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BY Karina PUBLISHED UPDATED | 41 Comments
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ButteryGarlic Naan Breads are so soft and perfect for mopping up curries, you’ll find it hard to stop at one!
This Garlic Naan Bread recipe is better than the ones you’ll find at theBEST Indian restaurants!These pillowy soft naan breads are so addictive, you will love howquick and easy this recipe is to make! Your new favorite yeast bread recipe!
GARLIC NAAN BREAD RECIPE
Crave It All here sharing our recipe for garlic naan bread; a favorite spin on a traditional flat bread from India. Normallybaked inside hot Tandoor ovens with charcoal or wood fire, ournaan bread recipe has been altered to cook them right on the stove in a hot cast-iron skillet.
We use a combination of yogurt and oil to give them an addictive soft and fluffy texture, and add minced garlic right into the dough to give us a perfect garlicky flavor.
You’ll be amazed watchingthem puff up into glorious breads right in front of you in seconds!
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NAAN BREAD AND PITA BREAD
Both flatbreads are made with a yeast raised dough, however Pita breadhas a harder texture when compared to Naan. While pita bread only contains flour, water, yeast, salt and some olive oil;naan is made with a fattier, more enriched dough including ghee (clarified butter), oil, yogurt and sometimes eggs. This gives naan its different texture.
TIPS ON HOW TO MAKE GARLIC NAAN BREAD
We start off with a basic naan dough, like this one for our super soft naan breads.
- First, you’re going to activate your yeast.
- Mix all of those ingredients together until the dough comes together with your hands.
- Knead until smooth, then transfer to a lightly greased bowl. You can use the same bowl you mixed the dough in to save dishes.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let double in size.
- Divide dough into 10 balls and roll each piece into large ovals about 6-inches long and 1/8-inch thick. The thinner you roll them, the more air pockets form inside them while cooking.
- Get a lightly greased skillet nice and HOT. The high heat makes the dough rise fast and fills the breads with air.
- Cook garlic naan bread until bubbles form, then flip and cook until large golden spots appear on the underside. Flatten the breads with a spatula while cooking to ensure they cook through.
- Wrap cooked garlic naan bread in a clean kitchen towel and keep them wrapped while cooking remaining breads.
- Optional: brush your warm cooked naan with a little melted garlic butter; top with coarse salt and fresh chopped cilantro.
Serve withTikka Masala or Butter Chicken, oruse them to make wraps. Substitute garlic naan breadsfor tortillas for quesadillas, or for simple naan pizzas!
HOW TO STOREGARLIC NAAN BREAD
If you plan on storing your naan breads, do not brush them with the garlic butter. When cooked, let cool completely to room temperature to prevent condensation. Transfer to ziplock bags and store at room temperature for up to 2 days, or refrigerate for up to 4 days.
When ready to eat, heat them up on a pan over low-medium heat, or in the microwave for 10 seconds. Brush with garlic butter and enjoy!
FREEZE NAAN
Follow the same steps above (store plain — no garlic butter) and store in the freezer for up to 2 months. Frozennaan bread thaws quickly at room temperature. Reheat in the microwave or on a skillet over low-medium heat, then brush with garlic butter.
MORE BREAD RECIPES
Easy Flatbread Recipe (No Yeast)
Artisan Bread Recipe
Easy Buttermilk Cornbread
Garlic Naan Breads are so soft and perfect for mopping up curries, you’ll find it hard to stop at one! Just like the best Indian restaurants, this will become your new favorite naan recipe!
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Prep: 15 minutes mins
Cook: 10 minutes mins
Rise: 1 hour hr
Total: 1 hour hr 25 minutes mins
Serves: 10 naan breads
Ingredients
NAAN BREADS
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast or instant (rapid rise)
- 3/4 cup warm milk
- 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt or natural plain yogurt
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil plus 2 tablespoons extra for cooking
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 4 cups plain flour plus extra for dusting -- 19 1/2 oz. or 560g
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
GARLIC BUTTER TOPPING
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh chopped cilantro or parsley
Instructions
FOR NAAN BREAD
Combine together the water, sugar and yeast. Let sit for 5-10 minutes or until the mixture begins to bubble on top
Add in the milk, yogurt, oil, minced garlic, flour baking powder and salt. Mix until the dough comes together with your hands.
Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Use floured hands to knead the dough until smooth, about 3 to 5 minutes.
Lightly grease the same mixing bowl with a small spray of cooking oil. Transfer dough to the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rest at room temperature for about an hour until doubled in size.
When ready to cook, divide the dough into 10 equal pieces. Roll into balls, then use a rolling pin to roll each piece of dough into a large oval, about 6-inches long and 1/8-inch thick. Repeat with remaining dough.
Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Grease skillet all over with 1/2 teaspoon of the extra oil.
Place one piece of the naan on the oiled hot skillet and cook until bubbles form on top, about 1-2 minutes. While cooking, brush the top with a little oil.
Flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes, until large golden spots appear on the bottom.
Remove from the skillet and wrap in a clean kitchen towel. Repeat with the remaining naan (keep them wrapped in a towel while you work).
FOR GARLIC BUTTER TOPPING
Combine melted butter and minced garlic together in a bowl. Brush each naan with the garlic butter and top with the fresh herb of your choosing.
Notes
Perfect to serve withTikka Masala,Butter Chickenor Coconut Curry Shrimp.
Nutrition
Calories: 290kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 6mg | Iron: 2mg
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Reader Interactions
Comments
Avisha Sukhessan says
Quick and easy👌 …..super delicious 🤤
Love this recipe 😀Gail says
Dough was quite wet…added a fifth cup of flour to get it correct.
Tasty! Agree with comment above to add additional salt. Appreciate the good instructions.Reply
Mimi1022 says
I have n
Made these 3 or 4 times . My girls love this . I was requested today to make this by my lovely foster daughter. I obliged but I had no Greek yogurt 🙂 so using what I had I substituted vanilla yogurt. The naan was delicious and I don’t think the girls even knew 🙂 Win all the way around ! Thank you for this delicious recipe!Reply
Karina says
Hi Mimi, that’s wonderful to hear! I’m glad you and your girls enjoyed the naan, and it’s great that you found a delicious substitute with vanilla yogurt. Thank you for the positive feedback!
Reply
Jewel says
I made this naan tonight to go with some butter chicken and it was easy and so delicious! This will be my go-to recipe for naan. YUMReply
Julie R says
Easy and very tasty recipe. The naan came out perfect, light texture and very delicious. I would definitely make it again.Reply
Bob says
You put the nutrition info in Metric but not the recipe. It would be really nice if you could give Metric measurements too. Some recipe websites let you select this as an option before saving/printing.Reply
Day says
Yum! These were amazing! Followed the recipe, made them in a regular pan.Reply
Stef says
Made this Today, went straight by your Recipe! Didn’t not use Cilantro, but dried Parsley (had no fresh and it was perfectly fine)! It was super-easy to make and the Taste is Delicious, I wouldn’t change a thing!!! Both my Husband and I enjoyed it very much. Cooked this to go with your Butter Chicken Recipe. Also made the Garlic Butter Rice from Crave It All. Made it a PERFECT DINNER! Thank you so much for this Recipe!!!Reply
Michelle Krz says
This was such an easy dough to work with and the naan turned out beautifully. I found that my first few naan turned out too thick because I couldn’t roll the dough thin enough or it overflowed my cast iron skillet. I found that it worked best when I cut it into 20 pieces and rolled the dough very thin. This puffed up perfectly and was very light. I wonder if anyone else did this? Thanks for the recipe! I will definitely be making this again.Reply
Laroo says
Excellent. !!! Taste texture soft and delicious. I have tried numerous recipes. First one that taste texture like a restaurant .Reply
Nicki P Gary says
I will NEVER buy Naan from a store again!!!
My batch didn’t rize but I went ahead with the recipe as called for & its the BEST naan I’ve ever had!!! My only problem is that it made soo much & I live alone so next time I’ll halve the recipe.
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe with us!Reply
Debi Seltzer says
Thank you so much for such a delightfully simple yet delicious recipe! I made it with my Tiki Masala and the family went crazy!!! Best Baan bread I’ve ever had!Reply
Margaret says
I cannot believe how simple it is to make such heavenly naan. My goodness! This recipe is SO good! I subed out the veg oil for coconut oil, I also forgot to buy yogurt so I used some powdered buttermilk and increased the milk by 1/2 a cup. Cooked them on the blackstone in two batches of 4. My husband couldn’t stop eating them, he at 2 before our curry was done!!Reply
Jack says
This recept is the one.. been trying to get my hands on a good naan bread recipe.
