Sodium: 302mg
- Fat: 4g
- Saturated Fat: 0g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 40g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 3g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
Recipe notes: Need to change up the flours? Read this post for guidance on subbing out gluten-free flours. If you have a store-bought blend of your own, go ahead and use a full 3 cups of that. If it has xanthan gum already in it, simply omit the gum from this recipe. Don’t know what the heck pysllium husk powder is or need a recommendation for what I have on hand? I buy Secrets of the Psyllium at Trader Joe’s. Works like a dream. Can’t have pysllium? Try subbing out an equal amount of ground chia seed or ground flaxseed. I haven’t tried it with either one of these so I cannot guarantee the same results (same with the different flours). Also, when transferring the pita to the baking sheet, if it’s too sticky to transfer, just use that piece of parchment paper instead on top of the sheet. Easy and done.
Try putting the pita in a skillet with a little olive oil to lightly brown it up before serving. It’s amazing. Now, who wants falafel???
Made these this afternoon. I picked up some Yves brand Falafel last week & my husband (a carnivore with Greek Heritage & generally Gyro fanatic – sans veggies) has been after me to make my V/GF Tzatziki sauce…so I looked up the V/GF pita recipes. Yours was the 1st & I have your site bookmarked, so I decided to try yours. I had to adapt for what I had on hand…but they were a big hit for my husband & he told me to make them again & do NOT change anything…lol. We did not have bulk psyllium husk, so I subbed ground flax seeds. Could not find my arrowroot powder, as we are rearranging our kitchen & that’s in the DIY boxes – so out came the cornstarch. Fresh out of white rice powder, so I subbed Bob’s Red Mill’s Paleo Flour + used that to dust the silicone mat on the cookie tray for baking. I used coconut oil instead of any veggie oil. And also cracked open a fresh bottle of maple syrup. I almost always use Himalayan Pink Salt, so that went in, too. I had a feeling prior to letting the dough sit to rise, that it was a bit too sticky. I decided not to alter anything else, as this was the 1st time I had ever made any pitas of any kind. About an hour later…yup a wee bit too sticky. So I just scooped & plopped balls of dough on the silicone mat (instead of parchment paper). I tried to shape them a bit & it seemed to go ok. It ended up making 10 pitas. The 1st 6 I did per your baking instructions but seemed a little light, so I extended the “flip side” by 3 minutes. They looked a bit better. For the last 4, I baked for 10 minutes, then flipped & baked for 4-5 additional minutes. Boy did they ever puff up! I had pics loaded, but see I probably have to use Instagram, & I’m really not feeling THAT social right now. lol. Thanks a bunch for the recipe!!!! It’s a keeper! (My brief history: I went vegetarian September 1988 – 1st day of 8th grade. Sometimes ate seafood throughout the years. Went vegan in 2012, after reading “Skinny Bitch.” Found out that the physical allergy to cows when I was in Veterinary Nursing School – yes – did include their by-products as well. Acne, Eczema, IBS – since birth cleared up probably 90%. Just went GF, in May 2019, upon advice (3rd time) from rheumatologist b/c of fibromyalgia, other autoimmunity issues brewing + I have been extremely inflamed & in pain in the past year since weaning off some Big Pharma meds since 2017. Some of my med team, my husband, & I are on a Holistic Journey to my wellness & are incorporating all aspects, especially an anti-inflammatory diet as much as I can & supplementation with amino acids & some other things recommended by Functional Medicine Practitioners.)
★★★★★
These changed my life!! A real pocket and none of that weird cellulose texture. This recipe is definitely a keeper!
(And they keep well too. I put them in a ziplock and then regeated them in the microwave – I know I know – a full four days later and voila! Still good and pockety too.)
Hi Cara,
I’ve bought INSTANT yeast, which doesn’t need activation with water. How would I have to use this instant yeast in the recipe?
thanks alot for the help!
Sven xxx
★★★★★
Mine turned out a little gummy. I tried baking them a bit longer but not sure it helped. I did use honey and then had to sub the with 1/2 cup white rice 1/4 brown and 1/4 teff. The flavor is amazing with some olive oil and salt. But I’m not sure about the texture. They do split all right but are a little gory. I’ll have to try again. Maybe a bit longer in the oven or just thinner.
