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Restaurant-quality naan at home is much easier than you think! This homemade naan bread is light, flaky, and slightly charred! Made from 6 simple ingredients, this popular Indian flatbread is delicious served with curries or dals!
⭐️ Why You Should Try This Recipe
- Flaky and light. Say goodbye to thick and bready naan. This one is based on authentic Indian recipes. It is thin, slightly stretchy, and light!
- It doesn’t require yeast. Unlike most Westernized versions of naan bread, this recipe doesn’t require any yeast. It makes use of yogurt and baking powder as the leavening agents.
- Restaurant-quality. After dozens of tests, I can proudly say that this naan tastes even better than the ones from the restaurant. It has the same charred flavor, a subtle tanginess, and is perfectly seasoned!
🫓 What is Naan
Naan is a type of Indian flatbread that is traditionally cooked in a Tandoor, which is a cylindrical coal oven. Naan has been around for centuries, the first mentions of this bread dating to 1300s AD.
This flatbread is typically brushed with melted butter and enjoyed with curries, dal (pulse dishes), or stews.
🌾 Ingredient Notes
There are no fancy or hard-to-find ingredients required to make naan at home. It’s simple and pretty straightforward. Here is what you will need:
- Flour – Use all-purpose flour. There is no need to go with a specific flour for this recipe.
- Yogurt – Yogurt acts as a flavoring, bringing a tangy and buttery flavor to the dough, as well as improving the texture. You can use Vegan Almond Milk Yogurt or any store-bought yogurt. Personally, I went with unsweetened soy yogurt.
- Baking powder – It helps the naan rise during the cooking step, giving it a more airy texture.
- Sugar – For flavor. I recommend using granulated white sugar so it doesn’t alter the taste of the dough.
- Oil – Optional. Adding oil to the dough prevents it from sticking too much and makes the naan more tender. Use a neutral oil like canola or grapeseed oil.
- Salt
- Water – To hydrate the dough. You will need a very small amount as the yogurt already brings a lot of moisture.
🥣 How to Make Naan
Prepare the dough
- Add all of the ingredients to a bowl and knead for 5-10 minutes. You can knead by hand or use a stand mixer. Shape the dough into a ball.
- Lightly grease a bowl and place the ball of dough into it. Cover with plastic wrap.
- Let the dough rest at room temperature for at least 3 hours, preferably 6 hours.
Note: I recommend preparing the dough in the morning to cook the naan in the evening.
Shape and Cook
- Divide it into 6 balls. This will make medium-sized naans. You can divide it into 4 balls if you prefer larger naans.
- Heat a non-stick pan over medium-high heat and cover it with a lid.
- Flatten a ball of dough on a lightly greased surface into a round or oval shape. Authentic naan usually has a more triangular shape, but I personally prefer to make them round. That is totally up to you. The naan should be 3-4mm thick.
- Transfer the naan to the pan, cover it with the lid, and let it cook for 1-2 minutes. The naan will puff up and bubble.
- Once the first side is slightly golden brown, flip the naan and cook for another 2 minutes on the other side.
- Finally, place the naan on an open flame for a few seconds, rotating it constantly to char it slightly. Transfer to a serving plate.
- When the naan is still warm, brush it with melted butter and top with chopped parsley.
Flavor Ideas
If you want to flavor your naan, here are a couple of ideas:
- Garlic Naan: Mince 2 cloves of garlic and add them to the melted butter. Brush the naan with the garlic butter after cooking.
- Cheese Naan: You can fill this naan with your favorite vegan cheese (like Vegan Camembert or this Smoked Vegan Cheese)! Flatten one dough ball, place a thin layer of vegan cheese in the middle of the naan, and cover with another flattened piece of dough. Press the edges to seal and cook!
🍛 What To Serve With Naan
This homemade naan bread makes the perfect accompaniment to:
- Indian curries like Instant Pot Cauliflower Tikka Masala or even other types of curries like White Bean Curry, Vietnamese Curry, or Red Curry.
- Dals (lentil dishes) like Dal Makhani, Chana Masala, Easy Dal Palak, or Roasted Eggplant Dal. Use a piece of naan in lieu of a spoon/fork to grab some of the dal.
- Stews, for example, Vegan Beef Stew.
- Dips like Caramelized Shallots Hummus, Baba Ganoush, or even Vegan Cream Cheese!
📔 Tips
- Make sure your dough is well hydrated. A dough with high hydration is the secret to getting the naan to bubble. It’s the water trapped inside the dough that will produce bubbles. Your dough should be very soft and slightly sticky.
- Adjust the amount of water. Depending on the type and brand of yogurt used, you might have to adjust the amount of water.
- Knead enough. Knead the dough for 5-7 minutes to develop the gluten. It will give your naan a stretchier texture.
- Add 1/2 teaspoon of Nigella seeds. For a more authentic flavor, you can add some Nigella seeds to the dough. It will bring some smokiness and a subtle onion aroma.
