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.
Hi Nagi, thanks for the beautiful photography and simple recipe…it was a joy to come across your page whilst Googling ‘yeast free flatbread recipes’.
best regards, Rachael
Thank you Rachel!
Nagi-
So… they were really delicious. But I needed to find a way to cut the fat, I know, boo. So… made with whole wheat flour again this evening, cut out the oil, just dry fried a minute on each side as you do. I again used almond milk instead of regular, and replaced the butter with the same amount of unsweetened applesauce. I cute the recipe into 16, shaped and cooked. My Indian friends told me these are traditionally called Parantha’s and they eat these for breakfast a lot as part of a breakfast fry. They came out famously! I can see sooo many uses for them and I thank you for posting this recipe. My hummus is no longer lonely, and… I think I will be using this for sandwiches too, a much healthier take on store bought bread. Add some garlic, onions etc… kind of make like a naan, could you imagine.
Feel free to email me sometime, I am an accidental foodie… I come up with a lot of stuff in my kitchen lol.
Tony
Thanks ! I always use whole wheat in my recipes as much as possible (healthier) and was concern about ruining the útcome in doing so with this one !
Now, I’m ready to follow your suggestions.
Wow! The variation you made to this is fabulous – apple sauce instead of butter and it worked?? I’m actually kind of astounded – and you have me curious, I must try it! Your friends are right, this is pretty much a Paratha recipe – co incidentally, I just posted an Aloo Paratha recipe which is made the authentic way. You may prefer that actually because the dough has no fat in it at all and you can just use oil spray in a non stick pan to fry it. If you get this message, have a look at it, I think it will suit you! Would love to see what you come up with in your kitchen, feel free to share! 🙂
OMG…. needed something for my hummus and I have these in the making as we speak :0 )
YAY! Would love to know what you think! I am obsessed with these. I made them on the weekend and used them for breakfast wraps!
I subbed white rice flour to make it gluten free and halved the recipe. Needed a bit more milk (around 1 cup instead of 3/4 cup), but it turned out *beautifully*. So much easier than gluten free bread recipes, and cheap!
Oh wow Mevima, thank you SO MUCH for sharing that! I must add that into the notes, I’m so excited to hear that this works with rice flour!! You’re the best Mevima!! 🙂
Are you using Self-rising Flour or just All-purpose Flour? High protein flour (bread flour (extra gluten)) ? Four cups packed flour or Four cups of sifted flour?
Hi Ben! I’ve updated the recipe to clarify that it is ordinary plain all purpose flour, level cups, unsifted, not packed. There is no need to sift for this recipe, lumps mix out (unless for whatever reason your flour is particularly lumpy in which case I would definitely sift it). Hope that helps!
Have you ever subbed any or all whole wheat flour?
Hi Cherie – this works wonderfully with whole wheat flour! The only thing I find is that different brands of wholewheat have different absorbency levels (more so than different brands of plain flour) so just you may need to adjust the water/flour quantities slightly. Just use the recipe quantities and if the dough is not slightly sticky, then add a splash of water, or if it is too sticky, then add a sprinkle of flour. The dough should be elastic and slightly sticky, but not too sticky such that it is hard to roll out. Hope that helps!
I’ve got to try this! The flatbread reminds me of scallion pancakes, and looks delicious.
But easier!! Scallion pancakes take SO much more effort! (But totally worth it :))
I was just browsing through all of your amazing recipes – when this one spoke to my inner carb queen! I love making yogurt cheese – but i never really know what to put it on. Baguette doesn’t fit quite right and even pita doesn’t fit the bill – but these look PERFECT! A slight crisp on the outside, warm and soft inside…and now I’m working myself up into a feeding frenzy!
So glad you approve Kathleen! YES this is PERFECT for larb….