Gluten Free Naan Bread

Naan bread is an Indian flatbread. This gluten free naan bread is just as soft and delicious as the original, and just as easy to make!

Ahhhh, naan bread. That soft and tangy flatbread always served in Indian restaurants to dip in curries and such. I remember years ago picking up those packages of naan from the grocery store to make personal pizzas, or wraps filled with grilled chicken and vegetables. I now pass right by those packages in the store. Not because I’ve accepted the fact I can no longer have naan bread. Because I developed THIS gluten free naan bread and I don’t have to go without anymore!

I’ve been making this gluten free naan bread for years now. It’s so soft and delicious, my family didn’t know it was gluten free! My sister came for a visit a couple years back and I made a dinner of chicken souvlaki with a yogurt tahini sauce. This is my favorite way to serve gluten free naan bread, with chicken souvlaki.

It’s actually so simple to make this bread, you’ll wish you had the recipe years ago! Well, I’m here right now giving it to you so you can make it any time you feel like having great gluten free bread 🙂 Let’s go over the easy steps:

• Mix up the dough. The dough consists of simple ingredients, Kim’s gluten free bread flour blend, yeast, a pinch of baking powder, sugar, salt, yogurt, and olive oil.
• Let the dough rise for about 2-4 hours on the counter, or until doubled in volume. I make it in the morning so it’s ready for dinner.
• Refrigerate for several hours to make it easier to work with.
• Knead dough briefly on well-floured surface. It’s a very sticky dough so using more flour will help it not to stick to the counter.
• Divide dough into 6 pieces and roll out into oblong shape (tear shaped is what true naan bread is, but whatever shape you end up with is fine).
• Heat cast iron skillet to smoking. Make sure you have good ventilation because it will smoke heavily. (Open windows, plug in fans, etc). Better yet, if you have a gas grill, heat the skillet on the grill on high heat. Place each naan on baking sheets to bring to grill.
• Using a bench scraper, lift naan from counter (or baking sheet if using a grill) and flip over onto skillet.
• “Bake” naan for 1 minute on first side. Flip over with spatula and cover skillet with lid. Bake for another minute.
• Remove naan from skillet and place on baking sheet. Brush with butter or ghee.

You’re gonna LOVE this gluten free naan bread!! It’s so soft and so versatile (naan pizza for one, perhaps?) you’ll be making it all the time 🙂

Gluten Free Naan Bread

Naan bread is an Indian flatbread that's leavened with yeast and softened with yogurt. This gluten free naan bread is just as soft and delicious as the original, and just as easy to make!

Print Recipe

CourseMain Course, Side Dish

CuisineIndian

Keywordbread, Gluten Free, naan

Prep Time10 minutes

Cook Time15 minutes

Rising Time, Chilling time6 hours

Total Time6 hours 25 minutes

Servings6 pieces

AuthorKim

Ingredients

• 2 cups (280 g) Kim's gluten free bread flour blend
• 1 ½ tsp instant (fast-acting) yeast
• 2 tsp granulated sugar
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 1/8 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup water
• 3 tbsp plain full-fat yogurt (not greek yogurt)
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

• In large measuring cup, combine water, yogurt, and olive oil. Set aside.
• In bowl of stand mixer, whisk together flour blend, baking powder, yeast, sugar, and salt. With mixer running on low speed, using paddle attachment, slowly pour in wet ingredients until incorporated. Mix on medium high for about 5 minutes. Alternatively, the dough can be mixed vigorously by hand in a large bowl with a dough mixer or wooden spoon (you're sure to get an arm workout).
• Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise at room temperature for about 2-4 hours (depending on how warm your kitchen is), until doubled in volume.
• Refrigerate dough for a couple of hours until well chilled. This can be done overnight, or even up to 3 days ahead.
• Remove dough from refrigerator and knead briefly on well-floured surface. Dough is very sticky, so use as much extra bread flour blend as necessary to prevent sticking. (You may also use tapioca or cornstarch). Divide into 6 equal pieces and roll each piece into an oblong flatbread about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick, using more flour as needed.
• Heat cast iron skillet to scorching hot (you will need adequate ventilation for this–outside on a grill is another option).
• Using bench scraper, lift one flatbread off surface and carefully flip over onto skillet. "Bake" for 1 minute. Flip over using spatula and cover skillet and "bake" for another minute. Remove from skillet, place on baking sheet and brush with butter. Bake the rest of the naan, one at a time. Serve warm wrapped in towel.
• Store wrapped in foil on counter for just a few days. To reheat, preheat oven to 350° and reheat naans wrapped in foil for about 15 minutes, or until heated throughout. May be frozen well wrapped for 3 months.

Adapted from Aarti Sequeira’s Naan: Indian Oven-Baked Flat Bread