Sweet Potato Pita Bread – This sweet potato pita bread is the perfect base for an easy lunch filled with egg salad. You can also pan fry them to keep them pocket-less and use them as flatbread for dipping or as individual pizza bases.
I'm definitely a bread fan, how about you? I try to limit myself because I'm not too picky about it either. I love Avocado Toast, toast with sliced tomato or peanut butter, Brioche Buns, Garlic Bread + Pull Apart Cheesy Garlic Bread, Tea Biscuits, Focaccia, and the list goes on...
I've gone on about bread before, so I'll save it this time, but try these sweet potato pita breads because they are just really good.
Some things to do with pita breads:
- Stuff them with egg salad
- Fill them with your favorite salad for a tasty vegetarian lunch
- Spread Tzatziki Sauce inside, add some Greek spiced meat or vegetables and some lettuce and serve with salad or lemon potatoes for a Greek themed dinner
- Pan Fry them instead of baking so they are a thicker flatbread and then use them for individual pizza bases, or just slice them in wedges and dip them in olive oil and balsamic vinegar for an easy appetizer
These breads are pretty easy to make, they just require one ingredient that is a little different than most simple bread recipes -- sweet potatoes.
Sweet potatoes are good for you - they are packed with vitamins and minerals and fiber. Plus they taste good too.
I always boil a few sweet potatoes at a time. They only take about 8-10 minutes to boil once you peel and chop them into chunks. I use them for other things too though, like my homemade sweet potato puppy cookies. I made some rosemary sweet potato rolls a while back too that I should remake to post here - they were amazing.
How to Make Sweet Potato Pita Bread
This recipe starts with boiling sweet potatoes. They come in all different sizes but I'd say a large one would be good for this recipe as you need ¾ cups mashed. Peel, cut into chunks and boil the sweet potato for 8-10 minutes, or until fork tender. Let them cool and then mash them.
Mix the sweet potato with the yogurt until really smooth - I like a whisk for this. Add the oil and salt as well and mix.
In another bowl, mix together the warm water, yeast and sugar or honey and let sit for about ten minutes until it's foamy.
Add this to the sweet potato and mix and then add the flour. I like to mix this first with a spatula and then once it's together I use my hands to lightly knead it a little into a ball. It'll be sticky. Don't over mix or it'll just keep sticking to you. If it's too sticky add a little flour. Shape it into a ball and then set it in a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Let it rise in a warm place for an hour or two.
Once the dough has risen, punch it down and divide it into six equal pieces. Use a little flour and roll the dough into about 7 inch wide rounds.
At this point you can decide how to cook them based on what you want your final product to be.
If you want thicker flatbread type pieces cook them for about 4-5 minutes per side in a dry frying pan (I use cast iron and it takes a minute or two less than when I used a non stick pan)
For pita bread (with pockets) bake these in a hot oven. I heat mine to 400°F. They take about 10 minutes on a pizza stone and a few minutes longer than that on a cookie sheet.
Recipe
Sweet Potato Pita Bread
Ingredients
- ¾ cups sweet potato boiled and mashed
- ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup warm water
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast
- ½ teaspoon sugar or honey
- 2 ½ cup all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Peel the sweet potato, cut into chunks, boil and then mash it. Once it cools, measure out ¾ cups into a large mixing bowl.
- Add in Greek yogurt, the oil and salt. Whisk together.
- In a small bowl, mix together the warm water, the yeast and sugar or honey.
- Add the yeast mixture to the sweet potato and mix together.
- Then add the flour and start mixing with a spatula, until it's too hard to do so, and then use your hands.
- The dough will be sticky, but shouldn't be impossible to work with.
- Set the dough back in the large mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place.
- Punch the dough down and use a rolling pin to roll out about six 7-inch rounds. Use flour lightly to roll out the breads.
- If you want the breads more of a thick flatbread/pizza crust style dough, then pan fry each one for about 5 minutes on one side and then 3 minutes on the other. Or 4 minutes and then 2 for a cast iron pan.
- If you want them with pockets inside like pita bread, then bake them in a hot oven at 400°F (200℃) for about 10 minutes. I bake mine directly on a pizza stone. You might need a few minutes longer without a pizza stone and directly on a cookie sheet. They will noticeably puff out.
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Seema says
Hi, do you think canned sweet potato purée would work for this?
Thanks!
pipercooks says
Hi Seema,
Yes, I do think that would work here. Please let me know if you try it!
Jacqueline
Seema says
What should the final dough resemble before I let it rise? I’m just afraid the canned sweet potatoes will have a higher water content and want to make sure I don’t mess up by not adding a bit more flour to compensate. Is it kind of a cookie dough consistency? Bread dough? Thanks again!! I’ll be making it this week and would love to come back and let you know how it goes.
pipercooks says
This dough is a thick and sticky dough - similar to bread dough but a bit softer and stickier. I wondered about the water content in the canned puree also, but I think that even if you do add a bit of extra flour that it should still turn out as a soft dough.
You could maybe use less water to proof the yeast to compensate? Either way, add any extra flour only a little at a time - like a tablespoon at a time, until you have a dough that's not as soft as cookie dough but a litter wetter, softer and stickier than a bread or pizza dough.
I hope that helps and I hope it turns out well for you! I will make a note to test this and add it to the recipe card and add some more description of the dough. Thanks for your comment!
Jacqueline