Stove Top Homemade Naan – Indian Bread
Stove Top Homemade Naan – Indian Bread
This Homemade Naan is an absolute treat. Simple, easy and delicious laden bread to eat with any Indian curry. Add some butter for butter naan, a few crushed garlic cloves for a garlic naan twist or simply sprinkle with pretty nigella seeds.
If you love Indian food then you probably have eaten naan.. If not? the next time you visit an Indian restaurant make sure you order naan. yep! Absolutely amazing Indian bread. Taste delicious and is perfect with any Indian dish.
What is Naan?
Indian flat bread!! Naan is actually a Persian word but bread and it’s pronounced as NAHN. The traditional naan is baked in a tandoor oven which is why you don’t often get it made at home! We at home don’t tandoor ovens so we usually make other Indian bread like chapati, roti, paratha kulcha etc.
Of course the bread is so delicious that its’ a pity if you have to wait to go to a restaurant every single time you craved for naan! right? So often we make Naan at home despite the lack of a tandoor oven.
The recipe itself is simple and easy. It’s the process and time needed to ferment and add that depth of flavor that makes a huge difference. If you asked my mom to make naan? The dough has to be made the night before. Kept in the fridge until it really has the time to ferment so the yeast has time to make do it’s thing.

Homemade Stove Top Naan Bread – Indian Flat Bread
Stove top vs Oven Cooking
I have tried making the Naan in my oven, as well as on the stop top just like my rotis. The difference – The oven has to be at 220 C or 440 F kinda hot!! You have to make sure you take it off just at the right moment. If not it can dry out making it really bland. Sometimes it can even get hard due to over cooking. I have given you both method below because I have tried both. You choose which you prefer. Over the years I have found that making the Naan on the stove top just as I do my chapati works the best for me!!!

Homemade Stove Top Naan Bread – Indian Flat Bread
Naan variety
The naan has come along way over the years with many creative ways to serve it.
- Brush the naan with butter to make a butter naan.
- add a few crushed garlic cloves in the butter before you brush it over a hot nana to make Garlic Naan.
- Brush some butter over hot Naan and sprinkle with Nigella seeds or Caraways seeds.

Homemade Stove Top Naan – Indian Flat Bread
Let’s talk ingredients and substitutes
- Flour – Naan is traditionally made with all purpose flour but go ahead and substitute some of that with whole wheat flour. Taste delicious. I know cause I’ve tried it.
- Yogurt – this is what helps the yeast ferment over night and brings that special flavor. Don’t substitute. If you must try non dairy yogurt like coconut yogurt. I have not tried it so can’t say more about it.
- Egg – This really helps keep this soft and flaky. If possible do use the egg. If you need to make it eggless -just replace the egg with 1/4 cup more yogurt.
- warm water – the water MUST be warm not hot or cold. Hot water will kill the yeast while cold water will not revive the yeast. So had to be around 110 F

Homemade Stove Top Naan Bread – Indian Flat Bread
Recipe – Stove Top Homemade Naan Bread – Indian Flat Bread
Tools
Ingredients
- All Purpose Flour – 500 grams (4 1/2 cups )
- Instant Dry Yeast – 1 1/2 tsp
- Sugar -1 tbsp
- Oil – 1 tbsp
- Salt – 1 tbsp
- Egg – 1 large (optional)
- Plain yogurt – 120 ml/ 1/2 cup Yogurt
- Warm water – 1/4 cup warm water
- Extra flour for kneading (1 cup)
- Extra water for kneading (few tbsp)
Accompaniments (Optional)
- Minced Garlic in melted butter or oil
- Nigella Seeds (Kalunji)
- Melted Butter or Oil
Method:
Prepare yeast mixture
- In a measuring cup – add warm water, yeast, sugar and oil.
- Let rest for a while until foamy (about 5 minutes)
- Next add the Egg, Yogurt – stir well.
Prepare dough
- Place the All purpose flour in a bowl, add salt. Mix well
- Add the yeast / yogurt mixture and knead well.
- If needed add more water or flour to form a soft dough like consistency
- The dough should be soft but not too sticky .
- Continue to knead for about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Once the dough is soft and springy.. Your dough is ready.
Proofing the dough
- Place in an oiled bowl and cover with cling wrap
- Over night Proofing – Place the bowl in the fridge over night (has a lot more flavor)
- Quick naan bread – for a quick version you can leave it out for two hours until double in volume
- During the resting stage if the dough does rise more than double in volume – just punch down and let sit in the fridge until you are ready.

