An easy, soft flatbread recipe that’s made without yeast, an excellent quick option when you don’t have hours for yeast dough to rise. You’ll love how soft and pliable this flat bread is, making it perfect to use as wraps for Gyros, Shawarma and Doner kebabs. Or as naan to dunk into Tikka Masala or Butter Chicken. The possibilities are endless!
Flatbread recipe
I love fresh homemade bread. And though I bake bread with yeast more frequently nowadays, I still find it easier and a general preference to make bread without yeast.
Maximum taste, most tasty outcome with minimum effort – but without compromising on the end result. That’s my ultimate goal and the ethos that underpins every recipe I share here on RecipeTin Eats.
Over the years, I have tried a lot of flatbread recipes. Flatbreads from many different cuisines, from blogs and cooking sites, by home cooks, from reality cooking shows (yes, Master Chef and My Kitchen Rules!), serious chefs and celebrity chefs.
But I always found they were too doughy (e.g. the ones that only use yoghurt as the wet ingredient) or too crisp to use as a wrap unless they were moistened with lashings of butter. Absolutely delicious, mind you. But not what I was after. So this recipe is my idea of a perfect flatbread recipe.
How to make Flatbread – with NO yeast
This flatbread recipe is made with no yeast. It is very easy to make, requiring just a minute or two of kneading.
And it honestly is beautifully soft and pliable. So soft you can use it as a wrap and it won’t crack.
And of course, it is perfect to be used as pita bread, for things like Greek Gyros and Greek Chicken Souvlaki.
And here I have used it as “naan” as a side for Butter Chicken. When I make it to be like “naan”, I cook it on a slightly higher heat to get larger and more brown bits on it – just like real naan! The crust gets slightly crispier so it’s not as suited to use as a wrap, like in the above photo. (PS If you’ve got the time to make proper naan, try my Naan recipe. It’s just like the real deal!)
If you’ve never tried homemade bread before, this flatbread recipe is a great one to start with because it really is that easy. The worst that can happen with this flatbread recipe is that the heat is too high when you cook it so the exterior ends up a bit too crunchy and cracks when you roll it. If that happens, just spray it with olive oil or brush lightly with oil or butter and it will moisten the surface.
Try this once, and store-bought flatbreads will never be the same again. That I can promise! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
I’ve added oil but it’s not necessary. Please follow your recipe card below.
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
Easy Soft Flatbread (No Yeast)
Ingredients
- 2 cups plain flour (all purpose flour) (level cups, unsifted, not packed), + keep 1/4 cup extra for dusting & adjusting dough
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 1/2 tbsp / 50g unsalted butter (1.75 oz)
- 3/4 cup milk
Instructions
- Melt butter in milk: Combine butter and milk and heat until butter is just melted – on stove or in microwave.
- Combine Dry: Combine 2 cups flour, salt, butter and milk in a bowl.
- Knead 2 minutes: Sprinkle work surface with flour then knead for a few minutes until it is smooth – it doesn't need much kneading. Add extra flour if the dough is too sticky.
- Rest 30 minutes: Wrap with cling wrap and rest at room temperature for 30 minutes or so.
- Roll into rounds: Dust bench top with flour, cut dough into 6 pieces, roll into balls, then roll out into 20cm / 8" rounds, 2 – 3 mm thick.
- Heat pan: Heat a non stick pan over high heat (no oil). (Note 1)
- Cook: Place one flatbread in the pan, cook for around 1- 1 1/2 minutes – it should puff up dramatically. Once the underside has nice golden patches on it, flip and cook the other side for 45 seconds to 1 minute until the underside has golden spots and it puffs up again.
- Keep wrapped in tea towel: Stack the cooked bread and keep wrapped with a tea towel – the moisture helps soften the surface, making them even more pliable. Continue to cook with remaining pieces.
- Brush with butter or oil (optional): Brush or spray bread with olive oil or melted butter, for a more luxurious finish. Or even with melted butter mixed with minced garlic for a garlic butter version!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Summer, autumn, spring and winter. Rain, hail or shine.
