Published: · Modified: by Katie
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Homemade naan is super easy to make and tastes absolutely delicious! This fluffy naan is dairy-free, made without yogurt and you'll only need 7 simple ingredients!
This vegan naan bread is a must to try with our creamy Red Lentil Dahl, Sweet Potato Red Lenti Curry or Moroccan Stewed White Beans.
Jump to:
- Why You'll Love This Recipe
- What is Naan?
- How to Make Naan without Yogurt
- Top Tips
- Serving Suggestions
- Storing
- FAQs
- Recipes to try with naan
- 📖 Recipe
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- There's no yogurt, no dairy and no butter included.
- It can be served as a side dish with your favorite curries, stews, soups or salads.
- It can also be enjoyed as a snack with some hummus, guacamole and veggies.
- It's super simple to make.
What is Naan?
Naan is a type of leavened flatbread, eaten primarily in India and Western and Central Asia. It's a popular side dish and often served along with curries, soups or meat dishes.
It can be served plain or stuffed with cheese, garlic or potatoes.
Ingredients & Substitution Notes
- Dry yeast: This recipe uses dry yeast as a leavening agent. It helps the bread to rise and makes is fluffy. I prefer using dry yeast over fresh yeast because it's easier to store and has a longer shelf life.
- (Brown) sugar: I used brown sugar but feel free to use regular white sugar.
- White all-purpose flour: I used regular white flour because I prefer it over the taste of whole wheat flour in this recipe. Feel free to experiment though.
- (Almond) milk: To keep this recipe dairy-free, I used almond milk. You could use any milk of choice here such as soy milk, oat milk or regular dairy milk.
- Olive oil: Helps with a soft and chewy texture. Any other neutral flavored vegetable oil would work too.
- Garlic (optional): for some garlic-oil
How to Make Naan without Yogurt
This easy naan recipe is super quick and easy to make and only requires 7 ingredients. There's no special equipment needed aside from a large mixing bowl and a rolling pin.
STEP 1: Activate the yeast. For the yeast to do its trick it needs to be activated. Dissolve the yeast and ½ teaspoon of sugar in warm water (not hot) using a whisk.
Then set aside for about 10 minutes. During the activation process, the active dry yeast will start to foam and form little bubbles.
STEP 2: Make the dough. Whisk together the dry ingredients (flour and salt) in a large mixing bowl.
Then add the wet ingredients (activated yeast, almond milk and olive oil).
STEP 3: Let dough rest. Stir with a spatula or whisk and then knead the dough until it comes together.
Cover the naan dough with a tea towel and let it rise for about 30 minutes to 1h at room temperature.
Let the dough rise in an airtight container that's big enough to hold the dough after it's doubled in size. That way it won't dry out as much.
STEP 4: Roll out the dough balls. Divide the dough into 6 equal parts.
Roll out each dough ball on a well-floured, flat surface using a rolling pin.
STEP 5: Cook. Heat a large skillet or frying pan over medium-high heat. Place the naan in the hot pan and cook on one side for about 2 minutes until you can see bubbles forming.
Flip and continue to cook on the other side until you can see brown spots.
Top Tips
- Thickness: For the naan to be fluffy and bubbly, it's important to not roll it out too thin. Roll each ball to ¼-inch thickness for optimal results.
- Hot pan: Make sure that your pan is hot enough. Oftentimes, medium heat is not enough heat to make the bread bubble. Opt for medium-high temperature.
Serving Suggestions
There are many different ways to enjoy fresh, homemade naan. Find some suggestions below.
- Plain: Enjoy this naan plain as a snack, with some homemade hummus or guacamole.
- Side Dish: Enjoy it as a side dish along with some Red Lentil Dahl, Sweet Potato Red Lenti Curry, Chickpea Masala or Tofu Curry.
- Garlic Oil: Turn this into a delicious garlic naan by brushing on some homemade garlic-oil.
Storing
Store any left-over naan in an airtight container at room temperature. However, it definitely tastes best when consumed right away!
FAQs
What is the difference between a naan and a pita bread?
Pita is thicker and more used for stuffing in recipes such as kebab or falafel. Naan is more bubbly and usually eaten as a side dish.
Can you make naan without yogurt?
Absolutely, you can easily make naan without yogurt. The oil in combination with the yeast will help turn this into soft and fluffy bread.
What can I substitute for yogurt in naan?
Sometimes, plain yogurt is replaced with sour cream but there's no need to replace the yogurt at all.
Recipes to try with naan
- Red Lentil Dahl with Coconut Milk
- Sweet Potato Red Lentil and Coconut Curry Recipe
- Indian Cauliflower Curry
- Loubia Recipe (Moroccan Stewed White Beans)
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📖 Recipe
Homemade Naan (no yogurt)
Author: Katie
This homemade naan requires only 7 ingredients and is made without yogurt or dairy. It tastes amazing alongside some curries, stews or plain.
If you love this recipe as much as we do, click on the 5-stars below!
