Ya’ll, this Gluten Free Yeast Free Naan Bread is just as soft and tender (if not more so) as the yeast version. It can be made in half the time, and uses ingredients commonly found in your pantry and fridge!
I might have found my new favorite quick bread! Seriously, this bread is perfect! Soft and pillowy, tears like real naan bread, has endless uses, is sooooo easy, and is just plain yummy!!
I’ve made gluten free naan bread with yeast many times before (you’ll find that recipe here) and still do when I want that yeasty flavor. But sometimes we either can’t get our hands on yeast (as is the case these days) or we don’t have time to mess with it (during our normal lives).
By switching the leavener from yeast to baking powder and baking soda, we’ve cut the time by more than half and you’ll never know anything has changed.
What is Naan?
Naan is an Indian flatbread usually made with yogurt that’s served with curries and other saucy Indian style dishes. It can be torn into pieces and used as a utensil to pick up food. Or it can be used as a vessel for fillings, such as my favorite chicken souvlaki (future summer post). Grilled chicken, vegetables, and a wonderful tahini yogurt sauce are rolled into a piece of naan.
The Ingredients in Gluten Free Yeast Free Naan
It’s unbelievably easy to make this non-yeasted naan bread, so let’s get started! But first, the list of ingredients:
- Kim’s gluten free bread flour blend–there really is no substitute for my bread flour blend. If you need to substitute within the blend itself, you’ll find all that info on my flour blends page.
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Milk–for dairy free, use a dairy-free milk.
- Yogurt–just plain yogurt, not Greek style. If all you have is Greek yogurt, add about a tbsp or two of heavy cream to about 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt and stir. This will loosen it up enough to use it in this recipe. For dairy-free, use a dairy-free yogurt, such as So Delicious.
- Honey
- Butter, ghee, or clarified butter–for brushing onto the naan when it’s done. For dairy-free, choose a dairy-free butter alternative. (Ghee is lactose free for those who are lactose intolerant).
Making the Naan
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour blend, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, yogurt, and honey.
- Add the wet mixture into the dry and stir until smooth. The dough will be sticky, but cohesive.
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for about 1-2 hours to make it easier to roll out.
- On a well-floured surface, knead the dough briefly until smooth.
- Divide it into four equal pieces and roll out each piece into an elongated tear-drop shape.
- Heat a cast iron (or nonstick) skillet over medium-high heat until smoking. *Make sure you have good ventilation in your house as things will get smoky!
- Sprinkle one side of a piece of naan with water and place onto the hot skillet. Cover and let cool for about one minute. Remove the cover and flip the naan over and continue to cook on the other side for another minute.
- Remove the naan and immediately brush it with melted butter, clarified butter, or ghee. Sprinkle with sea salt if desired.
What Else Can I Do With Naan?
There are many possibilities for using naan. Here are just a few suggestions for serving it:
- As a side dish with curries, soups, or stews
- With hummus (the best!)
- As a side with a salad, especially a Greek salad
- As a wrap, like I mentioned above for chicken souvlaki and vegetables rolled up in the naan
- Spread with pizza sauce and top with cheese and bake for an easy and quick pizza
- Smear with peanut butter and jelly and roll for pb&j rollups
- Fill one side with cheese and fold over. Griddle for a grilled cheese/quesadilla
Can I Freeze Naan Bread?
Yes, yes, yes!! I freeze just about every gluten free bread I make, and this yeast free naan is no exception. There’s no way I could eat all the bread I make before it goes bad, so the best way to keep it for a long time is to freeze it.
Place any leftover naan on a parchment-lined baking sheet in one even layer and freeze for about one hour. Remove from the baking sheet and place naan in a gallon-sized ziptop freezer bag and remove as much air from the bag as possible. Freeze for 2-3 months.
To reheat naan, wrap with foil and place in a 325-degree F oven for about 10-15 minutes or until heated through.
We’re all in this together so we may as well make good use of the time and make some gluten free YEAST free naan. It’ll be a nice flatbread change from all the other breads we’ve been baking!
Gluten Free Yeast Free Naan
Ingredients
- 2 cups (280 g) Kim's gluten free bread flour blend ***
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ¾ cup (180 ml) whole milk
- ½ cup (120 g) plain whole-milk yogurt (see notes for using Greek style)
- 1 tsp honey
- melted butter, ghee, or clarified butter for brushing (mixed with crushed garlic and parsley if desired)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour blend, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a measuring cup, whisk together milk, yogurt, and honey. Pour wet mixture into dry ingredients and stir to combine. Dough will be very sticky and thick.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill for at least one hour and up to overnight.
- Knead dough onto well-floured surface until fairly smooth. Divide dough into four equal pieces and roll each out with a rolling pin until a large tear-drop shape, about 1/4 inch thick.