I really want to give this a go and it looks so easy. But I’d like to know can the recipe be halved? Or can some be stored in the fridge until I’m ready to cook it? It’s only me that I’m cooking for so the quantity is too big.
Hi Jenny, 100% you can halve it – or even cook in full and store some in the freezer 🙂 N x
Wow these turned out great! I’ve tried lots of recipes before but they always came out tough – these were so light and fluffy – even better than bought ones! We had them to wrap up our mexican beans and toppings – no cracking or splitting at all!
This is the one finally. Thank you so much for sharing.
Oops forgot to put the rating in sorry for the double post!
Oh Nagi!! Thankyou for sending me this link (of course I couldve just searched flat bread tin eats 🤔😐what can I say Im an oldie)😀. Well I made this yesterday for chicken wraps with hommus and salad – the husband has been at the receiving end of my previous attempts and looked at me sideways and offered to pop out and buy some flat bread but was convinced to just sit down and let me do my (your) thing. Well! He was so taken aback with the results he firgot himself and actually put his plate in the dishwasher!😀 so this one goes in my hand written recipe book for my go to easy flatbread. I have 2 of the flat breads in the freezer for another day. I was worried about the heat level at first but settled into a 7 on my induction hob – now I want a bbq so I can do them on the flat top and show off to friends😀. Once again than kyou for making me look like a champ in the kitchen. I took pictures to show off but of course you know it works so you dont need them😃. Thankyou for bringing us these recipes especially now when we are all in lockdown. Next mountain to climb – pocket bread! Xxx
Hi, love this recipe, but wondering could I use bread flour as a sub? Many thanks!
I am going to try my first flatbread.
Just made these. Huge success. I wouldn’t change a thing. It’s going into my recipe notebook. Thank you.
I want to save this recipe, but I can’t seem to find out where to click.
Hi Gail, the little love heart at the bottom right of the screen will save to a “My RecipeTin” folder 🙂 N x
Thank you!
Thanks for the vegan modifications! Haven’t tried it yet but definitely will. I also appreciate the info on dough storage and freezing tips.
Loving making flatbreads, so easy to make, I use soya milk and dairy free butter as my son is dairy intolerant. Come out just as well and he knows he doesn’t have to miss out!
Great easy recipe, flatbread was amazing.thanks
Absolutely fabulous! Super easy to make. Brushed them with garlic butter and served them with the mega flavour lentils. A Dream!
Best regards from Switzerland
That was fabulous, just made flat bread dinner, salad, yoghurt and bbq chicken…..yum, yum!
Thank you Nagi, big fan, always visit your website
Sounds fabulous Jackie!!! N x
Hi Nagi, I always love your recipes! I gave this one a try and my breads turned out weren’t pliable. What did I do wrong here??
hi Nagi
how can i get your naan bread with yoghurt receipe
Hi Rose, you can use the search bar on my website to locate any particular recipe. Here is the direct link for you though: https://discountspot.info/naan-recipe%3C/a%3E – N x
This is my all time favourite go to recipe. Have you tried making crispy taco shells? Do think this recipe will work?
Absolutely delicious and super easy. My 3 year old helped roll them out (we cut into 8 pieces to make them more manageable) to great success.
Can you make this with Greek yoghurt instead of milk? I have none 🙁
Hi Rachael, I would water it down with half water/half yogurt, it should work fine! N x
I make this all the time. It’s easy and the dough is very pliable. I often double the recipe and keep half in the fridge. Take it out an hour before cutting and rolling. I also cut it into 8 pieces cuz each piece is HUGE. I use a cast iron skillet and sometimes brush butter after the first flip, then flip again and get a bit of charring. Such an easy recipe and works great as a wrap or by itself. I’m Persian and love a good flat bread and this one is fantastic!
Absolutely fabulous! Forgot to bring bread to the cabin, had everything for this recipe there. Cooked in a cast iron skillet on the BBQ, it was everything I hoped for. Thank you!