How to Make Perfect Vegan Naan Bread

If you love bread, then I think you will LOVE this recipe. This vegan naan bread is perfectly soft, fluffy, and chewy, with a tiny bit of crisp. It’s relatively neutral in flavor, with a slight tang due to the use of yogurt. This vegan naan recipe also is not too difficult to make, and the effort is worth it, I promise!

What exactly is naan?

Naan is a leavened, clay oven-baked flatbread used in many cuisines from Asia, Indonesia, Myanmar, and the Caribbean. It is most popularly known for being served alongside and dipped into curry. The main ingredients in naan are flour, yeast, water, and salt. However, there are different component add ins as well as methods to prepare this recipe. This type of flatbread can also be used in several different ways.

Let’s talk about how I make my vegan naan:

First, I combine warm water, active dry yeast, and cane sugar. Once it becomes nice and bubbly, I add vegan yogurt, olive oil, all-purpose flour, and salt. I let my standing mixer do all of the kneading for me, and then I allow it to rest for one hour at room temperature. Alternatively, you can knead the dough by hand, with a little bit of elbow grease. Read my “tiparooskis” to see the instructions on how to do so.

After an hour, the dough gets slightly airy and doubles in size. I divide it into four equal pieces and roll them into circular/oval shapes. I do not have a clay oven, so I cook my naan in a cast-iron skillet. Once the cast-iron skillet is nice and hot, I add in a splash of olive oil and cook each side of the naan until it is spotted with golden brown deliciousness.

Depending on what I’m eating my naan with, I may or may not brush on top a flavored butter. I often eat this naan with curry or my Vegan Morrocan Tagine. In that case, I usually will brush the bread with a butter. If I plan to turn it into a flatbread pizza, I will brush it with more oil to keep it nice and moist.

DIFFERENT WAYS TO EAT THIS VEGAN NAAN BREAD:

• Alongside your favorite Indian dish, perhaps curry
• Dip it into your favorite hummus
• Turn it into a flatbread/pizza
• Treat the naan like it is pita bread! Cut the piece of naan in half and then take a small knife and cut down into the side you cut open to create a pocket. Stuff it with whatever fillings you would like!
• GET CREATIVE!

If you make my homemade vegan naan bread, don’t forget to post a picture to Instagram, tag me @chefsummerstorm, and #gardengrub so I can see your recreation!

How to Make Perfect Vegan Naan Bread

Author Chef Summer Storm – garden grub

This homemade vegan naan is perfectly soft, fluffy, chewy, and slightly crispy. It's relatively neutral in flavor with a hint of tang. This naan can be eaten in several different ways. I often eat it with a bowl of curry or turn it into a flatbread pizza!

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 30 mins

Cook Time 10 mins

Rest Time 1 hr

Total Time 1 hr 40 mins

Course Appetizer, Dinner, Lunch, Side Dish

Cuisine American, Indian

Servings 4 naan

Equipment

• Standing mixer with dough hook attachment (BUT, read "tiparooskis" to see how to make this recipe by hand!)
• Rolling Pin

Ingredients

 

Naan

• One 1/4 ounce (7 gram) packet active dry yeast
• 1 tbsp organic cane sugar
• 1/2 cup water, warmed to 110 degrees Fahrenheit- important!
• 1/2 cup of your favorite plain, unsweetened vegan yogurt (I use Kite Hill's plain, unsweetened almond milk yogurt)
• 1 tbsp olive oil, extra virgin (Plus more for greasing the bowl and cooking)
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp kosher salt

Garlic Butter

• 2 tbsp vegan butter
• 3 fresh, peeled garlic cloves, minced
• Pinch sea salt
• Optional: 1 tbsp parsley or cilantro, finely chopped

Instructions

 

Naan

• Into the bowl of your standing mixer, stir together the active dry yeast, sugar, and the warmed water. Let this rest for 10 minutes so it can become frothy.
• Now, add the rest of the ingredients into the bowl. Use the mixer's dough hook attachment and turn the mixer onto the lowest speed. Allow this to mix until all of the ingredients are mostly combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl a few times to help speed the process up.
• Once everything is mostly combined, allow it to knead for 10 minutes, still on the lowest speed.
• Lightly grease a large mixing bowl with olive oil. Scrape the sticky dough into the bowl and then flip it over, so both sides of the dough are lightly greased with the oil.
• Place a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the dough and then wrap the top of the bowl in plastic wrap as well. Place the mixing bowl in a dark warm place to rest for 1 hour so the dough can double in size.
• Lightly flour your countertop. Cut the dough into 4 equal-sized pieces.
• Place a large saute pan over medium heat. (I love using my cast-iron skillet for this recipe!)
• Now, roll out one piece of dough at a time into a 1/4th of an inch thick circular shape.
• Once the saute pan is hot, add roughly 2 teaspoons of olive oil into the pan and tilt the saute pan around to coat it with the oil evenly. Gently place the rolled piece of dough into the pan.
• Cook the dough for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, or until the underside is nice and golden brown and the top has several air bubbles.
• Brush or drizzle roughly 2 teaspoons more of olive oil onto the top of the dough. Then, gently flip the naan over using a spatula. Cook the second side for another 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.
• Remove the naan from the pan, and, if so desired, brush a little bit more olive oil onto both sides.
• Repeat the last 5 steps of the instructions with the other pieces of dough!

Garlic Butter

• Melt the vegan butter in a small saute pan over medium-low heat.
• Once it is melted, add in the minced garlic. Saute this for about 1 minute or until the garlic has softened.
• Add in a pinch of salt and the parsley if so desired, stir, and turn the heat off.
• Drizzle this over the prepared naan.

Tried this recipe?Let me know how it was!

Tiparooskis

Welcome to my tip section of the vegan naan bread recipe! Here I provide my top tips to help you perfect the recipe. Sometimes, I also give substitute suggestions that I think you may find helpful.

1. If you don’t have a standing mixer, the dough can be made by hand. Add the water, yeast, and sugar into a small bowl. Then, add the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl and stir to combine. Create a hole in the middle of the flour. Pour the yogurt, olive oil, and frothy yeast mixture into the hole of the flour. Stir the wet ingredients together in the hole. Then, gradually stir the flour into the wet mix. Stir until the mixture is thoroughly combined. You can bring it together with your hands near the end if needed. Place the dough onto a floured counter and knead by hand for 10 minutes. Dust the counter with more flour as needed. However, this dough should be slightly sticky in the end.

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