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:
Life of Dozer
Summer, autumn, spring and winter. Rain, hail or shine.
Made these tonight and they were super easy, relatively mess free and yum! I used half normal flour and half wholemeal spelt and they turned out great!
Amazing! This is my go to when needing a quick naan bread to go with Nagi’s butter chicken
Loved these!! So delicious and so easy to make!
Love this recipe. I have a bit of a phobia of any recipe that requires exact measurements of any type as I always seem to fail but this flat bread is so easy even I can do it.
delicious and super easy
excellent
I ate 3 of these in the space of 5 minutes! Scratches the itch for naan and is ideal for scooping up curries:) Or just eating straight-up as a snack like I did with the first few!
This recipe was a hit! For those of you who want to add a little something, I would recommend adding some leftover seasoned minced meat — trust me, people can’t get enough!
Hi Nagi, have made this recipe many times big hit in the house…..we are going away can I freeze cooked flatbread and bring out for our lunches etc when needed?
Hugs to Dozer
So easy! Perfect for soaking up sauce…especially your African Curry!
Hi Naji
Thank you for sharing beautiful delicious easy yummy recipes
Absolutely excellent!
So fast and easy. Definitely a keeper
Since I first made this flat bread recipe….we have never bought them from a store again.
Such a simple dough to make and so easy and quick to make.
I do let the dough sit a bit longer though and I usually add some dried herbs and spices. For kick.
BTW…very hot , dry pan is key to cooking
Hi have made these a couple of times but not my forte.
Everything else is normally a winner. Love your recipes and always look forward to seeing Dozer
Hi! Thank you for another great recipe. I’ve made these a couple of times now and they’re great. I use flour to prevent them from sticking while rolling out the dough. This works very well but leaves a slightly dry (powdery) surface which I don’t love. I’ve added oil to my cast iron skillet in the hopes that this would add a little moisture and counter that powdery surface but that didn’t really work. I use these for making sandwich wraps for my kids’ school lunches so I can’t butter the outside or they’d be messy and greasy when handled. Any idea of how I can roll out the rounds without using flour? Using oil on my bench hasn’t really worked for me.
Hi Alex, I haven’t tried it with this recipe yet, but I usually sandwich dough between two pieces of baking paper. Keeps everything clean and I can squish the dough like a tortilla which is better on my arthiritis than rolling.
If the dough is really sticky it can be a bit of a pain but still works and I don’t have to scrub at the chopping board or counter.
Pick the dough up after rolled and shake the flour off. You could also brush it off with an egg brush or something like that.
This is my go to recipe. I have even sneaked in some sourdough discard (subtract liquid and flour in correct amounts).
Really lovely.
For those who want to freeze, I have been rolling out flat, then freezing between wax paper. Then I take out wraps to cook as needed.
These are great and easy.
One tip is to sub ghee for the butter for the dough. Alternatively, just brush ghee on the finished flat breads.
Just finished possibly the best souva I’ve ever eaten, made with these fantastic pitas, leftover roast lamb flash fried with herbs and spices, homemade tzatziki and fresh veg. I’d always used yoghurt flatbreads before, but these were incredibly easy to make, as flexible as advertised, and yummy! Thanks Nagi!!