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🇮🇳 Cheese naan - a classic of Indian cuisine
Cheese naan are Indian rolls made from wheat flour, yoghurt and water, and topped with Kiri. To bake them, the Indians place them on the hot walls of a tandoor oven, but I don't have that in stock yet, so here they're pan-fried.
These cheesy naan are flavored with an absolutely delicious garlic and coriander butter.
You can make plain cheese naan as an appetizer, a side dish or even a main course. Discover my recipe for making Indian-style cheese naan with just 6 ingredients.
💙 Why will you love them?
- Very easy to make, you just need a little patience during the rising process.
- Restaurant-quality - you'll devour them, just like you do at Indian restaurants!
- Freezer-friendly - as they freeze well, you can make a large batch and freeze them, then just reheat them up and enjoy them whenever you feel like it.
🇮🇳Pour les fans de cuisine indienne
🧀Ingredients
You can find a full list of ingredients and measurements in the recipe card below. Here are a few ingredient notes to make these naan.
- Flour - use all-purpose flour, no need for special bread flour to make these naans!
- Instant dry yeast - be careful of the expiration date of your yeast, which can totally ruin your recipe.
- Cream cheese - it's really my favorite cheese for this recipe, but I've tried it with other cheeses and it's delicious too! Be creative: cheddar, mozzarella, goat cheese, feta, etc...
- Garlic - if you want to choose your garlic carefully to avoid condoning the slavery of Chinese prisoners, read my Eco Tips on the subject.
✨How to make the best cheese naan?
Recipe details and quantities are in the recipe card below.
- Mix the flour and instant yeast in the bowl of your food processor.
- In a separate small bowl, mix the Greek yogurt and warm water,
- Then add the mixture to the bowl.
- Run the food processor at medium speed, add the salt and blend for 5 minutes.
- Form into a large ball, cover the bowl with cling film and tape to prevent air escaping, and leave to stand in a warm place (85°F/30°C) for two hours.
- Flour your work surface and place the dough on it. Cut into 6 roughly equal portions, each weighing around 3.2oz/90g.
- Add a little flour to each ball and spread with a rolling pin.
- In a bowl, whisk cream cheese with a fork.
- Spread a little cheese on each dough piece,
- Close to form a ball,
- Roll out again with a rolling pin (I like them a little thick, but you can make them thinner). If it sticks, don't hesitate to add a little flour.
- Remove excess flour with a brush (or gently with a handkerchief), then brown in a very hot frying pan for a few minutes on each side.
- Melt the butter, finely chop the garlic clove (or put it through a garlic press) and a few coriander leaves, and mix well. Generously brush your naans with the mixture and enjoy!
💡Tips to make the best naans
Leavening the naan dough
- To ensure that the dough rises well, I place cling film over the bowl and tape it down so that no small trickle of air can get through. You can do the same with a bee-wrap. What's certain is that a simple tea towel, as often seen in recipes, is far less effective.
- Leave the dough to rise in a warm place, at around 85°F/30°C. Personally, I turn on my oven at 85°F/30°C: once it's reached that temperature, I turn it off and leave it to cool, with the door open, for 10 minutes. If, like me, you have a thermometer, that's even better! I then place my bowl with the naan dough in the oven, close it and leave it to warm up for 2 hours.
- Two hours: that's approximately how long it takes for the dough to rise and double in volume.
Roll out the naan and prepare the cheese
If you can't spread your naans with the rolling pin because they're too sticky, feel free to add flour to the naans if necessary, and remove it afterwards.
Cooking naan
- It's very important to remove any excess flour that may be on each naan (if you've added some because it was too sticky, for example) before baking, otherwise they won't cook properly… I use a brush, but you can use a handkerchief if you don't have one!
- Don't use any fat during cooking: each naan is cooked one by one, alone, in a hot pan.
- I recommend spreading a mixture of melted butter, chopped garlic and coriander on your cooked naan - it's this topping that makes all the difference! You can also use a mixture of melted butter and coarse salt. Do as you like!
