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Your vegan feast isn’t complete without warm and fresh vegan naan on the side! Easy to make with baking staples, this pillowy soft flatbread is perfect for scooping up all your favorite Indian-inspired dishes.
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Soft, Fluffy, and Pillowy Easy Vegan Naan
Naan is an Indian flatbread traditionally used to scoop up comforting Indian dishes, like this tofu vegetable coconut curry and yellow dal. It’s super soft, best served warm, and rarely lasts once it hits the dinner table! The only problem? Naan is not traditionally vegan-friendly.
But that’s where this easy vegan naan recipe comes in handy!
Fluffy on the inside and lightly charred and crisp on the outside, every bite of vegan naan is more addictive than the last. Best of all, it’s surprisingly easy to make with only 9 baking staples and NO dairy. If you can make homemade vegan focaccia or basic sandwich bread, you can make naan from scratch.
Serve the fluffy Indian-inspired flatbread with classic comforting dishes, like Vegan Tandoori Chickpeas, Veggie Turmeric Yellow Split Peas, Vegan Coconut Curry with Apples, and so much more. The options are practically endless!
The Ingredients and Substitutes
All you need are less than 10 baking staples to make vegan naan:
Instant yeast makes the naan soft and fluffy! You can use active dry yeast instead but it might take longer to proof in warm water.
Soy milk is our favorite for this recipe because it curdles easily when mixed with the vinegar, which adds a complex and tangy flavor to the bread. If you don’t have soy milk, use almond milk instead.
What Else Could I Add to Vegan Naan?
- Spices: About 2 teaspoons of spices, like ground cumin, cardamom, or garam masala, will add more warmth and complexity to the naan dough. For a sweeter twist, add a pinch of cinnamon.
- Herbs: Finely chopped cilantro or parsley in the dough will add a nice freshness.
- Garlic: Vegan garlic naan is addictively delicious! Add 2 to 4 finely minced garlic cloves or a head of roasted garlic to the dough for a rich garlic butter flavor in every bite.
- Dried fruit: Fold ⅓ cup of raisins, currants, or cranberries into the dough at the end for a nice sweetness and more texture.
- Chopped nuts: Add chopped almonds, cashews, or pecans for some crunch.
- Seeds: Or, for a nut-free option, add caraway, sesame, poppy, or cumin seeds.
- Chilis: Add a diced jalapeno for some heat!
- Lemon juice: Feel free to use lemon juice as a substitute for the apple cider vinegar.
How to Make Vegan Naan
Keep scrolling to the recipe card for the complete list of ingredients and recipe instructions.
Step 1: Bloom the yeast by stirring the yeast, sugar, and warm water together in a glass measuring cup. Cover the bowl and set it aside until the mixture is foamy.
Step 2: Meanwhile, whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder together in a bowl.
The water should feel like warm bath water, approximately 110ºF. If it’s too hot, it will kill the yeast, and your naan dough won’t rise.
Step 3: Next, stir the plant milk and apple cider vinegar together in a glass measuring cup until it thickens.
Step 4: Add the vegan milk mixture, oil, and remaining wet ingredients to the bowl with the activated yeast. Stir to combine.
Step 5: Add the wet mixture to the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir until you have a sticky, shaggy dough.
Step 6: Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until it’s no longer sticky.
If the dough is still too sticky, add one tablespoon of flour at a time until it’s somewhat smooth and easier to work with.
Step 7: Place the dough ball in an oiled bowl. Roll it around so the dough is covered in oil, then cover the bowl with a warm, damp towel and set it aside to rise.
The dough will take anywhere from 1 to 3 hours to double or triple in size. It’s best to place it in a warm place, like in a turned-off oven. Or, to make the naan the next day, place the bowl in the fridge to let the dough rise overnight.
Step 8: Knead the dough again on a floured surface once it has doubled in size.
Step 9: Cut the dough into 8 balls and set aside for 10 minutes.
Step 10: Roll out each ball of dough with a rolling pin. The flatter, the better!
Step 11: Cook each piece of flattened dough in a cast iron pan over medium heat until it’s golden, bubbly, and lightly charred on both sides. Repeat until all 8 dough balls are cooked. Enjoy!
FAQs
Naan is typically made with ghee (clarified animal-based butter), meaning it isn’t inherently vegan-friendly. Luckily, the ghee is easy to replace with non-dairy milk or vegan yogurt.
While we haven’t tested a gluten-free version of this recipe, it should work just as well with a quality 1:1 gluten-free flour in place of the all-purpose flour.
Yes! To make naan ahead of time, bring the shaggy dough together, cover the bowl in plastic wrap, and place it in the fridge for up to 2 days. Place the bowl on the kitchen counter to let the dough come down to room temperature, then make the recipe as normal.
The naan dough or 8 dough balls can also be frozen. Wrap the dough in plastic and freeze for up to 1 month. Let it thaw in the fridge overnight, then continue the recipe as normal.
