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This Gluten Free Naan Bread recipe is the perfect side dish for your favourite curry! These soft, slightly chewy gluten free naan breads are the real deal. Making homemade gluten free naan is way easier to make than you might think and super fun too!
The BEST Gluten Free Naan Bread Ever!
- Why choose this recipe? Because being gluten free should NOT mean missing out on naan bread! This gluten free naan bread recipe is easy to make, and deliciously soft and pillowy. Serve it with your favourite curry and make extra for the freezer!
- Top Tip: Make a big batch of these easy naan breads, cook them up and freeze them between sheets of baking paper. That way you can you can defrost and refresh in the oven next time you have a curry night!
- Variations: Keep it plain, add some chopped garlic and coriander for a tasty variation, or use this as a base recipe to make gluten free keema naan or gluten free peshwari naan.
- Can’t Have Yeast? Make my easy gluten free flatbreads instead, for a simple yeast-free, gluten-free naan bread. Add some Nigella seeds for that authentic naan bread taste when mixing together the dough.
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Don’t just take my word for it…
Annemarie left ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and said: “Made these for my coeliac, fussy pre-teen, served with your slow cooker potato and chickpea recipe. Absolute winner on both counts! We hadn’t found a GF naan recipe he likes before this, thanks so much!“
Ingredients and Substitutions
There’s a printable recipe card below with the quantities. But for the shopping list you’ll need the following ingredients for my easy gluten free naan recipe:
- Sugar: To activate the yeast.
- Yeast: I always use the FREEE Gluten Free Yeast or the Allinson’s Easy Bake yeast, both of which are gluten free.
- Gluten Free White Bread Flour: I always use the FREEE Gluten Free White Bread Flour as it has tapioca starch, creating a slightly chewier texture. You can use a plain gluten free flour blend or an all purpose gluten free flour blend instead.
- Xanthan Gum: A little goes a long way, but this helps to replicate the stretch of gluten. Do not skip this as it will make your dough hard to handle and bread crumbly.
- Salt
- Nigella Seeds: Also known as black onion seeds, to give that authentic naan flavour.
- Natural Yoghurt: Full-fat or zero fat yoghurt will both work. Use coconut yoghurt for a vegan naan bread – this works just as well.
- Olive Oil: You can use a vegetable oil or even ghee if you prefer.
- Butter or Ghee: I brush the cooked gluten free naan breads with this to keep them super soft. Use a vegan butter equivalent for dairy free.
How to Gluten Free Naan Breads
There’s a printable recipe card below with the method. But here are some step-by-step photos to show you how easy this gluten free naan bread recipe is to make.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some FAQs about this gluten free naan bread recipe. If you can’t find the answer to your question here or in the post above, please comment and I’ll try answer!
When activating your yeast in sugar water it should go nice and frothy like the photos in the step-by-steps above. However, if it doesn’t you’ll need to discard it and start again. Check the yeast is in date. If it has been open for a long time you may also need fresh yeast. And always ensure the temperature of the water is 40C. Too hot and it’ll kill the yeast – too cold and it won’t become active.
This gluten free naan recipe is actually really easy to make dairy free and vegan too. Simply swap the yoghurt for a vegan yoghurt (I prefer coconut yoghurt) and the butte/ghee for a vegan butter. The rest of the recipe is vegan anyway.
Serving Suggestions
If you like this gluten free naan recipe then make sure you whip up some of these delicious gluten free curries to serve with it!
- Coconut Chicken Curry
- Butternut Squash and Chickpea Curry
- Slow Cooker Chicken Korma
- Cauliflower Curry
- Slow Cooker Beef Curry
- Chickpea and Potato Curry
- Slow Cooker Sweet Potato and Spinach Dhal
- Turkey Meatball Curry
- Chickpea Curry
- Leftover Turkey Curry
You can also find gluten free onion bhaji and gluten free samosas in my cookbook!
Have you tried this recipe?
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Gluten Free Naan Bread Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 120 ml warm water
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 7 g dried active yeast
- 250 g gluten free white bread flour
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp Nigella seeds
- 100 g natural yoghurt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
For brushing
- 20 g melted butter or ghee
Instructions
- Pour the water into a large jug and heat to 40C – I find the best way to do this is to pour approximately 25ml of freshly boiled water, and then top up with cold water. It should feel like skin temperature if you dip your finger in, but I recommend buying a food thermometer to avoid any errors.
- Stir the caster sugar into the water, add the yeast and then stir to mix. Cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm spot for 5-10 minutes until the yeast starts to froth and form a head like beer.
- Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl add the gluten free bread flour, xanthan gum, salt and Nigella seeds. Mix well to combine.
- When the yeast mixture is ready, pour into the flour mix and add the yoghurt and olive oil. Mix with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes together into a dough – it should be a little sticky.
- Once mixed, cover the bowl with cling film and place in a warm spot to prove for 1 hour. The dough will expand and puff up a little but won’t double in size.
- Divide the dough into four equal-sized pieces and shape each one into a ball – you will want to flour your hands as they’ll be a bit sticky. Lay a sheet of baking paper down on a worktop, dust with gluten free flour and then place the ball of dough down onto it. Dust some extra gluten free flour on top and then use your hands to press the dough into a teardrop shape, around 1cm thick.
- Place a frying pan on a medium-high heat. Carefully remove the baking paper from the dough and lay the dough in the dry, hot pan (it should come off easily if you’ve floured it well – if not, flip the dough into the pan so the paper is on top and then peel it off).
- Cook for 2-3 minutes, until the bread starts to go golden and puff up in places, then flip and repeat on the other side.
- Meanwhile, add the butter (or ghee) and garlic to a pan and melt on a low heat. Once the naan bread is cooked, remove from the pan, brush with the garlic butter and wrap in foil while you repeat the process with the other three pieces of dough. Serve warm.
Video
Notes
- Weighing Scales vs Cups: You can toggle this recipe card to convert the ingredients into cups – I have weighed each item individually to ensure the conversion is accurate as possible. However, I always recommend using weighing scales – these are cheap to buy and much more accurate. And in gluten free baking, a tiny variation can make a huge difference!
- Step-by-Step Photos: Check out the blog post above for step-by-step photos to guide you through how this naan bread recipe should look at each stage.
- Storing and Freezing: Leftover naan breads can be kept for a couple of days or frozen. I recommend reheating before eating them as gluten free bread is always best fresh and warm!
- Like this Recipe? It would mean SO much to me if you could leave a 5* rating and leave a comment about this Gluten Free Naan Breads! It really helps support my blog and get the recipes out there to everyone who needs them – thank you xx
Nutrition
More gluten free bread recipes
To prove how much I love this recipe, here are some of the times I’ve made this gluten free naan bread while perfecting it:
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Want more gluten free meals inspiration? My debut cookbook, Delicious Gluten Free Meals, has 100+ gluten free recipes, from breakfast and lunch ideas to dinners, desserts and sides.
As always, a super tasty recipe that’s easy to follow. The links to other recipes to accompany it are extremely useful.
Thanks Mo, glad you enjoyed it!
YUMMMMMMM! i made it to go along with a sweet potato/red lentil dal. Thanks for the recipe!
Made these for my coeliac, fussy pre-teen, served with your slow cooker potato and chickpea recipe. Absolute winner on both counts! We hadn’t found a GF naan recipe he likes before this, thanks so much!