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This homemade naan recipe is easy to make, perfectly soft and chewy, and always so delicious. I’ve included a garlic naan recipe option below too!
Have you ever tried making homemade naan? ♡
This soft, pillowy, buttery, irresistible flatbread has long been one of my favorite sides to order out at Indian restaurants. But while naan bread is traditionally baked inside blazing-hot Tandoor ovens in India, a homemade version is actually quite easy to make on the stovetop in a hot skillet!
My favorite homemade naan recipe is made with basic bread ingredients (flour, water and yeast) plus a generous dollop of yogurt, egg and baking powder to make the bread extra soft and chewy. I also prefer to use touch of honey as a natural sweetener for the bread. And if you feel like making garlic naan, I’ve included an (optional, yet oh-so-highly recommended) garlicky butter sauce that you can brush on the warm bread immediately after baking, plus I always like to sprinkle on some fresh parsley and a pinch of flaky sea salt too.
I’ve also gone back and revised this recipe to include full instructions for how to make it either 100% by hand or with with the help of a stand mixer. And I have also included options for adding in extra herbs, cheese, and/or nigella seeds to your naan bread too.
Thousands of our readers have made and loved this homemade naan recipe over the years. So if you haven’t tried it yet, grab a skillet and let’s make a batch together!
Homemade Naan | 1-Minute Video
Homemade Naan Bread Ingredients:
Before we get to the full recipe below, here are a few quick notes about the ingredients you will need to make this homemade naan bread recipe:
Warm water: In order to properly activate the yeast, the water will need to be around 110°F. (I recommend measuring the temperature with a cooking thermometer, but it should feel warm but not hot to the touch.)
Honey: To add just a touch of sweetness to the bread. (Alternately, you can an equal amount of sugar or another sweetener if you prefer.)
Active dry yeast: You will need one quarter-ounce packet. Or if you buy your yeast in bulk, approximately 2 1/4 teaspoons.
Flour: I use plain all-purpose flour for this recipe. But if you decide to test with an alternate flour, please leave your feedback in the comments below.
Baking powder: To give the naan some extra rise and softness.
Salt: A hint of salt is added to the bread dough, but then I also like to sprinkle a bit of flaky sea salt on top of the naan just before serving.
Yogurt: Any type of plain yogurt (including plain Greek yogurt) will work.
Egg: To bind the ingredients together and make the dough a bit richer.
Garlic butter sauce (optional): Melted butter sautéed briefly with garlic and parsley, which you can brush on the warm dough after baking.
Naan Bread Tips:
Full instructions for how to make naan bread are included below, but here are a few quick tips to keep in mind for this recipe:
Measure the temperature of your water: In order for the yeast to properly activate, the water/honey mixture needs to be around 110°F. This temperature should feel warm but not hot to the touch. But just to be sure, I recommend using a thermometer to check the water so that it is not too hot (which would kill the yeast) or too cold (which would not allow the yeast to activate).
Be sure that the yeast is fresh: If the yeast does not bubble up and foam in the first steps of the recipe, it may be a bad batch or expired.
Don’t worry about making perfectly sized (or shaped) naan: It’s ok if the dough isn’t divided into eight perfectly equal-sized pieces. Just eyeball it and try to roll them out to the same thickness, more or less, and they will cook evenly. Also don’t stress about making perfectly-shaped ovals unless you want to. ;)
Thinner vs thicker pieces: I prefer my naan to be fairly thick and chewy, so I typically roll the dough out to be around 1/4-inch thick. But if you would like thinner naan with even more bubbles, you can roll yours out even thinner.
Possible Naan Recipe Variations:
There are about a million variations (both traditional and non-traditional) that you can try when it comes to homemade naan, so please feel free to get creative and have fun with this recipe! A few of my favorite options are to…
Add garlic butter: I honestly never make this recipe any more without it — the garlic butter option included below adds so much flavor!
Add fresh herbs: Fresh cilantro or parsley are traditional herbs often used in naan. But feel free to experiment with any other fresh or dried herb blends that sound good! I’m partial to occasionally sprinkling some everything bagel seasoning or za’atar onto my naan, which I highly recommend.
