Vegan Naan Bread

Vegan naan bread - these soft vegan flatbreads are perfect for serving alongside curry and are easy to make too. These restaurant style garlic naan are soft, fluffy and totally delicious, the only naan recipe you will ever need!

Who doesn't love naan bread? It is the perfect, soft, flavourful flatbread for scooping up curry, serving alongside a spicy soup, or even for using as a quick pizza base!

Naan bread is made with an enriched dough, meaning that it often contains dairy; usually in the form of yogurt and ghee or butter. This is what helps to make it so soft and full of flavour.

Because of this, most restaurant and shop-bought naan breads are not suitable for vegans; but the good news is that it is really easy to make your own vegan friendly naan at home!

It is really simple to swap the usual yogurt for a non-dairy variety, and the ghee/butter for oil; the naan bread turns out exactly the same!

Traditionally naan are cooked in a clay tandoor oven, which is a cylindrical oven that is heated to around 480°C/900°F. The bread is stuck to the side of the oven where it quickly bubbles up and cooks through in the high heat.

Obviously it isn't really possible to recreate a tandoor oven at home, but a hot cast iron skillet on the stove top does a similar job. You can use a heavy bottomed frying pan if you don't have a cast iron skillet, but a skillet really is best.

Here's What You'll Need To Make Vegan Naan Bread:

Plain Flour: I use plain (all-purpose) flour for a soft texture but bread flour will work just as well; or you can use a combination of the two.

Instant Yeast: I use instant yeast in all my breadmaking as unlike fresh or active dry yeast it doesn't need activating first. It is also called 'fast action' or 'easy' yeast.

If you've only got active dry yeast then you will need to 'activate' it first. To do this, mix it with the warm water (lukewarm, NOT hot or it will kill the yeast) and the sugar and set it aside for 10-20 minutes or so until it goes foamy or puffy. Then continue with the recipe as written.

Unsweetened Non-Dairy Yogurt: Any kind will work as long as it isn't sweetened. I used a soy/coconut yogurt blend (Asda own brand). Depending on how thick or runny the yogurt is you may need to add a little more flour or water to the dough.

Oil: A little bit of fat helps to keep the naan nice and soft. I used olive oil but pretty much any kind of oil will work, including melted coconut oil, or even melted vegan butter.

Sugar: Just a little bit to feed the yeast. Don't omit it.

Salt: Bread that doesn't contain some salt in the dough is bland af.

Warm Water: Make sure that it is lukewarm, not hot. You should be able to comfortably hold your hand in it for at least 30 seconds otherwise it may kill the yeast. You can also use lukewarm unsweetened plant milk instead.

How To Make Vegan Naan Bread:

(For ingredients and full instructions see the recipe card below)

Place the flour in a large mixing bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Add the sugar and salt to one side of the bowl and the yeast to the other. Yeast doesn't like to come into direct contact with salt. Stir to combine.

Add the yogurt, oil and warm water and stir to form a rough dough. It should be very soft and sticky but if it feels soupy you can add a bit more flour until it is sticky but not runny. If it feels too dry add a drop more water. If it's not sticking to your hands then it is too dry!

Knead for about 5 minutes, it will still be sticky but should become smoother. I knead it by hand in the bowl by pulling the dough upwards then folding it. Be prepared to get a bit messy!

Cover the bowl and set aside to rise in a warm place for about 90 minutes until doubled in size. You can also place the bowl in the fridge to rise for 8-24 hours. If you are rising it in the fridge then it should still be doubled in size before you shape the naan.

Turn the risen dough out onto a flour dusted surface and dust with more flour as needed to prevent it from sticking. Divide it into 4-8 even pieces, depending on how large you want your naan to be. Loosely cover and leave to rest for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile make the garlic butter by mixing the melted butter and crushed garlic together in a bowl.

Place a cast iron skillet or heavy bottomed frying pan over a medium-high heat.

Take one of the pieces of dough and stretch or roll it out into a rough triangle shape, dusting with flour as needed to prevent it from sticking.

Brush the skillet with a little oil and carefully transfer the triangle to the hot skillet. Brush the dough with some of the garlic butter and cook until it becomes bubbly.

Flip the naan over and cook until browned, about 30 seconds - 1 minute. Transfer to a plate and brush with more of the garlic butter.

Repeat with the rest of the dough balls, brushing the skillet with a little more oil as needed.

Top Tips:

For the best results make sure that you follow the recipe closely. As always, I highly recommend using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup conversions. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough for baking and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them.

This should be a very soft, sticky dough, don't add too much extra flour or the vegan naan bread will be dry. Of course if the dough feels too wet and soupy it is fine to add a bit more flour. Conversely, if it feels too stiff and dry you can add a little more water or yogurt.

The recipe will make four large naan breads, or six or eight smaller ones. Unless you have a very large skillet/frying pan I suggest making six or eight rather than four.

This vegan naan bread is best eaten freshly cooked so I don't suggest making it in advance. You can however make the dough in advance and let it rise in the fridge for 8-24 hours. It should be doubled in size before you shape the naan.

The cooked naan bread can be frozen in an airtight container or well wrapped. Ideally they should be frozen as soon as they have cooled to keep them as soft as possible. Refresh them in a low oven for 10 minutes to serve.

How To Flavour Your Naan:

Garlic naan: Brush the naan bread with garlic butter, as detailed in the recipe below. I like to brush it with some when I place it in the skillet to cook and again once it is cooked for extra garlic flavour.

Butter naan: Omit the garlic and just brush it with melted (vegan) butter/margarine.

Nigella naan: When you place the naan in the skillet, brush with melted butter or oil and sprinkle with nigella seeds/kalonji.

Coriander naan: Brush the cooked naan with melted butter and sprinkle with chopped fresh coriander (cilantro).

You can also try brushing the naan with oil or melted butter and sprinkling it with za'atar.

What To Serve With Vegan Naan Bread:

Curry:

Chickpea, sweet potato and spinach curry

Red lentil dhal with roasted cauliflower and butternut squash

Chana Masala

Soup:

Spiced carrot and pumpkin soup

Quick black-eyed bean soup

Vegan sausage casserole with lentils and farro

Spiced red lentil and root vegetable soup

Dips:

Roasted red pepper and chilli hummus

Hummus bowl with crispy North African chickpeas

More Vegan Bread Recipes:

Vegan brioche

Vegan Hokkaido milk bread

Easy vegan cornbread

Pumpkin bread rolls

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