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This homemade naan recipe makes soft, chewy flatbread with beautifully blistered spots and a buttery finish. All you need is a hot skillet—no tandoor required.
Naan is a soft, pillowy flatbread traditionally baked in a tandoor, a blazing-hot clay oven that gives it those characteristic bubbles and charred spots. Of course, most of us don’t have a tandoor at home, but I’ve found that a good, hot skillet does a wonderful job. The trick is to keep the dough soft and slightly sticky, then cook it over high heat so it puffs up and develops those beautiful golden, blistered spots.
This homemade naan recipe is one of my favorite breads to make because, aside from the rising time, it’s surprisingly quick and easy. And there’s nothing quite like brushing a warm piece of naan with melted butter and serving it alongside chicken curry, butter chicken, or chicken tikka masala.
“My search for the perfect naan bread is over—this recipe is the best!”
What You’ll Need To Make Homemade Naan
- All-purpose flour: The base of the dough. For best results, spoon it into your measuring cup and level it off.
- Sugar and salt: Sugar adds a touch of sweetness and helps the yeast along, while salt brings out the flavor.
- Instant or rapid-rise yeast: Helps the dough rise and gives the naan its pillowy texture. You can use active dry yeast instead, but allow a little extra time for rising.
- Warm water, plain yogurt, and olive oil: Bring the dough together and help keep the naan soft and tender.
- Anise seeds (optional): Add a subtle licorice note. You can substitute nigella, poppy, or sesame seeds, or leave them out.
- Melted salted butter: Brushed over the naan after cooking for a rich, buttery finish.
- Chopped parsley (optional): Adds color and freshness. Use cilantro if you prefer. For garlic naan, stir minced garlic into the melted butter before brushing it over the cooked bread.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How To Make Naan
Make the dough: Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the yogurt, olive oil, and warm water, then add to the dry ingredients. Stir with a fork until the dough starts to come together, then knead gently with floured hands until you have a soft, slightly sticky ball. There’s no need to knead it until smooth.
Let it rise: Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and cover. Leave it in a warm spot until it’s about doubled in size. The dough should look noticeably puffier and feel soft and airy.
Divide and shape: Turn the dough onto a well-floured work surface and divide it into six pieces. Dust with flour as needed to keep the dough manageable, then roll each piece into a thin oval. Don’t worry about making them perfectly uniform—a slightly irregular shape is part of naan’s charm.
Cook the naan: Heat a dry cast-iron or heavy nonstick skillet until very hot. Add a piece of dough and watch for large bubbles to form on the surface and golden-brown spots to appear underneath. Flip and cook until the other side is browned and blistered, with a few darker charred spots. Adjust the heat as you go; I usually lower it to medium after the first naan.
Brush and serve: Brush each naan with melted butter as soon as it comes out of the skillet, then keep it tucked in a clean kitchen towel while you cook the rest. Sprinkle with parsley, if using, and serve warm.
storage & Freezing Tips
Naan is best enjoyed fresh from the skillet, but leftovers can be stored in a resealable plastic bag. To reheat, wrap the naan in aluminum foil and warm in a 350°F (175°C) oven until heated through. Naan also freezes well for up to 3 months. Once completely cooled, wrap each piece tightly in plastic wrap and place them together in a freezer bag. To reheat from frozen, wrap the naan in foil and warm in a 350°F (175°C) oven until hot.
Naan Recipe Video Tutorial
Homemade Naan
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off, 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/38°C)
- 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 (180 ml) warm water (about 100°F/38°C).
- Add the yogurt mixture to the dry ingredients and mix with a fork until the dough begins to come together. Lightly flour your hands and knead gently to form a soft, slightly sticky dough, adding more flour a little at a time if it’s too wet to handle. Stop kneading as soon as the dough comes together.
- Lightly oil a clean bowl or coat it 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 rise in a warm place for 1 to 1½ hours, or until roughly doubled in size.
- Place about ½ cup (65 g) flour in a small bowl. Lightly dust a work surface with some of the flour and turn the dough out onto it. Sprinkle a little flour over the dough and your hands.
- Shape the dough into a long rectangle and cut it into 6 equal portions, dusting with more flour as needed to prevent sticking. Roll each portion in the bowl of flour to coat lightly.
- Warm a large cast iron or heavy nonstick pan over medium-high heat until very hot.
- Using a rolling pin, roll one portion of dough into an oval about ⅛ in (3 mm) thick and 9 x 4 in (23 x 10 cm). Gently toss the dough back and forth between your hands to shake off any excess flour, then carefully lay it in the dry skillet.
- Cook for a few minutes, until air bubbles form across the surface and the bottom is golden brown with blackened spots. Flip and cook 1 to 2 minutes more, until the bottom is lightly browned and blistered in spots.
- Remove the naan from the skillet, brush with melted butter, and place 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.
Notes
- 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.
- 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.