Add cheese: This is definitely more non-traditional, but I love occasionally adding a handful of shredded cheddar cheese to the naan dough, or sprinkling on some freshly-grated Parmesan just before serving.
Ways To Use Naan Bread:
There are so many great ways that you can put this recipe to use! For example, feel free to…
Serve it solo: As a simple side dish or for dipping in curries, soups, stews, dips…you name it.
Flatbreads or pizzas: Use the naan as your base and load it up with your favorite toppings to make naan pizzas.
Sandwiches or paninis: Use the freshly-baked naan to make sandwiches or grill them to make paninis.
Wraps or tacos: Fill the naan with fillings (falafel and chicken souvlaki are two of my faves) to make naan wraps or tacos.
This homemade naan recipe is easy to make, perfectly soft and chewy, and always so delicious. I highly recommend adding the garlic butter option listed below!
Activate the yeast: Briefly stir together the warm water and honey in the bowl of a stand mixer. (Or see notes below about how to make the dough by hand.) Sprinkle the yeast on top of the water and give it a quick stir, then let the mixture rest for 5-10 minutes until the yeast is foamy.
Mix the dough: Add the flour, yogurt, salt, baking powder, and egg. Using the dough attachment, mix the dough on medium-low speed for 2-3 minutes until smooth. (The dough will still be slightly sticky, but should form into a ball that pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl. If it’s too sticky, add a bit more flour.)
Let the dough rise. Remove dough from the mixing bowl and use your hands to shape it into a ball. Grease the mixing bowl (or a separate bowl) lightly with cooking spray, then place the dough ball back in the bowl and cover it with a damp towel. Place the bowl in a warm location (I set mine by a sunny window) and let it rise for 1 hour until the dough has nearly doubled in size.
(Optional) Make the garlic butter: During the last 10 minutes of the dough’s rise time, heat the butter in a small sauté pan over medium heat until melted. Add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Remove the pan from heat and stir in some chopped herbs, if desired. (You can also strain out the garlic chunks if you prefer the garlic butter to be completely smooth.)
Roll out the dough. Once the dough is ready to go, transfer it to a floured work surface and shape it into an even(ish) circle. Cut the dough into 8 equally-sized wedges and roll each wedge into a ball with your hands. Then use a rolling pin to roll out the dough ball until it forms an oval about 1/4-inch thick. (I recommend multi-tasking this process — rolling out the next dough ball while you cook one on the stove.)
Cook the dough. Heat a large cast-iron skillet or non-stick sauté pan over medium-high heat until it is nice and hot. Add a piece of the rolled-out dough to the pan and cook for 1 minute, or until the top of the dough begins to bubble and the bottom turns lightly golden. Flip the dough and cook on the second side for 30-60 seconds, or until the bottom is golden as well, then transfer the dough to a clean plate. (If you are making garlic naan, brush one or both side(s) of the dough with the garlic butter once the naan has cooked.) Sprinkle the naan with a pinch of flaky sea salt, if desired. Then lightly cover the naan with a clean towel so that it stays warm. Repeat with remaining dough until all of the naan pieces are cooked, adjusting the heat of the pan if needed to keep it hot (but not overly-hot so that it burns the bread).
Serve. Serve warm and enjoy!
Notes
To make the dough by hand: Instead of using a stand mixer, complete step 1 in a large mixing bowl. Add the flour, yogurt, salt, baking powder, egg, and stir the mixture until combined. Then turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead by hand for 3 to 4 minutes, until smooth. (The dough will still be slightly sticky, but should form into a ball that pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl. If it’s too sticky, add a bit more flour as you knead.)
Source: Recipe adapted from All Recipes. I also updated the photos and recipe (making the garlic butter optional; everything else is the same) in November 2020.
We made this tonight and it was fabulous. I am really partial to garlic naan, so I lightly sautéed six finely diced cloves of garlic in peanut oil and brushed this on top of the cooked naan. Thank you for sharing. Very easy all the way around.