- Do not make the naan too thin or too thick. If your naan is flattened too thin, it won’t bubble. On the other hand, if it’s too thick, it will be doughy. Try to flatten it into a 3-4mm thickness.
- Work with oiled hands. Since the dough is quite sticky, ensure your hands are slightly oiled to prevent sticking.
- Cook over high heat. To reproduce the heat you would get from a tandoor, you want to cook the naan over high heat.
- Do not omit the charring step. There are two secrets to reproducing restaurant-style naan at home: your naan must be charred (it brings a lot of flavor!), and it must be brushed with butter while still hot.
💬 FAQ
While there is not just one authentic Naan recipe, this is based on traditional Indian recipes.
Yeast is not traditionally used to make Naan as it is a flatbread. However, Westernized versions of Naan sometimes include yeast, creating a more bready texture.
Yes, you can make the dough up to 24 hours ahead of time. Keep it in the refrigerator and let it warm a bit at room temperature for 2 hours before using.
This homemade naan bread is really best served while it is still warm. If you have leftovers, you can keep them for up to 1 day wrapped in aluminum foil at room temperature or 2 days in the refrigerator.
I hope you are going to love this homemade naan bread recipe! It’s easy and affordable to make and tastes even better than the ones you get at the restaurant!
🇮🇳 More Indian-Inspired Recipes
Let me know in the comments if you try this recipe!
Homemade Naan Bread (Restaurant-Style!)
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 and 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 6 tbsp yogurt I used soy yogurt but any yogurt will work
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1/4 cup vegan butter melted
- chopped cilantro, for topping
Instructions
- Prepare the dough. To the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Next, add the yogurt, water, and oil.
- Knead on medium speed for 5-7 minutes or until the dough is smooth. At this point, the dough will be very soft and slightly sticky, do not add more flour.
- Lightly oil a small bowl and transfer the dough to it. Cover with plastic wrap to the touch to prevent the dough from drying.
- Let it rest. Let the dough rest at room temperature for at least 3 hours, preferably 6 hours.
- Divide the dough into 6 balls. Note: If you want larger naans, divide the dough into 4 balls.
- Cook. Heat a non-stick pan over medium-high heat and cover it with a lid.
- Flatten a ball of dough on a lightly greased surface into a round or oval shape. It should have a 3-4mm thickness.
- Transfer the flattened dough to the pan and cover it with the lid. Cook for about 1 minute and 30 seconds over medium-high heat or until the bottom is slightly golden brown.
- Flip the naan and cook for another 2 minutes on the other side. Next, to char the naan slightly, place it on an open flame on the stovetop for 10-15 seconds. Keep rotating it using tongs to char it evenly. Transfer to a plate.
- Brush. Finally, generously brush the naan with melted butter and sprinkle with chopped cilantro.
- Repeat with the remaining dough and enjoy while the naans are still warm!
Notes
- Make sure your dough is well hydrated. A dough with high hydration is the secret to getting the naan to bubble. It’s the water trapped inside the dough that will produce bubbles. Your dough should be very soft and slightly sticky.
- Adjust the amount of water. Depending on the type and brand of yogurt used, you might have to adjust the amount of water.
- Knead enough. Knead the dough for 5-7 minutes to develop the gluten. It will give your naan a stretchier texture.
- Add 1/2 teaspoon of Nigella seeds. For a more authentic flavor, you can add some Nigella seeds to the dough. It will bring some smokiness and a subtle onion aroma.
- Do not make the naan too thin or too thick. If your naan is flattened too thin, it won’t bubble. On the other hand, if it’s too thick, it will be doughy. Try to flatten it into a 3-4mm thickness.
- Work with oiled hands. Since the dough is quite sticky, ensure your hands are slightly oiled to prevent sticking.
- Cook over high heat. To reproduce the heat you would get from a tandoor, you want to cook the naan over high heat.
- Do not omit the charring step. There are two secrets to reproducing restaurant-style naan at home: your naan must be charred (it brings a lot of flavor!), and it must be brushed with butter while still hot.
Nutrition
About the Author
Thomas Pagot is the founder, photographer, and recipe developer behind Full of Plants. He created the blog in 2016 as a personal cookbook for vegan recipes. Through years of recipe development, Thomas has successfully grown Full of Plants into a trusted resource for plant-based recipes.
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One word for this recipe. EXCELLENT.
The sweetness of these naans is perfect for me. It drives me to eat more and more. Compared to the naans I ordered from popular Indian restaurants I’ve been so far, this recipe is unique.
Thank you for sharing it! I’m sure I will surprise my boyfriend with a nice Indian meal this weekend.
Thanks for your great feedback Claire ^^ I’m happy to hear you liked this naan recipe 🙂
I like naan. But the restaurant-made naan seem to me too oiled. I’ll try your recipe for that.
Yes, naan served at restaurants is usually brushed with a lot of butter. At least you can adjust that amount with the homemade ones 🙂