- To keep the cooked naan warm, place them in a 200°F (96°C) oven.
Nutrition Information
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:
Ways to Use Naan
Naan is delicious alongside curries, but there are plenty of other ways to enjoy it. Serve it with a bowl of mulligatawny soup, use it as a base for individual flatbread pizzas, or fold it around grilled chicken, kabobs, or roasted vegetables for a sandwich or wrap. You can even top warm naan with fried eggs for a quick and satisfying breakfast.
More Homemade Bread Recipes You’ll Love
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Loved it! First time making it. I even used whole wheat flower instead and came out great. Thank you for the recipe!
I made it twice , Once with rapid rise yeast and again with active dry yeast. Both turned out well. Yes, the dough was sticky and I had to add more flour. Second time I tried my new cusinart toaster oven instead of cast iron pan and it puffed up in one large bubble and was even more delicious!!. I made two of them little less brown and stored in refrigerator. Toasted in a bread toaster when I used it next time and it was just the same as freshly made ones.
Thank you Jen for this web site!. Your browned butter bourbon pecan pie and creamy mashed potato are a keeper!. Done it for two thanksgivings now!
I’ve made this recipe twice now. The first time, I followed it exactly as written, and ended up with an extremely wet, sticky dough. I had to add so much extra flour, that by the time I reached the proper consistency, I was afraid I had over-kneaded it and just tossed it.
After reading some of the reviews with the same issue, I tried again, everything as written except I cut the water to 1/2 c, as some suggested. This time it was perfect! I didn’t have anise seeds on hand, so I added cumin seeds instead and it was really delicious. My husband thought it was better than some Indian restaurants we’ve been to! Overall, another great recipe.
I’m one of those who ended up with a soup instead of a dough! lol
I think the reason why this happens is because of the way the two methods using the fresh yeast versus the dry active yeast are explained. If you follow the directions as written using the dry active yeast, you will end up with twice the amount of water. It’s when we read “Whisk together the yogurt, olive oil, and warm water”, it’s not clear that you are talking about the same water with the dry activated yeast. Since I was working on 3 other things at the same time (your Chicken Tikka Masala, Cucumber Mint Salad and Basmati Rice – which all came out great!), I did not have much time to think and notice that the total amount of water called (2 times 3/4 cups warm water) for 2 cups of flour just didn’t make sense. To correct, I added flour and kneaded, added flour and kneaded … a few times, until the consistency looked okay but my dough ended up being too much kneaded maybe? so finally my naan bread wasn’t that fluffy. Still tasted very good so giving 5 stars. Will do better next time! 🙂
Hi Nathalie, Sorry to hear you had a problem with this. I’m going to review the recipe to see if I can find a way to make the instructions more clear! 🙂
Yes! I’ve begun craving this to eat with hummus! I had to make it with whole wheat flour tonight bc there’s no white flour available at my store and it was almost better…chewy, nutty, delicious!
Love this recipe! I used plain Greek yogurt for mine and added a little garlic. These are great for making pizza with fresh tomatoes, mozzarella and basil.
Do you have a recipe for flavored Naan? My favorite indian restaurant is in Milan, Italy (a little strange I know) but they have a cheese naan that is out of this world. Strangely enough, I think they may use fontina or mozzarella – it’s certainly not Paneer since I’ve tried it here and it’s nothing like my favorite gooey cheese naan from Italy. I think I’d like to try it but I don’t know how to do it. Any tips?
Hi, I don’t have any recipes for flavored naan, but you could add some minced garlic or garlic powder and some hard cheese, like Parmesan, to some melted butter and brush it on after cooking the naan. Hope that helps!
Has anyone tried grilling these and if so, can you provide the steps?
Thank you in advance!
Monica
I grill my bread on our BBQ, medium high lightly brushed with olive oil, turns out fabulous!
So delicious. I love it when my first attempt proves to be the keeper recipe. This is it! Just the flavor and texture I hoped for. I rolled the first one too thick, learned the technique and the rest were just right. I added chopped garlic cloves to two and those were good too. Wonderful with butter chicken. It will be fun to experiment with flavors and accompaniments to this quick and yummy recipe. Thank you.
FANtastic! The only problem is my husband feels it is dangerous that we can make this at home now 🙂 Thanks for a superb recipe – we’ll never buy store-bought naan again.
Thank you for this recipe! I have made it four times, twice with instant yeast and twice with regular yeast. I didn’t notice much of a difference in taste or texture. I found the dough too sticky to knead so on my fourth batch, I ended up reducing the amount of yogurt by one tablespoon and the amount of oil by on tablespoon. I don’t know if this has to do with my location or type of flour, as only a handful of people reported an overly sticky dough. I was very happy with the reduced amount of liquid. It was still a sticky dough, but more workable. I made this with the chicken tikka masala recipe, and it has been a real crowd pleaser!
WAY to wet !! If I try again Ill use 1/2 cup water