Pro Recipe Tips
- Don’t overwork the dough: Gently stir the dry and wet ingredients until they just come together, then only knead the dough about 6 times or until it’s no longer sticky. Overmixing or over-kneading will yield tough or dense naan.
- Grease your hands: It helps to coat your hands in a light layer of olive oil to prevent the dough from sticking while you knead.
- Warm naan is the best! While cooking the dough balls, keep the freshly cooked naan warm by placing the pieces in a toaster oven, or by covering them with a clean kitchen towel.
Serving Suggestions
Forget the spoon and scoop up every bite of your favorite Indian-inspired dishes with a piece of naan! First, brush the warm pieces with vegan garlic herb butter, then serve them with:
- Vegan curries, like butternut squash curry, chickpea and carrot curry, or coconut curry soup
- Red lentil dal or this easy yellow dal
- These easy curried chickpeas or curried lentils
- A cozy bowl of curried butternut squash lentil soup
Another fun way to use vegan naan is as an easy pizza dough, similar to these vegan tortilla pizzas. Spread marinara sauce on each piece, top them with your favorite toppings, like vegan pepperoni, veggies, and vegan mozzarella, then bake at 350ºF until the vegan cheese is bubbly and the bread is golden.
You can also use it as a substitute for pita bread to make vegan gyros or to dip in vegan hummus or baba ganoush.
Storage Instructions
Wrap each piece of naan in plastic wrap or keep them in an airtight container. They’ll stay soft and fresh for 3 to 4 days in the fridge or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Allow the bread to thaw in the fridge or on the kitchen counter before serving.
To reheat naan, wrap each piece in a damp paper towel and microwave for 20 to 30 seconds. You can also reheat them in a lightly oiled skillet until slightly crisp on the outside and warm on the inside.
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Vegan Naan
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Ingredients
- ¾ cup of warm water
- 1 teaspoon of instant yeast
- 1 teaspoon of sugar
- 2 cups of all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 tablespoon of baking powder
- 3 tablespoons of plant-based milk (soy milk works best)
- 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
- 5 tablespoons of olive oil, divided
Instructions
- Add the warm water to a cup and mix in the yeast and sugar until fully dissolved. The water needs to be comfortably warm to the touch. If it is too hot, it could kill the yeast. If you have a food thermometer, bring the water to 110 degrees F. Cover with a plate and set aside for 5 minutes.
- To a large bowl, add the flour, salt, and baking powder. Mix well and set aside.
- In a small cup, combine the plant-based milk and apple cider vinegar. Mix well until it thickens.
- Uncover the cup with the yeast, if it's foamy, it is ready. Add in the plant milk mixture and 2 tablespoons of oil. Mix well and add the wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients.
- Using a spatula, mix well. The dough will be sticky and slightly broken down.
- Lightly flour a clean surface and place the dough and all of the small chucks on the prepared floured surface. Knead the dough for 6 turns and until all chucks are fully incorporated into the dough. If it is too sticky, sprinkle one tablespoon of flour until it is no longer too sticky. Form a loose ball and set aside. Do not over-knead or overwork the dough.
- Add 2 tablespoons of oil to the bowl and spread it all around the inside of the bowl. Place the dough ball into the oiled bowl, add 1 tablespoon of oil onto the dough ball, and spread the oil all around the dough. Cover with a warm damp towel, and place the bowl in a warm place for 3 hours. The dough will double or triple its size.
- Once the dough has doubled or tripled its size, add more flour to the workstation, carefully remove the dough from the bowl, and place it on the floured counter. Slowly knead the dough for about 40 seconds, form a ball, and divide it into 8 chunks. Form them into balls and set them aside for 10 minutes.
- Once the 10 minutes have passed, heat a large cast iron pan over medium heat for 2 minutes.
- Place 1 dough ball on a floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll it out as much as possible without breaking it. The thinner, the better.
- Gently lift the dough and place it on the preheated cast iron pan. Cook for 20 seconds and gently lift to see how fast it's browning. It will start to bubble almost immediately, but you don't want to flip it until the bottom is golden and some spots are lightly charred.
- Flip and cook for 10 to 20 seconds or until golden and some sports are lightly charred.
- Repeat the process until you have cooked all 8 dough balls. Place them in a warm toaster oven or wrap them in a clean kitchen towel to enjoy them warm. Or store them in an airtight container, allowing them to completely cool before closing it with a lid.
Notes
- Don’t overwork the dough: Gently stir the dry and wet ingredients until they just come together, then only knead the dough about 6 times or until it’s no longer sticky. Overmixing or over-kneading will yield tough or dense naan.
- Grease your hands: It helps to coat your hands in a light layer of olive oil to prevent the dough from sticking while you knead.
- Warm naan is the best! While cooking the dough balls, keep the freshly cooked naan warm by placing the pieces in a toaster oven, or by covering them with a clean kitchen towel.
Love how easy this vegan naan bread is to make!
ONLY NAAN INGREDIENTS! Badum-ksh! 😀
Enjoy! 🙂
Love this naan!