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This homemade naan recipe is easy to make, perfectly soft and chewy, and always so delicious. I’ve included a garlic naan recipe option below too!
Have you ever tried making homemade naan? ♡
This soft, pillowy, buttery, irresistible flatbread has long been one of my favorite sides to order out at Indian restaurants. But while naan bread is traditionally baked inside blazing-hot Tandoor ovens in India, a homemade version is actually quite easy to make on the stovetop in a hot skillet!
My favorite homemade naan recipe is made with basic bread ingredients (flour, water and yeast) plus a generous dollop of yogurt, egg and baking powder to make the bread extra soft and chewy. I also prefer to use touch of honey as a natural sweetener for the bread. And if you feel like making garlic naan, I’ve included an (optional, yet oh-so-highly recommended) garlicky butter sauce that you can brush on the warm bread immediately after baking, plus I always like to sprinkle on some fresh parsley and a pinch of flaky sea salt too.
I’ve also gone back and revised this recipe to include full instructions for how to make it either 100% by hand or with with the help of a stand mixer. And I have also included options for adding in extra herbs, cheese, and/or nigella seeds to your naan bread too.
Thousands of our readers have made and loved this homemade naan recipe over the years. So if you haven’t tried it yet, grab a skillet and let’s make a batch together!
Homemade Naan Bread Ingredients:
Before we get to the full recipe below, here are a few quick notes about the ingredients you will need to make this homemade naan bread recipe:
- Warm water: In order to properly activate the yeast, the water will need to be around 110°F. (I recommend measuring the temperature with a cooking thermometer, but it should feel warm but not hot to the touch.)
- Honey: To add just a touch of sweetness to the bread. (Alternately, you can an equal amount of sugar or another sweetener if you prefer.)
- Active dry yeast: You will need one quarter-ounce packet. Or if you buy your yeast in bulk, approximately 2 1/4 teaspoons.
- Flour: I use plain all-purpose flour for this recipe. But if you decide to test with an alternate flour, please leave your feedback in the comments below.
- Baking powder: To give the naan some extra rise and softness.
- Salt: A hint of salt is added to the bread dough, but then I also like to sprinkle a bit of flaky sea salt on top of the naan just before serving.
- Yogurt: Any type of plain yogurt (including plain Greek yogurt) will work.
- Egg: To bind the ingredients together and make the dough a bit richer.
- Garlic butter sauce (optional): Melted butter sautéed briefly with garlic and parsley, which you can brush on the warm dough after baking.
Naan Bread Tips:
Full instructions for how to make naan bread are included below, but here are a few quick tips to keep in mind for this recipe:
- Measure the temperature of your water: In order for the yeast to properly activate, the water/honey mixture needs to be around 110°F. This temperature should feel warm but not hot to the touch. But just to be sure, I recommend using a thermometer to check the water so that it is not too hot (which would kill the yeast) or too cold (which would not allow the yeast to activate).
- Be sure that the yeast is fresh: If the yeast does not bubble up and foam in the first steps of the recipe, it may be a bad batch or expired.
- Don’t worry about making perfectly sized (or shaped) naan: It’s ok if the dough isn’t divided into eight perfectly equal-sized pieces. Just eyeball it and try to roll them out to the same thickness, more or less, and they will cook evenly. Also don’t stress about making perfectly-shaped ovals unless you want to. 😉
- Thinner vs thicker pieces: I prefer my naan to be fairly thick and chewy, so I typically roll the dough out to be around 1/4-inch thick. But if you would like thinner naan with even more bubbles, you can roll yours out even thinner.
Possible Naan Recipe Variations:
There are about a million variations (both traditional and non-traditional) that you can try when it comes to homemade naan, so please feel free to get creative and have fun with this recipe! A few of my favorite options are to…
- Add garlic butter: I honestly never make this recipe any more without it — the garlic butter option included below adds so much flavor!
- Add fresh herbs: Fresh cilantro or parsley are traditional herbs often used in naan. But feel free to experiment with any other fresh or dried herb blends that sound good! I’m partial to occasionally sprinkling some everything bagel seasoning or za’atar onto my naan, which I highly recommend.
