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
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I feel that the dough may have not enough liquid, therefore mostly browned before rising. I live in central Canada and with central heating during the winter months our homes are very dry. I maybe should add more milk to the dough? Anyone have thoughts on this?
This was my first time making a flat bread and it was really easy and really good. I will be using this all the time. I made 8 out of these measurements.
Going to try this with a roadside bbq chicken i bought today. If it works i will follow you.to the end of the earth. Sounds too easy
Oh, perfect for chicken shawarma, using up rotisserie chicken. Wham, bam. A side of hummus and veges perfect light dinner
Tasty, perfect for making hummus “tacos”, tomatoes in season, yogurt, cumin, very flexible. Definitely best, still warm
Delicious! Thank you!
Amazing flat breads and so unlike the cardboard shop bought ones.
The high heat for longer really makes them flaky on the outside but still soft to roll.
I do mine in the food processor – flour, salt and chopped butter process till breadcrumbs. Add the milk and process until a ball is formed. Perfect every time.
Amazing flat breads and so deo- unlike the cardboard shop bought ones.
The high heat for longer really makes them flaky on the outside but still soft to roll.
I do mine in the food processor – flour, salt and chopped butter process till breadcrumbs. Add the milk and process until a ball is formed. Perfect every time.
Just wanted to say as someone with a rather severe yeast intolerance, this recipe makes me SO happy, because it’s not the same cooking Indian and Middle Eastern dishes without the flat bread. I’ve made these a few times now and they are awesome. Thank you for everything you have up online, I have cooked so many of your recipes <3
I have been making this for years. This is actually the recipe that made me aware of this amazing website and Nagi.
About to make a batch for this weeks curry and some chicken wraps so I thought I’d drop a review. Very quick and easy to make and they are delicious like everything else I have made from this site.
Ridiculously good!! Why haven’t we tried these before?! Will be on repeat now in our house. Can’t wait to try with so many different dishes!
I made the flat breads tonight with my 6 year old granddaughters. We all loved them. We had them with nacho mince. They watched the video and now want them with butter chicken.
My daughter sent me this link. I’ve always wanted to make Naan (could this be called Naan?)
I LOVE these; so quick, so utterly delicious, so very few ingredients needed. I didn’t use oil in my Comal the 2nd time; it doesn’t need it.
I’m going to always have these on hand for wraps, dipping, tearing etc.
Thank you Nagi!!!!
This one scared me. But it turned out amazing, I served for chicken shawarma. But I bought emergency pita bread in case these didn’t work out. No one ate the pita bread. I made my dough 2 days in advance.
Nagi’s shawerma chicken recipe was delicious with this. https://fast-enhancement.today/chicken-sharwama-middle-eastern/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
I also made the flatbreads with the shawarma and hadn’t realised that Nagi wrote both. Both recipes are amazing !
These came together so easily and quickly! I think next time I will have to make a double batch because these are not going to last long!
Delicious & so easy. Such a soft and beautiful dough. Once cooked & still hot, I brushed them with garlic butter and served them with spicy dal. Amazing. Next time I might try a tortilla press to make smaller, round ones.
These are so simple and delicious! The first bread I’ve ever made and now I make a batch every week, I’m obsessed! Thank you for sharing your recipe.
My 3 year old helped me making the dough this afternoon, and suggested we make pizzas with it. We’ve been through a fussy phase so I wasn’t about to say no. I split the dough into 3 portions, rolled out and added toppings and baked in a 220 degree oven for 10 mins or so. They were enjoyed! Just shared incase anyone else was interesting in using as a pizza base.
Love these! I make these a couple of times a month instead of buying shop wraps – another great recipe. Thank you Nagi! X
Cooked this last night. Used garlic but for the butter amount n added a teaspoon of dried coriander. It was delicious, so easy to make!
Yum! I thought about adding some dried cumin to the dough, I will try next time!