Great recipe! Thank you for sharing your recipe, I made it and it was yummy. I also want to thank all the contributors…gave people like me a lot of options and inspirations. Thank you! Since I didn’t have plain yogurt I used vanilla yogurt, used only 1 tablespoon of honey, added powder garlic into the mix. Came out yummy! Thank you again!
Hi there! I can’t wait to try this but I have a question! Can I use my sourdough starter instead of yeast? And if so, do you have a recommendation for how to incorporate that? Thank you!
Ravi Moorthy —
This recipe is great!! I added 1 cup active sourdough in the beginning. It came out well. Instead of 8 nans I mane 12 nans.
I am looking forward t making this recipe. I would like to impress what you said about the water temperature and taking the temperature. When I first made bread in the mid 70’s, I bought a thermometer for bread making. The “warm” water was much warmer than I expected! Not baby bath water warm!
Sue
I’ve made this recipe twice now and my family will never be ordering naan from a restaurant or buying it from a store ever again! It’s so easy and delicious, and came out perfectly each time. The only things I’d say are: 1) keep it plain because if you’re dipping it into sauces you won’t really taste the garlic butter -and- 2) if you have a cast iron, definitely use it in lieu of nonstick.
Recipe is AMAZING. Curious if you can freeze the dough?
Carie —
I’ve had feta stuffed Naan at a restaurant. How would you go about doing that? Would you put it in the middle after rolling it out & then for it over & roll it again? I’d love to try it.
Slack —
I froze (after the rise) and thawed the dough . No prolem.
Aparna —
Better not freeze the dough. If you are going to use yeast and allow it to rise, then freezing the dough is not going to work. It will destroy the softness.
I only have baking soda at home and don’t want to make a trip for 1/2 tsp of baking powder. Can I use baking soda instead here because the yogurt should activate it?
You don’t grease the pan first? Did I read that right? I do have a cast-iron skillet, but wouldn’t it stick without any grease in the pan? We eat lots of soup and I usually make focaccia, but I want to try this. Thanks.
Wonderful recipe! I made a vegan version of it and came out great. I used almond milk instead of yogurt and didn’t use egg but the flavor and consistency was there. Also, I like garlic in any shape or form so the sauce is a great addition to this bread for me. Thank so very much for sharing your recipe. I really appreciate it.
Delicious! Easy to make and easy to follow directions. I added the butter, garlic and cilantro to the top while the other side was cooking. I will make again.
I made this for the second time. The bread came out wonderful. My only challenge is it feels like I need to much flour to roll out the dough and the dough feels like it has a bit too much flour on it when I am cooking
Loved this recipe. Super easy and it was a real hit with a Moroccan lamb stew. Be sure to roll the portions super thin (maybe 1/8” at most) to get a good mix of chewy and crisp textures. I made them on a cast iron skillet with just a little oil and that gave a nice little char. Put a lid over the skillet for a about 30 secs to get the dough to bubble.
The only thing I will do differently next time is try to make 12 smaller portions instead of 8. Thanks for sharing. Definitely a recipe to save and reuse.
This is the first naan recipe I tried. Still using it.
I noted that pita recipes did not call for baking powder. Hmmm.
I wanted my naan to open up like pita, so I cut out the BP. Voila !
I keep a steady supply of dough, ready to roll. Life is good.
I wanted more authentic Naan like I remember from Kabul. I used your recipe except switched out all purpose flour with about half and half bread flour and whole wheat. Baked in cast iron at 500°F for a few minutes and then broiled it. Yum.
This was my first time making naan bread But certainly not my first time having naan- and your recipe was by far the best I have ever tasted! I followed your instructions completely and it came out perfectly. Made two batches to go along with some chicken tikka Masala for my brothers 30th birthday and everyone just raved about it! There was not one piece left! Thank you for a great recipe!
Wonderful recipe! I didn’t have yogurt, the best I could do was mayonnaise. I know it doesn’t sound good, but it really adds moistness to cake recipes. My Naan turned out soft and moist, my family loved it. Just thought your readers might like to know of an easy substitute.
