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An easy to make Indian Flatbread that is ready to eat, fresh and hot from the oven in about an hour using quick rise yeast and a mixer to do the kneading for you.
If you’ve eaten at an Indian restaurant, you were probably served naan with your meal.Naan is an Indian flat bread traditionally baked in a clay tandoor oven. The dough is placed on the sides of the oven and develops a teardrop shape as the bread stretches while it hangs in the oven.
There’s a great Indian restaurant not too far from where I live, Saffron Valley. I like to stop by at lunch time so I can enjoy their lunch buffet and try lots of new, interesting dishes, but I always get the naan.Naan is a tender bread with a bit of charring on the outside. It’s perfect for soaking up all the delicious Indian sauces.
Since most of us don’t have a tandoor oven at home, we have to settle for cooking naan on a pizza stone in the oven, or in a cast iron skillet on the stove. I cooked it both ways, and liked the naan best when cooked on the pizza stone in the oven. Although the naan cooked in the cast iron pan got more of the traditional charring. All the pictures in this post are of naan made in the cast iron skillet.
When you cook it in the cast iron skillet, you need to cover the skillet to help cook the dough. I didn’t have a lid big enough to fit my cast iron skillet, so I used a grill pan as my lid.
I developed this naan recipe for Red Star Yeast.I did a lot of research, including asking my dear friend Deeba, Passionate About Baking, who lives in India what makes a great naan. She said hydration is the key, she recommended a 3:1 flour to water ratio, a great yeast (like Red Star Quick Rise Yeast), and a “portion” of yogurt that works well with the yeast.
Red Star Quick Rise Yeast is an instant yeast that shortens the rising time by as much as 50%. If you don’t have Quick Rise Yeast, active dry yeast will work in this recipe as well, you’ll just need to increase the rise time.
I served my naan with some Chicken Tikka Masala that I picked up at Saffron Valley. I’ve never made Indian food at home, but now that I’ve got a great, easy to make naan recipe, I need to buy some Indian spices and getting cooking.
If you’ve never made yeast bread at home, this naan recipe would be a great first bread to start with.
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4.34 from 18 votes
Naan – Indian Flatbread
Cook Time5 minutes mins
Total Time5 minutes mins
Course: Breads
Keyword: baking, yeast bread
Servings: 6 pieces
Author: Barbara Schieving
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 ¼ teaspoon 1 package Red Star Quick Rise Yeast
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup water 120° to 130°
- ¼ cup oil
- ¼ cup full fat plain yogurt
- Melted butter
Instructions
In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 ½ cups flour, yeast, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Add warm water, oil, and yogurt to flour mixture. Blend at low speed until moistened; beat 1 minute at medium speed. Switch to the dough hook and gradually mix in remaining flour to make a smooth dough, add more or less flour as necessary. (I only used 2 ½ cups flour.) Knead for 5 minutes.
Place dough in lightly oiled bowl and turn to grease top. Cover; let rise until dough doubles, about 45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400° with a pizza stone on the center rack. (At least 30 minutes before baking naan so your stone gets really hot.)
Punch the dough down, and divide dough in to 6 pieces. Let it rest five minutes covered. Roll out each piece of dough in to a tear drop shape about 8 inches long and ¼ inch thick.
Cook naan two at a time, use a spray bottle to lightly mist each piece of dough with water and put it wet side down on the pizza stone. Cook for about 2 minutes until the bottom is lightly browned and starting to puff. Spray with additional water and flip the naan over and cook an additional 2 minutes.
Remove from the oven and brush lightly with melted butter.
Wrap naan in aluminum foil to keep them warm until ready to serve.
Notes
You can also grill your naan or cook it in a covered cast iron skillet.
Cast Iron Skillet: Preheat skillet over medium heat. Use a spray bottle to lightly mist a piece of dough with water and put it wet side down in the skillet. Cover. Cook for about 2 minutes until the bottom is lightly browned and starting to puff. Spray with additional water and flip the naan over, cover, and cook an additional 2 minutes.
Disclosure: This post is sponsored byRed Star Yeast, but all opinions expressed are always my own.You can also find Red Star Yeast onFacebook,TwitterandPinterest.
