An easy Vegan Naan that contains no yeast, no yogurt and cooks right on your stovetop! Say what? Packed with flavor and loaded with savory garlic, this quick naan recipe requires only 7 ingredients, is easy to make and ready in less than 30 minutes. Low calorie, low fat, 4 ingredients, and the best you'll ever sink your teeth into (just read the comments)!
I absolutely love vegan naan. Give it to me plain, with garlic, with my Indian Butter Chickpeas, my Vegan Paneer Butter Masala or my One Pot Chickpea Coconut Curry and I'll devour it. I think it may also go great with my Cilantro Lime Rice or my Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup. But it's hard to find a recipe for naan that doesn't contain dairy.
That's why I created this no yeast, dairy-free, no yogurt, vegan naan recipe that can easily be made on the stove top in less than 30 minutes. And, guess what? You don't have to sit there for 2 hours waiting for the dough to rise. This quick naan recipe calls for baking powder and requires only a 10-minute rest and rise.
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🧂 Ingredients For Vegan Naan
- Almond milk - I use almond milk in this recipe but feel free to use the plant milk of your choice. If gluten-free, be sure to check is almond milk gluten-free.
- Bread flour - if you don't have bread flour, any all-purpose flour will do. If you're gluten-free, you can use gluten-free flour, just know the texture may be a bit different.
- Baking powder - this vegan naan still requires a rising agent to give it some puffiness. That's where baking powder comes in. Omitting this ingredient is not recommended but you may substitute with baking soda, instead.
- Vegan sugar - if you don't have sugar that's specifically vegan, you can use whatever white sugar you have on hand.
TIP: Exact ingredient measurements can be found in the recipe card below.
🔪 How to Make Vegan Naan
Step 1. In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients: flour, sugar, sea salt and baking powder.
Step 2. Add olive oil and almond milk.
Step 3. Stir with wooden spoon until well-incorporated.
Step 4. Using your hands, knead the dough for several minutes. Add water, a little at a time, as needed, until the right consistency has been reached. Keep in mind the dough should be very sticky but not wet or runny.
Step 5. Add garlic.
Step 6. Mix garlic into dough with your hands and roll into a large round ball.
Step 7. Place dough back in bowl. Cover with dishtowel and allow to sit out for 10 minutes.
Step 8. Separate dough into 6 even balls. Onto a large cutting board, sprinkle a fine layer of flour.
Step 9. Roll out your first dough ball to 1/16 of an inch. Keep in mind, the thinner the better with this recipe.
Step 10. Heat skillet on high heat. Before placing dough in skillet, brush both sides with olive oil. Alternatively, you can do this while the naan is cooking.
Step 11. When dough begins to bubble, it’s time to flip.
Step 12. Keep checking your naan. It's done when both sides are nice and brown, but not burnt.
Step 13. Remove Indian naan bread from heat and brush each side with more olive oil or vegan butter if you choose. Sprinkle with dried fenugreek or another favorite herb like parsley. Repeat for all the remaining dough balls. Serve piping hot.
👩🏻🍳 Expert Tips
- Remember to roll the dough as thinly as possible, 1/16" to ⅛" thick . I cannot stress this enough as this is the key to making the recipe work for you.
- If dough is too wet, simply add more flour. If too dry, simply add more liquid. Dough should be moist and sticky, but not wet or runny.
- If you're allergic to nuts or prefer another kind of plant-based milk, feel free to use the plant milk of your choice when you make this recipe.
- You're not limited to garlic in what you put into the my vegan naan that uses no yeast. For instance, try avocado, grated cauliflower or a variety of different herbs!
- You can easily double or triple the recipe and freeze the balls for later.
- Quick naan recipe dough will store in your fridge for about a week.
- It's best to serve vegan naan immediately after cooking, but if you have leftovers, securely wrap with whatever you have on hand and stick in the fridge. You can then remove and re-heat the next day in the oven. I have not microwaved leftovers, but if you do, be sure to let us know how it turns out in the comments below.
- In case you get thirsty while making this Indian bread, try my Easy Watermelon Mint Agua Fresca with no sugar to wash these pillows of perfection down with!
💭 Recipe FAQs
Because there's no yeast in the recipe, once the dough if formed, cover it with a towel on your cutting board for 10 minutes. That's enough time for the baking powder to kick in.
Vegan naan can be stored in your refrigerator when individually wrapped and placed in an air-tight container for up to 7 days.
You sure can. Just make sure to wrap each ball separately in plastic wrap before placing in the freezer. When you want to eat them, remove and all them to defrost overnight. If you're not cooking right away in the morning, keep wrapped and place in refrigerator.
