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
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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 oil: 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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How does it puff up without baking powder?
They’re the best I’ve ever made. Thank you!
Awesome recipe. Made 6 , all ready for New Year’s Day lamb souvlakis. So easy and puffed up beautifully.
Oh Nagi why do I bother trying other recipes. These worked perfectly as pictured. Won’t be buying store bought ever again. Thank you.
I am a bit puzzled. The recipe says to cut the dough into six pieces, in the video it’s cut into four. Does that make a difference to the puffing up if I cut into four only? Also, in the video the flatbreads are fried in a bit of oil, in the recipe it says ‘no oil’ in a non-stick pan.
Have made it a number of times, so easy and much tastier than bought. Another winner.
Recipe states: 300 g plain flour (all purpose flour) (level cups, unsifted, not packed), + keep ¼ cup extra for dusting & adjusting dough.
Does the ¼ cup of flour come out of the 300 grams – or is it extra?
Video appears to make FOUR flatbreads whereas the yield is stated as 6!?
These came out great first time, so easy to make and very tasty. My toddler had great fun kneading the dough and rolling it out. But the best part was eating it with hummus and lamb kofta!
Amazing! So so good and super essy
I made these today. They puffed up. They look just like the picture. My question is why do they taste like flour or are they suppose to taste like flour? Not sure if I have done something wrong.
Do you think I could replace some of the flour with rye flour? Maybe 1/4 to 1/2 cup?
I will never buy flat bread again!! So easy, I used my kitchenaid dough hook. These puffed up with huge bubbles! Amazing. Thank you Nagi. We had them with the Koftas and the whole family loved it.
I can’t understand this magic. So simple and tasty. Just perfect. My fourteen year old son has made these every day of the holidays. Nagi, you’ve saved me 😆
This was amazing and so easy. Served it with chicken kabobs, homemade tzatziki sauce, and sliced tomatoes. You could also add red onion, cucumber, etc. I followed the video and cut the dough into 4 portions, not 6 as stated in the written recipe. I also used oil in a cast iron pan, like the video. Mine didn’t puff very much but looked just like the picture and were delicious.