Homemade Naan Bread
Light, fluffy, buttery homemade Naan bread that is even better than what you find in restaurants.
I grew up with a Mom who made homemade bread every single week. She was always making homemade bread, dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls...you name it...she made it. So my comfort food is definitely bread and butter. It is so simple yet so comforting.
We love Indian food in our home. Some of my kids favorite meals are -- Chicken Tikka Masala and Indian Butter Chicken. So this Homemade Naan Bread is the perfect thing to dip into a big bowl of Tikka Masala Chicken. My husband loves when I double the sauce so he can just use the naan bread to get every bit of sauce from the bowl.
This Homemade Naan bread is so simple and easy! I have tested and re-tested it over and over again to get it just right. Recently, I did an online cooking class with Miele appliances and FeedFeed here in Scottsdale and taught how to make this easy naan bread recipe. So I wanted to make sure to get it just perfect!
I tested the recipe with more water, less water, more flour, less flour, more greek yogurt, less greek yogurt, more oil, less oil, etc. You get the point. I found that the more flour, the denser the naan turned out to be. The less flour and more water, the naan was lighter and bubbled up more. It was a stickier dough but we remedied that with a little flour on the counter.
We even tried cooking this homemade naan bread on gas vs electric stoves. The gas definitely cooked it a little faster. One thing that we found was pretty important was adding oil to the pan before cooking the naan. The oil allowed the naan bread to bubble more and it definitely had more loft to it.
When I order naan bread in restaurants, it is known for its dark, almost blackened, bubbles on the bread. I prefer it to be on the golden brown side rather than too burnt, so I lower the temperature down to medium or medium-low to allow the bread to puff up and cook through without becoming burnt. You are welcome to crank up the heat!
This is the best homemade naan bread recipe out there! It is the lightest, fluffiest, and ultra buttery naan bread.
How to make the Best Homemade Naan Bread:
- Dissolve yeast in warm water. The water needs to be warm to the touch, about 110 degrees. Sprinkle in sugar as it helps the yeast to proof. Let the yeast proof for about 5-10 minutes. To ensure the yeast is working, check to make sure it is bubbling and growing.
- In another mixing bowl, add flour, plain greek yogurt, oil, and salt. Stir in yeast mixture. Use your hands to thoroughly mix together into a ball. Remove from the bowl and knead for about 5 minutes or until it is smooth. If it is still shaggy, knead for longer. If the dough is too sticky to handle, sprinkle the board or counter with flour. Let rise for 1 hour or until double in size.
- Once you let the dough rise, remove from the bowl and cut into 8 equal triangular pieces. Roll each piece into a 8-inch circle or rectangle. You want it to be about ⅛" thick so it will be pretty thin.
- Heat a large skillet or cast iron skillet over medium heat for golden brown naan, medium-high for golden naan with blackened spots, or medium-low for a light golden naan bread. Drizzle with oil before cooking before each batch. Cook for about 3 minutes on the first side. Flip it and cook for about 2 minutes. Watch it carefully.
- Brush with melted butter and top with chopped fresh herbs or garlic. Serve immediately. I suggest using a cooling rack to place them on after cooking.
Sierra Peterson
I love making homemade Indian food and this recipe takes my curry up a notch! Me and my husband love making this together.
Sadie
Love that bread
Donna
Hey Melissa,
What a great recipe. We love Indain Food at our house too..... I live close by an older Indain couple, and she has taught me so much about the food and how to prepare it. She speaks very little english but we somehow understand each other just fine. I have made many of the desserts, vegetables, and several of their breads.
My own Mother was Mexican, so I grew up eating a lot of tortillas, similar to Naan bread. We cook our tortillas on a "comal" in Spanish it is just a cast iron griddle like you would make pan cakes on if you were camping or at home. I got 2 of them when I got married for wedding gifts, this is how important they are to us. I know you probably already have one yourself, Thank you for the recipe.