Easy, soft and fluffy, fresh and delicious vegan naan bread. Perfect served with vegan curries, chutney and yoghurt.
Homemade Vegan Naan Bread
We all loved a naan with our Friday curry back in our vegetarian days.
Unfortunately, many traditional naan breads contain milk and/or yoghurt and are brushed with melted butter so they obviously became off-limits as vegans.
It is possible to buy ready-made vegan naan but they are few and far between and nowhere near as tasty as a fresh, fluffy naan bread should be!
We were missing them more than a little bit so I’ve been working on this recipe for a while, testing and re-testing and now I can share it with you!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
The beauty of this simple recipe for vegan naan is:
- It only requires 6 easy-to-find ingredients and some warm water.
- It takes 10 minutes to prepare and then you can leave it alone for an hour or so while it rises.
- Once you have rolled and shaped your breads they can be quickly cooked in a pan and on a plate in just a few minutes.
- These naan are crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside.
- They are perfect for scooping up a mouthful of delicious curry, chutney or coconut yoghurt and for cleaning your plate of every last tasty morsel.
Tips and FAQs
You can find a full, printable recipe card at the end of this post but here are some extra tips, suggestions and swaps you might find useful!
- I recommend using fast-action/instant yeast for this recipe. It makes things much simpler.
- When you add the yeast and salt to the bowl, put the yeast on one side and the salt on the other so the salt doesn’t kill the yeast before it gets a chance to work its magic!
- This is a sticky dough. Try not to add too much extra flour, keep working it and it will come together. Oiling your hands can help stop them gumming up.
- I use the dough hook in my mixer for the first five minutes before turning the dough out onto a lightly floured board and kneading by hand. This averts the stickiest bit of the process but isn’t necessary if you don’t have a dough hook.
- The coconut yoghurt I use is by The Coconut Collab. It also makes very good raita so it often shows up twice at the same meal!
- It is important that the water you add to the flour mixture is warm not hot. It should be lukewarm or tepid. Just warm enough to give the yeast a nudge not to stop it in its tracks.
- The dough will take at least an hour to double in size and may take longer. Be patient.
- If you want a larger thinner, crispier naan just roll the dough out a bit more!
What Can You Eat With Vegan Naan?
You might like to try my
- Pumpkin Lentil Curry with Coconut and Cinnamon
- Easy Vegan Roast Potato Curry
- Cauliflower Curry
- Baked Bean Curry
- Curried Parsnip Soup
Plus look out over the coming weeks as I post recipes for all the curries I made for this shoot! You can just see the naan bread to the left of the shot.
Serving Suggestions
This recipe is for four plain naan. You can jazz it up by brushing the hot bread with garlic oil and sprinkling with chopped coriander leaves, ground coriander, garam masala or dried chilli flakes.
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Easy Vegan Naan Bread
Ingredients
- 250 g strong white bread flour
- 1 tsp fast-action instant yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 3 tbsp coconut yoghurt
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 100 ml lukewarm water
Instructions
- Put the flour into a medium-sized bowl or into the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook attached.
- Add the yeast on one side of the bowl and the salt and sugar on the other.
- Make a well in the middle and add the yoghurt and oil.
- Add half the water and begin to mix together.
- Add the rest of the water a little at a time until you have a ball of dough.
- It will be very sticky at this stage. Knead by hand or with the dough hook and mixer for about 10 minutes or until the dough is springy and pliable. It will still feel slightly sticky. Try not to add too much extra flour when kneading, it will become less sticky as you work it. Oiling your hands may help.
- Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and leave to rise in a warm place for at least an hour or until doubled in size.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board. Divide into four pieces. Roll each piece out until it is about 1/2cm (1/4 inch) thick. Place on a lightly greased tray, cover and leave to prove for a further 15 - 20 minutes.
- Heat a little oil in a heavy-bottomed non-stick pan until hot. Cook the naan one at a time in the hot pan, turning as they bubble up and brown on both sides. Cook them for about 2 minutes on each side until they are puffed and golden with brown spots in places.
- Keep warm. Serve with a selection of curries and chutneys
