With its chewy texture and a nutty, lightly tangy taste, sourdough discard naan is an easy side dish to serve with any cuisine. This soft sourdough discard flatbread is made unfed starter, without yeast, and can be made in an afternoon to serve with dinner!
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Why this recipe works
- Homemade sourdough naan is quick to make on the stovetop - no heating the oven required
- Sourdough discard lends its tangy flavor to this flatbread
- Naan bread is an easy side dish to serve alongside soups and stews with any cuisine
I love using my slow cooker for those chilly winter days. The smell of long-simmering food fills the house with anticipation. Indian cuisine lends itself to those fix-and-forget crock-pot dinners with its complex blend of spices and sauces.
But you need to serve naan bread with Indian cuisine. It's in the rules. And since I maintain sourdough starter, I'm always looking for ways to use the sourdough starter discard. Enter this sourdough naan bread!
Set up your soup or stew in the slow cooker in the morning, use your sourdough starter discard to make up some sourdough naan dough in the afternoon, and cook the naan before serving. You're ready for dinner!
Recipe Ingredients
You'll need the following ingredients to make this sourdough naan bread recipe:
Ingredient Notes
Flour: This sourdough naan recipe uses all-purpose flour and white whole wheat flour. This gives the naan a chewier, nuttier texture and flavor, but it also makes it a little more dense.
You can reduce or leave out the whole wheat and use just all-purpose flour to your preference. Just know that the more whole wheat flour you use, the more dense the dough will become.
Sourdough starter discard: Sourdough discard is unfed sourdough starter, the amount you remove from your crock before feeding the remainder starter (I use the discard so that my sourdough maintenance is zero-waste). Since it's not active starter, it's used for flavor rather than leavening (you'll need baking powder for that).
No sourdough starter? No problem! You can make naan by replacing the starter with more flour and water (see the Recipe Notes for the exact amounts). It won't have that subtle sourdough tang, but will still be delicious!
Milk and Greek yogurt: Dairy products help give the naan a soft, more tender texture, and the yogurt also lends its tang to the sourdough discard flatbread. Use a thick Greek yogurt - if it's too thin, the dough will be too wet. For the best results, use a full fat Greek yogurt (non-fat doesn't work as well).
Baking powder: Since this is a quick bread rather than a yeast bread, baking powder provides the lift (however, there's still a resting period needed).
Toppings: Sourdough discard naan can be served plain, or you can top it with chopped garlic, melted butter or ghee, or fresh herbs like parsley or cilantro.
See the recipe card for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
How to make sourdough discard naan
Step 1: Make the dough
In a large bowl, mix together the sourdough starter, milk and yogurt until smooth using a dough whisk or wooden spoon, then add the baking powder, and salt (photo 1).
Mix in the flours, then whisk to combine to a shaggy, sticky dough (photo 2). Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and let the dough rise in a warm place for 2 to 3 hours (an oven with the just the light turned on works well).
Step 2: Portion the naan
Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a minute or two, until the dough is smooth. Try to add in only enough extra flour so that the dough doesn't stick to your hands. Divide the dough into 8 pieces with a bench scraper or a knife. (photo 3).
Shape each piece into a disk, then roll the disk into a flat circle, about ⅛- to ¼-inch thick (photo 4). Don't worry if it's not a perfect circle - naan can be irregular.
Step 3: Cook the naan
Preheat a 10¼-inch cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Be ready to adjust the heat of your pan so the dough doesn't burn before the inside is cooked or is too slow to brown.
Brush one side of the naan with water. Place the naan, water-side down, on the hot skillet. Cover the skillet to trap the steam. Sprinkle on the chopped garlic, if using.
Cook for about a minute, or until the dough starts to bubble and isn't sticking to the skillet. Brush the other side with water before flipping it over. Cook the naan for another minute or so (photo 5).
Transfer the naan to a cooling rack for later use, or wrap it in a dish towel to keep warm if you're serving it immediately. Repeat with remaining dough disks.
Get the skillet temperature right
Trickiest part of making sourdough naan flatbread is finding the correct temperature for the pan. It's a "Goldilocks moment," meaning you have to find the right level for your stove so the pan isn't too hot or too cool.
Be ready to adjust the heat so the dough doesn't burn before the inside is cooked, or is slow to bubble and brown. The first naan might be like cooking a pancake (that is, it's a tester).
After you get the temperature right, cooking up the pieces is a piece of…uhm…naan. It'll go fairly quickly, so have dinner standing by.
Step 4: Garnish & serve
If desired, brush the naan with the melted butter and sprinkle on some chopped herbs (photo 6). Serve and enjoy!
Storage and make-ahead instructions
Storage instructions: Cooled completely to avoid condensation, naan can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Rewarm on a skillet or in a toaster oven before serving.
In the freezer, naan will last for up to 2 months. Defrost on the counter before rewarming.
Make-ahead instructions: Naan dough can be made up to 3 days in advance. After rising, gently knead the dough, shape into a disk, then tightly wrap in plastic and place in an airtight bag. Refrigerate the dough until you're ready to cook the dough.