Stove Top Homemade Naan Bread – Indian Flat Bread
Thaw and cook
- An hour before you want to cook the Naan – take it out of the fridge and let come to room temperature.
- Divide the dough in 10 equal balls

Stove Top Homemade Naan – Indian Flat Bread
Forming the naan shape
- Roll each ball into a round circle shape
- Then pull/stretch the circle from one end and you have an oval shape.

Stove Top Homemade Naan – Indian Flat bread
Stove top Cooking
- Heat a griddle pan on high
- Place the naan on – wait for a minute till you see some bubbles.
- Flip the naan; let cook on the other side for another minute or two.
- Flip again and cook on the first side again for a minute.
- Once you have a few good dark spots and you see it’s all cooked
- Take it off the heat.

Homemade Naan Indian Flat Bread –
Oven Cooking
- Preheat the oven to 220 C/440 F for at least 20 minutes before you put the first naan in.
- Dust the try with some corn meal or flour – place the naan on the try
- Place the tray in the preheated oven on the top shelf closer to the grill for about 3 to 4 minutes turning once or twice.
- Until you see it’s puffed up and has dark spots.

Naan Bread – Indian Naan
Adding Accompaniments
- As soon as you take it off the stove top or oven
- You can add any accompaniments you wish such as nigella seeds or melted butter or brush crushed garlic in oil or butter.(see note)
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Stove Top Homemade Naan Bread – Indian Flat Bread
Recipe – Stove Top Homemade Naan Bread – Indian Flat Bread
Stove Top Homemade Naan (Indian Flat Bread)
Prep
Cook
Inactive
Total
Yield 10 Naans
This Homemade Naan is an absolute treat. Simple, easy and delicious laden bread to eat with any Indian curry. Add some butter for butter naan, a few crushed garlic cloves for a garlic naan twist or simply sprinkle with pretty nigella seeds.
Ingredients
- All Purpose Flour - 500 grams (4 1/2 cups )
- Instant Dry Yeast - 1 1/2 tsp
- Sugar -1 tbsp
- Oil - 1 tbsp
- Salt - 1 tbsp
- Egg - 1 large (optional)
- Plain yogurt - 120 ml/ 1/2 cup Yogurt
- Warm water - 1/4 cup warm water
- Extra flour for kneading (1 cup)
- Extra water for kneading (few tbsp)
Accompaniments (Optional)
- Minced Garlic in melted butter or oil
- Nigella Seeds (Kalunji)
- Melted Butter or Oil
Instructions
Prepare yeast mixture
- In a measuring cup - add warm water, yeast, sugar and oil.
- Let rest for a while until foamy (about 5 minutes)
- Next add the Egg, Yogurt - stir well.
Prepare dough
- Place the All purpose flour in a bowl, add salt. Mix well
- Add the yeast / yogurt mixture and knead well.
- If needed add more water or flour to form a soft dough like consistency
- The dough should be soft but not too sticky .
- Continue to knead for about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Once the dough is soft and springy.. Your dough is ready.
Proofing the dough
- Place in an oiled bowl and cover with cling wrap
- Over night Proofing - Place the bowl in the fridge over night (has a lot more flavor)
- Quick naan bread - for a quick version you can leave it out for two hours until double in volume
- During the resting stage if the dough does rise more than double in volume - just punch down and let sit in the fridge until you are ready.
Thaw and cook
- An hour before you want to cook the Naan - take it out of the fridge and let come to room temperature.
- Divide the dough in 10 equal balls.
Forming the naan shape
- Roll each ball into a round circle shape
- Then pull/stretch the circle from one end and you have an oval shape.
Stove top Cooking
- Heat a griddle pan on high
- Place the naan on - wait for a minute till you see some bubbles.
- Flip the naan; let cook on the other side for another minute or two.
- Flip again and cook on the first side again for a minute.
- Once you have a few good dark spots and you see it's all cooked
- Take it off the heat.
Oven Cooking
- Preheat the oven to 220 C/440 F for at least 20 minutes before you put the first naan in.
- Dust the try with some corn meal or flour - place the naan on the try
- Place the tray in the preheated oven on the top shelf closer to the grill for about 3 to 4 minutes turning once or twice.
- Until you see it's puffed up and has dark spots.
Adding Accompaniments
- As soon as you take it off the stove top or oven
- You can add any accompaniments you wish such as nigella seeds or melted butter or brush crushed garlic in oil or butter.(see note)
Courses Lunch, Dinner
Cuisine Indian
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 78 g (1 naan)
Amount Per Serving | ||
---|---|---|
Calories 216 | ||
% Daily Value | ||
Total Fat 2.8 g | 4% | |
Saturated Fat 0.6 g | 3% | |
Unsaturated Fat 2.2 g | ||
Cholesterol 20 mg | 7% | |
Sodium 712 mg | 30% | |
Total Carbohydrates 40.3 g | 13% | |
Dietary Fiber 1.5 g | 6% | |
Sugars 2 g | ||
Protein 6.5 g | 13% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Do you love Indian Food? Well then you must check out some of my other Indian recipes from slow cooked curries to quick and easy as well as Indian Biryani and desserts