Delicious fluffy bread. Maybe too fluffy to be authentic?
We used King Arthur bread flour. Needed to add a bit more than 3.5 cups, about .25 or .33 more to get dough right. I also think we should have rolled out the dough to thinner than the .24 inch it fluffed up a lot while cooking.
Thank you for the recipe. We have been looking for a good naan recipe and this fits the bill. Will definitely make it again.
Perfect dough recipe! It was a really fun family activity to make together too! Tonight I’m going to try and 1/2 whole wheat flour and 1/2 bread flour.
Absolutely love this recipe, made it with some butter chicken for my family, now I am constantly being asked to make it. Aside from brushing it with garlic butter, I like to add in a bit of garlic powder with the flour. Turns out great!
This is seriously the best naan recipe. I have come back to this recipe again and again for years, making it often (probably twice a month). We use this recipe any time we want flat bread, whether for naan, flat bread pizza, or greek chicken wraps (works perfect as a pita!). The last copy I printed is so dirty and wrinkly I had to come back to print another so thought it was the perfect time to leave a review.
Love this recipe so much. We no longer buy naan or pitas. I use King Arthur bread flour and SAF Red yeast. Plus I always double the amount of garlic butter when I make these. I also use Greek yogurt cuz that’s what I keep on hand. So yummy! Thanks!!
This was my first time making naan, and this recipe was so easy and good! I wanted to leave a note for those (like me) who may be searching through the recipe and/or comments for info on freezing leftovers. I did see notes of people freezing the cooked naan, but it’s so amazing right out of the pan, I wondered if it would work to freeze the dough. After step #5 in the recipe of dividing the dough into 8 pieces, I individually wrapped 4 dough balls in saran wrap and froze them in a ziploc bag. When you’re ready to cook one (or more) up, just thaw the dough ball at room temp for about an hour, then roll out and cook as normal. The frozen version was just as good as fresh!
This recipe was easy to follow. Unfortunately, it came out rather chewy, almost tough. I used the stand mixer version and wonder if it got a little overworked. I made a double batch, so it might have taken a bit more work getting everything incorporated. I thought it could also use a little more salt. It was a good first-time naan recipe, but I might check some others and tweak it before trying it again.
This recipe was awesome! Not even going to lie but I found this naan bread to be better than ones from the shop. Mmmm was so yummy!
For my naan topping I just saute some garlic, parsley, pepper & salt in a bit of olive oil then added some butter and let it melt in the pan! As each naan was flipped over i just brushed the garlic butter all over. Family was impressed and so was I hahaha (I’ve never cooked any type of bread)
We made this tonight and it was fabulous. I am really partial to garlic naan, so I lightly sautéed six finely diced cloves of garlic in peanut oil and brushed this on top of the cooked naan. Thank you for sharing. Very easy all the way around.
Looks delicious. Definitely will try.
Great recipe! Thank you for sharing your recipe, I made it and it was yummy. I also want to thank all the contributors…gave people like me a lot of options and inspirations. Thank you! Since I didn’t have plain yogurt I used vanilla yogurt, used only 1 tablespoon of honey, added powder garlic into the mix. Came out yummy! Thank you again!
How can naan this good be this easy?!?!?
This recipe looks great and I’d like to try it. Has anyone used gluten free flour as a substitute? If so, I’m interested in knowing how it turned out.
I’ve made it with gluten free flour and it was really good! My whole family enjoyed it. I hope that you tried it out.
I came here to see if anyone had tried it yet! Glad to hear it was good now I’ll try it using gf flour. What brand of flour did you use?
Hi there! I can’t wait to try this but I have a question! Can I use my sourdough starter instead of yeast? And if so, do you have a recommendation for how to incorporate that? Thank you!
This recipe is great!! I added 1 cup active sourdough in the beginning. It came out well. Instead of 8 nans I mane 12 nans.
could you post a naan using either almond or coconut flour?