The dough balls should last in the freezer for up to 3 months, as long as they are wrapped appropriately and freezer burn has not affected them.
Yes and no. Because this naan recipe doesn't use yeast, you need a little baking powder to encourage your naan to be pillow-like puffy. But, if you don't have baking powder, you can substitute with baking soda.
Although bread flour works best, you can replace with spelt flour or gluten-free flour. However, for best results, avoid using almond flour or coconut flour.
Yes, indeed you can. My recipe requires no yeast, but I do use a rising agent, baking powder, instead. When using baking powder, you only have to let the dough sit for 10 minutes. Easy peasy!
🍲 What To Serve With This Recipe
🍴 More Serving Suggestions
Have you tried this? Why not leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card right below and/or a review in the comment section further down the page? I always appreciate your feedback. You can also follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter, and sign up for my newsletter!
This vegan naan is loved by many readers. Be sure to check out the comment section below for more tips.
📖 Recipe
Easy Vegan Naan | No Yeast, No Yogurt
Equipment
- Large non-stick skillet
- basting brush (optional)
Ingredients
- 2 cups bread flour or all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon vegan sugar or any white sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt fine
- 2 teaspoon olive oil extra virgin
- 2 large cloves garlic minced
- ⅓ cup unsweetened almond milk or any other plant milk
- ⅓ + cup water more as needed
For Toppings
- vegan butter melted
- dried fenugreek
- fresh parsley roughly torn
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
- Add olive oil and almond milk and stir with wooden spoon. Add water a little at a time to mixture until you've achieved the right consistency. The dough should be sticky and moist, but not runny or wet. Use your hands to knead dough into a large, round ball. Add more water as needed. Dough should be very sticky.
- Add garlic and mix into dough ball with hands.
- Cover with dish towel and let sit for 10 minutes.
- Separate dough into 6 even balls. Sprinkle thin layer of flour onto cutting board. Using a rolling pin, roll out the first ball to 1/16-⅛ inch thick. The thinner the better. Brush both sides with olive oil.
- Heat skillet on high heat. Place dough in skillet and allow to brown. When the dough starts to bubble and puff up, it's ready to turn. Remove from heat and brush each side with vegan butter. Serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- Remember to roll the dough as thinly as possible, 1/16" to ⅛" thick . I cannot stress this enough as this is the key to making the recipe work for you.
- If dough is too wet, add a bit more flour. If too dry, add a bit more liquid. It should be moist and sticky, not wet or runny.
- If you're allergic to nuts or prefer another kind of plant-based milk, feel free to use the plant milk of your choice when you make this recipe.
- You're not limited to garlic in what you put into the naan. For instance, try avocado, grated cauliflower or a variety of different herbs!
- You can easily double or triple the recipe and freeze the balls for later.
- Dough will store in your fridge for about a week.
- It's best to serve naan immediately after cooking, but if you have leftovers, securely wrap with whatever you have on hand and stick in the fridge. You can then remove and re-heat the next day in the oven. I have not microwaved leftovers, but if you do, be sure to let us know how it turns out in the comments below.
Rachel Massie
Amazing. I am not vegan, so used Jersey milk in substitute. The naan breads were fabulous. One of the best recipes I have ever encountered. Thanks 😊 . I do try to eat ethically and use less meat and dairy. Good to see such fantastic recipes that are plant based 😀
Deborah
Awesome news, thank you Rachel. My recipes are for anyone: vegans, vegan-curious and foodies that just want to cut down on meat and/or dairy. I'm so glad you liked these pillows of perfection!
Clare
Great (and easy) recipe! I didn’t feel like making nut milk so I used a bit of my sourdough starter whisked in the water and they turned out DELISH!!!
Deborah
Great idea, Clare. Thanks so much for sharing and I'm so happy you liked my recipe!
Roz butler
Vegan naan bread absolutely delicious
Made triple recipe as 14 of us they all went and looked for more .
Made them all plain no garlic ....
Deborah
So glad you loved it, Roz! Would you mind giving it 5-stars? I would really appreciate that and so much appreciate your comment.
Melissa
These have become a family favorite! Thank you!
Deborah
So happy to hear that! Thanks so much Melissa.
Trixie
These are superb! I've made them with and without garlic. Used them with soup, as toast with jam and with hummus.
Super simple and quick and utterly delicious
Deborah
Thank you Trixie. I’m so glad u love them.
Amber
Hello,
I must have done something wrong but I used measure for measure flour and added macadamia milk. I must have added water on accident because that caused the dough to be very runny/wet. I was wishing it would be pliable and easy to work with on the counter. I guess water wasn't needed in this case even though I added a cup of it.
