This Easy Flatbread (No Yeast) makes a superb side to anything from curries and falafels to koftas and kebabs. Soft, pliable & quick to make too with barely any kneading. It's everybody's favourite!
I must say that as a home bread baker I do love old fashioned, crusty loaves that require kneading and proving and there is room for these sort of bakes in my life, especially on weekends! However, on average weekday, I need my kitchen endeavours to be quick, easy and efficient and this Easy Flatbread recipe ticks all the boxes and it features on our menu as a side/accompaniment at least once a week. We do LOVE bread in this house!
You might remember my Easy Naan Bread Without Yeast recipe which is another favourite in our house and is as easy and as delicious as this one. These flatbreads, however, go that one step further with their softness and pliability.
Why is this Easy Flatbread so great?
- It's really quick and easy to make so it makes perfect accompaniment to your midweek dinners
- There is no fancy equipment required (you don't even need an oven).
- There is no yeast involved so neither heavy kneading nor long proving are required.
- It is super versatile and goes well with so many dishes.
- It freezes beautifully so you can always make double batch and freeze for when needed.
- Have I mentioned it tastes delicious?
Can I adapt this recipe?
There are few ways you can adapt this recipe:
Gluten-Free - try substituting plain flour with your favourite gluten-free flour.
Vegan/Dairy-Free - Use 40ml/1.4 fl oz rapeseed/olive oil in place of butter and almond or oat milk instead of regular milk.
Healthier - Try swapping plain flour for wholewheat variety. These flatbreads work really well with my favourite white spelt flour.
How do I freeze these flatbreads?
Wrap them tightly in aluminium foil and pop inside plastic freezer bag for extra protection (freezer burn on bread is not nice). They will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months but they never had to wait that long in our house.
To defrost simply take them out onto the kitchen counter and leave at room temperature for an hour or so. I then usually pop them (still wrapped in aluminium foil) into the oven at 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 for 5 min to warm up. You could put them into preheated oven still frozen but they will take a bit longer (check them after 10 min and see whether they are ready to go or not).
What's the best way to store Easy Flatbread?
Easy Flatbread is best when eaten straight away, there is no two ways about it! However, if you don't manage to eat it and don't want to freeze it, I find that it keeps best wrapped tightly in aluminium foil for a day or two at a push.
Usually, refreshing it in a toaster does the trick. I fold mine and toast it on one side (with a chunk sticking out) and then repeat from the other end. You could always make smaller flatbreads if you know you are likely to be reheating them using a toaster! Similarly, few seconds in a microwave will work too. Alternatively, sprinkle your flatbread with some water and pop in the preheated oven until nice and warm. It will only take few minutes so watch it closely if you don't want to end up with crispy instead of soft flatbread.
What can I serve Easy Flatbreads with?
The best thing about these easy flatbreads is their versatility. Not only do they go fantastically well with curries, koftas, kebabs and falafels but they make fantastic substitute for tortilla wraps. How about some scrambled eggs and smoked salmon breakfast burrito? They will go well with pretty much any filling and of course any dish with lots of sauce as they do make perfect bready mops.
Here are some easy and delicious meal ideas this Easy Flatbread is simply made for:
Easy Chickpeas & Carrot Falafel Burgers
Portobello Mushroom Burgers with Caramelised Onions (Vegan)
Jamie Oliver's Inspired Chicken Tikka Masala
Easy Cauliflower & Lentil Curry (Vegan)
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- Easy Chickpeas & Carrot Falafel Burgers
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- Easy Lamb Kofta Meatballs
Similarly, you can try them with some dips, spreads, sauces and salads:
Smoked Mackerel Pate with Horseradish
Few helpful tips when making Easy Flatbread!
Make sure you don't skip 30 min dough resting time as it does make a big difference to the texture of your flatbread (tried and tested).
As you might have noticed my flatbreads are not really round. I'm not very good at rolling them out so decided not to worry too much and as long as they fit my frying pan we're good. I'm going for a bit of a rustic look lol.
Instead of using cling film to cover my bowl with dough when resting I use plastic shower cap! As silly as it sounds it works great and you can reuse it time and time again (I've been using the same one for over 3 years now). That's a lot of single use plastic I didn't have to use!
As soon as your flatbread is off the pan wrap it in a clean tea towel. It is a crucial if you want to retain the moisture in your bread and it's lovely softness and pliability.
Easy Flatbread - Step-By-Step
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- 1. Combine flour & salt in a large bowl.
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- 2. Put butter in a small saucepan...
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- 3. ...and melt it over low heat.
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- 4. When butter is almost completely melted remove the saucepan from heat and add milk.
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- 5. Make a well in the flour and add your milk/butter mixture.
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- 6. Mix all ingredients gently with a spoon until they start coming together.
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- 7. Gently mix the dough with your hand until it comes together...
