Easy Homemade Naan Bread

Once upon a time, I made homemade naan bread, and it turned out terrible.

This is not that naan bread. This is awesome.

I have no idea what went wrong with the first recipe I tried, probably a year or more ago. But it did put me off trying it again for quite a while. However, when I decided to try my hand for the first time at Indian cooking with this chicken tikka masala over winter break this year, I knew that naan had to be in the cards for me again.

This recipe comes together super easily and doesn’t require any special handling. It’s not finicky at all. Just proof your yeast, add the ingredients all at once and knead in the machine for a couple minutes, let it rise, and then roll out and fry up. Very hands-off.

I tend to use half white whole wheat and half regular flour. To me, when I use all whole wheat it tends to be a bit too dense and loses a bit of that chewiness that makes naan so satisfying. But you can use all of one, or mix it up however you want.

The other important thing is that you use ghee, not just regular butter. You can buy ghee fairly easily these days (Trader Joe’s, Amazon, or a well-stocked grocery store), but if you can’t get it for whatever reason I’d recommend making a batch of your own and storing it. The water in regular butter will keep it from frying up right.

Phase 1: should be 1-2 hours before you want to eat

Stir together the warm water and honey in your stand mixer bowl (with dough hook attachment) until the honey has dissolved, then sprinkle the yeast on top and give it a quick stir. Let stand for 5-10 minutes, until the yeast is foamy.

Then add the flour, yogurt, salt, baking powder, and egg, and mix on low speed. Once everything is incorporated, increase the speed to medium-low and mix (knead) the dough for 2-3 minutes, until the dough is smooth. It should be slightly sticky, but pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl.

Grease a medium bowl with olive oil, butter, or cooking spray. Remove the dough from the mixing bowl, and (using a bit of flour) shape it into a ball with your hands. Place it in the bowl and cover it with a damp towel, then leave it in a warm location and let it rise for 1 hour, until the dough has nearly doubled in size.

Phase 2: note, once I’ve divided the dough, I roll the first piece out and start cooking it up, then keep rolling and buttering while it’s cooking…basically, doing it on a rolling basis so it shortens the time and things don’t dry out

When I’m halving the recipe, this whole process only takes like 10-15 minutes.

Once the dough is ready, transfer it to a lightly floured surface and divide into 8 even pieces (or 4 if you’re halving the recipe).

Roll each into a ball with your hands, then use a rolling pin to roll out the dough into a large circle (or oval, or whatever shape it takes…it’s not important) until the dough is a little less than 1/4-inch thick.

Heat a large cast-iron skillet or heavy saute pan over medium-high. Brush the dough lightly with the ghee on both sides.

Add the first piece of rolled-out dough to the pan and cook for about 1-2 minutes, or until the dough begins to bubble and the bottom turns lightly golden. It will REALLY depend on your pan and stove.

Using tongs, flip the dough and cook on the second side for 30-60 seconds, or until the bottom is golden as well (it generally needs less than the first side).

Transfer a warm plate and cover with a towel. Repeat with remaining dough until all of the naan pieces are cooked. Keep covered with the towel until ready to serve, so that it doesn’t dry out.

Easy Homemade Naan Bread

Prep is 15 minutes, needs to rise for an hour, then takes around 15 minutes to cook them up

I always halve this recipe for 1-2 people, and it does make good leftovers

1 cup of warm water
2 tablespoons of honey
1 package of active dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
3 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour (or 2 cups white whole wheat flour + 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour)
1/4 cup of plain yogurt
2 teaspoons of salt
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1 egg
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) of ghee (clarified butter)

Stir together warm water and honey in your stand mixer bowl until the honey has dissolved, then sprinkle the yeast on top and give it a quick stir. Let stand for 5-10 minutes, until the yeast is foamy.
Add the flour, yogurt, salt, baking powder, and egg, and mix on low speed. Once it’s incorporated, increase speed to medium-low and mix the dough for 2-3 minutes, until the dough is smooth. It should be slightly sticky, but should form into a ball that pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl.
Grease a medium bowl with olive oil, butter, or cooking spray. Remove the dough from the mixing bowl, and shape it into a ball with your hands. Place it in the bowl and cover it with a damp towel, then leave it in a warm location and let it rise for 1 hour, until the dough has nearly doubled in size.
Once the dough is ready, transfer it to a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 8 even pieces.
Note, I do the next steps on a rolling basis while I start to cook them up, so the dough doesn’t dry out. When I’m halving the recipe, this whole process only takes like 10-15 minutes.
Roll each into a ball with your hands, then use a rolling pin to roll out the dough into a large circle (or oval, or whatever shape it takes…it’s not important) until the dough is a little less than 1/4-inch thick.
Heat a large cast-iron skillet or heavy saute pan over medium-high. Brush the dough lightly with the ghee on both sides.
Add the first piece of rolled-out dough to the pan and cook for about 1-2 minutes, or until the dough begins to bubble and the bottom turns lightly golden. It will REALLY depend on your pan and stove.
Using tongs, flip the dough and cook on the second side for 30-60 seconds, or until the bottom is golden as well (it generally needs less than the first side).
Transfer a warm plate and cover with a towel. Repeat with remaining dough until all of the naan pieces are cooked. Keep covered with the towel until ready to serve, so that it doesn’t dry out.