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.
These were delicious!
I altered the recipe a bit.
Instead of 3/4 milk. I added 1/2 cup of milk, and 1/4 cup of half and half.
I also added garlic salt instead of regular salt, and added in a spoon full of minced garlic. They were amazing.
In the video she uses oil in a cast iron pan… but the recipe says no oil in non stick pan ??? If I’m making flat bread for souvlaki, which is best??
if you make a recipe for 12 it still says to cut the dough into 6 bits I think it should be 12
I’m looking for a flatbread recipe that I can use as a base for mini-pizzas and other types of toppings. Will this work for that purpose? I would bake ahead and then just top and bake again in the oven.
I pretty much never comment on recipes but I had to leave one for this. This turned out amazing. I was shocked at how delicious it was both in terms of taste and texture; soft, pliable and with layers. I scaled down the recipe to make just 3 and that worked out perfectly. Other flatbread recipes I’ve tried in the past have turned out too crisp, dry or hard or they’ve needed a lot of time to come together. This was super delicious and very easy and will be my go-to for flatbread going forward. Thank you for sharing this gem!
I always wanted to make one but didn’t have the time or energy. I finally tried this last night, easy peasy! Thank you for sharing the recipe,Nagi!
Yikes, I’m not sure what I did wrong but mine ended up like little dense pancakes. They didn’t puff up at all in the pan.
Absolutely easy and delicious. I went the vegan route using evoo and almond milk along with whole wheat flour. So good I impressed myself.
I’ve been making this recipe for a couple years and love the versatility of it. I roll out the dough balls very thin for tortilla shells and I use them for mini pizzas. Love, love, love this recipe!
I’ve been making these flat breads for years now but reckon it was high time I put in a comment.
*AWESOME*
That’s it 🙂
Great recipe!!! Loved the flatbread and reminds me a bit of roti! Only issue was that the thickness was not in my favor – will try portioning using a scale in the future.
Although I am a newbie to dough, I have made buns, bread, and pizza by following the recipe and had great or at least edible results. This was a big fail for me. I tried multiple thickness and heat when it was apparent it was burning on the outside with the crust making a mess and the inside still doughy raw. Nothing I did worked, nor did trying to salvage in the oven. Three hours wasted. “Easy” these were not for me. I’m bummed because this is something I need for everyday since I can’t eat yeast bread and like wraps.
This dough was beautiful. So easy to work with. The bread turned out perfectly, delicious, soft and easy to wrap the souvlaki I used it for. Your recipes always deliver. Your site got me with Dozer but I stayed for the recipes, thanks.
My son is allergic to both dairy and eggs( nuts too) .. do you have any Indian style bread recipes that can be made without, or substitute with nuttelex and oat/soy milk. Would that work or completely loose the tasty flavours!?
I make it with oat milk regularly and it works great! i find that the dough starts a little sticky and i need to add more flour to get a good consistency.
Hi! If i’m cooking them one day ahead of when I need them, should I freeze them, fridge them, or leave them out on the counter? Thank you!
The flatbread was SO easy and was just like Naan with the Butter Chicken! Wonderfully easy and yummy flatbread!
How far in advance can the dough be made.
I’m going to make these ( and I have before – amazing) but looking at making the dough in advance – ie night before) as I’m time poor during week. Would it still work ok? And should I store in fridge or counter?
Can these be made with whole wheat flour ? Thanks in advance !
We had these last night with your chicken shwarma. My 9 yo made the flat breads and my 6 yo cried when they were all finished! Another big hit 🙏
I made this flat bread! This is delicious. I made it to eat with my butter chicken, but I ate it without it. Yum!