This Garlic Naan bread is light, soft, fresh, and filled with flavor! It is so good that you will be making it again and again. I show you how to make Garlic Naan on a skillet on a stovetop. In my recipe the dough is infused with fresh garlic making it extra delicious. Serve the Restaurant Style Garlic Naan Bread as a side for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
About Garlic Naan
Garlic Naan bread is Indian leavened flatbread made with all-purpose flour and spiced with garlic. At restaurants, plain naan bread is usually brushed with garlic butter and served.
However, in my recipe, garlic is infused into the bread dough instead and I also top the naan bread with garlic butter. The result is double dose of garlic deliciousness!
Garlic is a great addition to the naan dough. It gives so much flavor and taste to the otherwise plain yeasted dough.
For this recipe, I used half a proportion of all-purpose flour and another half of whole wheat flour but, you can also use one or the other.
I also add oil to this naan, however you can use butter or ghee (clarified butter) instead. This garlic naan is similar to the way I make whole wheat naans.
This garlic naan is truly delicious! It is exactly what naan should be – soft, tender and is not hard and chewy like in restaurants. If you char them more on the stovetop flame, they become crispy and best eaten hot.
I usually make naans with instant yeast. If you do not prefer working with yeast, try my another simple and classic Naan Recipe made without yeast.
Serve this fresh Garlic Naan bread with your favorite curries or gravies. In fact they taste good on their own too.
If you are a fan of Naan wraps, try this Paneer Shawarma and wrap it in the naan bread, filled with assorted vegetables, pickled cucumbers, along with with flavorful sauces like toum (garlic sauce), Hummus, tahini sauce or yogurt sauce.
How to Make Garlic Naan
Make Garlic Dough
1. In a small bowl take ½ teaspoon instant yeast (rapid rise yeast) and 1 teaspoon sugar (raw sugar or white granulated).
2. Add 3 tablespoons of water and mix well. Dissolve the instant yeast and sugar with water. Set aside.
I prefer to mix the instant yeast with water before adding it to the dough.
3. Remove your flours, prep garlic and other ingredients. Take the dough ingredients in a mixer bowl or a stand-mixer bowl.
- 1 cup whole wheat flour – 120 grams
- 1 cup all purpose flour – 125 grams
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic or minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons oil, any neutral flavored oil
- ½ to 1 teaspoon salt or as needed
4. By the time you prep the other ingredients, the yeast mixture would be bubbly and frothy.
5. Add the frothy yeast mixture to the flour mix in the bowl.
6. Knead the dough into a smooth, soft, supple dough with ½ cup water. Add water in portions when kneading the dough.
If the dough feels firm or tight, add 1 to 2 tablespoons water and knead again. Ensure that the dough is soft and pliable.
You could either knead with your hands or use a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.
6. Cover the bowl with a kitchen napkin. Leaven dough for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until doubled. The time taken to leaven will depend on the room temperature.
7. The dough should look like the picture below after leavening. It will double up in volume, have lot of air-pockets and be stringy.
7. Portion dough in equal sized balls. Roll the portioned dough between your palms and make a neat ball. Flatten it lightly.
Place the balls on a tray with some space next to them. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes.
Make Garlic Butter
8. Melt 4 tablespoon butter in a small pan or skillet on low heat. You could use either salted or unsalted butter.
9. When all of the butter is melted, add 2 teaspoons finely chopped or minced garlic to the melted butter. Stir and switch off the heat.
The garlic will be cooked with the heat from the melted butter and you won’t get the raw pungent garlic flavor on your naans.
10. When this melted butter mixture become warm, add 2 tablespoons of chopped mint or coriander leaves (cilantro). Mix and set aside.
Assemble and Roll
11. Place one dough ball on a lightly dusted rolling board. Sprinkle some whole wheat flour on the dough from the top.
Avoid adding too much of the flour when rolling. Use sparingly and as needed.
12. Sprinkle some nigella seeds on the dough. If you do not have nigella seeds, add white or black sesame seeds. Or else completely omit adding any of these seeds.
13. With a rolling pin make a round or oval shape dough of about 7 to 8 inches. You can pull the top part to make a slight tapering dough.
You can make round shaped or tear-shaped or oval garlic naans.
