Looking for Sourdough? 
Sourdough naan is a delicious, soft, and chewy flatbread that's super easy to make with your unfed sourdough starter.
Mix the dough in the morning and enjoy fresh, homemade naan in the evening!
Serve with hummus, soups and stews, sandwiches, and even flatbread pizza.
Sourdough naan has got to be the easiest flatbread to make from scratch EVER! This recipe is so simple, anyone can make it. Even sourdough beginners.
Don't worry about turning on your oven because naan is cooked on the stovetop. That means you can make sourdough any time of the year without having to heat up the kitchen. Yay!
Just take a look at the sample schedule below to see how easy it is to make homemade sourdough naan!
Sample schedule
We test our recipes in a 68°F (20°C) kitchen. Warmer kitchens will need less time for the dough to double and colder kitchens will need more time.
- 8 AM: Mix dough, cover and let rest until doubled.
- 4 PM: Divide the dough and shape it into balls. Prepare the cast iron skillet.
- 4:30 PM: Cook the sourdough naan.
Ingredients needed
- All-purpose flour: All-purpose flour is what we use in this recipe but you can add some whole wheat flour if you are looking to get a little more nutrition in your flatbread. If you decide to use whole wheat flour in this recipe, just replace up to half of the all-purpose flour and make sure to adjust the water amount. You will need to add more water than called for, about 25-50g more.
- Unfed sourdough starter: Use your unfed sourdough starter right out of your fridge. There is no need to feed your starter for this recipe. However, you can use an active starter if that's what you have on hand.
- Yogurt: Choose from either plain dairy yogurt, greek yogurt, or plant-based yogurt.
- Milk: Choose from cow's milk or plain, unsweetened plant-based milk. We love using oat milk or soy milk.
- Olive oil: Or any neutral flavored oil of your choice. Avocado oil or coconut oil works great.
- Salt
Step-by-step instructions
This sourdough naan dough only takes a few minutes to put together. Mix it up in the morning and you'll be making sourdough naan to enjoy with dinner the same day!
Mix the ingredients together by hand, cover the bowl and allow the dough to rise at room temperature until doubled in size.
Turn the dough out onto your work surface and use a bench scraper to divide it into 8 equal pieces. Form each piece into a ball and keep them covered with a kitchen towel to prevent the dough from drying out.
Preheat a cast iron skillet or a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Working with one dough ball at a time, use a rolling pin to roll it into a round shape with a â…›" thickness.
- Lay the rolled out piece of dough onto the hot skillet and allow it to cook for 1-2 minutes. Bubbles will start to form on the surface of the dough when it's ready to flip.
- Flip the dough over with a spatula and allow it to cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Flip the naan back over to the first side of the pan. The naan should start to expand and quickly become very puffy. Once the entire naan is full of air, remove it from the skillet and place it on a platter.
- Repeat these steps with the remaining dough.
Tips for Success
- If your starter is new, your dough may or may not double in size. That's ok! Go ahead and cook it anyway. The sourdough starter is used to ferment the dough making it easier for us to digest, not to make it rise. This is a very forgiving dough!
- If you'd like to cook the dough at a later date, after you divide and shape the dough balls, you may store them covered in the fridge for up to 3 days. Bring the dough to room temperature before cooking for the best results.
- If you find the dough is sticky when you go to roll it out, use a little flour on the rolling pin and the work surface to prevent sticking.
- If the naan does NOT puff up during cooking, do not fret. This usually happens during the first one or two that go onto the skillet. Sometimes this happens if you roll the dough too thin or if the pan is not hot enough. The naan is still good to eat, I promise!
- A non-stick skillet can be used if you do not have a cast iron skillet. I recommend lightly spraying the non-stick surface with a little cooking spray before placing the dough in the skillet.
How to store and freeze
Store the sourdough naan at room temperature, in a plastic bag for up to 3 days. It can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
More easy sourdough recipes
Check out these other easy sourdough recipes!!