Deborah
Hi, so if you're saying you added a cup of water on top of the plant milk, yes, you can expect the dough will be runny and wet. The recipe calls for 1/3 cup water and the instructions advise you to add the water a little at a time until the right consistency is achieved. One cup of water is simply way too much. A quick fix for dough that's too wet is to simply add more flour. This way you don't have to start from scratch. Thanks for your comment. I did reword some of the recipe to clarify what I've said here.
T
It says 1/3 + cup so I wasn't sure if that meant 1 and a third
Deborah
No. 1/3 + is explained in that it’s approximately one third cup added a little at a time until you reach the desired consistency. If u need more u can add a little more. Hence the +.
Naomi Hopper
So so easy and SO tasty! Thank you so much! I was way behind on dinner prep and we were still able to enjoy these. Thank you again!
Deborah
So glad you enjoyed my vegan garlic naan recipe. Thank you for your comment.
Mel
It turned out great, thank you!!
Deborah
Awesome! Thank you Mel!
KB
Great recipe!
Deborah
Thank you KB. Glad you enjoyed!
Julie Bodnick
Thought the Naan was very authentic. Loved it. I've made it many times with quite a few recipes, yeast, yogurt etc. Honestly, I thought this was the best one so far. It's thick and chewy, so you have to like that texture.
djtphn1
Thanks so much Julie. I am so happy you liked it!
Drew
What are the green flakes in the photo? I've seen those on garlic naan in restaurants too and always wondered what they are. Thyme?
Vegan Vigilante
Hi Drew, it's been a long time since I made this, but I believe the green flakes are dried fenugreek. You can get them in an Indian Spice store. Thanks for your comment.
Becky
What could I sub the oil with to make it oil free?
Vegan Vigilante
Becky, I have not made it without oil. I suppose you could try vegetable broth but don't think it would be as good. If you try it, let me know how it turns out.
Jordan Bolen
Thanks for this recipe! It was amazing; tastes just like authentic naan from an Indian restaurant. No one would ever know it's vegan. I added in some chopped coriander leaves (cilantro) to the dough as well. Got some nice char on the bread by using a hot cast-iron skillet. Thanks again!
Vegan Vigilante
You are so welcome Jordan. Thank you for the rating and nice comment. Sorry for my late response but I"ve been out of town away from everything blogging and social media. But I'm back and am so glad this recipe worked out for you.
Latricia
Hi! Have a ? 169 calories for one of them. Also can you substitute almond milk for pea milk?. Thank you.
Vegan Vigilante
Hi Latricia. Yes on the calorie question. As far as substituting one milk for another, I only used the the almond milk but I think any plant-based milk should do. Let us know how it turns out and thank you for your comment.
Nicola
I made these yesterday to accompany a vegetable jalfrezi. They turned out really well. I brushed them with vegan butter which I'd stirred with garlic, fresh parsley & fenugreek and they were absolutely delicious. Even the teenager, who refuses to eat anything that is vegan, wolfed one down (minus the curry)
These are going straight on the favourites list, thank you
Deborah
So glad to hear this, Nicola. Thank you so much.
Sean
Just made this! I made one substitution by using Avocado oil instead of olive oil. It came out delicious, and I would definitely recommend it for anyone looking to make a flatbread recipe of any kind, including Pizza, Gyros, etc.
Vegan Vigilante
Awesome, Sean. I'm so glad you liked it and it's great to know that you can also use avocado oil in place of olive oil. If you happened to take a picture of it and are on Instagram, please tag me at #veganvigilante1, I'd love to see someone else's version. Thanks so much for your comment.
Celeste
I sometimes like to use naan breads for simple and easy pizzas. Would this naan recipe work for that? I'm looking to accomodate a vegan friend for a future pizza party.
Vegan Vigilante
Hey Celeste, yes this would work for that but you would probably need to make bigger dough balls and don't roll it out so thin. If you make it as pizza dough please take a picture and let us know how it turned out!
Jeannie Wilson
Made this last night. It was perfect, came out just like the pictures. Thanks and I wanted to let you know I love your website and signed up for your newsletter.
Vegan Vigilante
I'm glad it worked out so well for you. This is just about my most popular recipe. Thanks for signing up for my newsletter.
Virginia Williams
This naan was absolutely fabulous. It came out perfectly. Thanks for the recipe.
Vegan Vigilante
Thank you Virginia. I'm glad you liked it!
Andrea
Is it possible to make this with all purpose flour instead of bread flour?
Vegan Vigilante
Yes, it it. Sorry for the delay in answering you. Let me know how it turns out!