4.53 from 101 votes
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes
Rising Time: 30 minutes minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes minutes
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Indian
Servings: 6
Ingredients
Dry Yeast
- 1.5 teaspoon dry yeast
- ¼ cup warm (not hot) water
- ½ teaspoon sugar
Naan
- 2 + ⅛ cups white, all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup almond milk (or other milk of choice) *soy milk, whole milk...
- 1 tablespoon olive oil +more for brushing
Garlic Oil (Optional)
- 4 garlic cloves
- 7 tablespoon olive oil
- pinch of salt
You can find detailed step-by step-photos above the recipe card.
Instructions
Activating Yeast
In a small bowl or glass, mix together water, yeast and sugar with a whisk until fully dissolved. Let sit for about 10 min until yeast starts to foam.
Naan
In a large bowl, whisk together flour and salt.
Add activated yeast, milk and olive oil.
Stir with a spatula or whisk and then knead the dough using your hands until the dough comes together.
If you feel that you need more liquid, add 1 more tbsp of almond milk (no more).
Cover the bowl with a lid or kitchen towel and set aside for 30 minutes to 1 hour (room temperature) and let dough rise.
Divide the dough into 6 equally-sized small balls.
Roll out each ball to ¼-inch thickness on a well-floured surface.
Heat a frying pan or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.
Place the naan in the hot skillet and cook on one side for about 2 minutes until you can see bubbles forming (see step-by-step photos).
Flip and continue to cook on the other side until browned.
Brush on some garlic oil (optional) before serving.
Garlic Oil (Optional)
Mince garlic and add it, together with the olive oil and a pinch of salt to a small bowl, Stir until well combined.
Notes
- Let the dough risein an airtight container that's big enough to hold the dough after it's doubled in size. That way it won't dry out as much.
- Thickness: For the naan to be fluffy, it's important to not roll it out too thin. Roll each ball to ¼-inch thickness for optimal results.
- Hot pan: Make sure that your pan is hot enough. Oftentimes, medium heat is not enough heat to make the bread bubble. Opt for medium-high temperature.
- Store any left-over naan in an airtight container at room temperature. However, it definitely tastes best when consumed right away!
Nutrition
Serving: 1naan. | Calories: 247kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 418mg | Potassium: 98mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 1IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 38mg | Iron: 3mg
All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates.
Tried this recipe?Leave a rating and comment telling us how you liked it! Or tag @wholefoodsoulfood__kitchen on Instagram so we can admire your creations!
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Reader Interactions
Comments
Anonymous says
This recipe is gonna be a keeper for me. It was easy to make and turned out really good 😋 . Hubby approved 👌Reply
Katie says
Thanks so much for letting me know! Very glad to hear that! 🥰
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Anonymous says
This recipe is GOLD! I came across it as I wanted to do Naan bread, but didn’t have yogurt. Love it!
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Katie says
Glad to hear that you liked it!
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Stacey TURKO says
We only eat about a half batch, the other half freezes really wellReply
Brittany T says
Delicious! Just like the real deal. Going to make it for the second time tonight 🙂 Thank you!Reply
Katie says
Hi Brittany! Thanks so much for letting me know, happy that you like it! 😊
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DiL says
Turns out incredibly good!! Soft and delish! Easy to make too. Thank you for sharing! 👍🏼Reply
Katie says
Thanks so much for your lovely feedback! 😊
Reply
Zoe says
Very easy, very tasty, practically bomb-proof. On my second try I mixed 200g plain flour with 55g bread flour as an experiment and it worked fine.Reply
Katie says
So happy to hear that Zoe! Would love to hear who it turned out! 😊
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Len says
Another happy customer.Didn't use "garlic oil" but just brushed olive oil on the uncooked side and then a light sprinkle of granulated garlic and salt. I had already mixed 1t of minced garlic into the dough itself before the rise.
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Katie says
Very happy to hear that! Thanks Len, for letting me know! 😊
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Anonymous says
It was amazing it worked well and taste just like the brand I always buy I bought it today but somebody in my house ate it 5/5 should try but I put the oven to 250 then turned it off and put it in the oven to rise faster now I can eat my tikka masala and naan to!Reply
Katie says
Very happy to hear that! 😊 Thanks for the feedback!
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Victoria Faubert says
Very good and so easy to make this will be my go to I didn't add the salt as I have kidney diseaseReply
Katie says
So happy to hear that you liked it, thanks a lot!
Reply
Alex says
This recipe was great! I hesitant when I first made the dough because it looked somewhat dry, but I oiled the dough before I let it rest for an hour which seemed to help. I also added a bit of oil to the pan before cooking, as the first one came out somewhat burnt (I was using a nonstick pan).This was a great recipe and I’m definitely adding it to my usual cooking rotation!
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Katie says
Hi Alex, thanks a lot for your helpful feedback! I'm very happy that it turned out yummy in the end 🙂
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Steve says
I made this recipe and baked the naan in a pizza oven and they turned out fantastic. The recipe is simple and easy to follow. We will be making these a lot in the future.Reply
Katie says
Hi Steve, very happy to hear that! 🙂 Thanks for letting us know!
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