- Add cheese: This is definitely more non-traditional, but I love occasionally adding a handful of shredded cheddar cheese to the naan dough, or sprinkling on some freshly-grated Parmesan just before serving.
Ways To Use Naan Bread:
There are so many great ways that you can put this recipe to use! For example, feel free to…
- Serve it solo: As a simple side dish or for dipping in curries, soups, stews, dips…you name it.
- Flatbreads or pizzas: Use the naan as your base and load it up with your favorite toppings to make naan pizzas.
- Sandwiches or paninis: Use the freshly-baked naan to make sandwiches or grill them to make paninis.
- Wraps or tacos: Fill the naan with fillings (falafel and chicken souvlaki are two of my faves) to make naan wraps or tacos.
Description
This homemade naan recipe is easy to make, perfectly soft and chewy, and always so delicious. I highly recommend adding the garlic butter option listed below!
Scale
Ingredients
Naan Ingredients:
(Optional) Garlic Butter Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup salted butter
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- finely- chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
- (optional) flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Activate the yeast: Briefly stir together the warm water and honey in the bowl of a stand mixer. (Or see notes below about how to make the dough by hand.) Sprinkle the yeast on top of the water and give it a quick stir, then let the mixture rest for 5-10 minutes until the yeast is foamy.
- Mix the dough: Add the flour, yogurt, salt, baking powder, and egg. Using the dough attachment, mix the dough on medium-low speed for 2-3 minutes until smooth. (The dough will still be slightly sticky, but should form into a ball that pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl. If it’s too sticky, add a bit more flour.)
- Let the dough rise. Remove dough from the mixing bowl and use your hands to shape it into a ball. Grease the mixing bowl (or a separate bowl) lightly with cooking spray, then place the dough ball back in the bowl and cover it with a damp towel. Place the bowl in a warm location (I set mine by a sunny window) and let it rise for 1 hour until the dough has nearly doubled in size.
- (Optional) Make the garlic butter: During the last 10 minutes of the dough’s rise time, heat the butter in a small sauté pan over medium heat until melted. Add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Remove the pan from heat and stir in some chopped herbs, if desired. (You can also strain out the garlic chunks if you prefer the garlic butter to be completely smooth.)
- Roll out the dough. Once the dough is ready to go, transfer it to a floured work surface and shape it into an even(ish) circle. Cut the dough into 8 equally-sized wedges and roll each wedge into a ball with your hands. Then use a rolling pin to roll out the dough ball until it forms an oval about 1/4-inch thick. (I recommend multi-tasking this process — rolling out the next dough ball while you cook one on the stove.)
- Cook the dough. Heat a large cast-iron skillet or non-stick sauté pan over medium-high heat until it is nice and hot. Add a piece of the rolled-out dough to the pan and cook for 1 minute, or until the top of the dough begins to bubble and the bottom turns lightly golden. Flip the dough and cook on the second side for 30-60 seconds, or until the bottom is golden as well, then transfer the dough to a clean plate. (If you are making garlic naan, brush one or both side(s) of the dough with the garlic butter once the naan has cooked.) Sprinkle the naan with a pinch of flaky sea salt, if desired. Then lightly cover the naan with a clean towel so that it stays warm. Repeat with remaining dough until all of the naan pieces are cooked, adjusting the heat of the pan if needed to keep it hot (but not overly-hot so that it burns the bread).
- Serve. Serve warm and enjoy!
Notes
To make the dough by hand: Instead of using a stand mixer, complete step 1 in a large mixing bowl. Add the flour, yogurt, salt, baking powder, egg, and stir the mixture until combined. Then turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead by hand for 3 to 4 minutes, until smooth. (The dough will still be slightly sticky, but should form into a ball that pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl. If it’s too sticky, add a bit more flour as you knead.)
Source: Recipe adapted from All Recipes. I also updated the photos and recipe (making the garlic butter optional; everything else is the same) in November 2020.
