This easy keto naan is fluffy and flexible, just like traditional naan bread. My coconut flour naan is soft, light and perfect for scooping up your favorite curry! It is gluten-free, egg-free and made without mozzarella cheese.
I have been eating plenty of Indian curries recently. But one thing was missing. NAAN BREAD!
Well, this easy keto naan bread recipe is here to save our curry night - at just 3.6g net carbs per serving.
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.
Serve it warm with curry, use it as a keto flatbread or brush it with garlic butter for a restaurant-style side dish.
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Why My Keto Naan Is So Fluffy
Many keto naan recipes use mozzarella cheese and almond flour. This can make the flatbread cheesy and very dense, especially once it has cooled.
This recipe is different.
The combination of coconut flour, psyllium husk and yogurt creates a pillowy and light bread. The texture is fluffy and authentic without the heaviness of classic fathead dough.
My naan stays soft and flexible, with no cheesy flavor.
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you'll need:
- Coconut flour - the gently sweet taste lends itself to Indian cuisine. Also, coconut flour is less fatty and therefore lighter than almond flour.
- 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 dryingredients 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 brown more evenly.
Bake for about 12-15 minutes and give them a 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.
Variations
How To Make Keto Naan In A Skillet
I like baking my naans in the oven so they are ready to eat all in one go. But you can also cook them on the stovetop for the same characteristic brown marks as on traditional tandoor naan.
Fry the coconut naan bread in a skillet over medium heat for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden brown and puffed up.
Dairy-free naan: To make the naan bread recipe dairy free, use an unflavoured coconut yogurt such as by the Coconut Collaborative.
Garlic naan bread: Brush 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).
How To Make Low Carb Naan With Yeast
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.
Step 1.) Stir 2 teaspoons of dry active yeast and 2 teaspoons 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.
Toppings
Without the toppings, the naan is fairly neutral in flavor. After all, it is mostly coconut flour. Therefore, I recommend brushing over melted butter, 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
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!
I have not tried it yet, but it should work. I would use 2 ¼ cups or 225 grams of super-fine almond flour. The texture will likely become a little heavier, because almond flour contains more fat than coconut 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.
It's the psyllium brand you used. Some brands turn bread grey or purple after baking. This is not dangerous and you can't taste it. Choose a "blond" brand with a high purity factor. I have used Green Origin, Just Natural and BonPom. The NOW brand is also fine.
How To Serve
I recommend to 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. Try one of these:
Or even better, put all 3 on your to-make list. I love all of them!
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, layering parchment paper between the breads so they don't stick together.
Reheating: Defrost overnight. Pop in the toaster to reheat. You can toast it from frozen.
More Keto Bread Recipes
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Recipe
Keto Naan
Video
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 hot water 240ml
- ¼ cup full fat natural yoghurt 60g
- 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.
Adrienne
I tried the non yeast recipe and added garlic powder during the mixing part and then brushed it with ghee . Garlic and cilantro when it had a couple minutes left of baking .. Was delicious ! Instead of rolling it out I literally put two parchment papers on either sides of half the dough and stuck it between two pizza sized baking sheets and stepped on them worked great to get them thin and I had two large naans for ripping apart and dipping ! Will try the yeast version next !!!!
Jessica
Is the psyllium husk necessary? Will using only the xanthan gum hold it all together?
Katrin Nürnberger
Yes, I think you need it. Coconut flour is brittle, and we're not using egg in this recipe.
Zeina
Hello
It just came out of the oven ...my psyllium husk turned purple, I didn’t use xantham gum or coconut oil, I used Olive oil instead...it came out purplish and didn’t rise like in your photo though the taste is quite fine...any recommendations? Thx
Katrin Nürnberger
It must be your psyllium brand. I always use either BonPom or Green Origins, and I can say for sure that those two do not cause a purple tint. Which brand did you use? I think the lack of rise could have something to do with your baking powder (maybe not fresh enough?) or that you rolled out thicker than I did. Saying that he difference between olive oil and coconut oil is that olive oil stays liquid at room temperature... so MAYBE it could affect the moisture level. you could try using less olive oil next time and see if that makes a difference.
