Pita Bread substitute

Best substitute

Naan

1 naan replaces 1 pita

Best for gyros

Different texture

First work out which pita your recipe means, because there are two. If it needs to hold a filling, you want a pocket, and the best swaps are naan or any flatbread split and folded, a flour tortilla warmed until pliable, or a folded lavash - none has a true pocket, so you are wrapping instead of stuffing. If it is a Greek gyro or souvlaki pita, the recipe means the thicker pocketless kind, and a warm flour tortilla, naan or even a split ciabatta roll all work well. For dips, any flatbread or good crusty bread torn into pieces does the job.

Other pita bread substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Flour Tortillas
Taste and texture differ
1 large tortilla replaces 1 pita
The most available flatbread there is, and better than its reputation once it has been warmed properly.
What changes
Best for
gyros, wraps, souvlaki, quick lunches, scooping dips
Warm them in a dry pan for 20 to 30 seconds a side; straight from the bag they are papery and crack. Tortillas are thinner and much plainer than pita, with none of its yeasty chew, so the bread recedes into the background rather than being part of the eating. Excellent for wraps, weak for anything where the bread is meant to be substantial.
3Lavash or Other Thin Flatbread
Different texture
1 sheet, cut in half, replaces 1 pita
Soft thin Armenian-style flatbread, pliable when fresh and closer than tortillas in flavour.
What changes
Best for
wraps, gyros, shawarma-style sandwiches, dips
Genuinely good for rolled sandwiches and useless as a pocket, since it is a single thin sheet. It tastes yeastier and more like real bread than a tortilla. If it has dried out and gone brittle, sprinkle it lightly with water and warm it for a minute - that brings it back.
4Homemade Pita
Close match
Use the same amount
A simple flour, water, yeast, salt and oil dough that puffs into real pockets in about two hours, most of it waiting.
What changes
Best for
gyros, stuffed sandwiches, dips, falafel, when nothing else will do
Worth knowing because the pocket is the one thing no substitute gives you. Roll the portions to a bare quarter inch and bake them on a preheated stone or steel at 500F for three to four minutes. The heat is the whole trick: too cool an oven and you get a flat disc rather than a balloon, which is still perfectly good bread, just not a pocket.
5Sliced Sandwich Bread or a Split Roll
Taste and texture differ
2 slices of bread or 1 roll replaces 1 pita
The pantry answer, using whatever loaf is on the counter.
What changes
Best for
gyros, sandwiches, meatball fillings, family meals
A split ciabatta or crusty roll actually works well for a gyro, because it soaks up tzatziki and meat juices the way pita does. Ordinary soft sliced bread is the weakest option - it goes soggy fast and the sandwich falls apart. Toasting it lightly first helps a great deal.
6Pizza Dough, Rolled Thin and Griddled
Close match
About 3 oz of dough replaces 1 pita
Shop-bought pizza dough treated as flatbread dough, which is essentially what it is.
What changes
Best for
gyros, flatbread wraps, dips, grilling
Roll it thin, cook it in a dry hot skillet or on a grill for two minutes a side, and you have a very respectable pocketless pita in ten minutes. It will be chewier and more bread-like than pita and will not form a pocket in a pan, only in a very hot oven. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with oregano and it tastes convincingly Greek.

What is Pita Bread?

Pita Bread is Pita is a soft round flatbread from the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East, baked so fast and hot that the steam inside puffs it up, which is what leaves the hollow pocket in the middle once it cools.

Cooking tips

Pocket or pocketless is the entire question, and most sources skip it. Middle Eastern pita is thin and puffs into a hollow pocket for stuffing with falafel or shawarma. Greek pita, the kind used for gyros and souvlaki, is thicker, softer, often brushed with oil, and has no pocket at all - it is meant to be folded. Choose your substitute for the one your recipe means, not for the word pita.
Always warm the bread, whatever you use. Thirty seconds a side in a dry skillet, or a few seconds directly over a gas flame, turns a stiff flatbread pliable and brings out its smell. Cold flatbread cracks along the fold and this is the most common reason a homemade gyro falls apart in your hands.
Brush a substitute with olive oil and dust it with dried oregano before warming it if you are making Greek food. That is exactly how a gyro shop treats its pita, and it does more to make a tortilla or naan taste right in the dish than any change of bread would.
For dips, cut flatbread into wedges, brush with oil, and bake at 375F for 8 to 10 minutes to make crisp chips. This works with pita, naan, lavash or tortillas equally well, so a missing pita is barely an inconvenience when you are serving hummus or tzatziki.
If your homemade pita will not puff, the oven is not hot enough or the dough is rolled too thick. You need a fully preheated stone or heavy tray at 475F to 500F and a dough no thicker than a quarter inch, so that the water inside flashes to steam before the surface sets. A pita that stays flat still tastes good - it just becomes the Greek style rather than the pocket style.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best substitute for pita bread?

Naan for most purposes - it is soft, sturdy, widely available and closest in eating quality, especially for Greek-style gyros and souvlaki, which use pocketless pita anyway. Warm flour tortillas are the best emergency option, and lavash is excellent for rolled sandwiches. None of them gives you a true pocket.

Is there any substitute that has a pocket?

Not really, and this is the honest limitation. The pocket is created by steam in a very hot oven and no other bread reproduces it. If you must have a pocket, either bake pita yourself, which takes about two hours mostly unattended, or change how you build the food - fold the bread around the filling and eat it as a wrap instead.

Can I use pita bread for a Greek gyro, or do I need something different?

Greek gyro pita is a distinct bread: thicker, softer, oiled and without a pocket. Ordinary pocket pita works but tends to tear and does not hold sauce as well. Naan, a griddled round of pizza dough, or a thick flour tortilla all come closer to authentic gyro pita than a supermarket pocket pita does.

Can I leave the bread out?

Yes, and it is a common way to eat this food. Serve the gyro meat, salad, onion and tzatziki over rice or as a plate salad and nothing is missing except the wrapper. For dips, cucumber sticks, carrots and peppers replace pita chips perfectly well. Where you cannot skip it is a stuffed sandwich like falafel, where the bread is the container.

How do I stop pita bread from cracking when I fold it?

Warm it first and do not fold it cold. A few seconds in a dry pan, wrapped in a damp towel in a low oven, or briefly in the microwave under a damp paper towel makes it flexible. Stale flatbread cracks no matter what, so sprinkle it with a little water before warming to rehydrate the crumb.

Related substitutes

More grains & starches substitutes

Pita Bread substitute

Other pita bread substitutes

2Flour Tortillas

3Lavash or Other Thin Flatbread

4Homemade Pita

5Sliced Sandwich Bread or a Split Roll

6Pizza Dough, Rolled Thin and Griddled