14. Turn over gently and let the side with the nigella seeds touch the rolling board. Brush the top side with water evenly all over.
Make Garlic Naan Bread
15. Heat a tawa or flat skillet on medium-high to high heat. When the skillet becomes hot, place the watered side touching the hot skillet.
16. You will see the evaporating water forming large air bubbles on the garlic naan. On high to medium-high heat, cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until the bottom has blisters and is cooked completely,
17. Separate the garlic naan from the pan with a spatula.
18. In the photo below, you can see the side where the water was brushed has blisters and is well cooked. It looks like the naan one gets in restaurants or has been cooked in a tandoor.
19. Lift the garlic naan with tongs from the pan and place the uncooked side with the nigella seeds on the stove-top flame.
If you have an electric stovetop, continue to roast the garlic naan on the pan or skillet, as you would for roti or any other flat bread.
20. Move the naan all over the flame so that the sides are cooked well.
21. If you see that the side which was earlier roasted on the skillet looks undercooked, then place this side touching the flames.
22. Like me if you prefer a bit more charred and crispy naans, cook them for some more seconds on the flame, so that they get slightly charred.
You can also add oil or ghee to the skillet when cooking the naans as we do for Paratha. Any ways you cook, the naans will taste delicious. I have tried all of these methods and they work.
23. Place the garlic naan on a plate or in a roti basket. Brush the prepared garlic butter spreading some garlic and mint/cilantro (from the butter) all over on the naan.
Cook each garlic naan like this one by one. I make naans this way and place them in a roti basket.
You can also use a clean cotton kitchen towel to stack the naans. When placing them place the buttered side facing each other for two naans, so that the butter does not touch your kitchen towel.
Serving Suggestions
You can serve the garlic naan bread straight away or cover the naan with a napkin to keep them warm if you want to serve them later.
Garnish with some cilantro or mint if you like and serve garlic naan hot or warm. These garlic naans are soft, so they do not become chewy once they get cold.
Serve them with your favorite curries or lentils based dishes. We prefer to enjoy them with Indian lentil preparations like Dal Makhani and Chole Masala.
Even rich and creamy curries like Paneer Butter Masala, Palak Paneer and Matar Paneer pair nicely with naans.
One of our favorite ways is to pair Chinese style dishes with Garlic Naan Bread like – Veg Manchurian and Chilli Paneer. Try this way and I am sure you will like it.
Do keep a few sides of kachumber or Indian Onion Salad, lemon wedges and mango or lemon pickles with your naan meals.
Expert Tips
- Flour: For this recipe, I used half a proportion of all-purpose flour and another half of whole wheat flour. However, you can make the naan with all-purpose flour only or whole wheat flour.
- Dough Texture: Ensure that you knead the dough nicely. Add water as needed and form to a soft and pliable dough. You can knead the dough with your hands or use a stand mixer.
- Oil: I added oil to this naan dough, however you can use butter or ghee (clarified butter) instead.
- Cooking naan: I cooked one side of the garlic naan on a pan and I cooked the other side on the stovetop flame. You can also cook the garlic naan on the tava/flat skillet, as you would for roti or chapati or you can add oil or ghee to the skillet when cooking the naans like you would for paratha.
- Garlic Butter: Use either salted or unsalted butter. If you like more saltiness in your naan, add a few pinches of salt in the garlic butter. Together with garlic, you can also add finely chopped chives.
- Storage: You can store fresh garlic naan in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a few hours. The dough can be kept in the refrigerator for a day and for about a week in the freezer.
- Scaling: As is, this recipe makes for 8 garlic naan bread. But can be easily scaled to make for more naans.
More Breads To Try!
Indian Breads
North Indian Food Recipes
Indian Breads
Indian Breads
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Garlic Naan | How to make Garlic Naan Bread
Ingredients
For yeast mixture
- ½ teaspoon instant yeast (rapid rise yeast)
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon sugar raw sugar or granulated, white sugar
Other ingredients for dough
- 1 cup whole wheat flour – 120 grams
- 1 cup all-purpose flour – 125 grams
- 1 teaspoon garlic – finely chopped or minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons oil
- ½ cup water
- ½ to 1 teaspoon salt
For garlic butter
- 4 tablespoon butter – salted or unsalted
- 2 teaspoons garlic – finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons mint leaves – chopped or cilantro (coriander leaves)
Instructions
Making dough
- First mix the instant yeast with sugar and water. Set aside.
