This simple recipe makes perfect sourdough naan. You can use a well-fed sourdough starter and take these restaurant-style naans from scratch to done in under three hours. Or use sourdough discard to make the dough in the morning and serve hot, puffy naan for dinner. It's the best flatbread to dunk into spicy curries or use as a wrap for your favorite fillings.
For a more traditional naan recipe try this classic vegan naan with garlic herb butter.
Why add sourdough to naan?
Sourdough is a wonderful addition to south Asian flatbreads like naan and roti. It makes them puffy and cushion-soft, and it adds the perfect depth of flavor. It can especially benefit proofed breads like naan because the yeast breaks down sugars in the dough while it stands, making the bread a bit healthier.
I have become a convert since I first made my first sourdough naan. It has the most exquisite texture of any naan I've ever eaten and so much rich flavor. It is also ridiculously easy to make, needs no added yeast or yogurt, and can be made with sourdough discard.
My top tips for sourdough naan
- Skip the yogurt. I use vegan yogurt in all my other naan recipes but it is absolutely not needed in this sourdough version. That's because the acidity in the sourdough achieves the exact effect that yogurt does in traditional naan recipes: it makes the dough soft and elastic and creates a puffier, flakier naan.
- Knead the dough to a pliable and tacky, not stiff, texture. Most Indian flatbread recipes, including roti and poori, require the dough to be kneaded to a smooth or stiff texture with no tackiness- that way you can easily roll them into discs. But the dough for naan needs to be slightly tacky for the softest texture after cooking.
- Let the dough relax before you make naan. After the naan dough has risen and you have shaped it into balls, give the dough balls 20 minutes to relax. This will make them much, much easier to roll out or shape with your fingers.
- Don't oil the griddle. You should brush some oil on the naan as soon as it comes off the griddle, but don't oil the griddle itself.
Can I use sourdough discard?
You can make this recipe with either a well-fed sourdough starter that doubles within hours of feeding, or with discard from a recently fed sourdough starter. If you use an active, bubbling starter the dough should double in an hour or two. With discard, you will likely need up to eight hours. If the dough rises faster than you expected it to, you can put it in the fridge for a few hours until it's time to make the naan.
Ingredient notes
- Bread flour. This creates the most flexible, beautiful dough for sourdough naan. You can use unbleached all-purpose flour instead.
- Sourdough starter. I use my homemade sourdough starter, which uses a proportion of 1 cup all-purpose flour (120 grams) and ¾ cup water (180 grams). If you are using a sourdough starter with different hydration, adjust the amount of liquid added to the dough accordingly.
- Soy milk or any non-dairy milk. The protein in the soy milk, I find, gives me better textured naans. You can use another nut milk or any non-dairy milk of your choice if you are allergic to soy.
More sourdough bread recipes
- Sourdough roti
- Sourdough French bread
- Vegan sourdough challah
- No-knead sourdough bread
- Bread machine sourdough bread
Recipe card
Sourdough naan recipe
Equipment you'll need
- Stand mixer or large bowl
- Cast iron griddle (or non-stick griddle)
- Rolling pin (not necessary if shaping naan by hand)
Ingredients
- 3½ cups bread flour
- 1 teaspoon salt (tweak this to your preference)
- ½ cup sourdough starter (or discard from a healthy, active starter)
- 1¼ cups soy milk (or another non-dairy milk)
- 2 tablespoons oil (olive oil or any neutral oil)
Instructions
- Place the bread flour in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the salt, mix it in, then add sourdough starter. Mix the sourdough starter into the flour until it is evenly dispersed. Drizzle in the milk and knead until a dough forms. Continue kneading for five more minutes.
- When finished kneading the dough should feel just slightly tacky to the touch and should be smooth and pliable. If the dough feels too wet, add more bread flour, a tablespoon at a time, until you get the right consistency.
- Shape the dough into a smooth ball and place in an oiled bowl. Coat the top of the dough with some oil as well. Set the dough aside in a warm spot in the kitchen.
- If you used a strong sourdough starter, the dough should have doubled in a couple of hours. If you used discard, it will take longer, up to eight hours.
- Divide the dough into eight equal parts. Roll into smooth balls and set aside, covered with a napkin, for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, use your fingers or a rolling pin to stretch the naan to a length of about nine inches and a width of six inches. "Dock" it with your fingertips by pressing them lightly into the naan - this will keep the naan from puffing up into one large pocket, like a pita.
