Sourdough Flatbread with Feta

Soft and fluffy Sourdough Flatbread with Feta hits the spot when you want the perfect flatbread to dip into anything from Hummus to Stew. Sourdough gives a lovely tang while the potato keeps these really soft and moist. Fill with feta for an extra cheesy treat or leave them as they are. An aromatic Za’atar-oil brushing makes them utterly irresistible.

Why You Want to Make This

Not sure about you, but I was always on the hunt for the perfect flatbread recipe and think I have finally found it. A bread that is easy to make, stays soft and fluffy, even the next day, has sourdough in it and tons of flavour. This really is the one.

The Inspiration came from Claire Saffitz, who made her version just with yeast and white flour. I’ve added sourdough and a bit of whole wheat flour to mine, for both flavour and nutrition.

Versatile

While I made mine specifically to go with the large Mezze Feast I have started to post bit by bit over the last few days (you will get the complete article soon), which meant filling with feta and brushing with Za’atar oil, you can use them for literally anything that requires a soft and fluffy flatbread.
Fill with different cheese or leave plain, add different herbs to the oil (rosemary and garlic would be lovely) or just brush with some garlic butter to finish.

Easy

Most of the work is done by the stand mixer and the sourdough. You could even make them virtually no-knead, by just leaving them over night, to let only the sourdough develop the gluten.
Or knead yourself by hand, if you don’t have a stand mixer.
Basically it’s mashing a boiled potato, mixing the wet with the dry ingredients, kneading (or waiting) and rolling them out to quickly pan fry.

The Ingredients

Potato

This sets these Sourdough Flatbread with Feta apart from other flatbreads you might have tried. It adds moisture and softness to the dough, you don’t get from just flour and water alone and makes them quite unique.

Don’t throw out the starchy cooking water, since we will use it as liquid for the dough, helping the yeast to rise and the dough to stay lovely and soft.

Sourdough

I realise some are intimidated by sourdough, but it’s really just water, flour and time that makes it. Top up with more water and flour every few days, and you always have the base for all kinds of breads and even sweet treats on hand.
Here is a guide on how to start your own.

Flour

You can use plain white flour if you like or bread flour, both will come out fine. I had bread flour on hand and more than plain for that matter, so that’s what I used. I replaced some of the white with whole wheat flour, for nutty flavour and nutrition.

I wouldn’t raise the whole wheat content much further than this, as you might get very firm instead of soft and fluffy flatbreads.

Yeast

If you leave the dough to ferment overnight, you can skip the yeast. Since I wanted them on the same day and give a bit of extra rise, I included just a tiny bit, which helped with the extra fluffy texture.

Salt

I’m using kosher salt, as most of the time when cooking, So if you are using fine sea salt, half the amount, as it has about double the salting power of fine kosher salt.

Olive oil

This helps the dough stay moist and soft but makes for a pretty sticky and soft texture. Which is what we want. So apart from the 2 tbsp that get added to the mixture, use it liberally on your hands when working the dough, instead of the usual flour, which would dry it out.

That’s already everything for the plain flatbread version. If you’d like to take them over the top, there are two more.

Now since you can make the flatbreads plain, I didn’t include the Za’atar and Feta in the first ingredient picture. Both come only in towards the end and are optional.

Za’atar

A middle eastern spice mix, Za’atar usually contains dried soft thyme, sesame, and sumac (a sour dried and ground berry). Sometimes with other added ingredients, depending on the brand. It’s absolutely delicious mixed into olive oil as dip or topping for all kinds of bread or sprinkled over all sorts of dips like Hummus or Labneh. https://forthepleasureofeating.com/hummus-two-ways/
In this case we are brushing the flatbreads with a mix of this and olive oil while frying, to get the flavour to really soak into the bread.

Feta

Use good quality creamy feta here, as you want it to melt into the dough, for little cheesy pockets of salty tang.

The Process

Start by boiling your potato until soft. Just barely cover it with water, don’t salt. Cook for 10-15 minutes, until you can pierce the pieces easily with a knife.
Drain over a sieve with a cup underneath, to catch the cooking water. We need about ½ cup of it.

Leave both potato and water to cool to room temperature, so they don’t kill the sourdough or yeast when we mix them in.

Once cooled enough, in a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, mash the potato with a fork or a potato masher.

Add the flour, sourdough starter, salt, and olive oil.

To the ½ cup lukewarm cooking water, add your yeast and let it stand for about 5-10 minutes, to allow it to activate. Once it has started to bubble a little, add the mix to your bowl with the flour and potato.

At this point I usually mix briefly with a spoon, to get the wet and dry roughly incorporated, as my stand mixer never gets to all the flour on the sides of the bowl if I don’t. If yours does, feel free to skip this step.