- In a bowl or stand-mixer bowl, take both the flours, garlic, salt and oil.
- Add the yeast mixture. Add ½ cup water in parts and knead to a supple, soft and smooth dough.
- Cover with a clean kitchen towel cloth and keep the dough to leaven for 45 minutes to 1 hour until doubled. Note that the time taken to leaven will depend on the room temperature.
- Once the dough is leavened, portion it in equal sized balls. Roll the portioned dough between your palms and make a neat ball. Flatten it lightly.
- Place the balls on a tray with some space next to them. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes.
Making garlic butter
- Meanwhile melt butter completely in a small pan or skillet.
- Add garlic and turn off the heat. The garlic will be cooked with the heat from the melted butter and you won’t get the raw pungent garlic flavor in the naan bread.
- When this melted butter mixture become warm, add the chopped mint or coriander leaves. Set aside.
Assembling and Rolling
- Sprinkle flour on the dough and place it on a lightly dusted rolling board. Avoid adding too much of the flour when rolling. Use sparingly and as needed.
- Sprinkle nigella seeds or sesame seeds on the dough. With a rolling pin make a round or oval shape dough. You could pull the top part of the rolled dough with your fingers to make a tapering dough.
- Turn over gently the rolled dough and let the side with the nigella seeds touch the rolling board's surface. Spread water all over on the top side.
Making Garlic Naan
- Next heat a tawa or a flat skillet. Keep the heat to medium-high or high.
- Place the watered side touching the hot skillet or tawa.
- Cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until you see the base getting nicely browned and charred.
- Using a spatula separate the naan from the skillet.
- Lift the naan with tongs and place it on direct flame with the side that is not cooked touching the flame.
- Move the naan all over the flame to ensure the sides and the surfaces are well cooked with some chars. If you see that the side which was cooked earlier on the skillet, looks raw, then cook this side too on the flame.
- Place on a tray or plate and brush the garlic butter spreading some garlic and mint/cilantro (from the garlic butter) all over on the naan.
- You can either use a roti basket to store the naans or use a clean cotton kitchen towel to stack the naans. When placing them, place the buttered side facing each other for two naans, so that the butter does not touch your kitchen towel.
- Make the naans one by one this way.
- Serve Garlic Naan Bread hot or warm. Garnish with some cilantro or mint if you like.
Notes
- The dough can be kept in the refrigerator for a day or frozen for about a week.
- Scale the recipe easily to double the servings.
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This Garlic Naan recipe from the blog archives, first published in November 2012 has been republished and updated on December 2022.
This naan recipe helped guide me to having the most delicious flat bread. I follow this recipe except I do not add anything else but garlic and dry rosemary and I omit the oil because I fry the naan in a skillet in butter and olive oil. And I used only all purpose flour and cut the recipe in half it made 6 naans. Also I used lemon not yogurt. delicious
thanks amber.
hi i like u r post . the way u present like easy .very nice
thanks bhavesh
I was confused by your photos and description and the step by step recipe. How much water is used to proof the yeast? With the photos, you mentioning adding water–is this additional water? In recipe you have lemon juice as an ingredient but it is not mentioned in the directions.
i have used 3/4 cup water to proof the yeast. in the photos i mean additional water that needs to be added if required. thanks for pointing out about the lemon juice. i shall update in the directions as well as in the step by step pics. you can also add 2 tsp yogurt instead of the lemon juice.
Your posts are really awesome. Specially due to the lot of pictures you provide depicting the step by step procedure. Thumbs up ^_^
thanks gaurav
Your site is just awesome!!! ***** is what it gets!!! Maybe I can give more 🙂 I love your photos, your description & the recipes…I just came upon your site today & I have been on it fir past 2 hrs 🙂 & made Corn Manchuria with Hakka Noodles. Your Indo Chinese is too good!!
Keep going..you will have many more to read & appreciate & thank you for this great work!!
Deepta.
welcome deepta. i am glad to know that you liked the site. positive feedback from readers is always motivating. thanks for the rating.
amazing…….your recipes look wonderful…..have never tried them but will so very soon…luv your detailing in every step..
