Costco Bakery Pita Pocket Bread Review
Author’s Note: As per usual, I have no affiliation with Costco. These are my own weird little opinions. Natch.
It has pockets.
We should call pita “marsupial bread.” It has pockets. Why not? No one can stop us.
I finally caved and bought this pita bread from the Costco Bakery. It’s not cheap. It took me a while to work up the wallet-courage to buy it. Here’s what I think:
Heavyweight champ.
Holy smokes. This is thiccc pita! I usually buy the Toufayan pitas from Publix, which are tremendously thinner. Costco’s version is soooo thick, it’s like eating two big slices of dense bread. There’s nothing wrong with this, it’s just different from every other pita experience I’ve had. This is meaty bread!
Texture and flavor.
The texture inside is delightfully moist and soft. While not tangy like sourdough, this pita has a fabulous “bread” flavor. It’s rich and hearty, and more complex than typical grocery store fodder. Some of the flavor is from the added whole wheat and barley malt flour. And olive oil.
But there’s also a wholesome fermented vibe. According to the ingredients, there’s a combination of yeast and “sponge” — from fermented flour and water. It’s not full-blown sourdough, but it gives a more traditional yeasty goodness, and depth of flavor. This has been a theme with several Costco bread items I’ve tried, so I am not surprised.
Dividing the loaves.
The loves have a pleasant floury, crusty surface. There’s a scored line on the underside for easy division. Math doesn’t have to be your strength, just fold/tear along the edge. Despite the fabulously moist innards, I didn’t have any difficulty getting my pockets “open.”
Loaf size.
Costco’s pitas are not particularly large — about the same diameter as a Toufayan loaf, or perhaps just a smidge smaller. Their extreme thickness makes them seem larger. Very fluffy, and yet somehow super dense. I hope you are hungry! Each loaf is surprisingly satiating. Unfortunately, the thickness means the pockets don’t hold as many sandwich fillings.
Preparing the pitas
I opted to toast mine in a small skillet on medium heat before serving. It took about 1 minute on each side in a dry skillet to get them toasty-warm and tasting freshly baked. Absolutely worth the extra step!
I ate mine with Costco’s Organic Hummus (here’s my review) and Sam’s Club Cherry Jalapeno Chicken Meatballs, which contributed a sweet/savory/spicy protein compliment. (Costco sells a similar Cranberry Jalapeno Chicken Meatballs from Amylu; I already reviewed them, if you wanna know more.)
Great pairing. And easy. 10/10. Would nosh this stuff again.
The only drawback is that the meatballs don’t fit great in the insanely thick pitas. My pockets were bursting open. You can get better results by slicing the meatballs in half. But they won’t look as cute.
Ingredients in Costco Bakery Pita Pocket Bread
Here is my best attempt at typing out the ingredients, from the label:
- Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Iron)
- Water
- Whole Wheat Flour
- Olive Oil
- Contains less than 2% of: Yeast, Wheat Gluten, Salt, Natural Mold Inhibitor (Cultured Wheat Flour, Cultured Wheat Starch, Cultured Sugar, Wheat Flour), Sugar, Wheat Starch, Yeast Extract, Guar Gum, Sunflower Oil, Calcium Sulfate, Mono- & Diglycerides, Acacia Gum, Barley Flour, Sponge Extract (Water, Fermented Wheat Flour), Enzymes, Ascorbic Acid
Nutrition Facts
A serving is 1 pita and contains 260 calories. You get 6 grams of fat (0.5 grams saturated fat) and 8 grams of protein. There are 45 grams total carbohydrates, of which 1 gram is sugar (0 grams “added sugars”), and 1 gram is fiber. There’s 0 grams cholesterol, and a surprisingly robust 21% your daily value of sodium. I love salt, so this doesn’t make me mad. You also get a whopping 10% your daily value calcium, and 15% your daily value iron per serving.
Price and Servings
A 29 ounce package costs $7 at my local Costco. Since there are 9 pitas per package, each pita is 78 cents. I weighed my pitas on my kitchen scale, and my package was almost exactly 2 full pounds. So, a lot of bread by weight.
Still, this is quite a jump in price from Toufayan; I just bought two 12-ounce packages (a dozen loaves) BOGO at Publix for $2. So, $1 per package, or 17 cents each loaf. Costco’s quality is in a completely different ballpark than Toufayan. But, gosh, they better be, for this price!
This is a “Kirkland Signature” (Costco store-brand) product, and the item # is: 1935800.
Shelf Life
The “sell by” date on my package allowed about 4 days to consume. It took me over a week to eat mine, however. I stored the bag in the refrigerator, and the pitas stayed impressively fresh. I definitely recommend toasting or warming them before serving. Nothing beats that warm, “freshly baked” taste!
Dramatic Conclusion
This is probably not ideal bread for folks who are trying to reduce carbs. It’s also not the best choice for stuffing full of bulky sandwich ingredients. The pitas are sooooo thick!
But for general yummery, this is delicious bread. It’s flavorful, hearty, and has great textures. Definitely higher quality than pre-packaged options from most grocery stores. Close to homemade. I consider it a pricey option for pita, however.
On my devastatingly accurate “Awesome-o-Meter,” these pitas score a happy “Yaaas.”
The End.
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