★★★★
Hi! I would really like to try this recipe, but arrowroot powder are not really known in my country, and cost 10 dollar for 125 gram! Can I substitute for tapioca starch?
Cara, I have only one thing to say to you: you are a genius!!!!
I tried the recipe today but modified it to make it grain free…. The pitas came like bread! A little spongy, but very good! And i made two the size of muffins, baked in muffin liners, and they came out like DINNER ROLLS!!!
I’m sorry I can’t post a picture! Thanks! More tweaking and I might be able to make italian bread!! Thank you thank you thank you!
★★★★★
YAYAYAY! Love hearing about gf/v bread success! <3
Ok, one more commrnt: ypu are more than a genius! You are heaven sent! This time I baked it in a loaf pan and it raised up like real bread! When I sliced into it I could swear I heard angels sing! Again, I wish I could post a photo of it! You’d be so proud of your recipe result! Thank you a million times and merry Christmas! You could not have given me a better Christmas present!
★★★★★
Okay, now I HAVE to try this as a bread!!
That sounds fantastic. I love this recipe, and would love to try the dinner roll version. How did you make it grain free?
Can you make these without the canton gum as I am corn free as well?
You can try using guar gum or even without but I cannot guarantee that it will have the same results. Good luck and let me know if does work well!
Guar gum works as well! I subbed garbanzo bean flour for the white rice flour and also used only arrowroot powder.
★★★★★
I’m wondering if using coconut oil instead of vegetable oil would be alright? Do you think using twice as much arrowroot and no potato starch would turn out? I am just learning to cook and I’d rather not waste ingredients if using coconut oil and just the arrowroot might not work. I don’t have enough experience to try to “fix” this if not! Thanks in advance.
Both should work just fine!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Five stars all the way.
These are the lightest, fluffiest, but strongest pitas I’ve ever had. My dough was pretty sticky, stuck to my fingers but not the bowl, but I just used a bit more flour on my hands and it worked.
My biggest challenge is that I live in the mountains in North Carolina and I needed to adjust the cooking time for higher altitudes. The seven minute cooking time wasn’t enough, they were still a bit doughy. They still tasted better than any wheat pita I’ve ever had, with the possible exception of the authentic 12-inch Syrian bread I’ve had in New England. Bravo!
★★★★★
Aaaahhhhh, I am so happy to hear this, thank you for the comment. xo
This recipe is amazing and so easy to make! I’m not much of a baker and usually buy my gluten free bread but this recipe turned out so great! I didn’t have any arrowroot so I substituted tapioca flour. I was a little nervous making this because my experience with gluten free bread has been that it is flimsy and falls apart but I was able to fill these pitas full without them coming apart. Thank you so much!
★★★★★
Just wanted to tell you I tried your pita recipe this morning and it was fantastic! I have a secondary Tapioca allergy which makes everything more difficult, but this recipe was amazing. I ended up cooking 2 of them in a cast iron skillet and OMG, though the others cooked in the oven were great… the cast iron skillet version was sinful. I posted a picture on my website link, just wanted to thank you again!
★★★★★
I’m so glad you shared it early, they look so good, such beautiful gluten-free bread, thank you! 🙂
★★★★★
I’ve been GF for three and a half years now. I was a (home) sourdough baker for 15 years before that. I have been missing good bread ever since going GF.
One of my students made this recipe for me. This stuff seriously rocks! It smells like bread, tastes like bread, and feels like bread.
★★★★★
Aaaaahhhh, I LOVE LOVE LOVE hearing this! Thank you…xo
I just mixed all the ingredients exactly according to your directions and even checked them. It’s like soup. Any suggestions where I went wrong?
Just to double check, you allowed the psyllium husk powder to thicken in the water first? And did you use the flour listed?
That may be the problem. I must have missed the part of allowing the psyllium husk powder to thicken in the water first. I followed the directions to the letter and didn’t see where it mentioned that. I will try again and before mixing into the dry I’ll let the wet mixture sit for an additional amount of time. Fingers crossed.
MUCH better, we will be enjoying them tonight. Thank you for the advice!
★★★★★
These were delicious! I love how they were flexible and they keep well too. I used them the next day to make personal pizzas for my girls. Yum!
★★★★★
YEEESSSSS! Love hearing that and now I must try the pitas as a pizza base–thanks for the tip!
