Homemade Vegan Naan

This homemade vegan naan is super fluffy, soft, pillowy melt in your mouth goodness. A dough that’s surprisingly easy to prepare, you’ll never feel like you’re missing out and feel empowered to make it whenever you want to eat some.

I warn you now, these naans can become addictive and you will feel like a professional chef at home.

I must admit, I haven’t used yeast in the kitchen much. I’m a newbie when it comes to baking loaves of bread, and other baked goods like pastries.

This is why I have found it intimidating to start experimenting and developing recipes like this homemade vegan naan. Working with yeast can feel like a completely new challenge, but I promise you, once you get the hang of it, you won’t be able to stop! 

These vegan naans were the perfect way to ease my way into making dough. I love Indian food, and having naan with my curry is usually the highlight of my meal. I mean, how could it not?

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I’ve experimented using different ingredients, and I found that this method turned out the best. I wanted a vegan naan that was:

• Fluffy
• Light
• Soft
• Chewy
• Melt in your mouth
• Easy to make

And this naan ticks all the boxes! I’ve decided that I’ll also experiment with a gluten-free version soon, so watch this space. 

Is naan usually vegan?

I was wondering for the longest time what made naan not vegan-friendly. Not until I started researching and experimenting did I realise that naan usually has either ghee, butter, yoghurt, or milk in it. Typically a combination of some of those ingredients. So naan is not generally vegan. 

This is why I’m VERY excited that I managed to create one that was vegan and so much like regular naan you’d find at your local Indian restaurant.

I can’t believe I didn’t try this sooner as it’s easy to make, and best of all, hard to stuff up! Even though not all the experimenting I did turned out as a 10/10, we still enjoyed every single batch. 

What to serve with vegan naan

It goes so well with my creamy red lentil curry, cauliflower, and potato curry, matar paneer, as well as palak sweet potato paneer. If you want pure carb goodness, you can eat them with my smashed curry roasted potatoes.

You can easily use them as wraps, as a side, or as a snack. Every time I make them, I plan to freeze some, but they disappear before I get around to it!

I’ve taken some step-by-step photos to help you get an idea of how easy it is and what it should look like along the way. 

In this recipe, I’ve used the active dry yeast. This is what the yeast mixture should look like once you’ve activated the yeast in the first step. It’s browner because I’ve used coconut sugar instead of raw sugar.

You could use both types of sugar, and even maple syrup should be fine too. I personally haven’t tried that method, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work! 

Once you’ve mixed the wet and dry ingredients, you need to let the dough rise. You can see from the pictures below, that it should double in size by the time it’s ready. 

Once that’s done, when you roll it out, I wanted to show you how thin the naan dough should be rolled out. Since we’re cooking it on high heat on a cast-iron skillet, you don’t want them too thick. 

If they aren’t rolled out thin enough, they will be dense and heavy, not light and fluffy. 

If you don’t have a rolling pin, just use a tall jar to roll out the dough, it should do the trick. No need to spend money on something you may never use again (besides for this recipe, of course). 

I usually roll one out at a time as the other one is cooking, but wanted to show you how they look like in more detail. 

How to get the beautiful bubble on the naan?

The best way to achieve the bubbles/rise in the dough is to put a lid on the pan as you cook each one. As I mentioned above, for the best results, use a cast-iron skillet on high heat.

Rather than brushing oil on the side that goes on the pan first, I just use water. Works really well and doesn’t set your smoke alarm off or make your house look like something is on fire! 

I like to peek at the dough rise in the pan, has a weird satisfying feeling.

What if I don’t have a cast-iron skillet?

If you don’t have a cast-iron skillet, you can use your barbecue or bake them in the oven using a pizza stone. 

Both alternatives will work well; you may just not achieve the amount of bubbles and fluffiness without using a lid to trap the heat.

Can the dough for this vegan naan be prepared ahead of time? 

The dough can be prepared ahead of time if it’s inconvenient to leave it for two hours as mentioned in the recipe.

You can leave it in the fridge overnight to rise slowly and continue with the rest of the instructions in the morning. Alternatively, prepare the dough first thing in the morning and pop it in the fridge before work if you want it for dinner that evening. 

Can the dough be frozen?

The dough can be frozen in individual dough balls. Just thaw out in the fridge first overnight, or on your kitchen benchtop for a couple of hours before use. 

Now, onto the recipe! Trust me; you’ll fall in love just like I have.

The steps may look like a lot, but trust me, it’s easy. Once you get the hang of it, you won’t need a recipe to follow!

Recipes you’ll also love: 

1. Creamy Red Lentil Curry (Vegan-Friendly)
2. Palak Sweet Potato Paneer
3. Cauliflower Potato Curry with Coconut Milk
4. Vegan Falafel Wrap
5. Creamy Chickpea Curry (Vegan, Without Coconut Milk)
6. Vegan Matar Paneer with Tofu

If you try this recipe, let me know! We’d love for you to leave a comment and rating below. If you want to go that extra mile, tag us on Instagram or share your photo of the recipe on Pinterest. 

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