- Heat a cast-iron griddle until it's screaming hot. Place the shaped naan on it. Bubbles should appear all over the naan in a minute or two. Once the underside has golden-brown spots, flip the naan and let it cook a minute or two more. Brush with oil as soon as the naan comes off the griddle. Keep the baked naans wrapped in a kitchen towel while you finish the rest. Serve the naan hot.
Notes
- Don't sweat trying to form the sourdough naan into a perfect round or teardrop. A naan is a rustic bread and it doesn't need a definitive shape, like a roti would - that's part of its charm. Focus instead on getting the texture of the naan right. Stretch it with your fingers or a rolling pin until it is quite thin but still has some thick spots around the edges. This naan made with bread flour has a resilient dough, but if a tear appears just patch it by pinching together the torn edges.
- The sourdough flavor in the naan will be more pronounced if you let the dough stand for too long. I wouldn't recommend a rise of more than eight hours if you use discard, unless you want the stronger flavor.
- Use a cast iron griddle or skillet, if possible, because you can safely bring it up to a high temperature. Cast iron also distributes the heat more evenly. A non-stick griddle or skillet will work, but keep in mind that the non-stick coating can be damaged by high heat. There is also a chance the non-stick coating could release toxic chemicals at high temperatures.
- I like making the naans big - about nine by six inches. You can make smaller naans if you like. Divide the dough into 12 balls instead of eight, and shape them to a length of six inches.
Nutrition Information
Recipe FAQs
You can go ahead and make the naan if the dough rose but didn't double. Sourdough can be unpredictable and there are so many factors affecting the rise, including the temperature of your kitchen. So long as your sourdough discard came from an active starter, the naan will be a success.
Use your fingers or a rolling pin to shape naan dough into a rough, teardrop shape about nine inches long and six inches wide. The thickness of the naan should be slightly uneven, with some thick spots and some thin. "Dock" the naan after rolling it by pressing into it lightly with your fingertips to form dents. This will keep it from bubbling up into one large pocket.
Yes, you can follow instructions for grilling on a charcoal or electric grill in my grilled naan recipe.
You definitely can. A whole wheat naan will have a different, less chewy texture than a naan made with bread flour. If whole wheat is what you prefer, you can substitute all or part of the bread flour with whole wheat flour. You can also check out my foolproof vegan whole wheat naan recipe. Sub the yogurt and yeast with sourdough starter or discard.
Use my vegan gluten-free naan recipe and substitute the vegan yogurt and yeast with a gluten-free sourdough starter. Give the flour eight hours to rise, then make the naans.
A bit of oil added to the naan dough and a bit brushed on the naan after it has roasted will reward you with a soft, authentic texture, so I highly recommend using it. If you absolutely can't eat oil you can make the sourdough naan without any but you will get a stiffer, more dense naan.
Store the sourdough naan at room temperature for a day, and reheat on a hot griddle for a few seconds on each side until warmed through. You can also spray the naan with a little water and microwave it for a few seconds to warm it. For longer storage refrigerate for three days or freeze for up to four months. Thaw and reheat before serving.
Use sourdough naan to scoop up spicy curries. A curry with a thick texture is best suited to naan, while a thinner, saucier curry or dal should be served with roti. I love this sourdough naan with "meaty", full-flavored vegan curries like keema masala, vegan malai kofta and vegan butter chicken.
meri says
Im so excited to try this! Holy cow! 🙂
How can i make this garlic naan? Will brushing olive oil infused with minced garlic work?
Vaishali Honawar says
Hi Meri, my vegan naan recipe (linked in the post in the first paragraph after the top photo) has a recipe for garlic herb butter. You can use olive oil and skip the herbs for garlic oil.
Rosemary says
Hi can you freeze the naan breads either before or after cooking?
Vaishali says
Absolutely. Freeze up to four months. Reheat in the oven or on a griddle.
Jules says
I have now made these naan three times and they seem to keep getting better and better! These are the GOAT!
Vaishali says
Yay!! So happy to hear. ❤️
Jules says
I have just made these starting with your sourdough starter. The are soft and tasty. Actually the best naan I have ever tasted from any source
GABRIELLE OTTAVIO says
Can you cook it on a pizza stone if you don’t have a griddle?
Vaishali says
Hi Gabrielle, heat the oven to 450 degrees F with the pizza stone in it. After rolling out the naan, carefully place it on the pizza stone and give it a couple of minutes to puff up and form brown spots. Flip and cook the other side - the other side should take less time. Keep an eye so the naan doesn't burn.