This easy keto naan bread recipe makes pillowy-soft, fluffy flatbreads that taste just as good as the real thing! My coconut flour naan is perfect for mopping up your favorite Indian curry. The recipe is gluten-free and egg-free.
I've been craving Indian food recently and have been eating plenty of curries. But one thing was missing. NAAN BREAD!
It's actually really simple to make low carb naan at home that puffs up as beautifully as naan made from wheat.
This naan bread recipe is a bit of a personal breakthrough - it is my first EGG FREE low carb bread. Plus, it contains an extra portion of fiber!
It is a great alternative to the almond flour mozzarella dough that so many keto recipes are made with.
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Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you'll need:
- Coconut flour - the gently sweet taste lends itself to Indian cuisine
- Psyllium husk powder - adds elasticity and a fluffy texture
- Xanthan gum - for a stronger structure
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Hot water
- Full fat yogurt - or Greek yogurt
- Coconut oil - or olive oil
The xanthan gum is non-negotiable. Coconut flour is naturally gluten-free and therefore lacks the elasticity of wheat flour. In the absence of eggs, we need the help of xanthan gum to bind and create an elastic dough.
I'm using psyllium husk powder and not psyllium husks in this recipe. The powder is REALLY finely ground. Psyllium husks, on the other hand, look like tiny sticks. It's easy to mistake them for powder at first glance, so do double-check your pack.
Instructions
This section contains step-by-step instructions and photos that show how to make this recipe. See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities
STEP 1
Stir together the dry ingredients in a bowl - coconut flour, psyllium husk powder, baking powder, xanthan gum and salt.
TIP: I like to use a balloon whisk for this and check that there are no lumps. Coconut flour has a tendency to clump together!
Add the melted coconut oil and the yogurt.
STEP 2
Now add the hot water and stir. At first, it seems like there's a lot of liquid. But both psyllium and coconut flour are very absorbent and a dough will form quickly.
I find it easiest to use a fork for this step. If you continue with the whisk, the dough gets caught in the middle, which is a major mess.
STEP 3
Time to get your hands involved. Form a dough ball and let it rest for a few minutes until the dough is not sticky any more.
STEP 4
Cut the dough into six equal slices and form balls.
STEP 5
Place the balls between 2 sheets of parchment paper and roll out into long flatbreads. Pierce the middles a few times with the fork and sprinkle with nigella seeds and/or sesame seeds.
STEP 6
Place the parchment with your naans onto an upturned baking tray. I find this helps the flatbreads (or cookies - anything flat) brown more evenly.
Bake for about 12-15 minutes and give them a little poke with the fork in case huge air bubbles form.
The baking time will depend on how thinly your naans are rolled out. Just keep an eye on them and remove them from the oven once they're nicely browned.
STEP 7
Brush with melted coconut oil or butter or olive oil and top with more chopped coriander or parsley and more salt before serving! A pinch of cumin would also work well.
Recipe FAQs
Traditional naan bread has around 40 grams of carbs. Yikes! In contrast, one keto naan comes in at only 3.6g net carbs. That's all the great naan taste without the blood sugar spike!
Yes. You can fry the coconut naan bread in a skillet over low heat for 2-3 minutes on both sides. This way, you will get the same characteristic brown marks as on traditional naan made in a Tandoor oven.
I have not tried it yet, but it should work. I would use 2 ¼ cups or 225 grams of super-fine almond flour.
Use the recipe for my keto garlic bread. You only need to change one ingredient: swap out the cream cheese for yoghurt. And instead of brushing the bread with garlic butter, brush it with coconut or olive oil after baking. Then, sprinkle over sea salt, black or white sesame seeds, nigella seeds or chopped cilantro. And voila, you have a keto naan with fathead dough.
Love yeast breads? I have tested a version of this naan with yeast instead of baking powder. It produces a slightly more tangy bread.
I found it looked identical to the yeast-free bread, but had a little more elasticity.
How To Make Naan With Yeast
Step 1.) Stir 2 teaspoon of dry active yeast and 2 teaspoon of inulin (or honey/maple syrup) into 1 cup of WARM water. Cover with a cloth and leave to proof in a warm place for around 10 minutes. (This could be on top of a radiator, for example).
Step 2.) Once the yeast is frothing, stir in the coconut flour, psyllium, xanthan gum, salt, melted coconut oil and yoghurt. Make sure that the yoghurt is room temperature.