Hi Dassana,
I really like your Blog and tried Garlic Naan for the first time yesterday. It tasted great though they tasted more like “Kulchas” (which is great because that’s what I like with Chholey). However, I was thinking maybe I made a mistake. I used the exact measurements as described, but I had to leave for an errand so after 2 hours when it doubled, I wrapped it in plastic and kept it in the refrigerator. The next day I noticed it was doubled up again (it had been 24 hours in the refrigerator). So when I rolled them out and cooked on the “Tava” and then fire, they kind of puffed up with a bread like texture. They tasted great though – but more like Kulcha.
My question – can we keep the dough in fridge if we can’t cook the same day? Also, if I have to change the quantity (reduce or increase), in what proportion would I change the quantity of Active dry yeast?
thanks kawal. you can keep the dough in the fridge. its best to use the next day. if you cannot, then freeze the dough. it won’t double up then in the freezer. before making thaw the freezed dough completely. for three cups of flour, 1.5 to 2 tsp of yeast is used. so if reducing to half, that is using 1.5 cups flour than 3/4 tsp or 1 tsp yeast is fine. there is not much difference between kulcha and naan. somewhere i even read, that naan is made in the tandoor or oven and kulcha is made on the tava/griddle.
I luv they way u cook n its so easy n tasty
thanks rimi
Hi Dassana,
In my desperation to find a good recipe online… I stumbled upon you :).. And thank God it happened:)…
Ha e never seen a good recipe like this. Have to try this:).
I write a food blog at wordpress too and so a vast coverage of different food items. I suck at baking… May be will learn some good tips here:).
How can I follow you online? I don’t have twitter. I am on Facebook and wordpress.
Thanks
Sonal
thank sonal. baking is good. try baking more and you won’t feel that you don’t do it well. you can follow me through facebook or google+.
I cannot wait to try this. One thing though – what would you recommend to somebody who is using an electric stove and cannot place the other side of the naan on the fire to finish cooking? Please advise – thank you!
hi kati. you can cook the naan on a hot griddle or frying pan. no need to cook it on fire. just apply some oil or ghee or butter while cooking and you will get some crispiness on the naan. first cook one side and then cook the other side.
another way is to brush some water on one side. place the watered side down on the griddle or frying pan. cover with a lid. you will see the naan bread rising at some places. flip after 1-2 minutes or more when you see the base cooked and browned. cook the other side now. once done brush some butter or ghee from top.
you can also grill the naan. plus also bake the naan in an oven. the oven has to be very hot. so you can choose the highest temperature setting in your oven. pre heat the oven. place a baking tray or stone in the oven. once the oven is pre heated, place the naan on the heated tray or stone. remember to check after 2-3 minutes. on a high temperature setting, they will take about 3-4 minutes to cook. when you see them rising with brown spots, remove and brush with some butter or ghee or oil.
Made these tonight with our lentil sambar and mango & peach chutney. Truely fantastic! Really enjoyed making these and of course eating them! Yum!
thanks kristen for trying the recipe and sharing your feedback.
Great recipe. I made it last week and have linked your post in this week’s “What We Ate” on my blog. You can find it here: http://auntbbudget.blogspot.ca/2013/04/what-we-ate-april-15-21.html
Hi there –
Just tried this recipe. I made it with all white flour because I didn’t have whole wheat, and I didn’t have any garlic so I just made it plain. It turned out beautiful, it puffed in places and is chewy and soft. The taste isn’t the best – I think I need to add more salt and the garlic would DEFINITELY make a difference. I think I was just not adding enough flavor.
i guess the salt must have been less. otherwise even plain naan tastes good. using the same recipe sometimes i make plain naan and just top it with nigella seeds.
Hi Dassanna. I love your recipes. simple & easy to make. however my naans turned out to be hard. the batter also did not rise. only thing that i last added to the kneaded dough was lime. i dont know where i have gone wrong. pls advice.
whenever the dough does not rise, it means that the yeast did not proof well. thats why the naan also became hard. yeast proofing if correctly done yields excellent naans or breads. i don’t think lime affects the leavening of the bread. so next time when you make the naan, always ensure that the yeast froths and bubbles. also buy good quality yeast.
The problem might be with the temperature. You need to bake them at a very high temperature.
This looks delicious. Like the spreading of the kalonji, celery and garlic on top.