- Place each on a piece of parchment paper and set aside.
- Heat cast iron or nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Sprinkle water on top of one of the dough pieces and flip over onto skillet, water side down. Peel away the parchment paper and cover the pan with a lid. Cook for about one minute, remove lid, sprinkle water over top side of dough, and flip dough over. Cover with lid again and cook for another minute before removing to a plate.
- Finish cooking all four pieces and then brush each with melted butter, clarified butter, or ghee. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Awesomeness. I tried this on a whim to go with soup, wow. I had to use a few substitutions based on what I had on hand (family is celiac and flours on order to make your blend), I used Pamela’s bread flour mix and zero fat yogurt as sub. It worked well and family ate it all. I appreciate all the time that has gone into perfecting these recipes. I have been trying for years and many books. Next up the marble rye!
Amazing! It’s my first time using your flour blend and making a recipe! I’m always so nervous but am so confident now that this turned out wonderfully! Do they need to be refrigerated? If so, for how long? By the way I couldn’t find whey protein isolate at any store where I live, so I have to use the concentrate too and it seems to work
.
Awesome!! No, they don’t need to be refrigerated, but, as with any fresh bread, they will stale if not eaten within a few days. My suggestion is to freeze any that you don’t eat right away.
My dough was not as firm (it sat in the fridge overnight). After I made them I came back and watched the video – I think you kneaded in more flour than just a sprinkling. I just used my hands to pat it out on the parchment (my parchment was low quality, so that was a bit of a mess LOL). My first two were a little thicker, the next two I made thinner. But they all worked out, look great, smell good, and taste amazing! The next time I will for sure knead in more flour to get a firmer dough so I can roll it thinner, but honestly, I am very happy with how they turned out! First time using your flour mixture, and I am so happy. No strange flavour and the texture is very good. Can’t wait to try the English Muffin bread! I used to use another recipe that called for harder to find ingredients and a purchased flour that had a bad smell and taste to me.
have made several g.f. naan recipes and can say without a doubt these taste THA BEST thus far and are ten fold easier to make . . . even danced with your g.f. original yeasted version and will be making these on the regular . . .
from your friendly neighborhood ogre 🙂 much <3 Mrs.Kim ! 🙂
So glad you liked them 🙂
So glad you like them!! I prefer these to the yeasted version as well 😊
Facepalm! It wasn’t until I decided to write this recipe down in my drawer tiny tablet that I realized what I have been making the entire time wasn’t correct! For some unknown reason I used buttermilk instead of milk and sour cream rather than the yoghurt. sigh… But it works great using those ingredients. Just shows the strength of your recipes.
I made the slick dumplings and they came out great. I would imagine you’ve had troubles finding a recipe for them, they seem to have fallen completely out of favor. They are chewy, yet soft and that is what we used instead of fluffy dumplings in chicken and dumplings. Also used in stew. My husband’s grandmother rolled them out, cut them fairly small boiled them in salted water, drained them well and served with a butter sauce instead of potatoes.
Oh, haha! That’s good to know about the buttermilk and sour cream, Gillie!! Thanks for sharing.
I have got to try those dumplings. They sound SO good 😋
Hi Kim,
Another great recipe. I made these to go with our Tiki Masala. I was skeptical at first as the dough was very wet almost like batter. After removing it from the frig I dumped it on the counter and kept working with more flour . They were very soft and not easy to handle, I should have rewatched your video and used parchment to flip them. I put them on my flat cast iron griddle and didn’t cover them, again I should have rewatched your video. But all said and done they were wonderful. Better than the gluten ones I use to make. Thank you so much for sharing your flour blend and recipes. I’ve had the best of luck with everythink I’ve tried. Currently have the Artisian Bread dough in the frig and the English muffin dough for pizza and muffins in the frig. Excited to eat them later.
Thanks so much, Kim! I’m so glad you liked the naan, and I can’t wait for you to try the muffins and pizza. The pan pizza is a favorite in our house 🙂
Another fabulous recipe! Thanks Kim.
It’s my pleasure, Drina! Thank YOU 😍
These naans turned out just as you said, Kim. Beautifully fluffy and soft. I used whey protein concentrate instead of isolate and they tasted great 🙂
Yay! It’s good to know the whey protein concentrate works as well!
Thanks, Manisha 🙂
Just found your website can’t wait to try some of your recipes. I love that you include the videos definitely helps to see What its supposed to look like and not just read a recipe . I’ve been experimenting with sourdough starter and wondered if you have ever used it when making naan
Thanks
jenn
Hi, Jennifer and thanks for visiting my site!
