Easy vegan naan- soft, fluffy flatbread perfect for serving alongside Indian inspired dishes or even using as a wrap or pizza crust. Only 7 ingredients and easy to make!
Last week I made Vegetable Korma for dinner, and I thought it would be fun to have naan to go with it. Have you ever tried to buy naan at a store? For the life of me, I couldn’t find a brand that didn’t have eggs, milk or both of those in it! So what did I do? I decided to make my own, a vegan version, and wow am I glad I did!
Naan is basically an Indian style flatbread, that is soft, pillowy with beautiful bubbles from cooking it on the stovetop. There is yeast involved, but it’s quite failproof, unlike making a loaf of bread which is a bit harder to get right.
How do you make homemade naan?
- Combine instant yeast, sugar and warm water. Let it sit a couple of minutes until a bit foamy on top.
- Now add the flour, salt, baking powder, coconut cream and olive oil. Stir with a spoon, then knead a bit with your hands until it comes together.
- Place the ball of dough in a bowl and cover. If you have time, let it rise for about 30 minutes. If not, it will still turn out good!
- Divide the dough into 8 pieces.
Roll each piece of dough into an oval or circle, using a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface.
In a large pan (cast iron preferred) over medium-high heat, place the flattened dough. This is kind of like cooking pancakes, and you don’t need to oil your pan. Once bubbles appear, flip it over and cook for another minute or two. Repeat with the remaining dough.
You can also brush them with melted vegan butter once they are cooked.
Don’t have coconut cream? No problem! You can simply leave it out, or use unsweetened non-dairy yogurt instead. I have made it without and it was fine. It’s just a bit fluffier and richer with it.
What goes well with naan?
Naan goes great with any Indian inspired dish, such as Quick and Easy Vegetable Korma, Cauliflower Sweet Potato Curry Soup, Chickpea Curry, and especially Vegan Butter Chicken!
You can also use it for wraps, filling it with Falafel, Chickpea Tuna or hummus and vegetables.
It makes a great personal pizza crust- simply top cooked naan with pizza sauce, non-dairy cheese and vegetables.
Recipe adapted from Budget Bytes.
Easy Vegan Naan
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast
- 3/4 cup warm water
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 2 cups all purpose flour or white whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 tablespoons coconut cream *may omit if needed
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Optional: melted vegan butter for serving, minced garlic or fresh herbs
Instructions
- Add the yeast and sugar to a large bowl and pour the warm water on top (think bath temperature, not too hot or it will kill the yeast). Let sit for a few minutes until it is frothy on top.
- Now add the flour, salt, baking powder, coconut cream and olive oil. Stir with a wooden spoon until it becomes difficult, then turn the ball of dough out on a lightly floured surface (I just use my countertop). Knead the ball of dough for about 2-3 minutes, until the ball of dough is smooth and soft. If it is too sticky, add a little more flour.
- Place the dough in a large bowl, cover with a tea towel and let it rise for about 30 minutes. If you are in a hurry, you can skip the rising part. It will still come out quite good!
- After it rises, flatten the dough and divide into 8 pieces.
- Heat a large, heavy bottomed pan (cast iron preferred) over medium heat. Take a piece of the dough and roll it on a lightly floured surface into a circle or oval shape (about 1/4 inch thick). If using garlic, gently press a little minced garlic onto one side so it sticks at this point.
- Place the dough on the heated pan and cook until large bubbles have formed and the bottom is golden brown. Flip and cook 1-2 minutes more until that side is golden brown as well.
- Repeat with the remaining pieces. Cover the naan with a towel or wrapped in foil to keep warm until ready to serve. Serve plain or brush with melted vegan butter and sprinkle with fresh herbs, such as cilantro or parsley.
Video
Notes
- For the coconut cream, open a can of full fat coconut milk or coconut cream, and scoop out 3 tablespoons of the white, thick creamy part. May also substitute plain non-dairy yogurt (soy, almond, or coconut). Or leave it out, I have done this in a pinch and it worked fine.
- You could probably leave out the olive oil to make it oil free, but I haven't tried it.
- I haven't tested this with gluten free flour, but it would probably work ok. I would use a gluten free mix, such as Bob's Red Mill 1:1.
- If you only have regular active yeast, that is fine, you will just need to let the dough rise for longer (1-1 1/2 hours).
Hi Nora, thanks for the recipe – I love your site. I tried these after seeing all the great reviews; they turned out ok, but I didn’t get the bubbles while cooking that I had hoped for! Any idea why not?
Thanks again.
I’m not sure why you didn’t get bubbles, maybe your pan wasn’t hot enough?
I just made made the Naan. Outrageously delicious and almost too easy to make. I’ll be tempted to make them often.
Thank you Nora for a wonderful recipe.
You’re so welcome!!
Really good naan. Only issue is the amount of flour. It does say to add extra if they are sticky, but I probably had to add an extra 1-3 cups both times I made it. It is humid, but that shouldn’t make me add an extra 3 cups of flour.Â
That’s a lot of extra flour! The naan dough should be somewhat sticky, too dry and the naan will be dry as well. I sprinkle just enough flour on each piece so I can roll it out.
Absolutely loved this naan! Didn’t have coconut cream so I added 1 extra spoon of olive oil to increase the fat content, I suppose that’s why the cream makes it richer, and it was just PERFECT! First time I made naan and can definetely say I’ll never buy it again ?? Thanks a lot Nora!
You’re so welcome!! So glad it came out great!!
