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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Hi Nagi,
I’ve only recently discovered your fabulous web site thanks to an online friend sharing your link. I have gone nuts over your yeast free Flat Bread! Last night I made the one pan sausage. Soo good. Satay chicken/noodles next. Thank you x
Can I use gluten free Quinoa flour instead of white flour ?
It worked! For the first time im making flatbread that remains soft! I did add one teaspoon of yoghurt in there just for extra flavour, but great recpe, thank you 🙂
So glad you enjoyed this Prav! N x ❤️
Hi Nagi, these are our go to for so many dishes now…currently making to go with your slow cooked lamb shawarma, but kids love them for school lunches and quick dinners where we just load them with all sorts of fillings. Absolutely love them and of course all of your recipes, most of which are on high rotation in my kitchen! Thank you, you make our weekly meal planning so much easier!
LOVE HEARING THAT!!!! N xx
I tried this recipe on my family last night (and brought some pita bread from supermarket for… just in case) and the family + sons girlfriend all agreed that mine was way better than the brought ones!!! Thank you ❤️
Love hearing that Nicky! so glad you enjoyed it! N x
I dry my own herbs from the garden: parsley, chives, Green onion, basil, celery tops, oregano, thyme, and dried tomato skins. (1 peel the tomatoes before freezing them for chili etc)
I only crush the dried herbs slightly before storing
I add the herbs to the flatbread dough.
Mixed with butter or cream cheese, it makes a delicious spread for flat bread or any bread
YUmmmmmmmmmm……! N xx
If you add 3 tsp of sugar to the recipe it’s even great to just eat on ita own of you like sweeter bread, 100% delicious 100% easy and fun to make. Even at 3 am. (guilty cook here….)
Now THAT’S a midnight snack!!!!
This simple recipe is amazing and very tasty! Thank you 🙂
I made 2 batches, first one was plain as per recipe which puffed up and cooked brilliantly and the second batch I added about a teaspoon of finely chopped fresh rosemary and 3-4 sundried tomatoes (in oil) also finely chopped. The extra oil did made a slight difference to the consistency of the dough so I added a little extra flour.
The difference in cooking is that I found the plain flat breads cooked and puffed up better than the slightly ‘wetter’ flavoured batch.
I tested them out on my son and his friends and needless to say, there were no crumbs left!
Love hearing that! So glad you enjoyed this Helen! N xx
… Just to add, I cooked the flat breads in a hot dry pan, adding just a teaspoon of oil every now and again.
Just made this so so easy recipe and thay came out perfect, will be having them as raps and will be making them all the time instead of buying bread. Thank you.
So glad you enjoyed this Jaki! Thanks for letting me know! N x
I’ve been cooking these. I decided to halve the recipe but forgot to halve the oil (olive oil instead of butter) the dough was quite greasy. I cook them on a cast iron flat. I have to say they turned out amazing!! Soft and so light. I’m going to continue with double the oil. Cooking them on a cast iron skillet with no oil gives them a great taste. I add caraway or nigella seeds for a great taste. Thank you for this recipe I love it.
Do you have a dairy free version of these flatbreads? I need to stay away from cassein.
In the notes it says to use olive oil instead of butter and almond milk instead of regular milk. Mine turned out great.
sorry Katie, I haven’t tried making this dairy free yet! 🙂 N x
I’m the only one with an issue. Mine did not bubble so were raw in the middle. Feel I may have over kneeded them or had the dough too thick. What would you suggest.
Hi Richard – did you roll it to the thickness specified in the recipe? 🙂
Hi Nagi, thanks for sharing your simple recipe.
2 questions:
1. Can I use extra virgin olive oil instead of butter?
If so, how much should I use? 3 1/2 tbsp?
2. Can I use young rice milk instead of (cow) milk?
If so, 3/4 cup?
Hi Pimon! I’m afraid I haven’t tried this with a straight oil for butter sub nor rice for cow milk. Sorry!!
So I am embarrassed to admit when I first saw this recipe I kind of poo pooed it thinking how good can this be ? I mean I grew up in a south Asian home where my mom made yummy homemade paratha, chapati, naan etc.so yes I am a flatbread snob. However, whenever I used store bread pita bread for your chicken souvlaki , the bread always cracked and fell apart.
So I tried this bread today….and silly me. I should know better. This was sooo easy and so tasty. I wish I could have take a photo of my own face when I flipped over the first bread. My eyes were stunned at how good it looked.
And of course the flavor coupled with the souvlaki was to die for.
Nagi, you are my hero, my Julia child for making tasty cooking sooo easy. No matter the cuisine, Greek, Mexican, middle easter, Chinese Indian…your recipes rock!
HIGHEST PRAISE EVER from a flatbread snob!!!!!
Lol yes, this snob loved them so much I made them again the next day !
These are great! I just made them tonight. Thanks so much for the recipe! My only issue is that I can’t roll them out perfectly round like you did lol. But they still taste amazing and I love having a yeast free option. It’s so fast and so good.
That’s wonderful to hear Dawn! Thanks for letting me know! N x ❤️
Just made this super easy recipe! Only I replaced APF with 1 1/2C hard flour still turned out great. Taste better compared to store bought.
That’s wonderful to hear Mill! Thanks for letting me know! N x ❤️
I found this recipe super easy and oh my goodness- the first batch just disappeared as fast as they cooked, I never got to make the chicken gyros! Lol so I am making another batch when I am home alone tomorrow and then by golly will make my gyros then! This will be made over and over again at my house. Thanks ever so much for sharing!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this Ellen! Thanks for letting me know – N x
Perfect. Made them to be eaten with lamb kofta.
This recipe looks perfect to go with your chicken shawarma recipe which made my mouth water just by reading it! Your video makes the flatbread process look so simple to make as well. When I make this for my husband and myself the recipe will yield the perfect amount but I was wondering if I could make and freeze the flatbreads ahead of time if I make the chicken shawarma for a group of friends.
I tried this recipe tonight and at first my naan was so hard, it was user error. I was cooking the dough low and slow. After the 3rd tried I turned the heat up and finally it came out to the right consistency. I will defiantly use this recipe again.
Made this today to wrap around falafel. It was delicious. I needed something quick. Thank you Nagi