😋Naan as a side dish
Naan can be used, plain or with cheese, in many recipes, as a side dish or even a main course!
- In a sandwich, like this naan sandwich with butter chicken, mozzarella and cilantro
- Instead of a taco: try using plain naan as a base for this chicken, barbecue sauce, vegetables & cheddar taco, you'll see it's delicious!
- As a pizza base
- As a toast base
- With certain dishes in sauce, such as fish curry, Musakhan or green chicken curry with coconut milk.
💡Frequently Asked Questions
Why don't the naan rise?
There may be several explanations: the dough must be well kneaded and hydrated, and must have at least doubled in volume after rising. And the pan must be extremely hot when cooked. These are the reasons why your naan may not rise.
❄️Storage/freezing
- Store - Naan can only be stored for 2-3 days, but they will harden over time. To preserve their softness, wrap them cold in cling film.
- Reheat - just pop them into the oven at 320°F/160°C, wrapped in aluminum foil, for a few minutes, and you're ready to go!
- Freeze - leave to cool, then place on a plate or baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Put them in the freezer and after 3 hours, you can put them all in the same freezer bag, removing as much air as possible. They'll keep for 2 to 3 months.
- Defrost - run them through a toaster or wrap them in aluminum foil and put them in the oven for around 15 minutes, at 320°F/160°C.
If you make these naan, it would be so nice to leave me a comment and rate the recipe ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. You can also tag me on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook or Tik Tok, or even send me a photo, I love seeing my little dishes in your homes!
📖 Recette
Delicious cheese naan
These delicious naan are stuffed with cheese and topped with garlic butter...and they're really easy to make!
Ingredients
- 2 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour (300g)
- ⅔ cup Greek yogurt (135g)
- ½ ⅛ cups water lukewarm (140g)
- 1 teaspoon instant dry yeast (5g)
- 2 cups cream cheese or cheddar, mozzarella, etc (215g)
- ½ teaspoon salt
Topping n°1: garlic and cilantro butter
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 garlic clove
Topping n°2: butter and salt
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- Mix the flour and instant yeast in the bowl of your food processor.
- In a separate small bowl, mix the Greek yogurt and warm water, then add the mixture to the bowl.
- Run the food processor at medium speed, add the salt and blend for 5 minutes.
- Form into a large ball, cover the bowl with cling film and tape to prevent air escaping, and leave to stand in a warm place (85°F/30°C) for two hours.
- Flour your work surface and place the dough on it. Cut into 6 roughly equal portions, each weighing around 3.2oz/90g.
- Add a little flour to each ball and spread with a rolling pin.
- In a bowl, whisk cream cheese with a fork. Spread a little cheese on each dough piece, close to form a ball, roll out again with a rolling pin (I like them a little thick, but you can make them thinner). If it sticks, don't hesitate to add a little flour.
- Remove excess flour with a brush (or gently with a handkerchief), then brown in a very hot frying pan for a few minutes on each side.
- Melt the butter, finely chop the garlic clove (or put it through a garlic press) and a few coriander leaves, and mix well. Generously brush your naans with the mixture and enjoy!
Notes
Recipe adapted from Alexandra Cooks.
- Store - Naan can only be stored for 2-3 days, but they will harden over time. To preserve their softness, wrap them cold in cling film.
- Reheat - just pop them into the oven at 320°F/160°C, wrapped in aluminum foil, for a few minutes, and you're ready to go!
- Freeze - leave to cool, then place on a plate or baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Put them in the freezer and after 3 hours, you can put them all in the same freezer bag, removing as much air as possible. They'll keep for 2 to 3 months.
- Defrost - run them through a toaster or wrap them in aluminum foil and put them in the oven for around 15 minutes, at 320°F/160°C.
Nutrition
Serving: 1naan | Calories: 707kcal | Carbohydrates: 74g | Protein: 79g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 66mg | Sodium: 3474mg | Potassium: 1345mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 26g | Vitamin A: 365IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 1621mg | Iron: 3mg
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