I’m pulling these out of the oven as I type and they are fabulous! I halved the recipe because I am low on flours and I had to sub tapioca for the arrowroot but they look and smell delish! Thanks so much!
Oh that is so awesome to hear Zoe. Enjoy! xo
These look AMAZING! If I wanted to freeze them, what do you think the best way would be to reheat them later?
★★★★★
Definitely won’t taste as good nor have as good of texture as the day of but you can definitely give it a shot!
HI CARA
I USE THE JULES GLUTEN FREE FLOUR CAN I USE THIS FLOUR INSTEAD OF THE FLOUR MIX YOU HAVE IN YOUR RECEIPE IF SO HOW MANY CUPS OF FLOUR SHOULD I USE IT ALREAY HAS XANTHAM GUM AS WELL, WOULD I HAVE TO ADD MORE PLEASE LET ME KNOW I WOULD LOVE TO TRY TO MAKE THIS PITA BREAD, IS IT POSSIBLE TO EMAIL ME YOUR RESPONSE. THANK YOU
That I do not know as I am not familiar with the Jules blend. Please feel free to experiment though. You will probably find a similar ratio of my blend to Jules, though and yes omit the xanthan gum if your mix already has it.
Can you substiute physllium husk powder for cornstarch? Thanks
i was wondering if you could use make these with a flour blend? I have the brand gluten free 1 2 3 flour, would this work?
Thanks!
Stasi
Can brown rice flour be substituted for white rice flour? Is there a substitute for the xantham gum?
Thanks!
Hey Kajal! There is a link in the post about subbing out different flours 🙂 You can always try omitting the xanthan gum and see if that works. I have not tried it so I cannot guarantee it.
hi! I came across this recipe for gluten-free vegan pita bread and I wondered if it freezes well? Thank you
Hello, I have a question, do I really need the psyllium husk powder? If I don’t use will I still have the same results?
Yes you do need the psyllium, it’s the binder for the bread staying in tact so if you don’t use it you won’t have the same results. You can try chia seeds (ground up) instead but again, this recipe was created with the psyllium so you might not have the same end product. Good luck! xo
these turned out beautifully thanks!
★★★★★
YES!!! I love it when that happens 😉
Oh my goodness. SO GOOD. I made these with the homeschool kids I teach, and they were a total success, and we just used it as pizza dough. IT IS THE BEST PIZZA DOUGH EVER. Cara, you are the bestest ever.
It’s definitely one of my favorite recipes! So glad that you and the kiddos love this, xo
Hello! I’m not the person who ever writes feedback or reviews but I couldn’t stop myself 🙂
Thank you thank you thank you for this recipe!!
I have recently put my 4 year old with ASD on a GFCF diet, he loves pita, he’s very picky but if u stuff anything into a pita he’d eat it, and of course all the store brought bread is awful, I tried to bake with the robin hood brand of gf flour and ended up with awful creations, the flour resembles sand and that’s when I decided that I should make our own bread and i found your recipe! I’m actually still baking it right now, and after reading the word pillowy and seeing the consistency of the dough I fell for it and started creating stuff with it, I baked the first pita: fantastic sliced it open perfect pocket, time for a falafel sandwich, the 2nd portion of the dough I decided to fry it 🙂 I made 8 small balls and fried in half coconut oil half corn oil and then heated 1 tbsp honey 1tbsp maple syrup and a pinch of cinnamon tossed the golden poofy balls into it and yum!! Who cares about cinnabon when you got this?!
Third portion I put a thin layer of kofta (ground beef with minced onions and parsely and spices) on top of the pita and baked like a pizza for 10 mins and 2 mins under the broiler and viola you have beef manakeesh, then i thought it would be cool to actually send more protein with him to school so I stuffed the first pita with the beef mix and flattened and popped back into the oven for 10 mins until the beef was fully cooked then lightly spray with olive oil and sear on the panini press to get beef arayes, I then accidentally left my next pita in the oven and guess what? It got poofy and pocketed on it’s own like a real wheat pita :)) now I’m off to open my gfcf mediterranean restaurant hahaha
That is one amazing recipe, next im making zaatar manakeesh which it another arab pastry with thyme and olive oil and it happens to be my son’s favourite 🙂
I will be preparing dry mixes of this recipe on the weekend and just add the wet ing whenever I run out :))
Thanks again and again
One very happy mom and kiddo!
