Homemade Naan
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.
Soft and pillowy naan is easy to make at home, and it’s a world apart from store-bought.
Naan is a soft and pillowy Indian-style flatbread traditionally made in a tandoor, or cylindrical clay oven. It’s made from a yeast dough enriched with yogurt and olive oil and delicately flavored with anise seeds. After rising, the dough is rolled out and slapped against the walls of the tandoor, where it adheres and bakes quickly over a burning fire. While the bread is still warm, it is brushed with melted butter. In this recipe, I replicate the high heat and charred flavor of a clay oven by using a very hot cast iron skillet or nonstick pan. Homemade naan is quick to make, save for the rising time, and so much more delicious than store-bought. Pair it with tandoori chicken, butter chicken, or smoky chickpea, lentil, and vegetable soup.
What You’ll Need To Make Naan
As you can see, the ingredients are very basic. The yogurt and olive oil add a bit of tang and richness. The anise seeds add just a hint of licorice flavor; feel free to leave them out, or replace them with nigella seeds (which have a subtle onion flavor), poppy seeds, or sesame seeds.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by combining the flour, yeast, sugar, anise seeds and salt in a large bowl, then whisk to combine.
Whisk together the yogurt, olive oil, and warm water.
Add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients.
And stir with a fork until the dough comes together.
Dust your hands with flour and knead into a soft, sticky ball.
Cover with plastic wrap.
Let rise in a warm spot until about doubled in size, 1 to 1-1/2 hours. Hint: the warmer the spot, the faster it will rise.
Fill a small bowl with flour. Dust some of the flour onto a work surface. Dump the dough on top and sprinkle the dough with more flour.
Shape the dough into a rectangle, adding more flour as necessary so it doesn’t stick.
Then, divide into six equal portions.
Heat a cast iron or heavy nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until very hot. While it heats, roll one of the dough balls into an oval about 1/8-inch thick.
Place the dough in the hot, dry skillet and cook until the surface is full of air bubbles and the bottom is browned and blistered in spots.
Flip the naan and cook a few minutes more.
Brush the cooked naan with melted butter, and repeat with remaining dough balls.
Sprinkle with parsley, if using, then serve warm.
You may also like
Homemade Naan
Soft and pillowy naan is easy to make at home, and it’s a world apart from store-bought.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled off with a knife, plus more for rolling (see note)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon instant dry yeast/rapid-rise yeast (see note)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Heaping ½ teaspoon anise seeds (optional)
- 3 tablespoons plain yogurt
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ¾ cup warm water (about 100°F)
- 2 tablespoons melted salted butter, for brushing on finished naans
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley (optional), for serving
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, yeast, salt and anise seeds (if using). Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together, the yogurt, olive oil, and ¾ cup warm water (about 100°F). Add the yogurt mixture to the dry ingredients and mix with a fork. When the dough is about to come together, dust your hands with flour and knead gently into a soft, slightly sticky dough (sprinkle more flour, little by little, if the dough is too wet to work with). As soon as it comes together, stop kneading.
- Lightly oil or spray a clean bowl with nonstick cooking spray (the bowl should be large enough to allow the dough to double in size). Transfer the dough to the prepared bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel. Let sit in a warm place for 1 to 1½ hours, or until about doubled in size (hint: the warmer the spot, the faster the dough will rise).
- Fill a small bowl with about ½ cup flour. Dust a work surface with some of the flour and dump the dough on top. Sprinkle some of the flour on top of the dough and on your hands. Shape the dough into a long rectangle and cut into 6 equal portions, dusting with more flour as necessary so the dough doesn't stick. Roll each portion of dough in the bowl of flour to keep them from sticking.