Can sour cream be used in place of yogurt since that’s what I have. Looks delicious.
That’s what I did and it worked well!
I am looking forward t making this recipe. I would like to impress what you said about the water temperature and taking the temperature. When I first made bread in the mid 70’s, I bought a thermometer for bread making. The “warm” water was much warmer than I expected! Not baby bath water warm!
Sue
I’ve made this recipe twice now and my family will never be ordering naan from a restaurant or buying it from a store ever again! It’s so easy and delicious, and came out perfectly each time. The only things I’d say are: 1) keep it plain because if you’re dipping it into sauces you won’t really taste the garlic butter -and- 2) if you have a cast iron, definitely use it in lieu of nonstick.
If I don’t have yogurt can I get away with using sour cream??
Sure, I think that will work!
Would you recommend sour cream or Chobani low sugar vanilla yogurt as a substitute for the plain greek yogurt?
Recipe is AMAZING. Curious if you can freeze the dough?
I’ve had feta stuffed Naan at a restaurant. How would you go about doing that? Would you put it in the middle after rolling it out & then for it over & roll it again? I’d love to try it.
I froze (after the rise) and thawed the dough . No prolem.
Better not freeze the dough. If you are going to use yeast and allow it to rise, then freezing the dough is not going to work. It will destroy the softness.
Made this and out was perfect! Thanks for sharing
I only have baking soda at home and don’t want to make a trip for 1/2 tsp of baking powder. Can I use baking soda instead here because the yogurt should activate it?
Indian breads are without egg. Why do you want to put egg in this and then call it something else then please
This isn’t Italian…
Hahahaha read it as Italian and was so confused
You don’t grease the pan first? Did I read that right? I do have a cast-iron skillet, but wouldn’t it stick without any grease in the pan? We eat lots of soup and I usually make focaccia, but I want to try this. Thanks.
Wonderful recipe! I made a vegan version of it and came out great. I used almond milk instead of yogurt and didn’t use egg but the flavor and consistency was there. Also, I like garlic in any shape or form so the sauce is a great addition to this bread for me. Thank so very much for sharing your recipe. I really appreciate it.
No contest! Best naan recipe ever. Made them today and filled them with roasted veggies, some feta cheese, and a pesto/mayo spread. So good.
This is the best naan ever! I’ve made the recipe several times now, and it always turns out amazing. Thank you!!
This is great, thank you! Do you know the best way to store this to eat another day?
Delicious! Easy to make and easy to follow directions. I added the butter, garlic and cilantro to the top while the other side was cooking. I will make again.
I made this for the second time. The bread came out wonderful. My only challenge is it feels like I need to much flour to roll out the dough and the dough feels like it has a bit too much flour on it when I am cooking
easy and delicious, perfect with all the Indian dishes I’ve been trying! Thank you so much.
Loved this recipe. Super easy and it was a real hit with a Moroccan lamb stew. Be sure to roll the portions super thin (maybe 1/8” at most) to get a good mix of chewy and crisp textures. I made them on a cast iron skillet with just a little oil and that gave a nice little char. Put a lid over the skillet for a about 30 secs to get the dough to bubble.
The only thing I will do differently next time is try to make 12 smaller portions instead of 8. Thanks for sharing. Definitely a recipe to save and reuse.
I’m a newb bread maker, but this came out perfect! It was an amazing add to our Indian dinner. I ate 3 pieces!
This is the first naan recipe I tried. Still using it.
I noted that pita recipes did not call for baking powder. Hmmm.
I wanted my naan to open up like pita, so I cut out the BP. Voila !
I keep a steady supply of dough, ready to roll. Life is good.
I wanted more authentic Naan like I remember from Kabul. I used your recipe except switched out all purpose flour with about half and half bread flour and whole wheat. Baked in cast iron at 500°F for a few minutes and then broiled it. Yum.
Love this recipe along with Jen Hatmaker’s recipe for chicken curry (plus fresh pineapple)!
