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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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Seriously the best naan I’ve had
This is the best naan recipe I’ve tried by far! I didn’t have yogurt, so I had to sub sour cream. Just about the easiest bread you can make!
I used this recipe with fresh whole wheat flour and vegan sour cream, coated it with garlic and cilantro at the end, and it turned out so beautifully! I’ll always use this recipe from now on yum yum!! Thank you:)
I have made this several times and love it!
Can you make the dough the night before and put it in the refrigerator to raise in the morning?
Thank you,
Jane
Hi Jane, You mentioned putting the dough in the refrigerator to rise. I’m assuming you meant to say that you’d remove it from the fridge the next morning to rise? If so, yes, that should work. It may take a bit longer to rise as the dough will be cold. See more tips here about preparing the dough in advance. Hope you enjoy!
I loved this! Thanks for such a simple stove recipe. I forgot yogurt, so I put in a little vinegar and whole milk. I made some coconut curry and wanted some naan to dip in the sauce. My daughter loved it too. I bought naan about two weeks ago and it was $3.99 for two big pieces. Which meant I had none and my daughter ate those. Thank you thank you!
I made this with my 7 yr old at the helm. It came out beautifully. We tasted the first one off of the skillet and, for our taste buds it was bland, but a great base. We ended up adding some garlic powder and season salt on the dough where we rolled it out. I also added oregano to the butter we brushed on and it was a HUGE hit. I love the recipe because we can tailor it to various taste buds. This was our second time making it and honestly, it was more supervising my little one. Lol. Very easy and even her brother ate it 😉
I did not use the anise and I used regular yeast and just wanted to share these are delicious and simple! Thank you!
Let me say how I’ve been looking absolutely everywhere for the perfect naan recipe to make at home. I honestly can tell you the joy it gives me to make this recipe!! It is absolutely wonderful!! I have made it like 6 times!! One of them a double batch and honestly the best one done!! Thank you thank you so much for this recipe!! 🥰🥰
I’ve tried a number of Naan recipes and this is the one that works the best! I love this recipe and make it often. Always receive compliments from friends when I serve it. It keeps well in the freezer for those times when you have unexpected guests and need a quick appetizer… Join it with cheese, fruit, olives, veggies, dips, etc.
I often serve it with Spinach-Artichoke dip…Yum! Or Hummus! Or just cheese and veggies…(sometimes that’s my dinner!). I also love to make little pizzas with it. As a single person that makes a great meal alongside a salad. Just add pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese and your favorite toppings. 5 stars cause I do love this recipe!!!!
Hello, does the fat content of the yogurt matter?
No, Elena, the fat content on the yogurt will not have an impact on the naan. Hope you enjoy!
Made these tonight. They were AMAZING and so easy to make. Thank you for this great recipe!
My husband is Sri Lankan and he made curries tonight for dinner. I decided to make some naan to go with it. After perusing a number of Naan recipes online I’m glad I chose yours to try. Primarily, you had me at the picture! I read through reviews and was a bit disheartened to read several who suggested you paid for fake reviews and that recipe didn’t work at all. Well, I’m not paid. And I’ll say that these Naan were the bomb! Unfortunately, I didn’t have yogurt on hand so substituted the equal amount of sour cream. I’ll try yogurt next time. These turned out beautifully!!! I did brush with butter after cooking and a sprinkling of minced parsley and an extra sprinkle of kosher salt. MAN, were they great! For sure I’ll make a double batch next time. And I’d like to experiment with adding some caramelized onion and garlic and poppy seed. These were SO good. I did use Rapid Rose yeast as suggested and the rise time was about 1 1/2 hrs, next to the heater vent. Thanks so much for the recipe. I’ll be looking at more of yours now. I’ll try to post a picture on your Instagram.