Homemade Garlic Naan Without Yeast — Soft, Whole Wheat & Restaurant Style

🔎Garlic Naan Recipe at a Glance

• ⏱️ Total Time: Under 4 hour (10 min prep + 3 hr rise + 10 min cook)
• 👨‍🍳 Skill Level: Easy
• 🍽️ Yield: 8 naans
• 🌾 Flour: Whole wheat + all-purpose blend — softer and healthier
• 🔥 Cooked on: Cast iron skillet or tawa — no tandoor needed
• 🌿 Diet: Vegetarian — easily made vegan (swap yogurt)
• ⚡ Make-Ahead: Yes — dough can rest overnight in the fridge

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🫓What is naan?

Naan is how the world knows Indian flatbread. Restaurant culture worldwide and even within India has made naan as “the” bread that India eats. It’s crunchy and charred on the outside with soft and pillowy interiors. Slather it with garlic butter or ghee and you will be transported to glutinous heaven.

Traditional Naan

Traditionally, naan is made with all purpose flour in a tandoor which is a wood fired clay oven. Temperatures in tandoor can be extremely high. Rolled out naan is slapped on the walls of the tandoor to get that char and fast cooking of the bread. I recommend using a super hot cast iron skillet to achieve this effect.

Healthier Naan

Replacing a portion of all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour makes this naan recipe healthier. You need that all-purpose flour for that chewy texture which cannot be achieved if you use only whole wheat flour.

📋Recipe Ingredients

For the dough

• Flours - you need a mix of all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour. I buy the whole wheat flour from an Indian grocery store but any kind will work.
• Leavening agents - since this is a "no-yeast" recipe, I have used a combination of baking soda and yogurt
• Others - salt, sugar, neutral-tasting oil — sunflower, avocado, or canola, and water dough

For the garlic butter

• Butter - use room temperature salted butter for making the garlic butter.
• Garlic - fresh minced garlic works the best. You can also use a microplane or the fine side of a box grater to prep garlic for this.
• Cilantro - I highly recommend using chopped fresh cilantro to mix into the garlic butter.

Toppings

• Kalonji (Nigella) Seeds - use of kalonji on garlic naan is traditional and adds onion/shallot flavors to the naan. If you cannot find them, feel free to skip.

📖Substitutions, Additions and Variations

• Yogurt (Vegan option): Replace with an equal amount of plain dairy-free yogurt — coconut yogurt or almond yogurt both work well and provide the same leavening effect. The flavor will vary slightly. Make sure it is also at room temperature.
• Butter (Vegan option): Use your favorite vegan or plant-based butter as a 1:1 swap for the garlic butter topping.
• Oil (in dough): Any neutral oil works — I recommend avocado oil. For a richer dough, replace the oil with melted ghee or butter (same quantity). Avoid strongly flavored oils like extra-virgin olive oil as they can overpower the garlic butter topping.
• Cilantro: Not a cilantro fan? Skip it entirely — the garlic butter is delicious on its own. You can also try fresh mint leaves for a cooling, fragrant variation that pairs beautifully with raita and curries.
• Garlic: Fresh garlic is strongly recommended for the best flavor — but in a pinch, use ½ teaspoon garlic powder mixed into the softened butter. You can also use roasted garlic instead of raw for a sweeter, mellower garlic flavor that is less pungent and works beautifully with whole wheat flour.

💡Vaishali's Tips!

• Plan ahead! The dough needs to rise.
• Room Temperature Yogurt - Your yogurt must be at room temperature before you start. Cold yogurt significantly slows the baking soda reaction, and your dough will not rise properly, resulting in dense, flat naan instead of soft and airy. Take the yogurt out of the fridge at least 30–45 minutes before you begin.
• Room Temperature Butter - You want the garlic and cilantro to mix uniformly in the butter, so room temperature butter is needed. Easy to work with and uniform mixing!
• Use your stand mixer or knead the dough by hand (you will need a longer time).
• Cast Iron Skillet - I highly recommend using a cast-iron skillet or an Indian tava to make this naan recipe. No cast iron skillet? A heavy-bottomed stainless steel pan on the highest heat setting works too — though cast iron retains heat best and gives the most authentic char. If you have a gas stove, hold the naan directly over the flame with tongs for 20–30 seconds after pan-cooking for those gorgeous charred spots.

🥬To Make This Garlic Naan Vegan

• Use Yeast and baking powder instead of yogurt and baking soda. In a medium bowl, combine ⅔ cup lukewarm water and 2 teaspoon sugar and stir until dissolved. Add 1 ½ teaspoon active dry yeast and whisk for about 15 seconds until well incorporated. Rest for 15 minutes to activate the yeast – it should turn frothy. Sift the flours, salt, and ¼ teaspoon baking powder in a large bowl. The rest of the recipe and the process remain the same.
• Use vegan yogurt and butter - replace the yogurt with an equal amount of plain dairy-free yogurt. It will provide the same leavening effect but the flavor of your naan will vary slightly from its original version. Use vegan butter. Everything else in the recipe stays exactly the same.

🍽️Serving Suggestions

Ok, that’s not really a question! With anything and everything. By itself. Usually, you can serve garlic naan with any curry dish – vegetarian or non-vegetarian. Soak up all the gravy and the juices from your curry with this piece of deliciousness.

Pretty much all the curry (like this malai kofta), chicken, vegetable (sweet corn curry), paneer (shahi paneer) recipes that I have shared on the blog will go really well with garlic naan. Daal makhani, choley, kadahi paneer, butter chicken, khatta meetha kaddu (pumpkin curry) – you name it. You can also serve it with my instant pot lentil carrot ginger soup, or toast slices of naan and serve with this lentil walnut hummus or other dips (herbed ricotta dip).

Another recipe that highlights my love for garlic and you can totally serve with this naan is the Butter Garlic Mushrooms. My kids love to toast naan and sprinkle some cheese on it to eat it as naan cheese pizza.

🫙Storage, freezing, and reheating instructions

• Room Temperature: Stack cooled naans, wrap in a clean kitchen towel, and store in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
• Refrigerator: Store in an airtight container or wrapped in foil for up to 4–5 days. The garlic butter will solidify — this is normal.
• Freezer (up to 2 months): Place parchment paper between each cooled naan, stack, and freeze in a zip-lock bag. Thaw at room temperature for 20 minutes or microwave for 30 seconds directly from frozen.
• Reheating: The best way: 30 seconds per side on a dry cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Alternatively, heat in the toaster oven or wrap in a damp paper towel and microwave for 20–30 seconds. Brush with fresh garlic butter after reheating.