Knead on medium speed for about 8-10 minutes, until you have a very smooth and sticky dough that comes off the sides of your bowl.

If you are kneading by hand, you may add a little flour, to make it easier to work with, but you still want a fairly soft and moist result.

Once your dough is smooth and elastic, form it into a ball and leave it to rise in an oiled large bowl you cover with clingfilm for 2-3 hours or until doubled in size.

I usually put mine overnight in the fridge, which gives the sourdough time to ferment and add all it’s goodness to my flatbread. You can get away making it on the same day, I just feel the flavour develops much better overnight and it gives me a more flexible schedule on the day I plan to use it in whatever meal I want it to go with.

Once your dough has doubled in size and you want your flatbreads ready in about 1h, oil your work surface (I like using a silicone mat, for easy cleaning) and divide it into 8 pieces.

Now we are getting them into a round shape and give them even more rise by tucking in any irregular edges, until you have a round and smooth dome top, then put them on a parchment covered, oiled baking tray for their second rise. Here is a great video that shows this process with buns.

Cover them loosely with oiled clingfilm and let them rise for another 30-40 minutes while you prepare whatever dip you plan to have with them.

If you are filling them with feta and topping with Za’atar oil, crumble your feta into a bowl and mix the Za’atar with olive oil.

Once the dough had it’s second rise, oil your work surface again. Take a piece of dough and roughly flatten it with your hands until it’s the size of about 2 hands. This doesn’t have to be exact.

Crumble 2 tbsp of your feta over the dough, then roll it up like shown in the pictures.

First into a sort of sausage shape.

Then in a spiral into itself, as if you were making cinnamon rolls one by one. Try not to pierce it, so the feta stays inside. But don’t worry if a bit crumbles out, these are homemade after all. We are not looking for perfection.

Put each spiral back on the oiled baking sheet, while you form the rest.

Get your pan lightly oiled first, then slowly heat it to medium/high heat. We want the dough to puff up pretty much instantly when it hits the pan, but not burn.

While working with the dough, you will have noticed how sticky and soft it is, so we need a trick to get it into the pan in one piece. Claire Saffitz had a great one for that:
2 lightly oiled pieces of baking parchment. Transfer your dough onto one, flatten a bit with your hands, then top with the second piece and roll out to a round-ish shape about 8in across.
Peeling off the top piece of parchment, carry the flatbread on the bottom one to your pan and just flip it over, to transfer the dough into it.

If using Za’atar oil, brush it onto the top side of the flatbread, while the first side is frying.
Sprinkle with a little sea salt.

Fry until one side is golden brown and comes off the pan easily. Since these behave very similar to pancakes, the cues will be little bubbles appearing on the top and the dough going from very shiny to a little matte. You will also start seeing slightly browned edges.
In doubt take a peek underneath with your spatula.

Flip and fry the second side until done. This will take less time than the first side.
Keep warm in the oven, which you turned to the lowest temperature, while you fry the remaining pieces.

Enjoy your warm homemade Sourdough Flatbread with Feta with all sorts of dips, as a side for stew or, just as they are with some olives and maybe pickles. I always want pickles. But maybe that’s just me?

Meal Prep

These Sourdough Flatbreads with Feta are fantastic for meal prep, as there are multiple ways to prepare and store them.

For one you can prepare the dough the day before and let it rise overnight in the fridge, then take it out about 1h before you want to eat, to shape and fill them.

The fried ones can be stored in a lidded container or plastic bag for about 2 days and just reheated when you’d like to eat. They reheat fantastic in air fryer, oven or pan.

Alternatively you could freeze the portioned dough (though I wouldn’t fill it, as cheese isn’t ideal for freezing, since it can get watery) and just take it out a few hours before you want to eat them to thaw and roll out.

The Mezze Feast

Here are the recipes posted for the Mezze Feast so far. Mix and match whatever you like, use just one as super quick snack or dinner or all of them for one stunning feast:

Hummus Two Ways

Easy Tzatziki

Muhammara

Smoked Aubergine Dip

Roasted Garlic Lemon Labneh

Now I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
Have you tried this? Did you enjoy it?
What other recipes would you like to see?

If you enjoyed this recipe, please share. It helps me a lot.

Sourdough Flatbread with Feta

Soft and fluffy Sourdough Flatbread with Feta hits the spot when you want the perfect flatbread to dip into anything from Hummus to Stew. Sourdough gives a lovely tang while the potato keeps these really soft and moist. Fill with feta for an extra cheesy treat or leave them as they are. An aromatic Za’atar-oil brushing makes them utterly irresistible.

