This Indian Naan Bread recipe is incredibly easy to make at home and the result is a soft and delicious Indian bread that you can have as a side to many meals.
This Indian Naan Bread recipe is incredibly easy to make, but you just somehow never get around to making it. Maybe it’s just me, but I tend to avoid yeast recipes because I can hardly ever plan ahead to remember to make the dough early enough to give it enough time to rise.
…but it’s totally worth it.
With this Indian bread, you’re just mixing the dough, letting it sit (for 2 hours), roll the dough into 12 balls, let it sit for another 30 minutes, then roll the balls into ovals and bake them in the oven. It’s really not that complicated, yet somehow I build it up in my head to be this day-long baking extravaganza.
Like many of you, I work outside of the home so I can’t always sit around and wait for 3 hours for my bread to rise. However, I can make this on the weekend and simply go about my business in the meantime. And so can you!
Hold on, just a minute! Some of you may be asking, What is Naan bread? I know you don’t want to ask it out loud, so I will ask it for you. Naan is a leavened, oven-baked flatbread found in the cuisines of Asia and the Caribbean. Okay, now that you know, we can move on.
I cook mine on this flat cast-iron pizza pan, but any pizza stone or other oven-proof surface will work just fine. If you don’t want to invest in the pizza pan, you could use a regular multi-purpose cast iron pan. I have this one from Lodge, and it’s super affordable and has held up to all my abuse:Â Lodge Pre-Seasoned 12-inch Cast Iron Skillet.
It’s absolutely worth the effort to have delicious homemade Naan bread to go with an Indian-inspired dinner (or to go with just about anything). Try yours with Mulligatawny Soup or Chicken Korma!
Just look at those fluffy pieces of heaven!
Easy Indian Naan Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 to 4 c. all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. instant yeast
- 1 1/4 c. milk
- 1/4 c. plain Greek yogurt
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 1/8 tsp. ground cardamom
- 1/8 tsp. ground turmeric
- 4 Tbsp. melted Ghee or butter
Instructions
- Pour the milk into a liquid measuring cup, whisk in the Greek yogurt, and heat in the microwave until warm to the touch (about 110 degrees F). Pour the warm milk into a large bowl or the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Add the sugar, instant yeast, salt, cardamom, turmeric, and 2 ½ cups of the flour.
- Mix well with a wooden spoon or the paddle attachment on your stand mixer. Continue adding flour gradually in small amounts, until a soft dough is formed that cleans the sides of the bowl (it will still be sticky). Knead the dough using the dough attachment on your stand mixer, or by hand until it is smooth and elastic, about 3-5 minutes in the mixer or 10 minutes by hand.
- Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and let it rest at room temperature, covered lightly, for about 2 hours.
- After the dough has rested, turn it onto a lightly floured surface and divide the dough into 12 equal pieces, rounding each into a ball shape. The dough will still be a little sticky, but you won't have too much trouble forming it into balls.
- Cover the pieces with a towel and let them rest for 30 minutes. While the dough rests, preheat your oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit and place a pizza stone or large cast iron pan on the bottom rack of the oven.
- Once the dough has rested for a half hour, one by one, roll each piece into a circle about 6 inches wide. Open up the oven and lay the circle of dough on the hot pizza stone. Spritz the top of the dough with a little water or vegetable oil. Close the oven and bake the naan for about 2-3 minutes, until it is lightly puffed and brown spots begin to appear on the bottom. Turn the naan using tongs and return to oven for another 2 minutes or so.
- Remove the naan from the oven and place on a cooling rack or large plate. Brush lightly with Ghee or melted butter. Stack the hot naan on top of each other as it comes out of the oven to help keep the pieces warm.
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Suggestions for vegan alternatives to the sour cream?
Hi Barbara,
Instead of adapting this recipe with butter, milk and yogurt, you might just search for a vegan recipe.
Here is one with lots of good ratings: https://minimalistbaker.com/easy-vegan-naan/
– Linda
Super delicious Great recipe. Thanks for posting this up.
Simon
Thanks, Simon!! It’s great to know you liked it 🙂
These freeze very well. Just warm them up in the microwave and they get soft again. I made them as per the recipe but did not rub ghee or any oil on the freshly baked naan because I wanted to minimize calories. They were still very tasty. Adding turmeric and cardemon is brilliant. Both my husband and I loved them. I am going to make a double batch this afternoon. I usually make chapati but I think I will now make naan more often because we really liked the texture of these naan.
This looks easy and scrumptious! I am planning to make your mulligatawny soup to take to an event at work and would love to make naan to accompany the soup. Unfortunately, I will not have time to make naan the day of the event, so I’m wandering whether it is good the day after making it.
Hi, Cindy! It should still be good the next day – what I usually do is wrap a piece in a very slightly damp paper towel and pop it in the microwave 🙂
Wow, I didn’t know foreigners liked Indian food. I am Indian but I always thought Indian food didn’t suit the western taste… This is a surprise..
Haha, well everyone has different tastes so I can’t speak for all of us, but I sure love it!