I made these using the ground flax instead of the physilium and they turned out great. They didn’t pocket though – I think if they don’t pocket it’s likely they were rolled too thin…
I follow a whole food plant based diet with no added oils. Has anyone tried this without the oil or know what I can sub for it?
I’m wondering the same thing. My dad is on a no oil diet and I’m always keeping an eye out for recipes for him. I was excited when I saw this until I realized that I’d accidentally skimmed over the 2 tbsp of oil : /
You can always try but I don’t create oil free recipes so I am not 100% sure if it will work. Good luck!
I make this now for my 9year old. I freeze several and when he wants pizza for a school lunch, I toss one in the toaster, put on sauce, then melt goat mozzarella on it. Thank you for the pita recipe.
That is awesome to hear and I love the idea of using it as a pizza crust base!
You are an inspiration. Even though I’m not quite gluten free or vegan yet – but have a daughter and granddaughter that is gluten free, I really enjoy making a lot of your recipes. In your pita recipe you call for 2 Tbsp. psyllium husk powder. I have psyllium husk that is not in powder form. Do I use the same amount called for in the recipe (2T.) or a different amount? Also, what can I substitute for the potato starch in the recipe? Or, in a pinch can I double the arrowroot powder? Last but not least, can I substitute guar gum for the xanthan gum in your recipe.
first attempt — very light dough, but it didn’t “pocket” like I hoped it would. any suggestions about what I may have done wrong?
It won’t pocket as much as gluten-filled pitas will but try it again. Next time, roll the dough a little thinner possibly? And don’t open the oven door during the baking time (not saying that you did–ha!) Let me know what happens… xo
woah these look awesome!!
Gluten-Free Pita bread?! That’s awesome! I made some ‘pita’ flatbread for my pizza last week and used vegan beer in the recipe. These pita bread you made are gorgeous!
Oh I LOVE the idea of using beer in bread recipes! Do you have that on your site?
Wow, these look delicious! I might have thought that trying to make GF vegan pita pockets would be really involved work, but you make it look so easy; I’ll definitely be giving these a go!
OH MY GOSH I made these pita pockets this afternoon (I was so excited to try them out that I just had to start at once) and they’re AMAZING! Thank you so much for sharing!
Yup, pretty much the greatest thing a girl can hear! So happy you love them 🙂
They are seriously simple and I am so glad that you can see that from the description. Much love! xo
Well when I was at Costco the other day I just went ahead and bought greek pita bread, a case of individual hummus tubs and a case of veggie and grain quinoa salad and have been eating this along with my green drink, cheese and leafs. I am a vegetarian. and a wanna be vegan. I definitely would try to make these for me and my husband, So if you cleaned your grill (super clean) stretched one of those doughs out to a circle-ish size you can bbq it and make a pizza off the bbq. It use to be my job at a restaurant to make hamburger buns and breads. Well have a great day…Make a herbal recipe your choice…
That is brilliant!! I am totally going to try that BBQ technique and let you know how it turns out. Thank you for that 🙂 xoxo!
You’re a madwoman. I love it!
I’M CRAZY!!!!!!!!
Gimmie that pita!!! Looks SO good, thanks for sharing early:)
…stuffing your face with pita….
How in the world do you think of these things. I tip my hat to you. I’ll be making this soon.
You don’t ever want to enter my brain. Trust. xo!
Haha, I’m not very good at surprises either, which is why birthdays and Christmas are the worst. Anyway, this pita bread looks delicious! I was actually looking for this at the store the other day, but you’ve inspired me to try, and make it myself.
It’s just too much to contain all the love and excitement, right?! ha
Mmmm golden child, get in my belly!
hehehehe. You so sills.
ummmm fresh pita & falafel?? yes, please! hope that was a hint of what’s to come 😉
As always, these look super delicious, Cara! I think they’d be perfect for a variety of meals, and especially summertime picnics full of fresh crunchy veggies! mmmm…
Get out of my head, lady!
This is so great! I really miss pita bread. It looks fabulous. Thanks so much for sharing! Take care.
I’m telling you Ashley, this stuff is delicious! You won’t have to miss it anymore…