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About Melissa & Barbara
As of June 2022 Melissa Griffiths now is the one adding recipes. So think of it as Barbara Bakes, and Melissa too! Melissa and Barbara have been blogging friends for over 10 years and when Barbara was ready to retire and spend more time with her family, Melissa took over the site. Read more...
Reader Interactions
Comments
Kelly
This sounds really good! If I were to make this with whole wheat flour, would it turn out as well and would I use the same amount of flour and water? Would other flours work as well, such as almond flour, or could you suggest others to use? I’m trying to stay away from regular white flour as much as possible. Thank you.
Reply
Barbara Schieving
Thanks Kelly! I’ve had good luck substituting half whole wheat flour for the white flour in similar recipes. All whole wheat flour tends to be too heavy. I haven’t done much bread baking with other flours.
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Yvonne(Bread Fun)
Naan Indian Flat Bread, “Great Recipe” I learned something new today about Red Star Quick Rise Yeast. I have never heard of it. I guess you never get too old to learn something new. Awesome!!!!!
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Kim Beaulieu
This Naan looks so good. I love this stuff, make pizza with it way too much.
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SusanM
Wow, great idea for personal pizza crusts–I will try that for my son’s next Friday night teen invasion.
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Mercedes
Yum, I have never made naan at home, but always enjoy eating it at restaurants so I will need to give this a try!
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Kate@Diethood
I love Naan! I try to make it as often as possible. It’s SO GOOD! 🙂
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Foodiewife
I have always wanted to make Naan bread, and I’m excited to know I can use my pizza stone– which I totally adore. I’m pinning this one for the next Indian style dinner that I make, which is long overdue.
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2 Sisters Recipes
Interesting post and a good recipe! You are lucky to have a fabulous Indian restaurant near by. Thanks Barbara.
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Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella
I love naan bread! It’s so good for soaking up those delicious curry sauces mum! 😀 xxx
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Laura @ Lauras Baking Talent
I love naan bread when I get the chance to get it. We don’t have a local Indian restaurant, so that is not very often. I am definitely going to try this recipe 🙂
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capturing joy with kristen duke
This looks so delicious! Pinning!
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Christine @ Mama Papa Barn
We cannot have yogurt…what else can we use for the moisture ingredient?? Thanks.
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Barbara Schieving
Sour cream is usually a good substitute for yogurt.
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Christine @ Mama Papa Barn
Okay, I wasn’t clear. No dairy. Allergies.
Sour cream is pretty much the same as yogurt.
We can’t have that either.Reply
Barbara Schieving
I don’t have any experience cooking without dairy, but you could just increase the amount of oil used. I probably wouldn’t double it, maybe 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons.
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My Inner Chick
—Mmmmmyummm.
Indian food is my “ALL Time Fave.”
I was introduced to it in London.
I wish we had a good restaurant in Duluth!! xx
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Lana @ Never Enough Thyme
I’ve made all kinds of yeast breads in my life, but never Naan. Hope to try this recipe very soon!
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daisy
This looks great! I wanted to try this in my cast iron pan–it has a lid that goes with it. So I was wondering if you make it in a cast iron pan…would you heat up the pan and the cover first, and if so, about how long would you heat it? Do you use any cooking spray on the pan to keep the dough from sticking? And how long did you keep it in there, and at what point did you flip it over? Thanks!!
Reply
Barbara Schieving
Hi Daisy – thanks for the question. I’ve updated the recipe with the directions for cooking it in the cast iron skillet. No need to heat up the cover, just the pan, probably about five minutes. If your cast iron skillet is properly seasoned, it won’t stick, but if you have problems with sticking, spread a little oil in the pan with a paper towel as needed.
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Angie (@angiesrecipess)
They look so beautifully done, Barbara.
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Rosa
They look very tempting! Beautiful naans.
Cheers,
Rosa
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Letty Flatt
Ooohh. I like this recipe. I like to add some spices to the dough too.
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JG
Naan is delicious! The aroma of bread baking in my oven is always great & I’ve never baked Naan.
~JudyReply
Angie | Big Bear's Wife
I’m SO GLAD that you posted this! We love naan but it’s kinda of expensive here! Can’t wait to make it!
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Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar
Naan is so good, but I’ve never even thought of making my own!! Love this!
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