Nadia Mustefa
Easy to follow and turned out great. Only thing is after the recommended time it was cooked throughly but it was super toasty and hot, so I toasted it. Also i realllly could taste the coconut so it was a bit disrupting :/ if you or anyone else has any suggestions to combat the coconut taste that would be helpful! Thanks
Katrin Nürnberger
I think if you add more spices you can mask the coconut taste more. Salt, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin...
Evelyn
Thank you for sharing this recipe. For the toppings, I used Trader Joe's Everything But The Bagel Sesame Seasoning Blend" and the overall taste was fantastic. The only thing that bothers me a bit is the gummy/slimy texture while chewing it. I tried cooking it longer and even toasting it which made it a bit crispy on the outside but still gummy on the inside. I think this is probably due to they psyllium husk powder or xanthan gum. Which ingredient should I reduce? Will the yeast help? I'll try it with yeast on my next batch. This is still by far the best keto pita recipe I've come across with that's so easy to do and with dough that is easy to work with.
Thank you again!
Katrin Nürnberger
That's a tricky one. Both the psyllium and the xanthan help with a better crumb structure and to bind the bread. You could add 1 egg instead. You'd need more coconut flour, but you reduce the psyllium. However, I have also found that they stay gummy when they're too thick. If you try rolling them out a little thinner next time, that may do the trick.
Zee
Hello!! The carbs you've mentioned in the nutrition section are the net carbs for a 55gm serving?
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi there, I've added the net carbs amount in the recipe notes. You have to deduct the fibre from the total carbs.
Geri
Hi,
Love this recipe! But was wondering if we could cook this on a Stove top skillet? I don’t like to waste, so thought to ask you instead.
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Geri, why not? I think it should be possible. I'd make sure to use a low heat so they don't burn. And grease the pan really well 🙂
Anu
I can't wait to try this! I have a number of curries lined up for meals this week (don't ask, I went a bit cooking mad these past two days :)) so these would be perfect! Question - can I make a batch of the dough (yeasted for sure.. yum!!), portion it out and then leave it in the fridge for a few days so I can roll them out and bake fresh as needed? Alternatively, can I freeze the portioned dough, even if it is yeasted? Or do you recommend I bake everything in one go and then reheat/toast as needed? Thanks!
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Anu, I think you'd kill the yeast if you keep it in the fridge before baking. I"d bake the whole batch and freeze then or keep in the fridge and reheat in the toaster / oven
Anu
Thanks! I suspected that might be the case, so I bit the bullet and baked the whole batch today. My goodness, they are delicious! But sadly, they did not puff up at all, so I suspect I probably rolled them out too thin. Or did I forget the baking powder?? I did wake up at 5:30 this morning, so maybe I did this half asleep.. haha. Nevermind, I will definitely try this again (with more coffee in my system), as I'm sure they'll be fantastic and puffy if I get it right. This batch will do nicely for all the curries we have lined up this week, so fingers crossed the next one is even better. One thing I should mention is that I used ghee instead of coconut oil in the wet ingredients, as I prefer the flavour.... would this have made a difference to the puffiness (or lack thereof)? I wouldn't think so, but thought I'd best check. Thanks again for sharing this recipe, I really enjoyed making these.
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Anu, I think coconut oil and ghee would behave about the same. So probably either the baking powder or they were too thin. I'm sure you'll get there!
Alice Davey
omigod Katryn these work as pitta breads! I made them into 4 pittas with this recipe and they all puffed (no pricking with fork if making pittas). I'm talking about pita bread for anyone in the States. Best to split them while still warm from the oven. For pittas don't add seeds. They will reheat very well in the toaster. I wish I could show you a photo of all them in full puff in the oven. Like balloons. haha. thank you for another fantastic recipe...no eggs yay! For people who aren't crazy about coconut flour, I used half oat fibre and half coconut flour and could not detect the coconut. I also used her weights to measure the ingredients with a kitchen scale.
Katrin Nürnberger
Thanks for the tips with the oat fibre! I must give that a try soon.
Nichole
Can I make this without the Psyllium Husk?
Katrin Nürnberger
The psyllium helps bind the naans. You could try to replace it with flax.