This vegan naan bread is fluffy, soft, buttery and easy to make, even as a beginner in the kitchen!! You need just a few simple ingredients to make it for a perfect side dish or snack. Serve it with curries and stews, or eat with a dip of your choice. You can even turn naan bread into a pizza!
Bloom the yeast.Add the plant based milk, yeast, salt and sugar to a mixing bowl and stir together well. Cover with a dish towel and set aside for 5-10 minutes. You know that it’s ready when the mixture develops a foamy, bubbly consistency.
⅔ cup plant based milk, 1 tsp salt, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp yeast
Add the soy yogurt to the wet ingredients and mix together thoroughly.
½ cup soy yogurt
In a different bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and garlic powder.
2 ½ cups flour, ½ tsp baking powder, 1 tsp garlic powder
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix together using a spoon or a spatula. When the dough starts to clump together, add the vegan butter and mix it in thoroughly.
2 tbsp vegan butter
Knead the dough for around 5 minutes, until it becomes smooth. If it’s too dry and doesn’t stick together well, add a little bit more plant based milk, 1-2 tbsp at a time. If it’s too wet and clings to your hands excessively, add a little bit more flour. Cover and set aside to proof for an hour. The dough should at least double in size during this time.
Shape the naan
Transfer the dough onto a large, lightly floured worktop. Divide it into 4 equally-sized sections using a bench scraper and roll each one into a sphere. Arrange them on a floured wooden board, cover with a kitchen towel and allow to proof for a further 10 minutes. During this time, they should double in size once more.
Transfer each ball to a floured worktop and roll it out into a tapered rectangle. Flip, and continue rolling out until around a cm in thickness. Make sure to add a light dusting of flour each time you roll to prevent sticking.
Cook the naan
Heat a couple tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan or skillet over a medium-high heat. Add the naan bread one at a time and cook for 3 minutes, or until bubbles start to form on the surface. Flip, then cook for around 90 seconds more.
1 tbsp olive oil
Transfer the naan to a warm plate and brush with extra vegan butter before serving. Garnish with fresh cilantro and/or parsley.
½ cup cilantro
Video
Notes
As with all other bread and vegan baking recipes, weigh out the ingredients for best results.Yeast: You can also use instant yeast for this recipe. If you do so, skip the 5-10 minutes needed to set aside and bloom the yeast,Yogurt substitute: Instead of vegan yogurt, you can make vegan buttermilk. Use half of the milk to make the yeast mixture. Stir 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar into the rest of the milk and set aside for around 10 minutes, then add to the dough as normal.Size: The recipe as written below makes 4 large naan breads. You can, however, divide each section into 2 more and make 8 smaller ones.Storage: You can keep the naan bread on the countertop, covered with a dish towel, for up to 2 days, or in the fridge for up to 6. You can also freeze it for up to 2 months.Reheating: If frozen, allow to thaw fully in the fridge before reheating. Then, warm up either on the stove, or in the microwave.
Craving more veg-friendly recipes? Shop our collection of vegetarian and vegan cookbooks, including our new Vegan Thanksgiving and Vegan Christmas cookbooks!