Step 3.) Form a ball, cover again and let the dough rise for 30-60 minutes until it has increased in size considerably.
Step 4. ) Proceed as per recipe below.
Variations
Dairy-free naan: To make the naan bread recipe dairy free, use an unflavoured coconut yogurt such as by the Coconut Collaborative.
Pitta bread: Turn this naan into a pitta bread by brushing it with a simple garlic butter (melted butter, 1 chopped garlic clove, salt).
Change the size: Just like with regular naan, it's easy to change up the size! Make 3 large naans (increase the baking time by 3 minutes) or 12 small dippers (oven time reduces by 2 minutes).
Toppings
Without the toppings, the naan is fairly neutral in flavor. After all, it is mostly coconut flour. Therefore, I recommend brushing over coconut or olive oil and adding one or more toppings:
- Sea salt
- Black or white sesame seeds
- Nigella seeds
- chopped cilantro or parsley
- garlic powder
- onion powder
Serving Suggestion
First of all, serve keto naan bread warm - either straight from the oven or toasted. Once it cools, it loses its crispy crust.
It is designed to be eaten WITH a curry, for example, this Keto chicken curry or my Keto Chicken Tikka Masala! Don't forget to serve your curries with cauliflower rice to keep them keto-friendly!
Storage
Refrigerator: Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Freezer: Keto recipes with coconut flour generally freeze well. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Reheating: Defrost overnight. Pop in the toaster to reheat. You can toast it from frozen.
More Keto Bread Recipes
Tried this recipe? Give it a star rating below!
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Recipe
Keto Naan Bread
from Sugar Free LondonerNote: The servings slider only changes the first amount in each line and not any subsequent amounts. Please make your own calculations where necessary.
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- ⅔ cup coconut flour 75g
- 2 tablespoon psyllium husk powder
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- GENEROUS pinch salt
- 1 tablespoon nigella and/or sesame seeds
Wet Ingredients
- 1 cup / 240ml hot water
- ¼ cup / 60g full fat natural yoghurt
- 2 tablespoon coconut oil / olive oil melted
Topping
- 2 tablespoon coconut oil / butter / olive oil melted
- handful chopped parsley or coriander / cilantro
- generous pinch salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 Celsius / 356 Fahrenheit.
- Mix all dry ingredients in another bowl - coconut flour, psyllium husk powder, xanthan gum and salt. Make sure there are no lumps.
- Add the wet ingredients - hot water, yoghurt, melted coconut oil or olive oil - and stir together until a dough forms.
- Form a dough ball and let it sit for a few minutes until the coconut flour and the psyllium have absorbed all the moisture and the dough is not sticky.
- Cut the dough into 6 pieces and roll them out between two sheets of parchment paper into long flatbreads, about ½ cm thick. Place on an upturned baking sheet and remove the top parchment. Optional: sprinkle with sesame seeds and/or nigella seeds.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until browned (baking time will depend on how thick your flatbreads are). If large air bubbles form, pierce with a fork during baking. If necessary, rotate the baking sheet so the flatbreads brown equally and/or turn on the grill/broiler at the end to ensure they crisp and brown on top.
- Top with melted butter, olive oil or coconut oil, sprinkle with more salt and chopped parsley or coriander/cilantro leaves before serving.
Manoela Malta
Do you recommend any substitution to the coconut flour?
Katrin Nürnberger
This recipe only works as written. Try my keto flatbread if you don't want to use coconut flour.
Valerie
Using these this week for my students' final recipe of the year— personal pizzas!
Do you think it would make any appreciable difference if the dough is pressed into a pie tin for par baking? Should it be turned over midway?
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Valerie, I think you can pre-bake the dough in a pie tin. I don't think you have to turn it over.
mike
I followed the recipe to a tee but mine turned out nothing like your photos. I rolled them to 0.5 cm thick but even after 15 minutes they weren't cooked. They didn't rise at all and even after another 10 minutes the mixture was still too wet. I finished them off in the air fryer but they weren't nice at all. Binned them in the end. What a shame as I was really looking forward to these! 🙁
Valerie
Delicious! Great texture (I made 12 and used half coconut flour, half sesame flour).I made these plain for myself and a friend. Next batch will probably add some savory spices like onion powder and garlic powder.
