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Soft, puffy and airy Garlic Naan topped with minced garlic and melted butter. Make this skillet naan bread on stove top. The recipe is so easy, hassle-free and delicious!
How To Make Garlic Naan
Naan is one of the most popular Indian recipes on my site. Garlic Naan is a type of naan bread, with minced garlic on top of the bread. It’s a popular item at Indian buffet restaurants in the US, along with other Indian dishes such as tandoori chicken, samosa and butter chicken.
To make the bread, you will need to make the naan dough, let it rest and then divide the dough into 8 portions. To cook the bread, use a cast iron skillet on the stove top. You don’t need an oven to make them.
Ingredients For Garlic Naan
The recipe calls for very simple and every day ingredients, such as:
- Yeast
- All-purpose flour
- yogurt
- Oil
- Garlic
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients.
Helpful Cooking Tips
- To make restaurant worthy Garlic Naan bread, I strongly recommend you to use a well-seasoned cast iron skillet.
- Cast iron skillet retains higher heat and spreads heat evenly, making it perfect to cook the naan with airy pockets inside the bread, plus gorgeous looking brown blisters on top of the naan.
- While resting the naan dough, cover it with a damp cloth.
What To Eat With Garlic Naan
Enjoying naan with Chana Masala and Pudina Chutney is is a classic way to enjoy Indian food. Garlic naan is garlicky, soft, and goes well with the spicy chickpea curry. Mint chutney adds a vibrant color, fresh taste, balancing the flavors nicely. Together, they make a tasty and balanced meal.
This trio isn’t just about taste; it’s about how Indians often eat together. Naan is torn by hand and shared among family and friends, perfect for group meals. Chana Masala is popular both at home and on the streets because its hearty and delicious flavors. Mint chutney adds a fresh, tangy taste. Together, they make an absolutely satisfying meal that celebrates Indian food and its rich culinary culture.
Frequently Asked Questions
The naan bread can be eaten on its own but they are best served with Indian curries, tandoori chicken or mango chutney. However, the best and most authentic combination is the trip of naan, chana masala and mint chutney.
Yes, the recipe is healthy. It calls for healthy ingredients such as plain yogurt and garlic.
This recipe yields 8 pieces of the bread and each piece is only 192 calories.
What To Serve With Garlic Naan
For a wholesome Indian meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
I hope you enjoy this post as much as I do. If you try my recipe, please leave a comment and consider giving it a 5-star rating. For more easy and delicious recipes, explore my Recipe Index, and stay updated by subscribing to my newsletter and following me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for new updates.
Other Recipes You Might Like
Garlic Naan
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 oz (7g) active dry yeast
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt, plain
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 2 tablespoons cilantro leaves, chopped
- oil , for greasing the skillet
- 4 tablespoons salted butter, melted
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the sugar, warm water, and yeast. Stir well. Let the mixture sit for about 10 minutes, until the yeast becomes foamy and activated.
- Transfer the all-purpose flour to a flat surface and create a well in the center. Pour in the yeast mixture, yogurt, and oil, then knead the dough until the surface is smooth and shiny, about 10 minutes.
- Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let it rise in a warm place, such as beside the stovetop or in a warm oven. The dough should double in size in about 1 hour.
- Divide the dough into 8 equal portions. Roll each portion into an 8-inch circle using a rolling pin. Sprinkle and press some minced garlic and chopped cilantro leaves onto the top surface of the dough.
- Heat a cast-iron skillet over high heat and lightly grease the surface with some oil. Place the dough in the skillet with the garlic and cilantro side facing up. When the naan puffs up and bubbles and burnt spots appear, flip it over to cook the other side. Repeat the process until all the dough is cooked.
- Brush the naan with melted butter and serve warm.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Will this work without an iron skillet?
Hi Diane. Yes, you can use a heavy-bottomed stainless steel skillet too. Anything that can retain heat well.
I tried this last night and it ended up smoking up the kitchen. Should I turn down the skillet after the first naan? I had to remove the smoke detector before continuing. LOL. I son’t have an overhead vent over the stove.
Hi Leslie. Oh, yikes. You may want to reduce the amount of oil used, and perhaps turn down the heat just a bit. Also make sure all your dough is ready to go so that you don’t have a long wait between each piece.
I tried the Naan recipe but this one was even better!
Great and easy recipe. Very Authentic. I added black cumin seeds too. What a perfect treat.
Awesome I love cumin seeds.
Hi there—- I tried out this naan tonight and it would not get “shiny”. I didn’t want to over-knead it, since that usually makes bread tough. It did rise nicely, I got 10 rounds from it. It didn’t have a good taste— it had a very raw bread dough flavor and was rather tough. Was my yeast bad? I kneaded it for about 15 minutes but no longer. It did produce nice bubbles so I think I’ve made a mistake (not your recipe). (Was this supposed to be using maida all purpose flour? I used American “all purpose flour”)
Hi Anatol I am not sure what happened. Yes, American all purpose flour is fine. It sounds like your flour might not old and stale.
Thank you for your response so fast :)
I just noticed that I used “instant” yeast (which I’ve never used before). Perhaps that was the problem. It came out looking beautiful, I will try it again with new yeast. (The flour was new, the yeast though was close to its “use by” date)
I see. Yeah please try again.
No instant yeast would make no difference. I used it and turned out perfect. The only difference with instant yeast is you do not need to proof it prior to mixing it with the flour you can just throw it in with all the other ingredients and go for it but I always proof it just like the recipe suggests that way you know if your yeast is active and good before you go to the trouble of making the whole recipe so if you didn’t proof your yeast you probably should do that to make sure that it’s active that could be a problem. Your flour could be old. Your measurements could be off my was really sticky I ended up adding one additional maybe 2 tablespoons of flour and it came out perfect and I did it in a mixer kneaded it for eight minutes.
Thanks Robin.
My husband & I love garlic naan with our curries and I just tried your recipe (I halved the amount of ingredients since 4 naan is more than enough for the two of us) and it turned out perfectly delicious!
I’ve been exchanging messages with my other friends who have lived in Singapore or Malaysia who say making naan at home is difficult. Your recipe is simple to follow and it works well with a non-stick pan as well.
Thank you so much for sharing this great and tasty recipe! Will definitely make it again!!
Thanks!
Great Naan! First time trying this and it was easy and excellent…entire family loved it.
Thanks!
I’m interested in making this, but there are only two of us. What to do with leftover nan or dough if I don’t make 8?
Make them and freeze.
Made this last night and it turned out great. It took a lot of time and counter space though. My boyfriend came to help me and we made a fun project out of it. I’d come back to this recipe to make again but would only do it alone if I had an afternoon with a lot of time. Not while I was also trying to make a main dish to serve it with. Thanks for the delicious recipe.
Hi Rebecca, awesome. Try my Butter Chicken or Chicken Tikka Masala.