What to serve with sourdough naan
Need some ideas for how to use your sourdough discard naan? Most obvious are the tradition Indian dishes. Here are some ideas to make at home:
- Slow Cooker Butter Chicken (aka Murgh Makhani): A rich curry made from chicken with a spiced tomato and butter sauce
- Instant Pot Butter Chicken
- Shahi Paneer: A creamy and mild vegetarian dish with paneer, yogurt, nuts and spices
- Dal Makhani: A vegetarian curry of lentils, beans and subtle spices
You don't have to limit serving sourdough naan with just Indian food. Here are a few more ideas:
- As an accompaniment to other types of soup or stews, like this Afghan kidney bean curry
- Top with spreads or fillings and folded, taco-style
- Serve as an appetizer with dips, like alongside creamy hummus or whipped feta dip
- Use as a base for a quick pizza
Questions asked and answered
Here are some questions you might have...
Naan is type of flatbread, like a pocketless pita bread, that originated in the Indian subcontinent (the name "naan" means bread in old Persian). Traditionally, homemade naan is cooked in a tandoor, but it can be cooked on a hot pan on the stove. Naan can be seasoned with garlic, herbs, and spices, and can be augmented with whole wheat flour.
For this sourdough naan recipe, I replace some of the flour and water with the sourdough discard, just like I do for sourdough pretzels and sourdough bagels.
Like most basic bread recipes, traditional naan is made from flour, water, yeast, and salt. Substituting milk or yogurt for the water tenderizes the dough, leading to a softer flatbread.
Here baking powder is substituted for the yeast to shorten the rising time. With yeast, the rising time can be up to 8 hours or overnight.
Naan tends to be buttery and tangy (especially this sourdough naan bread) from the addition of yogurt and butter or ghee, while pita bread has a more neutral taste. Naan dough also is thicker, so it doesn't puff up as much as pita (and it won't have a pocket).
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I hope you like this recipe! Let me know if you have any questions, and don't forget to leave a comment and rating. Thanks!
Slainté! L'chaim! Cheers!
- Tammy
More recipes featuring sourdough discard to try
Good news for sourdough bakers!
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Plus, get my bonus recipe for naturally-leavened sourdough bread using unfed starter for fresh bread any time.
Recipe
Sourdough Discard Naan Bread
Ingredients
For the dough
- 1 cup sourdough starter discard, see Recipe Notes
- ½ cup milk, warmed to 100 to 110°F
- ¼ cup Greek yogurt, plain, see Recipe Notes
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, see Recipe Notes
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour, see Recipe Notes
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
For the toppings
- garlic cloves, chopped (optional)
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, or ghee, melted (optional)
- herbs, chopped, like cilantro or parsley (optional)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix together 1 cup sourdough starter discard, ½ cup milk and ¼ cup Greek yogurt until smooth using a dough whisk or wooden spoon.
- Add 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 cup white whole wheat flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and ¼ teaspoon kosher salt. Whisk to combine to a shaggy, sticky dough.
- Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and let the dough rise in a warm place for 2 to 3 hours (an oven with the just the light turned on works well).
- Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a minute or two, until the dough is smooth. Try to add in only enough extra flour so that the dough doesn't stick to your hands.
- Divide the dough into 8 pieces with a bench scraper or a knife. Shape each piece into a disk, then roll the disk into a flat circle, about ⅛- to ¼-inch thick. Don't worry if it's not a perfect circle - naan can be irregular.
- Preheat a 10¼-inch cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Be ready to adjust the heat of your pan so the dough doesn't burn before the inside is cooked or is too slow to brown.
- Brush one side of the naan with water. Place the naan, water-side down, on the hot skillet. Cover the skillet to trap the steam. Sprinkle on the chopped garlic cloves, if using.
- Cook for about a minute, or until the dough starts to bubble and isn't sticking to the skillet. Brush the other side with water before flipping it over. Cook the naan for another minute or so.
- Transfer the naan to a cooling rack for later use, or wrap it in a dish towel to keep warm if you're serving it immediately. Repeat with remaining dough disks.
- If desired, brush the naan with 1 tablespoon unsalted butter (melted) and sprinkle on some chopped herbs. Serve and enjoy!
- Storage instructions: Cooled completely to avoid condensation, naan can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Rewarm on a skillet or in a toaster oven before serving. In the freezer, naan will last for up to 2 months. Defrost on the counter before rewarming.
- Make-ahead instructions: Naan dough can be made up to 3 days in advance. After rising, gently knead the dough, shape into a disk, then tightly wrap in plastic and place in an airtight bag. Refrigerate the dough until you're ready to cook the dough.
Rob Garmey says
Not my most successful frying pan naan but a fair beginning which I will work on. Main issue was they were difficult to knead and handle as very soft and wet I had to keep adding flour which I suspect eventually made for a rather solid bread. Not sure whether to use less SD or milk to reduce liquid as I would imagine they need to be quite pliable to get a rise. Could just be different flour as UK and US flours probably quite different in character. Suggestions welcome.
Tammy Spencer says
Hi Rob, I’m sorry the recipe didn’t work quite as expected. The dough should be sticky, but not wet. The all-purpose flour I use has an 11.7% protein content, and the whole wheat flour is 13%. If your AP flour isn’t quite as high, you might try using bread flour. Otherwise yes, you might try reducing the amount of milk in the dough. I wouldn’t suggest reducing the sourdough discard as it also contains needed flour as well as water. Good luck, and happy baking!