Fiona Josephs
Flavour good I added some garlic powder and ground coriander to mix and some flaked almonds. Got to accept not like proper naan but a good replacement and better for my blood sugar levels. Thank you
Wendy
Made these to accompany the delish Tikka Masala recipe last night.
I followed the recipe to a T, weighting every gram. Did the baking powder fizz check. My naans appeared to rise in the oven but deflated when I took them out. Maybe I rolled them too thin? Mine were definitely thinner than 0.5 cm. Maybe should have baked a couple of minutes longer?
That said, still tasted great regardless. It's a keeper and I just need more practice rolling out 🙂
I'm also glad that you remind us to check if Psyllium Husk are actually whole husk sticks rather than powder in all your recipes. Mine were whole husk sticks, but it was difficult to tell at first glance. Guess I need a trip to Specsavers! Glad I learned about this early on in this keto journey.
Now to consider what recipe to try next, lol ...
Wendy
Forgot to note that I blitzed the Psyllium Husk in a high-speed blender to make powdered.
Katrin Nürnberger
Glad you enjoyed these! It sounds like you used the right amount of psyllium husk powder, so it could be that either they needed a little longer in the oven or that they could have been a touch thicker. Just be sure to not make them too thick - I have done that and then they stay gummy in the middle.
Wendy
Thanks for the reply. I've noted it on my recipe card as I think I should have made them a little thicker. In that respect, I'm surprised my very efforts rose at all!
Thanks again, Katrin 🙂
Divleen
Thanks so much for this recipe Katrin, it was really delicious with an Indian chicken curry I made earlier and didn't taste coconut much. But I must admit, I had similar difficulties as other people where the middle wouldn't cook and I even rolled out my naans super thin, much thinner than 1/2 cm. I also only used 50gm greek yogurt instead of 60gm natural yogurt. I baked them at 180 C and flipped the naans after 10 minutes, added chopped garlic, coriander and green chili mix on top and cooked for another 10-12 minutes, which is a much longer than what the recipe had suggested and they still didn't brown like yours did. But I've been wondering if maybe I should add 1 more tablespoon of pysllium husk powder and if that would make a difference?
Katrin Nürnberger
You mention that the naan did not brown, which makes me think it may have had something to do with oven temperature. I always bake on the middle shelf unless otherwise specified. Oven temperatures are lower at the bottom and higher at the top. So, it's possible that your naan baked at a slightly lower temperature which inhibited the rise? Ovens do differ and can be temperamental. Adding more psyllium if your dough rolled out well and was not too soft is not going to solve the issue. Hope this helps!
Divleen
Thanks Katrin, I always bake on the middle shelf too and I have a fan forced oven and I baked at 180c. I do bake quite often, so I don't thin it's the oven temp 🙁 There was one difference though, I used boiling water instead of warm water to activate the psyllium, could that make a difference?
Katrin Nürnberger
Perhaps. If that's the only difference you can see to how I made my naan, then it's worth a try.
Divleen
Hi Katrin, today I tried the naans again and I think I know what my mistake was the first time. I measured the psyllium husk before I powdered it, which meant that it wasn't the same amount that was required by the recipe. This time I powdered it first and then measured it and it turned out great even with a 1/2 cm thickness, though I did cook for about 20 minutes or so. Thanks for the beautiful recipe.
Katrin Nürnberger
Great you've worked it out!
Ketoberliner
The best and easiest keto naan EVER! I usually put some shredded mozzarella in there as well to make it a nice cheese naan:) and I honestly don’t care much that it looks different than yours, it’s just amazingly delicious:) thanks for that piece of keto heaven!
Stuart
For the Yeast version, do you skip on the baking powder? It was not listed in the yeast instructions.
Katrin Nürnberger
No, I still used the baking powder. Thank you for flagging it.
Mirth
This is such an easy low carb naan recipe. Love that it is cooked in the oven. Easier (and less mess) than the pan. Seriously one of the best low carb naan recipes I’ve tried so far.
Susan Mackrell
I have tried lots of keto breads using psyllium husk and I really hate the texture. It turns my stomach. Are there any other alternatives to psyllium which can be used to make a keto nan? I am not gluten intolerant, just a type 2 diabetic trying to eat a low carb diet. I really miss bread!
Katrin Nürnberger
The other way to make a Keto Naan would be to use an egg instead of the psyllium. However, this would also change the wet/dry ratio so you'd have to experiment with the ingredient amounts.