I haven’t tried sourdough yet with naan, but I do have a recipe on my site for artisan sourdough bread. In that post, I talk about how to make any of my breads using a sourdough starter. Here’s the link to that post: https://www.letthemeatgfcake.com/gluten-free-artisan-sourdough-bread/ 🙂
This was fabulous! Super easy to make and delicious. Thank you for a delicious quick flat bread.
Have you ever eaten “slick” dumplings? it is something I miss ever so much. This dough when rolled out, seems similar to the slick dumpling dough. Next time I make soup, experiments will be conducted, and will report back.
Thanks, Gillie! I can’t say I’ve ever heard of slick dumplings, but I’ll definitely be checking them out now. Any kind of dumpling is my kind of dumpling, haha!!
I can’t wait to hear about your experiments 🙂
Hi Kim, made the Naan Bread for dinner last night, we love it. Thank you for another great recipe.
Thanks, Shari 🙂
Awe, thanks so much, Shari!! It is my absolute pleasure to share my recipes with everyone 🙂
What if I don’t have your gluten free blend?
See the disclaimer at the bottom of the recipe.
What if I don’t have your gluten free blend?
I tried this recipe using your specific flour blend and it came out incredible! I’ve never made naan before and will definitely be making this recipe again and again! I love Indian food and different types of roti & naan are a big part of that culture so I’m glad that I don’t have to give up naan because of my gluten sensitivity. Thank you again!
You’re so very welcome, Kafi!! I love Indian food, too, and roti is also on my list of foods to try to make gluten free 🙂
I look forward to your roti recipe! I make the regular gluten roti for my family and watch them devour them without me (sad face). Thank again for this recipe!
I just made these, stuffed with cheese, for my boy and he loved them. They tasted like gluten naans. How awesome! I’ll try more recipes in your blog. Thank you so much, Kim! Looking forward to your new recipes.
Kim…PLEASE make a cookbook!!! I have suffered YEARS with inflammation that the VA could never determine the reason for. I did a DNA test and low and behold I had a gluten intolerance…Now, 9 months into a Gluten Free diet, I have magically lost 25 pounds effortlessly and feel so GREAT! I SO miss Krispy Kreme Donuts. I have found glazed donuts in the grocery but they were cake donuts and not that yeasty fried gloriousness that I was hoping for…I searched the internet, happened upon your site…I am going to try your donut recipe and this Naan, AND certainly keep looking through your recipes! Love and HUGS! PLEASE MAKE A COOKBOOK! PLEASE!!!
Oh my goodness, Ronea! I would LOVE to write a cookbook one day. I don’t have the funds for it at the moment, but maybe I can think of creating an e-cookbook, a smaller online version. I’ll have to check into that.
Thanks so much for your kind words 🙂
Check out places like Lulu that offer print on demand options. No upfront cost involved. Good luck!!
I agree! I was just telling my husband the other day that I needed your recipes in a cookbook! My daughter was diagnosed with Celiac at 3 years old (two years ago) and you have some of the best recipes I can find for making yummy things for her. I am always telling my gf friend and about your blog. I would definitely buy a cookbook!
Awe, thanks so much Shannon! I hope to one day be able to write a cookbook, but at least you have all my recipes on the blog until then 🙂
Made these last night. Light and fluffy a great accompliament with curry. Delicious
Wonderful, Paul! Thanks so much 🙂
I am making your Naan Yeast Free. I want to use Greek Yogurt. You say see note in the recipe. I don’t find the note. Please tell me what the note says. I’d appreciate an ASAP reply
Hi, Sandee! I’m so sorry that I missed that! If you only have Greek yogurt, just thin it with a little bit of either heavy cream or milk, about 1-2 tbsp, until it’s as thin as a regular yogurt would be.
Delicious. Passed my husband’s naan-loving taste test. I would like to try to make a potato naan. Maybe roll it thinner, fill it and cook the same?
I will most definitely be making this bread along with so many of your other amazing recipes! I was recently diagnosed with celiac & I’m so glad I stumbled on your page! I have a quick question about your flour blends (I plan to make all of them!) but how long do your blends usually last?
Great question, Kafi! No one has ever asked that question, and I haven’t thought about it myself. I go through my stash so often that I don’t need to worry about how long they last, haha!!
I think a few months or more would be a good estimate, though. I buy most of the ingredients needed to make my flour blends in bulk so as long as my storage area (my pantry) never gets too hot (which I make sure it doesn’t), those individual flours last for several months. I buy in bulk and then pour them into large containers with lids, which makes storing them last longer I think.
I hope this answers your question 🙂
Thank you so much for your response! I made all 3 of your flour blends and stored them in containers in my pantry.
Your naan bread looks soooo awesome! I will be making it for sure! You are so awsome & I can’t wait to try all your recipes!
Aww, thanks so much Elaine!! You’re too kind 🙂