Roasted Garlic Butter Pita
One clove of soft, sweet roasted garlic mashed into a little unsalted butter, spread on a Lebanese-style pita and toasted until the edges are golden. A side for shawarma, soup or anything with a sauce to scoop up.
Method
Roast the garlic
- Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Slice about 1 cm off the top of a whole head of garlic (about 50 g) so the cloves show. Drizzle with 2.5 mL (1/2 tsp) olive oil and wrap it in foil.
- Roast about 40 minutes, until the cloves are soft and golden. Let it cool 10 minutes, then squeeze out the cloves.
One head gives about 10 cloves, so you'll have plenty left over. See below for storing them. Already have roasted garlic? Skip to step 2.
Make the garlic butter
- Mash 1 roasted clove with a fork in a small bowl until it's a smooth paste. Add the 10 g butter and mash together until even.
The butter needs to be soft. Leave it out 30 minutes, or microwave it 5 seconds. Cold butter tears the pita when you spread it.
Cut and spread
- Cut the pita into 8 triangles with a pizza cutter or sharp knife. Lay them on a bare baking sheet with a little space between each.
- Spread the garlic butter in a thin, even layer over the top of each triangle, right to the edges.
Using pita triangles from the freezer? They thaw in about 5 minutes on the counter, then spread and bake as usual.
Toast
- Bake on the middle rack at 400°F (200°C) for 5 minutes, until the edges are golden and the butter has soaked in. Lebanese pita is thin, so start checking at 4 minutes. Leave them 2 minutes more if you want them crunchy like chips.
No oven on? Use a dry non-stick skillet over medium heat. Toast the triangles butter side up for 2 minutes until the bottoms are crisp, then flip for 30 seconds. The garlic burns fast, so don't leave it longer.
Serve
- Sprinkle with a pinch of flaky salt if you like, and serve warm.
Good to know
- The pita. My favourite is Cedar Bakery's Lebanese-style pita. The ingredients are just flour, water, yeast, salt and a preservative, with no added sugar or oil. A white pita (about 65 g) has about 0.5 g fat and 1.5 g sugar, all from the flour. The whole wheat one has the same calories with 7 g protein and 5 g fibre, so it's the better pick if you have it. Labels change, so check yours.
- Cut before baking. Toasted pita cracks and crumbles when you cut it. Cutting first gives clean triangles, and every edge crisps up.
- Unsalted butter, and the salt is optional. The pita already has about 400 mg sodium, so most people won't miss it. A pinch of flaky salt on top just makes the garlic taste a little fuller. If you only have salted butter, use the same 10 g and skip the flaky salt.
- Most of the fat is the butter. For a lighter version, use 7 g (1 1/2 tsp) per pita.
Storing and reheating
Pita: Cedar Bakery's pitas come 5 to a pack. I cut the ones I won't use right away into triangles and freeze them in a freezer bag, so none go to waste. Take out just what you need, and toast it fresh.
Roasted garlic: keep the squeezed-out cloves covered in the fridge for up to 4 days, or freeze them on a tray and bag them for up to 3 months. Garlic butter keeps in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Macros
| Per | kcal | Protein | Fat | Carbs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 white pita | 242 | 5.6 g | 8.8 g | 34 g |
| 1 whole wheat pita | 240 | 7.4 g | 9.8 g | 32 g |
Estimates based on typical Canadian label values. Yours will vary with the brands you use. Pita values are from Cedar Bakery's Lebanese-style pita labels. Includes the clove's share of the roasting oil.
Notes from readers
Tips, questions and suggested edits. I read every one before it appears here.
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Roasted Garlic Butter Pita
50 min
Get everything out
Tick things off as you set them out. Every step will show the amounts it needs, at this size.
Garlic butter
To toast
Step 1 of 5
Roast the garlic
Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Slice about 1 cm off the top of a whole head of garlic (about 50 g) so the cloves show. Drizzle with 2.5 mL (1/2 tsp) olive oil and wrap it in foil.
Roast about 40 minutes, until the cloves are soft and golden. Let it cool 10 minutes, then squeeze out the cloves.
One head gives about 10 cloves, so you'll have plenty left over. See below for storing them. Already have roasted garlic? Skip to step 2.
Step 2 of 5
Make the garlic butter
Mash 1 roasted clove with a fork in a small bowl until it's a smooth paste. Add the 10 g butter and mash together until even.
The butter needs to be soft. Leave it out 30 minutes, or microwave it 5 seconds. Cold butter tears the pita when you spread it.
Step 3 of 5
Cut and spread
Cut the pita into 8 triangles with a pizza cutter or sharp knife. Lay them on a bare baking sheet with a little space between each.
Spread the garlic butter in a thin, even layer over the top of each triangle, right to the edges.
Using pita triangles from the freezer? They thaw in about 5 minutes on the counter, then spread and bake as usual.
Step 4 of 5
Toast
Bake on the middle rack at 400°F (200°C) for 5 minutes, until the edges are golden and the butter has soaked in. Lebanese pita is thin, so start checking at 4 minutes. Leave them 2 minutes more if you want them crunchy like chips.
No oven on? Use a dry non-stick skillet over medium heat. Toast the triangles butter side up for 2 minutes until the bottoms are crisp, then flip for 30 seconds. The garlic burns fast, so don't leave it longer.
Step 5 of 5
Serve
Sprinkle with a pinch of flaky salt if you like, and serve warm.
That's it. Enjoy!
Made it? I'd love to hear how it went. You can leave a note at the bottom of the recipe.
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