5 from 6 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Resting time 4 hours hrs

Total Time 5 hours hrs

Course Bread, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine Middle Eastern

Servings 8

Calories 265 kcal

Equipment

• Stand Mixer or large bowl, frying pan, cooking pot

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 russet potato peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour or bread flour plus more for work surface
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup sourdough starter
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil plus more for bowl
• 2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt
• Flaky salt for sprinkling the top
• Feta-Za'atar Flatbread
• 1/4 cup za'atar
• 8 ounces 227g feta cheese, crumbled (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil plus more for rolling out

Instructions

 

• Start by boiling your potato until soft. Place the potato pieces in a pot, just barely covering them with water (do not add salt). Cook for 10-15 minutes until you can easily pierce the pieces with a knife.
• Drain the potato over a sieve with a cup underneath to catch the cooking water. You'll need about ½ cup of this water. Allow both the potato and the water to cool to room temperature to avoid killing the sourdough or yeast when you mix them in.
• Once the potato has cooled enough, mash it in a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer using a fork or potato masher.
• Add the all-purpose or bread flour, whole wheat flour, sourdough starter, kosher salt, and olive oil to the mashed potato.
• In the ½ cup of lukewarm cooking water, add the active dry yeast and let it stand for 5-10 minutes until it starts to bubble. Then, add this yeast mixture to the bowl with the flour and potato.
• Mix briefly with a spoon to roughly incorporate the wet and dry ingredients, especially if your stand mixer doesn't reach all the flour on the sides of the bowl.
• Knead the dough on medium speed for about 8-10 minutes until you have a very smooth and sticky dough that comes off the sides of the bowl. If kneading by hand, you can add a little more flour to make it easier to work with, but the dough should still be fairly soft and moist.
• Form the dough into a ball and place it in an oiled large bowl. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and let the dough rise for 2-3 hours or until it has doubled in size. You can also refrigerate the dough overnight for better flavour development.
• Once the dough has doubled in size, divide it into 8 pieces on an oiled work surface.
• Shape each piece of dough into a round, smooth dome top, then place them on a parchment-covered, oiled baking tray for their second rise. Cover them loosely with oiled clingfilm and let them rise for another 30-40 minutes.
• If you plan to fill the flatbreads with feta and top with za'atar, crumble the feta into a bowl and mix the za'atar with olive oil in a separate bowl.
• After the second rise, oil your work surface again. Take a piece of dough and flatten it with your hands until it's about the size of two hands. It doesn't need to be perfectly round.
• Crumble 2 tablespoons of feta over the dough, then roll it up. First, roll it into a sausage shape, then roll it into a spiral, making it resemble cinnamon rolls. Try to keep the feta inside, but don't worry if some crumbles out.
• Place each spiral on the oiled baking sheet while you shape the remaining flatbreads.
• Heat a pan to medium/high heat with a light coating of oil. We want the dough to puff up almost instantly when it hits the pan but not burn.
• To transfer the dough into the pan, use two lightly oiled pieces of baking parchment. Transfer the dough onto one piece, flatten it with your hands, then place the second piece on top and roll it out to a round-ish shape about 8 inches across. Peel off the top piece of parchment and carry the flatbread on the bottom piece to the pan, flipping it over to transfer the dough into your frying pan.
• If using the za'atar oil, brush it onto the top side of the flatbread while the first side is frying. Sprinkle with a little sea salt.
• Fry until the first side is golden brown and comes off the pan easily. Flip and fry the second side until golden brown.
• Keep the flatbreads warm in the oven, which you turned to the lowest temperature, while you fry the remaining pieces.
• Enjoy your delicious Sourdough Flatbread with Feta and Za'atar!

Notes

I’m giving you the nutrition of flatbread and topping+ filling separate here, so you can decide if it fits your diet.

Flatbreads plain:
Calories per Portion: Approximately 166 calories
Protein per Portion: Approximately 4 grams
Carbohydrates per Portion: Approximately 30 grams
Fat per Portion: Approximately 3 grams
Fiber per Portion: Approximately 3 grams
Sodium per Portion: Approximately 524 milligrams

Za’atar with oil and feta:
Calories per Portion: Approximately 94 calories
Protein per Portion: Approximately 4 grams
Carbohydrates per Portion: Approximately 2 grams
Fat per Portion: Approximately 8 grams
Sodium per Portion: Approximately 276 milligrams

Nutrition

Calories: 265kcal

Nutrition Facts

Sourdough Flatbread with Feta

Amount per Serving

Calories

265

% Daily Value*

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Keyword meal prep, sourdough, Vegetarian, versatile

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