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 am going to try this with a1/4 cup of shredded parmesan cheese for flavor, and some seasoning blend for flavoring in the dough.
Oooh yes! Love that addition! 🙂
I love flat bread and I thought I tried almost all versions, but I am looking forward to trying this recipe 🙂
I hope you do try this Muna!!! It’s SO GOOD!
Hi Nagi. This is your “restaurant” friend again from Botswana, Africa. You are right. This flat bread knocks your socks off. Like so many other reader, i tried many many different flat breads or rotis but this one is a real winner. I made the second time again last night with a lamm curry and – ohhhh it was so perfect and delicious. Thank you so much for all your efforts and for sharing with us. Next time i want to try it with coconut oil instead of butter to make it a bit healthier ( not that i ever think about it when i eat it? ) thanks again and again.
Nagi, I made this flat bread a few days ago. Was really looking forward to a quick recipe but mine did not turn out soft at all. They were quite hard and dense. 🙁 I followed your recipe to dot (which I usually don’t – oops). Any ideas what could have caused it?
You overworked your dough
Not sure what I did wrong, but, these were very dense and the texture was more like cooked Playdough. I am not a novice baker. Very experienced. The only thing I may have done that caused this is over rolling and kneading.
This is what happened to me the first time I tired and realised i did not roll out thinly enough you need to roll even thinner than what you would imagine and it works out beautifully.
Hi Sandra, gosh I’m sorry to hear it didn’t work out for you, I can’t think what would have cause that, no one has ever had that problem before. Did you roll it out thinly??
Made your flat bread tonight. Perfect! So easy and super tasty.
Thank you Kimberly! I am so thrilled you enjoyed this, and thanks for coming back to let me know! N x
Does this make 8 or 4 flat breads? They sound easy enough. Thank you.
Vicky
Oops! Fixed – it makes 4! 🙂
This looks great! Reminds me of the Paratha bread I ate while in Bangladesh. Question – Do you think that it would be possible to replace regular flour with corn flour? As always – thanks Nagi!
Hi Corinne! Unfortunately not, the outcome will be rather different. Why do you want to replace it with corn flour???
because i have a lot laying around – no idea how to use it up! LOL
Perfect! I try not to use yeast when I can help it because it can be a little draining and hard to digest but like you said it often causes cracking so this recipe will be great for a side dish for so many meals.
Thanks Chelsey!! 🙂
I think the prep time should reflect the 30 min sit time. I love the bread! Will make again, I just ran short on time due to the prep time of 5 minutes – maybe 35 minutes.
I’m sorry Diane, I will try to figure out a way to add resting time as a new field! 🙂
My daughter cannot eat yeast, wheat, dairy, soy or corn and I have made this recipe with chickpea flour, nut telex (olive oil spread) and coconut rice milk and cooked in basil olive oil. The results are not bad. biscuity as opposed to bread but when wiped in hommus works for her. It tastes really nice with a slight sweetness. Worth trying
Thanks for reporting how it went made yeast, wheat and air free Helen! That’s so amazing that you made it!!! N x
These are awesome! Subbed neutral-tasting coconut oil for the butter and almond milk for dairy. They are so versatile and simple that I will be making these often 🙂 I’ve mostly used them for hummus and veg wraps, but I think they would be great with sweet fillings.
So glad Tonya! Thank you for trying my recipe and for coming back to let me know you enjoyed it! N x
I just made these tonight and they are great! I made half of them super thin for chicken tacos. The other half I made thick and made Mexican pizzas and baked them at the end to really make them crunchy. I am going to try to make small pizzas with them as this is a very versatile recipe for dough. I have tried others and they all taste to much like flour and no flavor. Thanks for the recipe!!
WOO HOO! So glad you enjoyed this, thanks so much for trying my recipe Maria! N x
Your flat bread is lovely, made beef and sour cream for tea with your flat bread hubby gave it the thumbs up so did I.
Cathy
Yay! I’m so glad you enjoyed this Cathy!!! I make these often, almost every time I make something that uses a flatbread!
How the heck have I not come across this recipe on your blog?! I need to make these. Need. They look so easy to make!
J Daddy’s parents are coming to visit on the June long weekend. I’m seriously thinking of making a huge curry feast for us. J Daddy’s mum is coeliac and suffers the affliction quite seriously – a teeny bit of gluten sees her incapacitated for 24 hours. This flatbread using gluten free flour will be just the treat to go with your Butter Chicken and Chana Aloo Curry. Can’t wait to cook my beautiful in-laws things from your blog!!!
Woah! That is seriously sensitive!!! Do you know the site http://www.noshtastic.com by Sheena? She is a registered nurse and is coeliac 🙂
Thank you SO MUCH!
I’ve been making soups all day (as it’s my day off), and I had a craving for fresh bread to go along with it, and I was highly impressed with this recipe, and I can say I’ll definitely be making these again <3
I’m so glad you enjoyed this Vivian! Thank you so much for letting me know!
Please provide a conversion from ounces to tsp or tbl please. Butter is sold in pounds in the US and the 1/4 lb sticks are marked off in tablespoons.
Done. Hope that helps! 🙂
so is it 4 cups or 2 cups of flour???
AHHH!!! SO SORRY Ruth 🙁 I forgot to update the steps as well! Now fixed – it is 2 cups. 🙂 (It used to be 4 until I reduced it to a half batch, the update I referred to in the intro of the recipe). Thanks for picking that up! N x
Never mind. I reread the directions after I added the oil to the flour LOL
I’m making this right now but it doesn’t say at what point you add the olive oil to the flour. Or is it meant to grease the pan that you fry the bread in? It’s confusing!
Hi Mari! The oil is for cooking, it is in step 6 of the recipe 🙂