I am allergic to coconut, so I truly appreciate this comment. Every single recipe that calls for coconut, I end up reading through the reviews to see if any subs were made, but not often do I strike gold this way with the measurement 😉 so thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
I’ve made this recipe 2x now, using 50/50 wheat and AP flour. I added maybe 3 tablespoons or so beyond what the recipe called for both times.Â
I find with making bread dough, the humidity content of the flour makes a BIG difference with the amount I add. When it’s humid, I usually will have to add more flour, or less liquid than recipes call for.
Maybe this is the case for you?Â
Thank you best naan I ever made and so easy
You’re so welcome!! I’m glad you enjoyed it!!
This naan is so phenomenal and the coconut cream added a really cooling quality to the flavor. They didnt cook well for me in my cast iron until I added ghee, and then they bubbled perfectly. I’m excited to make them again.
I’m so glad you liked it!
Just made them tonight. Soooo good!! ?? Â Can I let the dough sit and make the rest tomorrow? Or do I have to make them all and just refrigerate?Â
I’m so glad you enjoyed the naan! You could store the dough in the refrigerator overnight without a problem.
Great recipe! I used active dry yeast and let the dough rise for a bit over an hour and worked out well. Thank you for sharing!
You’re so welcome!!
Can’t find naan anywhere in stores right now. It’s usually what I use for the base of my kids vegan pizzas. I don’t have coconut cream, so i omitted and it’s lunch time, so I couldn’t wait for the 39 minutes to rise. These turned out delicious! My 4 yo even helped roll them out!
Thank you!
You’re welcome!
I am recently went paleo vegan. Can I use cassava flour?
I’m so excited to try this!
Hmmm I’m not sure as I’ve never worked with cassava flour. Might work.
This is a great naan recipe. Tried it for the first time this evening and it worked great! It’s definitely a keeper! Thank you.
You’re welcome!
My husband and I recently started on a Plant based nutritional journey. He made these without the coconut cream/yogurt and they were AMAZING!! We are planning on making the Curry to go with next week. They were perfectly chewy and fluffy and light! Thank you so much for sharing.
You’re welcome!
Has become a regular in our household. Easy and delicious. Thank you so much!
I have made this numerous times now, and also shared it amongst friends. This recipe is so simple and turns out so delicious every single time. I am so impressed that I felt I should share how happy I am with it and give you five stars cause this really is a great recipe and deserving of it.
Thanks so much!
Hi there! We tried your recipe today and I can’t help but feel like we did something wrong. We used regular yeast instead of instant and let it sit for a little in the water and sugar to get it to be a little frothy. Then we mixed everything into it (we didn’t let it rise). As for the coconut cream, I purchased a can of coconut cream and placed the appropriate amount in the bowl. It was more liquidy than the thick consistency I was expecting, so I’m not sure what happened there (we barely shook the can).
Anyway, when we mixed everything in the bowl the dough was SOOO sticky and liquidy. Like cake batter in a way. We managed to get it in the counter, but had to add so much extra flour (probably another cup) to get it to a point where I could knead it. The result was a flour-ery, cracker-like Naan bread. It wasn’t the worse thing, but I know it can be better!
What could we have done wrong? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Hmmm it’s a little hard to pinpoint what went wrong without being there in the kitchen with you. But if it turned out cracker like, it sounds like you added way too much flour. The dough can be a little sticky, but if you flour your hands and the counter, you should be able to gently roll it before cooking. You don’t want to add so much flour it’s rough and dry.
Can I use nutritional yeast instead?
Instead of regular yeast? No, nutritional yeast does not cause breads to rise, it simply is for flavor and/or nutrition.
Hi! Is it coconut cream or coconut milk? I have both and would love to use the coconut cream as I have other uses for the milk.
Coconut cream is perfect. You can use either, but you are trying to use the creamiest portion (thick white cream) so coconut cream is better for this.
Thank you!!!!
Could I use coconut oil instead of cream? Thanks. P.S. Awesome recipe and website.
Yes I think that would work fine! I have left it out before and it still worked as well.
Could I use traditional yeast instead of instant?
Yes, no problem, the dough could probably use a rise a bit longer though. But if you don’t have time it will still work out anyhow.
As a newbie vegan, sometimes wavering between vegetarian, Indian food is so satisfying! I made this recipe for my first attempt at naan, it came out pretty amazing. My boyfriend loved them and so did my daughter. With the remainder of the coconut milk, I made your recipe for butter tofu. We were so full and happy after our meal!
I’m so glad to hear that! Glad it was satisfying!
Can you make it ahead of time and freeze?
Yes, it freezes well!
I just made this and I love it! I normally didn’t like tofu because it’s mushy, but your suggestion worked very well. It’s not mushy at all. I forgot to add salt so it’s a little plain but the sauce is amazing! Thanks. I’m getting ready to try the Naan bread now.
Can you leave out the sugar?
Sure, that’s not a problem.
Any suggestions on what to do with the rest of the coconut milk? Most recipes call for the whole can so I don’t really know what do with it and hate to waste it!
You could make my Chickpea Curry or Vegan Curry and just use the rest of the can, it’s ok if you don’t have all of it. Maybe just sub a little more water to make up for the rest of the milk. Hope that helps! You can also add it to smoothies if you want, but I find that to be a little rich for my liking.
I use the leftover as part of the liquid while making rice for the butter ‘chicken’….takes it up a notch!
Do you think this would still work with coconut cream from a can that is not full fat?
Yes, it probably would. Non-dairy yogurt also works.
Could the naan be used as the crust for keto pizza?? Can’t wait to try. Thanks
I don’t see how it could be, since the main ingredient is all purpose flour. I haven’t tried it with any sort of keto friendly flour, I don’t think it would work sorry!