Turns out this is beyond good DAYUMYUMYUMSam says
Amazing!!! I find that using sour cream instead of the yogurt makes it SO much more delicious. I also use 3 teaspoons of minced garlic instead of two, with some of the juice. Tastes so good!!!!!Reply
yvonne says
This is the best naan and so easy!! Definitely a keeper.Reply
Russell says
Didn’t make the garlic butter topping this time, but the naan still came out beautiful. Can’t wait for the next curry night when I’ll do the whole recipe.Reply
Marianne says
Easy recipe, used my homade greek style yogurt and the whey from the yogurt instead of the milk and water. Made for a lovely tangy soft bread. We froze ours2/bag for later dinners of Dahl, butter chicken, curries and of course flatbread pizzas. This is a keeper. Thank youReply
Diane M Ferguson says
This is the most delicious Naan bread I’ve ever had! It turns out beautiful! I had zero leftovers because everyone kept eating it so I had to make more the next day. Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe!Reply
Samantha says
can i let the dough rest overnight? thought i’d need the dough today but won’t need it until tomorrow.Reply
Marie says
Absolutely amazing! I only had a medium size cast iron skillet, so I did 12 portions instead of ten – but they turned out pillowy and perfect! My sons decided that dinner was more naan with a side of Mulligatawny -instead of the other way around. This is a keeper!Reply
Ava says
As I commented earlier, I made the dough in my bread machine. I then cooked it on my stove top griddle. I was 5 star wonderful! Soft, fluffy and perfect! Thank you for posting this recipe. No more Costco naan at this house!! I’ll be making this recipe whenever I make Indian food.Reply
Ava says
I m making the dough in my bread machine right now. I gave the recipe maximum stars because 1. The dough smells amazing! And 2. The dough consistency looks perfect! I was wondering one thing… The recipe does not call for ghee, yet it’s mentioned in the write up. I’ll be cooking the naan on my stovetop griddle, where I’ll be able to cook 5 at a time. I’ll be back later with the results…Can’t wait!Reply
Shirley Fowler says
They turn out so wonderful, soft and fluffy. This is definitely a keeper. ThanksReply
Judy G. says
I made this my cast iron skillet tonight and turned some of it into pizza. My family raved about it! It was delicious! The dough texture was light and easy to stretch. I thought the dough was best when rolled out super thin because it does puff up a lot in the pan and browns nicely.Reply
Tom says
Great recipe. Made the first time this weekend easy and delicious.
I’m new to making doughs. For the next time I make this recipe… Does any body know if the dough can be made the night before and rest in the fridge until I need it the next day?
Reply
Tatiana says
Just made this for dinner and I loooove it! Had to cut it in half since its just the two of us and I didn’t want leftovers and it came out great
Reply
Darla says
This was the best Naan we have ever had! It was easy to make. We enjoyed it with chicken tiki Marsala, and individual pizzas. This was better than store bought naan. Can’t wait to make it again!Reply
simon says
First time I tried cooking anything like this and I have to say they were so simple to make and delicious! Just like in a restaurant. Roll them as thin as possible, they’ll puff up beautifullyReply
J says
Made this tonight to go along with some butter chicken; it turned out so well!Reply
Victoria says
Made these for some guests to enjoy along side home made chicken tikka curry and homemade bombay potatoes, I was so impressed, don’t need to cook for too long otherwise they burn, easy to get hang of once you’ve practised, very very tasty
Reply
Lorena says
Made this recipe, my first time ever making naan. It was absolutely delicious. Just as soft and tender as the naan from an indian restaurant. Brushing generously with salted butter after cooking is a must. This recipe also yields A LOT of bread. I made them into the 10 pieces but they were so huge. Next time I’ll roll the balls up smaller and get more pieces that are smaller. I also used almond milk because it was all I had but it still turned out so well, the large amount of yogurt in the recipe made up for it. Will be making again!
Reply
Millia says
I have never been able to make naan bread before without turning out hard like a rock or tasteless. I followed the recipe carefully and I must say I have learnt a lifetime recipe to keep. It was so soft much better than the ones you get in a restaurant and my family absolutely loved it. When cooking I kept smearing it with some oil as it was getting dry. Also I didn’t have a cast iron skillet just used a ordinary frying pan. Thanks a millionReply
Cheryl says
This was so good! I baked on a pizza stone!Reply
Amy says
Hi Cheryl,
I have made this recipe so many times and I love it, but I have been wondering about baking the dough. Do you recall the temperature of the oven and the time required? Alex Guarnaschelli has a recipe for a baked garlic naan using inverted sheet pans: 450 for 5 go 6 minutes, but her dough recipe is so different than Karina’s.
Happy Holidays!
Best,
AmyReply
Laurel says
Is there another type of pan I could use? I don’t have a cast iron skillet. Thanks.
Reply
Erica says
Quick and easy! Made this tonight. My daughter and I loved it!I’d say any type of pan would work. Just be sure to preheat it so it’s an even temperature when you put the bread down.
Reply
Lady Ann says
you should get one, the iron pan is the best for cooking steaks and other great recipes, you can find them cheap at marshalls.
Reply
Damien Toal says
Just use a normal large frying pan or a tawa is even better (and what Indian/Pakistani use as well).
Reply
Liv says
Any pan will work. Just make sure the pan is oiled and nice and hot!
Reply
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