This Indian Flatbread recipe creates the most incredibly soft, pillowy naan that rivals your favorite Indian restaurant. Perfect for scooping curry or enjoying on its own!
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🫓Whether you use a pizza stone, cast iron skillet, or grill, this recipe adapts to whatever equipment you have!
My 2 Best Tips For Making Indian Flatbread
Dough Memory: After kneading, poke the dough with your finger – if it springs back slowly, it’s perfectly developed. If it springs back quickly, knead a bit more; if it doesn’t spring back at all, you have over-kneaded.
Flip Indicator: Don’t flip the naan based on time – wait until you see the surface start to look matte instead of shiny. This visual cue means the starches have set and it’s ready to turn.
Mist the dough right before it hits the hot surface, not after. The initial steam burst is what creates the dramatic puffing effect I want. Trust me, this tiny step makes all the difference between flat bread and those pillowy bubbles I see at restaurants.
Always roll from the center outward in different directions rather than back-and-forth. This prevents the dough from shrinking back and creates more even thickness. I’ve noticed how much easier it becomes to achieve that perfect teardrop shape when I follow this technique.
Beyond curry accompaniment, I enjoy this versatile flatbread in so many ways! I try it warm with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of za’atar, or turn it into a quick pizza base with my favorite toppings for an easy weeknight meal. My family loves it for breakfast with cream cheese and everything bagel seasoning.
🩷 Melissa
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How to Make Indian Flat Bread (Quick Homemade Naan)
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
- Grill for smoky flavor or use a heavy skillet when you don’t have a pizza stone. If using a cast iron skillet, cover the skillet to help cook the dough.
- Stovetop Method: Heat skillet over medium heat, mist dough, place wet-side down, cover, and cook 2 minutes per side.
- Don’t rush the proofing – proper rising creates the light, airy texture that makes great naan.
- Use plant-based yogurt and vegan butter to make this recipe completely dairy-free.
- Wrap cooled naan in aluminum foil and store at room temperature for 2 days.
- For longer storage, freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
How To Make Indian Flatbread
Step 1: In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, yeast, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Add water, oil, and yogurt to the flour mixture. Blend at low speed until moistened; beat 1 minute at medium speed. Switch to the dough hook and gradually mix in the 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.
Step 2: Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl and turn to grease top. Cover; let rise until dough doubles, about 45 minutes.
Step 3: 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.)
Step 4: Punch the dough down, and divide dough into 6 pieces. Let it rest for five minutes covered. Roll out each piece of dough in to a teardrop shape about 8 inches long and ¼ inch thick.
Step 5: Cook naan two at a time, using 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.
Step 6: Remove from the oven and brush lightly with melted butter. Wrap naan in aluminum foil to keep them warm until ready to serve.
Recipe FAQs
This usually happens when the cooking surface isn’t hot enough or you skip the water misting step. The steam is crucial for creating that signature puff.
Yes, after the first rise, you can refrigerate the dough for up to 24 hours. Let it come to room temperature before shaping and cooking.
Yes, but thin it out slightly with a tablespoon of milk or water since Greek yogurt is thicker and can make the dough too dense.
More Delicious Yeast Bread Recipes to Consider
Did you try this recipe? Leave a ⭐️ rating below and share it on Instagram.
Georgie Winter
I tried this recipe since I could do it in my mixer. Problems with my hands make it challenging to knead dough. All went well until the final step – cooking in the cast iron skillet. The bread got beautiful brown spots but did not bubble when put on the hot surface. And although it looked perfect it also did not cook through. I see now in your notes that I should have used a lid if using a cast iron pan. Since every thing lperfect until the last step I’ll definitely try this again.
mary robinson
Easy and delicious, Thank you!
Andrew Foell
My daughter and I love naan bread, so we thought it would be great to make some at home. Found your recipe, and as my dad worked for Universal Foods for many years before they sold Red Star yeast, of course I had to try this one! We used a pizza stone and found that the thinner we rolled the dough, the more authentic result we got. We also increased the baking time to about 3 minutes per side. Delicious! Will be using your recipe again and again!