Also pro tip: save those little garlic butters from Papa John’s pizzas for your naan
Hey, I just wanted to let you know that we call it “Naan” not “Naan Bread.” Naan Bread translates into bread bread.
So delish! Made it wish tandoori chicken! This recipe was so easy. Kid approved ?
This was my first time making naan bread But certainly not my first time having naan- and your recipe was by far the best I have ever tasted! I followed your instructions completely and it came out perfectly. Made two batches to go along with some chicken tikka Masala for my brothers 30th birthday and everyone just raved about it! There was not one piece left! Thank you for a great recipe!
Wonderful recipe! I didn’t have yogurt, the best I could do was mayonnaise. I know it doesn’t sound good, but it really adds moistness to cake recipes. My Naan turned out soft and moist, my family loved it. Just thought your readers might like to know of an easy substitute.
I made this right away it was delicious
Delicious fluffy bread. Maybe too fluffy to be authentic?
We used King Arthur bread flour. Needed to add a bit more than 3.5 cups, about .25 or .33 more to get dough right. I also think we should have rolled out the dough to thinner than the .24 inch it fluffed up a lot while cooking.
Thank you for the recipe. We have been looking for a good naan recipe and this fits the bill. Will definitely make it again.
Perfect dough recipe! It was a really fun family activity to make together too! Tonight I’m going to try and 1/2 whole wheat flour and 1/2 bread flour.
Excellent. To do again and again ! Everyone loved them !
So yummy and much easier than I thought it would be! My daughter jumped up and down after trying it and said it tasted like my homemade bread. Win!
What is the carb count in naan bread?
Absolutely love this recipe, made it with some butter chicken for my family, now I am constantly being asked to make it. Aside from brushing it with garlic butter, I like to add in a bit of garlic powder with the flour. Turns out great!
This is seriously the best naan recipe. I have come back to this recipe again and again for years, making it often (probably twice a month). We use this recipe any time we want flat bread, whether for naan, flat bread pizza, or greek chicken wraps (works perfect as a pita!). The last copy I printed is so dirty and wrinkly I had to come back to print another so thought it was the perfect time to leave a review.
Has anyone tried this with whole wheat flour
This looks amazing! I want to try it but I don’t have yogurt or sour cream. Any other substitutions? Thank you!
This was an easy and YUMMY recipe! ❤️❤️
Love this recipe so much. We no longer buy naan or pitas. I use King Arthur bread flour and SAF Red yeast. Plus I always double the amount of garlic butter when I make these. I also use Greek yogurt cuz that’s what I keep on hand. So yummy! Thanks!!
This was my first time making naan, and this recipe was so easy and good! I wanted to leave a note for those (like me) who may be searching through the recipe and/or comments for info on freezing leftovers. I did see notes of people freezing the cooked naan, but it’s so amazing right out of the pan, I wondered if it would work to freeze the dough. After step #5 in the recipe of dividing the dough into 8 pieces, I individually wrapped 4 dough balls in saran wrap and froze them in a ziploc bag. When you’re ready to cook one (or more) up, just thaw the dough ball at room temp for about an hour, then roll out and cook as normal. The frozen version was just as good as fresh!
This recipe was easy to follow. Unfortunately, it came out rather chewy, almost tough. I used the stand mixer version and wonder if it got a little overworked. I made a double batch, so it might have taken a bit more work getting everything incorporated. I thought it could also use a little more salt. It was a good first-time naan recipe, but I might check some others and tweak it before trying it again.
Can yogurt be substituted for milk?
This is hands down the best Naan recipe I have ever used. Easy to follow and fool proof.
This recipe was awesome! Not even going to lie but I found this naan bread to be better than ones from the shop. Mmmm was so yummy!
For my naan topping I just saute some garlic, parsley, pepper & salt in a bit of olive oil then added some butter and let it melt in the pan! As each naan was flipped over i just brushed the garlic butter all over. Family was impressed and so was I hahaha (I’ve never cooked any type of bread)
Thanks for sharing!
Delicious !! I just made half a batch with fresh diced jalapeño and Italian cheese and it was AMAZING