A Collection of Modern Indian Recipes by Veena Azmanov

I love naan but never knew we could make it at home. Love the stove top version – going to try making it soon. Thanks
Thank you Randolph – happy to hear you going to try this soon. Let me know how you enjoyed it. Thanks
We love naan in our house but have never made a stop top naan before. I love it. I think those black specs you get when you cook on the stove add to the flavor. I served it with your slow cooked lamb masala recipe and it was super hit. Everyone was raving about it. Thank you so much for both these awesome recipes.
Thank you so much Pushpendra. Happy to hear you enjoyed both these recipes. They definitely go great together. Thank you so much for taking the time to come leave this feedback. Appreciate it very much
Just wondering about the salt a TBSP seems like a lot is this regular kosher or a specialy salt.
You can reduce the salt to taste Rita.
I loved this naan Recipe of yours!! It’s so well explained.. I have never tried with eggs .. I will give this recipe a try soon!
Thanks Soniya. I love making naan with eggs – just keeps it softer for longer. Won’t become hard fast. Try it. Thanks
As always, your step by step is fantastic. Love the tip for garlic naan. Yum!
Thank you so much Teri. I see you love garlic Naan like me. I love it.!!
I love Naan bread! I didn’t realize you could make it homemade. I love this idea. It looks pretty easy too.
Absolutely Joana.. Nothing like fresh homemade Naan – Give it a try.
Gosh Veena..I’m ashamed to say I have never tasted Naan Bread.. We love homemade curries but use wraps with the curry. The naan recipe looks so versitile. It’s brilliant that you posted step by step photos, makes it so much easier to understand the method
Aww that’s ok Karyn. Now you have a reason to try. I often use wraps but usually to make the chicken tikka wraps lol. This is so versatile. You can make pizza too!
I’d never had naan until my son came home from spending a year in Afghanistan. When he got home I asked him what he wanted me to cook — it was naan. OMG!! You’re right it is so good. Now the recipe I used I had to brush melted garlic butter on it. Your recipe is authentic, mine probably wasn’t but it was so good. I’ll have to make your recipe for him.
Marisa. If you read my recipe it also gives you variation, you can make it with butter naan, garlic naan or sprinkle some nigella or chopped cilantro. The variations are endless. We love naan in our home very much
We LOVE naan at my house too. It’s the highlight of any Indian meal that we order in, but it’s been too much work to make it myself. I love that you have instructions for stovetop – makes it so much easier!!
Absolutely Kylee. I love making things easy for myself. You will find it so much easier.
I”ve seen a lot of naan online but only last week tried it. I went to a grocery that carriers different things than my normal store. I picked up a small package of naan, and I like it! Nice to see it’s something I could try making at home. Thanks for sharing!
Absolutely Noel with a little planning you can make these at home so easily
The naan remind me a bit of tortillas. I’ve never had one of any kind, they look like they would work well for a wrap.
They definitely would work for a naan wrap. The naan is a bit thicker than tortilla because it has yeast in it. SO it works a treat as a pizza base as well.
Tandoor is always best for cooking Naan, since it is not available I like the idea of making in stove top. Baking Naan make it harder that is what I learned. Love your Thali with Naan. bread. Also I like that you added egg in the recipe. That is what I heard from street vendor in delhi.
Yeah.. Can’t have a tandoor at home. I like adding egg to mine it’s keeps them soft longer. Thanks Swathi
LOVVVVE Naan bread! This looks delicious. I’ve always wanted to learn how to make it myself!
Great Christine – I hope you give these are try.
I have always wanted to make the naan on the stove top as it is definitely less hassle than oven. That is one good post with very detailed explanation. I do agree that the dough left overnight for proofing has so much more flavor.
Thanks Sandhya. I love long slow proofing. Really adds so much depth of flavor. Stove top really works a treat in this one.
Naan is my favorite flat bread however have never made it. Seems fairly easy but I bet it has trick to be perfect I am not a baker but would adventure trying your recipe
It really is easy Adriana. You must try.
I never tried making naan on the stove top, this sure is new to me. Will try it soon.
It’s really takes a lot of work and guess work out Deepika.. you must try.
I have yet to make Naan bread. I buy it all the time at the grocery store. I guess I should really give this a try, since homemade is always better than bought. This is the perfect little kitchen experiment for a rainy afternoon!!
Absolutely Gloria. Especially because it’s so EASY!!