- Warm a large cast iron or heavy nonstick pan over medium-high heat until very hot. Using a rolling pin, roll one of the dough balls into an oval shape about ⅛-inch thick (it should be about 9 x 4 inches). Pick up the dough and flip-flop it back and forth between your hands to release any excess flour; then gently lay the dough in the dry skillet and cook until the top is bursting with air bubbles and the bottom is golden and blackened in spots, a few minutes. Flip the naan and cook about 1-2 minutes more until the the bottom is lightly browned and blistered in spots. Remove the naan from the skillet and brush with melted butter. Place the naan in a tea towel-lined dish to keep warm. Repeat with the remaining naans, adjusting the heat lower if necessary as you go (I usually find it necessary to lower the heat to medium after the first naan). Sprinkle with parsley, if using, and serve warm.
- To keep the cooked naan warm, place them in a 200°F oven. Store leftovers in a Ziplock bag and reheat in a 350°F oven wrapped in foil.
- Note: I use King Arthur flour, which is higher in protein than some other all-purpose flours. If using a flour with a lower protein content, such as Gold Medal, you will likely need to add a few more tablespoons of flour.
- Note: Active dry yeast may be used instead of instant/rapid-rise yeast, however, the dough will take longer to rise. To give active dry yeast a boost, you can dissolve it in the lukewarm water and let it sit until frothy, about 10 minutes. After that, add it to the flour, sugar, salt, and anise seeds, and proceed with the recipe.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The naan can be frozen for up to 3 months. Once it’s completely cooled, wrap each piece securely in plastic wrap and put all the rounds in a sealable plastic bag prior to putting in the freezer. To reheat, wrap the naan in aluminum foil and warm in a 350°F oven until hot.
Nutrition Information
Powered by 
- Serving size: 1 naan
- Calories: 241
- Fat: 9 g
- Saturated fat: 3 g
- Carbohydrates: 35 g
- Sugar: 3 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 5 g
- Sodium: 323 mg
- Cholesterol: 11 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
See more recipes:
Comments
Add a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
I’ve made this several times now. I used King Arthur whole wheat flour the last two times and added garlic powder to my mix. With my food processor it is literally ten minutes of mixing from start to finish. Oh my, we can’t keep our hands off of it. Soft and pillowy and chewy. We love the yeastiness of it also. My figures show it’s about $.72 a batch. While its about $4.00 for four medium loaves at the grocery store. This is a keeper for sure.
I don’t understand how this recipe has five stars. I had to add at least a cup of extra flour to this liquid. At first, I thought I read the recipe wrong, that maybe it stated 1/4 cup instead of 3/4. But I read it correctly, and my cup of flour is 140 grams, on the higher side. I can’t imagine what happened to the folks that used a standard 120 grams in a cup. They most likely had soup, not dough.
Yum!
I followed the recipe to a T but the dough was so wet that i had to add more flour until i got it where it needed to be… but in doing so, i think i messed something up. I’ll try again and see if i can correct that.
They were ugly but delicious lol
Served these with your Gyro meat recipe and they were a hit! Easy and fairly quick to make. And soooo much better than store bought. They were fresh, soft and pillowing! I went light on the anise seed since I don’t care for licorice flavor but it was actually a great addition so will probably add full amount next time.
I’ve made this recipe at least 20 times. Keep coming back to it because it is the best. Thank you.
I have made this naan several times. The last few times, I made with 1/2 all purpose flour and 1/2 whole wheat flour. This mixture require a full cup of warm water. It comes out beautifully! Thanks for this great recipe!
Thank you. Came out perfect.
Only change, instead of chopped parsley, I used chopped coriander.
These were very good and fun to make. I didn’t change anything.
Oh wow! Is this naan good!! I made it ahead of time to go with a chickpea curry and find myself eating it with butter. It is heavenly!!! The anise seed REALLY makes it over the top – I was skeptical, but as always, trusted Jenn and it did not disappoint! Now how do I stop eating this all day? Can’t wait to try it with other herbs and with whole wheat.
Super easy!! This is a go-to weekend recipe. Perfect for leftovers whether it be steak or soup. It’s the perfect match
This is an amazing recipe. The only thing I’d change next time is to use less yogurt, as the naan was a bit tangy for my liking. Other than that, the texture of the naan was perfect!