Turkish Pide Bread Recipe: How To Make Turkiye’s Famous Flatbread

This Turkish pide bread recipe shows you how to make this traditional flatbread recipe straight from Turkiye.

When it comes to food in Turkiye, bread is king. From doughy loaves to spicy flatbreads, bread is a staple in Turkish cuisine. Bakeries line each neighborhood offering locals fresh access each and every day.

Turkish bread, particularly “pide” or “ekmek” is a favorite. This delicious loaf is known for its delicious taste and versatility in Turkish cuisine. Pide serves as a vessel for dishes such as kofta kebabs, mezes, and breakfast spreads. Its ability to complement and work with a range of flavors makes it a popular dish throughout the country.

This Turkish pide bread recipe will show you how to create an authentic and delicious pide bread that any Turk might think came straight from the streets of Istanbul.

What Is Turkish Pide Bread?

As you tear into pide, a gentle aroma of freshly baked bread wafts through the air, teasing your senses and igniting your appetite. This delightful flatbread balances a nutty sweetness with a subtle tanginess that has brought it to nearly every table in Turkiye.

Apart from its wonderful flavor, what sets pide apart from other Turkish bread is its versatility. It’s a bread that can be enjoyed plain, with a rich bowl of soup, or as a foundation for a heavily-seasoned kebab. The crust has a delightful crispiness, but unveils a pillow-soft inside that effortlessly accompanies a range of dishes.

This Turkish pide recipe not only pulls together all of the best aspects of this mouthwatering Turkish flatbread, but it invites a plethora of ideas to make this unassuming side dish into the core of a proper Turkish meal.

Turkish Pide Ingredients

To make the perfect Turkish flatbread recipe, you need just the right ingredients. But don’t stress about exotic twists, everything you need to make Turkish pide can be found in most kitchens.

To make this pide recipe you’ll just need a few simple things:

• Milk – Turkish flatbread, unlike many bread recipes, uses warm milk. It’s this unique ingredient that makes the bread so fluffy and delicious. Either 2% milk or whole milk can be used depending on how flavorful you like the results.
• Instant Dry Yeast – Using yeast with this Turkish pide recipe is easy. You don’t need to bloom the yeast ahead of time, you just add it to the ingredients while making it. If you decide to substitute instant dry yeast with active dry yeast, however, you will need to bloom it in advance. Use warm water with sugar and then follow the recipe as described.
• Egg – This pide recipe uses egg whites and egg yolk separately. The white is used for the bread dough while the yolks are used for the glaze.
• All-Purpose Flour – The basis of most bread recipes, all-purpose flour is a key ingredient in Turkish pide bread. This recipe calls for about 4 1/2 cups of flour, but the ultimate amount depends upon the cooking situation.
• Yogurt – Yogurt is one of the secrets of making pide bread look as good as it tastes. Mixing it with the egg yolk adds a brighter finish to the final product.

Along with these key ingredients you’ll also need water, olive oil, sugar, and salt. These all come together during the recipe process to create one of the most delicious Turkish flatbreads around.

How To Make Turkish Pide Bread

Making Turkish pide bread is a pretty straightforward process. If you’ve made bread before, you’ll find that Turkish flatbread follows the same basic principles of most bread, although there are a few twists and turns along the way that help to give it its own unique look and taste. Here are the basic steps:

Pide Dough

The first step to making Turkish pide bread is to make the dough. To do this you’ll need a large bowl, a whisk, and your pide bread ingredients.

Whisk the milk, water, olive oil, sugar, and salt along with your instant dry yeast (don’t forget to bloom it if you choose to use active yeast instead), and your egg whites. Add the flour one cup at a time and mix it well until the dough achieves your desired consistency. Once you’ve got the dough just how you like it, cover it with a cloth and let it sit for 30 minutes.

Shaping The Pide

Authentic Turkish pide bread has a very unique style. To get it just right, sprinkle your workspace with flour, transfer your dough, and shape it into a ball. Ensure that the dough is lightly coated with flour on all sides.

Once your dough is shaped and coated, cut it into eight equal pieces (based on the recipe listed). Place your dough balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover them, and allow them to rise for 20 minutes.

Baking Your Pide Bread

Heat your oven to 400ºF. As the oven heats top your bread with sesame seeds and create the signature indentations that make pide so identifiable. I usually do this with a dowel or knife. Add a baking dish filled with two cups of water to the lower rack and place your baking sheet on the middle rack.

Bake the pide bread for 15-18 minutes until the top has a crisp golden finish. Once it’s ready, remove it from the oven and cover with a damp paper towel. This will help the steam stay trapped, which allows your bread to stay extra fluffy and soft on the inside while remaining crisp and fresh on the outside.

Turkish Pide Bread Recipe

Turkish Pide Bread Recipe

Yield: 8 loaves

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Additional Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

This authentic Turkish flatbread is a no-knead recipe that results in a crisp, fluffy, and delicious bread that's also easy to make. Turkish pide bread is among the most popular dishes in Turkiye, and it'll be a favorite in your kitchen as well.

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Ingredients

• 1 cup warm milk
• 1 cup warm water
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp granulated white sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 1/4 tsp instant dry yeast
• 1 large egg (white and yolk seperated)
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Pide Bread Glaze

• Egg yolk
• 1 tbsp plain yogurt
• 1 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds

Instructions

1. In a large bowl combine the warm milk, warm water, olive oil, sugar, salt, instant dry yeast, and egg white. Combine using a mixer or by hand.
2. Add flour to the mixing bowl 1/2 cup at a time until the dough comes together in the desired consistency.
3. Once the dough is mixed, cover it with a dry cloth and let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. This will allow the dough to rise.
4. Prepare a clean workspace and coat the surface with all-purpose flour. transfer the dough to the working surface and shape it into a ball.
5. Cut the dough ball into eight equal pieces.
6. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the dough balls on the baking sheet. Do not crowd the baking sheet. Cook the bread in batches if necessary.
7. Loosely cover the dough with a dry cloth and allow them to rise for an additional 20 minutes.
8. Preheat the oven to 400ºF with racks in the middle and bottom. Place an empty baking dish on the lower rack.
9. While the dough rises mix the egg yolk, yogurt, and water in a small bowl to create your pide glaze. Once combined, brush the dough thoroughly to coat. Use your fingers to reach any areas that might be difficult with the brush.
10. Using a dowel or your fingers, make indentations one inch from the edge of the dough to form a circle. Create a criss-cross diamond pattern across the dough to achieve the traditional pide bread look.
11. Cover the bread with plastic wrap and allow to stand for 10 minutes. Repeat the process for any additional dough.
12. When the oven has reached its cooking temperature, uncover the dough and ensure your indentations are how you would like them.
13. Sprinkle the top of the fresh dough with sesame seeds and place in the middle rack of the oven.
14. Fill the baking dish situated on the bottom rack with two cups of water and close the oven. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the top of the pide bread achieves a crisp, golden look.
15. Once cooked, remove the loaf from the oven and cover with a damp paper towel. This will trap the steam and ensure that your bread remains crisp on the outside and fluffy in the middle.

Notes

Pide bread is best eaten shortly after baking. But if you want to reheat it, sprinkle the bread with a little water and heat it in the oven at 250ºF for 5 to 10 minutes.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 1 Serving Size: 1 loaf
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 350Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 25mgSodium: 171mgFiber: 2gSugar: 2g