Crispy fried pita bread is one of the best things ever. No matter if you have it as a snack on its own or as part of delicious Middle Eastern dishes, fried pita is a star. It’s simple to make and a great way to repurpose any old pita bread. With a few simple seasonings, you have the most delicious crunchy chips on hand.
If you are wondering if they are really that good, let me assure you. I’d rather have crunchy pita chips than most potato chips. And you can use them for dishes like hummus fatteh or harak osbao, which are game changers!
Ingredients for making Crispy Fried Pita Bread:
- Pita bread
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Optional:
- Za’atar
- Smoked paprika
- Garlic powder
As you can see, the ingredient list is short for this one. Regarding pita bread, I like using Lebanese pita, which is nice and thin. These turn into delicious crispy chips, which work perfectly for dishes like hummus fatteh or harak osbao.
For frying, I like to crisp them up using olive oil, which gives them a delicious flavour. To not damage the oil, I fry them at a lower temperature.
When having these pitas as chips to snack on, adding a few spices can bring them to the next level. Garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt, or delicious homemade za’atar make fantastic additions! But feel free to try any spices you like.
How to Fry Pita Bread:
Frying the pita bread is super simple. Tear or cut the pita into pieces of your desired size. I choose the shape depending on what I want to use the pita bread for. I like to go for bigger pieces when having them as a snack or when making fattoush, but I like to keep them on the smaller side when making harak osbao or hummus fatteh.
Next, let’s get cooking: Add olive oil to your pan and heat to low-medium heat. You will want to keep it below its smoke point. Overheating the olive oil is unhealthy and will bring out undesirable flavours.
Add the pita bread in batches, giving it enough space in the pan so they don’t overlap. Keep a close eye on them, and fry them until turning nicely golden from both sides, kitchen tongs are helpful for this process. Once crisped up, remove them from the pan and let them rest on a paper towel to absorb any excess oil. You might need to add fresh oil between the batches. You can now salt and season the fired pita bread if you want.
Baking Pita Bread:
If you don’t want to fry the pita bread, you can also make them nice and crispy in the oven. Baking them will keep the oil on the lower side, making the dish less heavy on calories. The process of baking them is even quicker and easier than frying them as well. Still, the fried pita bread will miss some of the delicious olive oil flavours they will get from frying.
I usually go for baked pita bread when making dishes such as hummus fatteh, especially when I want a quick and light breakfast. It tastes perfect this way!
To bake the pita bread, I like to evenly brush the pita bread with a bit of olive oil before baking the pita bread in a preheated oven at 130° Celsius (266° Fahrenheit).
The time for it to crisp up depends on the thickness of the pita bread you are using. Keep a close eye on them!
How to Enjoy this Bread:
Some of my favourite middle eastern dishes feature this crispy fried pita bread. You can have them as a deliciously crouton-like addition to fattoush, a classic delicious Middle Eastern salad. Also, fatteh dishes for breakfast are sure to give you an amazing start to your day. The pita bread brings such a satisfying texture! I like to add them even to falafel wraps for a nice contrast. Last, but not least, it makes an amazing topping to harak osbao.
If snaking them as delicious crispy chips, nothing beats having them with some dips. Muhammara, hummus, baba ganoush or a fava bean spread won’t disappoint!
I hope you enjoy your crispy pita chips! Let me know what you think in the comments!
Other Recipes you might Enjoy:
- Try Egyptian ful medames for breakfast!
- Vegan stuffed dates are a satisfying snack!
- Spicy orange mint tea is so refreshing.
- Falafel is a fantastic snack on its own as well.
- Parsnip chips make a delicious snack.
- Musabaha is another fantastic breakfast dish.
Crispy Fried Pita Bread
Crispy fried pita bread is just all-around amazing. You can snack it as perfect chips, or have it as part of various Middle Eastern dishes. Either way, fried pita bread is delicious!
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
4 pitas
100ml olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
Optional ingredients: 1 tsp za’atar, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, 1/2 tsp garlic powder
Instructions
Tear or cut the pita into pieces of your desired size.
Add olive oil to your pan, and heat to low-medium heat. Be careful to keep the heat below the smoke-point of the oil.
Add the pita bread in batches, giving it enough space in the pan to not overlap. Keep a good eye on them, and fry them until turning nicely golden from both sides. Once having crisped up, take them out of the pan and let them rest on a paper towel to absorb any excess oil.
Season the chips, if you choose to do so.
Notes
If you want to keep the calories on the lower side, you can bake the pita bread as well. I like to evenly brush the pita bread with a bit of olive oil, before baking the pita bread in a preheated oven at 130° Celsius (266° Fahrenheit). The time for it to crisp depends on the thickness of the pita bread you are using. Keep a close eye on them!
For this recipe, I like to use thin Lebanese pita. They crisp up super nicely.
You can use these delicious pita chips for dishes such as harak osbao, fattoush or hummus fatteh. Otherwise, I love to just snack them with some muhammara, hummus or baba ganoush!
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 20
- Category: Side, Snack
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
- Diet: Vegan