Barbara Schieving
Thanks for sharing your experience Andrew. Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Bob
Is it possible to substitute the Yogurt with something else? I’d like to make this but do not have the yogurt on hand any suggestions?
Barbara Schieving
Hi Bob – I haven’t tried it, but sour cream is usually a great substitute for yogurt.
Kathy Chandonais
I would love to try this but I have a problem with gluten. Do you think it would work with non-gluten flour?
Barbara Schieving
Hi Kathy – the gluten-free flours have gotten better and better, I think it would work well. Let me know if you try it.
Linda shryack
Hi, this sounds amazing. I love the idea of using organic flour. can I make this recipe with a handheld mixer or an immersion blender?
Thank you.
Barbara Schieving
Hi Linda – yes, a handheld blender will work. Often a handheld blend comes with dough hooks too.
Chelsea
I made this last week, my first time making naan and this is now a house hold staple. Will be making for my curry, for hummus, just to eat, to cure cancer, to make sandwiches, to dry me off after a shower. I’m a naan believer now. I will never follow another recipe.
Barbara Schieving
lol – that’s totally awesome. Thanks Chelsea!
Raygan Thorne
LOL!!!!!!
DIANA T.
Lol, you convince me!
Dapne Lowery
Thank you for the recipe it is so amazing, better than stonefire brand grocrery stores. Will make these or every party.
Barbara Schieving
Great – thanks Dapne!
Jake
The water temperature is too hot for the yeast. 35C – 38C is much closer to optimum.
Barbara Schieving
Hi Jake – when you mix the yeast with the flour you use water that is warmer. https://redstaryeast.com/yeast-baking-lessons/common-baking-ingredients/liquids/
Claudia
She meant Fahrenheit and your temperature is in Celsius. You were both correct😀
Barbara Schieving
Makes sense – thanks Claudia 🙂
SusanM
Hi Barbara, made this today using half better for bread flour and half whole wheat pastry flour that I had on hand. Added a little more water & yogurt, was careful not to overmix, and put it in the fridge for two days. I had to punch it down the first night but it was fine when I finally got to baking it tonight and I’m amazed at the flavor! I’ll plan on allowing all my doughs to sit at least overnight from now on if possible since it really enhances the flavor. Thank you again for sharing this awesome recipe.
Barbara Schieving
Thanks for sharing your changes Susan. I’ll have to try it with an overnight rest.
T moneymaker
I enjoyed the recipe but most India recipes are made without any GMO ingredients …
Mossmallow
I was really skeptical of this recipe – my extended family makes indian food 2-3 times per week and always buy premade naan, saying it must be made in a tandoori oven to taste right. I doubled this recipe and it was perfect! I was at a friend’s house and we didn’t have a skillet, so we used a nonstick pan. It cooked very quickly and the taste and texture were perfect! In the future I will try adding garlic powder for garlic naan. Thanks so much for this recipe!
Barbara Schieving
Thanks! So glad it was a hit. I’ll have to try adding garlic as well.
Jeanne
This recipe worked great for me! I doubled the whole recipe but only needed about 5 1/2 c flour. I cooked some on the stove with an all-clad skillet and some in the oven on a pizza stone, and I thought the ones on the stove came out better — more chewy, whereas the oven ones were a little crunchier. But they were all so good, just a matter of personal preference. And making 12 of them, it was definitely more efficient to have both the skillet and the oven going. Thanks so much!
Barbara Schieving
Thanks Jeanne! Next time I’ll have to try it on the stove and double the recipe too.
SusanM
This was so easy! Thank you for the excellent instructions, I just made the prettiest silk-textured naan, using some Greek yogurt I had on hand. My picky teen was skeptical, but one bite of the naan and he grabbed the rest of the piece. It was perfect with some leftover chicken tikki maasala (which was even better the second day)…glad to have a new meal on the list.