- sourdough butter crackers
- slow cooker sourdough bread
- sourdough tortillas
- sourdough english muffins
- sourdough pancakes
Sourdough Naan Flatbread
INGREDIENTS
- ½ cup (125 g) sourdough starter discard (unfed)
- 2 ½ cups (300 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (120 g) milk (dairy or plant based)
- ¼ cup (60 g) plain yogurt (dairy or plant based)
- 1 tablespoon (15 g) olive oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons (7 g) sea salt
INSTRUCTIONS
- Mix the dough: Mix the wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add the flour and use your hands to incorporate the ingredients until they are well combined and there are no dry bits left in the bowl. The dough will be stiff. Cover the bowl with plastic and let rest at room temperature until doubled in size. In my 68°F ( 20°C) kitchen, it takes roughly 8 hours. Warmer kitchens will take less time, colder kitchens will take more time.
- Divide and shape: Turn the dough out onto your work surface and use a bench scraper to divide the dough into 8 equal pieces, about 78g each. Shape each piece into a ball and cover them with a kitchen towel. (At this stage the dough balls can be stored in a covered container, in the fridge for up to 3 days before cooking.)
- Preheat skillet: While the dough is resting, preheat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat for 10-15 minutes. If you are worried about sticking, feel free to oil the skillet, but I find it's not necessary.
- Roll dough: Working with one ball of dough at a time, use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a round shape with a â…›" thickness. Use a little flour if necessary to prevent sticking. The dough rounds should be about 6" in diameter.
- Cook naan: Place the rolled dough into the skillet and cook for 2 minutes. Flip the naan over and cook on the second side for 1-2 minutes. Flip the naan one more time and watch for the dough to puff up with air. Once it is full, remove it from the skillet and repeat with the remaining dough. Serve hot or at room temperature.
NOTES
- Store the cooked naan at room temperature in a plastic bag for up to 3 days.
- If you store the dough in the fridge to cook later, allow the dough to come to room temperature before cooking for best results.
- Freeze the naan in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months.
PREVIOUS
Linda says
So easy! & great way to use ss discard. I put the balls in the fridge & cooked them off 2 days later after bringing to room temp. Awesome!
Mindy says
So easy and so good! Love to make chicken shawarma wraps out of these. I use less flour or the dough is too dry, but that’s probably because of my starter being quite thick. I fry them on my electric griddle at 400 degrees. Works perfect!
Amy says
I love chicken shawarma! That sounds delicious. Thanks for the tips! 🙂
Sarah says
I make this recipe a couple times a week. Simple enough and always turns out. I love that it uses discard because if I want to faster I just use active starter. My big bowl was finally clean this time when I thought of making it so I made a couple batch and I’ll actually get to have leftovers this time lol. My kids will often fill up on this before we can actually get dinner in their bellies. There’s worse problems to have 😉
Amy says
Hi Sarah, we love it too. These freeze well, so we always have some in the freezer we can pull out for quick dinners. 🙂
Robyn Thompson says
Hello Amy, I have made the naan three times but can't get the puffed up pillow effect to occur. I am using NZ standard measuring items- 1tbsp = 15ml and I cup = 250ml. Also high grade flour.
However they are delicious and we do enjoy them. Sometimes freeze any leftover naan and heat a little in microwave. They come out well.
Do you have any tips to get the pillow effect. Love your website.
Kind regards. Robyn Thompson
Auckland. New Zealand
Amy says
Hi Robyn, what type of pan are you cooking them in? Is it cast iron? I think the pan needs to be really hot when you place the dough on it.
Morgan says
I never saw where I was supposed to add the salt, it only said add wet ingredients and then later mentioned adding in the flour.
LH says
Everyone absolutely loved this naan!!! So easy to make! I will be experimenting with the pizza crazy or bagels this weekend:)
Monica says
Hey I made these with ricotta and turned out good is there any other substitute you use sometimes instead of yogurt? Thank you! I love alot of your recipes !
Jan says
I used sour cream instead of yogurt and it turned out great!
Anita says
Excellent! We’re making a lot more veggie curries and this naan is just the thing! Easy and delicious!. I add about a third whole wheat flour. We’re in FL so no worries about hydration.
Mel says
Really great recipe, very simple fresh flatbreads that taste delicious! Thanks Amy
Julie says
I'm quite happy with my results; however, still wonder if I'm doing something wrong. My naan starts to puff significantly within the first minute of cooking on my ungreased cast iron pan. A 2nd flip dies nothing to make it puff further. I followed the recipe, but i couldn't cook at med high or got smoking.