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.
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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:
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Perfect recipe easy and very tasty. Thank you so much ❤️
You’re so welcome Roshini! N x
Hi Nagi, can I ask what brand of pan you use in the video? Thanks!
Hi Kirsten – this is a cast iron skillet I’m using 🙂
Wanted it to be a really puffy so I folded the dough back on itself a Couple of times to laminate and was delish
Thank you was so good and already thinking about the next time to make it
Dear Nagi, I wanted to make chicken wrap with avokado and mango today. I just noticed in last minute that I have only one flat brad left at home. So, I had to do something. 🙂 I had chosen your flat brad recipe and I am really happy with the outcome. The whole family loved it. It was really easy to do it. My 10 year old daughter did almost the whole process. Thank you for your delicious recipe.
That’s great to hear Kinga!! N x
Followed it to the “T” it was perfect. You are super awesome. Love all your recipes.
Wahoo, that’s great Genie!
How can I double your recipe for your no yeast flat bread and your butter chicken? In my house, there’s 12 of us that lives in my home, I just want to make sure that everyone gets a good feed
Hi Deorna, just use the servings slider and adjust to 12 servings – all the ingredients will adjust for you 🙂
Thanks for the flatbread recipe!
After serving in Iraq I wanted a little taste of the sandboxand! We are making lamb kabobs tonight and wanted to pair with the bread as we did while in County.
Best wishes..
Thank you.
i just discovered your webpage and I’m so grateful. Love your recipes 🙂
Thanks so much Shawna! N x
this flatbread recipe is DELICIOUS !!!
I made the dough in my food processor. The dough was very easy to handle. Your recipe is definitively a keeper 👍
THANK YOU NAGI ! 😊
WAHOO! Thats great to hear Monique, thanks so much!! N x
I made this with a few tweaks, I subbed plain unsweetened coconut milk and vegan butter (Country Crock’s new plant based sticks) instead of the dairy in this recipe. I also added about 2tsp garlic powder. They were fantastic! I also halved one of the 1/4s to make 2 very thin pieces, then topped one with vegan smoked Gouda cheese, topped that with the other thin flatbread and rolled them together to make it a cheese stuffed flatbread. It worked perfectly. I used that one to wrap some seitan doner kebab I made yesterday. It was really amazing. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Delicious! The kofta and yoghurt sauce and flatbreads turned out great. But next time I will try store night breads and just fry them quickly in the fry pan – hopefully they’ll taste as good!
Hi Jo, they can be made in advance and cooked, then frozen. You can then thaw and quickly fry to reheat 🙂
Hi Nagi, these look great but just wondering if these the same as roti? And do you think a grind of black pepper and maybe a pinch of garam masala or cumin would work to make them taste a little more Indian – or should I just leave them as is?
Hi Mike, similar to roti (and I use them as if they are roti). You can definitely add your own flare with spices, great idea!! N x
These are amazing! Super soft and tender. Sooooo much better than store-brought and really quick and easy. I used a mixer with a dough hook to knead for 3 and a half minutes. Just delicious. Thank you Nagi! 😀
Made these tonight, but replaced the butter with a healed teaspoon of ghee and the milk with 2 tensions of milk powder asking with 160ml of water. They came out great!
Sounds amazing Rich!!!
Would sound even better if I could spell haha.
Heaped teaspoon of ghee and 2 tablespoons of milk powder mixing with 160ml of water.
That might sound a bit better xx
Ha ha – glad you corrected that Rich as I was wondering, after 30 years of cooking, what a “tension” was! 😀
Hi there , I can’t get the dough to bubble… I don’t know. I know I did something wrong. Any advice. Your video was so good and easy to follow. I don’t know what I did.
Hi Nagi, well you’ve done it again I made your wonderful flat bread, I followed your recipe and it was perfect, it was a big big hit with the hubby, thank you ♥️
That’s great to hear Ann, thanks for letting me know ❤️
I’m gluten free, so do you think I could substitute the wheat flour for a gluten free flour or almond flour?
Hi Morgan – gluten free works here, it’s slightly harder and not as flexible though – N x
Great recipe! The dough is nice and soft and I‘m really surprised at how easy it is. Thanks a lot 😄
Hi, thanks for this recipe, really loved the flatbreads. They were indeed soft and so simple.to make. I made 8 flatbreads so they were quite thin but pliable, just lovely.
It’s unbelievably easy! I’m so happy you enjoyed it Sue!
Beautiful bread! Whole family loves it. I would like to substitute the butter for olive oil. What do you think? How much oil should I use?
Hi Maggie, just use the same amount (3.5 tbls) – N x
Thanks for this recipe. I always find the naan bread I buy at the supermarket is very dry and crumbly. This looks amazing.
You’ll love this one Veronica!
The best flatbread recipe I have tried yet. The dough is wonderful to work with. Thank you for this recipe!
Thank you. It was good. Made it for my girlfriend.
You’re so welcome G, I’m so happy you enjoyed it!