The ultimate frugal staple: Quick flat bread
Posted on by Forest in Recipes & Food
Flat breads are pretty easy and my simple flatbread recipe with no yeast has become a quick staple that i can throw together whenever needed.
Although I would not recommend it, you can live for quite a while on just bread and water alone (although, you may result looking like the skinny pirate from Pirates of the Caribbean). I think this fact qualifies bread as important and, for some people, an essential staple.
Bread, however, is pretty darn expensive at my local stores. Thus during my journey to save money and be more frugal, I decided that it was important to learn the art of bread making.
Over the years I have tried many yeast based recipes and often had trouble getting a decent taste. Plus, the long rising process was always frustrating…. Like all great things, this extremely quick, frugal and easy recipe was spawned from a conversation whilst drunk.
Speaking with a Mexican lady I asked, “How do you make tortilla’s?”(I know this was somewhat racist and assuming of me!!). She answered that it was simply flour and water. So I started there, slowly refined the dough and ended up with a perfect recipe- ideal for wraps and pizza. Enough rambling. Now onto the recipe:
Simple flat bread with no yeast
By Forest Parks
Published:
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Yield: 5 medium Serving size: Dinner plate sized, medium thick
Equipment:
1 Large bowl
1 pair of hands
1 fork
1 rolling pin or something similar.
1 Shallow frying pan
(easy hey!)
Ingredients:Creates around 5 medium-thickness flat breads
1 cup white flour
1 cup wholewheat flour
A little flour for rolling surfaces 1/4 cup oil (I use olive or canola)
1 tablespoon Baking Powder
1 cup luke warm water
1 teaspoon sugar (I use unrefined brown sugar)
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
Dough Preparation:
- Mix the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and a teaspoon of oil in bowl.
- Slowly add the water and mix with a fork, until the mixture starts to form a moist, but not too sticky dough.
- Lightly flour a flat, clean surface and put the dough out onto it.
- Kneed the dough for a couple of minutes until it creates a nice firm ball.
That’s the dough…. It can be used almost instantly or stored for a couple of days in the fridge, no problem. Or freeze it to use for weeks later. Cooking:For thin flat breads (Tortilla style).
- Lightly brush a flat pan with oil and put on high heat.
- Grab a golf ball size lump of dough and warm it up in your hands.
- Press the ball into a floured surface and then start to roll (I use an old glass snapple bottle) all around from the center-out.
- Roll as thin as you can.
- Place the dough into the hot pain and very lightly brush the top with oil
- Cook for about a minute and then flip, cook for a further minute (may need a little longer on each side).
Pita style:
- Follow the thin bread recipe, but grab a little more dough and remember, do not roll out too thin.
Small Pizza:
- lightly flour your hands
- Grab a lump of dough a little smaller than a tennis ball
- Squash that dough with your hands into a flat disc.
- Using your hands work the dough thinner until you have the desired thickness for your pizza (You can roll if hands do not work for you)
- Top with sauce, cheese and ingredients and cook at medium heat in the oven until ready.
Also this video for Wholemeal Curry Tortilla can help with the preparation techniques.
Let me know what you think and how this quick flat bread recipe works out for you.
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30 Responses to “The ultimate frugal staple: Quick flat bread”
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
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July 11, 2008
[...] breakfast dishes include a homemade yogurt and fresh berry smoothie or egg and spinach in a homemade bread wrap. At lunch I often have a spinach and cheese sandwich with dijon mustard and black russian bread. [...]
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August 21, 2008
[...] already posted about my quick flat bread, which is great by the way, but this loaf bread recipe is now pretty well refined and is replacing [...]
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September 17, 2008
[...] recipe is a little similar to my Quick Flat Bread recipe. If you are a bread lover, like me, I also suggest you check out my Wholemeal Raisin Bread recipe. [...]
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September 1, 2009
[...] Firstly I use my own pizza base recipe that can be found here: Quick Flat Bread. [...]
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January 1, 2011
[...] can quickly pan bake them. I have 2 posts showing you how to make flat breads (one with a video). Quick Flat Bread and Wholemeal Curry Tortilla. I use flat breads for lunch wraps, quick pizza, mexican dinners and [...]
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Dana
19. Jan, 2009
Thanks for this recipe. I’m just learning to make my own bread!
Danas last blog post..The Truth about ARMs
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Forest
20. Jan, 2009
Hey Dana, thanks.
I have a few other recipes on the site:
http://frugalzeitgeist.com/cheap-healthy-recipes-wholemeal-curry-tortillas/
http://frugalzeitgeist.com/cheap-healthy-recipes-wholemeal-raisin-bread/
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Forest
08. Feb, 2010
@Penilless Parenting, I wrote Pita Style as they are not really Pita’s, not sure what a lafa is but must look that up
… I fry them (very little oil) a little thicker and they tend to allow themselves to be split in the middle and you can stuff them….
I’ve never actually made Pita and I doubt I could get my oven up that high, it’s not very good…. I have a local bakers that makes a local style of Egyptian pita/flat bread in a fire oven and they are delicious, only about $0.50 for 4 very large ones too and they seem to be wholemeal.
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Kristin
25. Apr, 2010
OK, did I miss it? when you you add the rest of the 1/4 cup of oil?
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Forest
25. Apr, 2010
Hey sorry, I just say 1/4 cup just in case you need a bit more when frying up all the breads… Sometimes you use a little more.
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Penniless Parenting
08. Feb, 2010
You fry your pita? Then doesn’t it come out more like a lafa as opposed to a pita? I assume this is no pocket pita, because those need to be baked at 500 degrees farenheit.
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Bread Boxes
06. Jun, 2010
Bread is the best! great stuff ^^
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Forest
11. Jun, 2010
He he, I agree
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ashley
24. Jun, 2010
personally, i found it a little salty to be used for a pizza crust. with the toppings and sauce, it wasn’t really noticeable though. very easy recipe and it’s a great way of making cheap, quick bread with what you’ve got in the pantry (since not everyone always has yeast).
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Forest
11. Jul, 2010
Hey Ashley, I am glad you tried the recipe. I sometimes make bread with no salt these days, trying to cut down!
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Becca
26. Jan, 2011
I have to say, I’m a little late, but just found this recipe although it was posted months ago…. In literally 5 minutes I had the bread dough made and put some in the oven and some in the skillett to try a test batch… 5 minutes later I have perfect bread for the BBQ flat bread I’m making for supper…. It was to good and to quick not to reply with Kudos! I didn’t have wholewheat flour but self rising flour worked just as well for me! Thanks so much for recipe, it will surely be a staple in my household from now on!
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Forest
10. Feb, 2011
Hey Becca, not late these articles are supposed to last
. So glad you liked the simple recipe. Remember to experiment now and get your own perfect recipe.
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Moses
22. Feb, 2011
great little recipe!
just the sort of thing i was looking for. i’ve always wanted a low sodium recipe that i could use in a hurry for everything from eating with hummus to a quick ‘toast’ and jam for breakfast.
Nothing in the store ever satisfied my needs. A lot of them use vinegar to trick your taste bids into believing it’s salty. No what? It doesn’t work.
Your recipe will become a staple for me. And I intend to start using it for the family too. I like knowing everything that goes into it, especially for the kids.
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Forest
22. Feb, 2011
Thanks Moses, let me know how you get along with the recipe and if you make any changes.
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barb
30. Mar, 2011
i am going on a canoe trip up in the boundry waters this summer and i needed some tips on some flat bread that i can make on the campfire. i will try out this flat bread and maybe play around with it this weekend. i need to think of other ways to make some meals because i will be the cook, wish me luck. barb
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Forest
30. Mar, 2011
Hey Barb, I think it would work great in a pan on the fire but never tried.
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Cheryl
28. Apr, 2011
Can’t believe how simple this is, might try adding some herbs next time, used to mop up chicken curry yum!
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Forest
04. May, 2011
Thanks Cheryl, glad you liked the recipe. Did you try it again with herbs?
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lisa
06. Jul, 2011
Great recipe – I’ve been looking for something like this for a while now. For making the pita style, the comment says “grab a little more dough”. Does this mean add more than 2 cups total flour than given in the original recipe? If so, what sort of ratio do you use? I’m a bread newbie, so I haven’t honed the improvisational skills yet.
I’d like to try making these in the pan like you describe here – I’ve had good results with oven pitas, but it’s a lot of time with an oven at 500F, constantly opening and closing the door to complete a batch. I’m certain the pan method would cost less – not to mention your version doesn’t call for yeast, which would further drive down the cost.
Looking forward to perusing the rest of your blog – thanks for the info!
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lisa
06. Jul, 2011
Nevermind on the last comment – in the process of making the tortilla style, while rolling out and pondering on the recipe, I realized that I had asked a really STUPID question. I was making it more complicated than it is!
Tortilla style worked great! Thanks for the simple and versatile recipe!!
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Forest
11. Jul, 2011
Sorry for my slow reply Lisa! Easy wasn’t it….. After a few tries you get your own styles and ideas and it gets very fun.
Let me know if you have any more questions or discoveries while playing around.
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Rachel
12. Oct, 2011
I love this bread! I just made pita-pizzas for me and my girls for lunch, and it took practically no time. And so tasty too!
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Forest
13. Oct, 2011
Thanks Rachel, so glad you enjoy it
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Mark Valencia
27. Jan, 2012
Hey! Well done on this post. I like the minimilistic way the recipe and method about making flat bread is written – I’m giving it a go tonight using a neat little Indian roti flat pan and I expect it should work well.
I subscribed to your site; the “voice over” after entering my details was an interesting surprise… I had to quickly look over the back of my chair because (for an instant) I thought someone was behind me, lol.
Good stuff.
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Forest
28. Jan, 2012
Thanks, please let me know how it came out on that pan. Ha ha, sorry about the shock!
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