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- 8. ...in a shape of a ball. The dough will be a bit sticky and you might have to add a bit more flour.
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- 9. Cover the dough with cling film and let it rest for approx. 30 minutes.
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- 10. Once rested, divide the dough into four equal pieces.
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- 11. Form a ball out of each piece...
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- 12. ...and roll it out on the floured surface. Make sure it fits your frying pan.
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- 13. Heat up some oil in a frying pan and once really hot put in your first flatbread.
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- 14. Fry it for 1-2 minutes until the bubbles start rising on the surface of the flatbread and it browns on the other side.
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- 15. Flip the flatbread and let it cook for another minute until nicely browned on both side.
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- 16. Wrap it nicely in a clean tea towel to prevent it from drying and keep it nice and soft.
Easy Flatbread (No Yeast)
Ingredients
- 300 g plain flour plus extra if dough needs adjusting
- ½ tsp salt
- 50 g unsalted butter (see notes)
- 185 ml semi-skimmed milk (see notes)
- 4 tsp rapeseed or olive oil for frying
Instructions
- In a large bowl combine the flour and salt.
- Put the butter in a small saucepan and melt it very gently over the low heat.
- When it's almost completely melted, take it off the heat and add milk. Give it a stir.
- Make a well in the middle of flour and pour in your melted butter/milk mixture.
- Give it a quick mix with a spoon to bring all the ingredients together.
- Once the dough starts coming together, use your hand and continue giving the dough a little knead in the bowl until it's no longer wet. There is very minimal kneading required (only to bring all the ingredients together into a ball). If the dough appears to sticky add a little extra flour.
- Once finished, cover the bowl with some clingfilm and let it rest for 30 minutes or so.
- Once the dough had time to rest, take it out onto the counter sprinkled with some flour and divide it into 4 equal pieces.
- Take each piece and roll it out roughly to the size of your frying pan.
- Heat up a little bit of oil on your frying pan (roughly a tsp per flatbread) and once your pan is really, really hot pop in your first flatbread.
- Cook it for approx 1-2 minutes on your first side (your first flatbread will always take a bit longer then the following ones) and once you see the bubbles and the other side is getting nice and brown, flip the bread over. Continue to fry for another minute or so until nicely browned.
- Once cooked, keep your flatbreads wrapped in clean tea towel to prevent them from drying and so that they remain nicely soft and pliable.
- Repeat with remaining flatbreads.
Notes
- Nutritional information is approximate, per flatbread and should be treated as a guideline only.
- Don't be tempted to skip 30 minutes rest time. It really makes a massive difference in your flatbreads.
- You can use salted butter if you prefer but I would then omit the salt.
- Try substituting 40ml/1.4fl oz rapeseed or olive oil for butter and your favourite nut or oat milk for regular milk to make vegan/dairy-free version of the flatbread.
Nutrition
Recipe adapted from Julie Goodwin
Similar recipes you might enjoy:
Easy White Sandwich Bread (Soft-Crust)
Wholemeal Bread Recipe (No Knead)
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Sarah says
These look delicious! Could you use bread/strong flour for these? I have to use some up and my broken oven won’t get replaced till March.
joskitchenlarder says
Hi Sarah, If that's the only flour you've got and you need to use it up definitely go for it, it will not affect your flatbreads. 🙂
Sarah says
Sadly it was a failure. They looked lovely on the outside but tasted raw inside and despite covering them they were chewy. I tried lowering the temperature for the last few but they were very hard and tough. Not sure if it was the bread flour or my cooking but I shall try again with plain flour another time. Do you have any ideas as to what I may have done wrong?
joskitchenlarder says
Sorry to hear that Sarah. It might well have been because of the flour. I thought bread flour should be ok but perhaps the higher protein content might have caused the chewiness. They definitely shouldn't have been hard or tough though. Another thing I can think of would be overworking the dough a bit which in combination with high protein flour could have been a culprit. As you had some to use up I thought it would be fine to give it a go, sorry. Do give them a go with plain flour next time as they're lovely. x
Cabral Meghji says
Easy to follow and tastes delicious!
joskitchenlarder says
I'm glad you liked it! 🙂
Laura says
Hi Jo
I am keen to find out if I can cook them in butter rather than oil.
joskitchenlarder says
Hi Laura, You can use butter for frying if you prefer but as butter contains water it burns when subjected to high heat. You can use clarified butter to prevent that or regular butter with a drop of oil. If you have a really good non-stick pan you need very little fat to cook these flatbreads. Hope that helps. 🙂
Anne says
Can you freeze these?
joskitchenlarder says
Hi Anne, Yes you can freeze them, details are in the post itself. 🙂
Sheetal Ramoutar-Shingler says
Hi Jo, can I use full fat milk instead of semi skimmed? Thanks
joskitchenlarder says
Hi there, Either will be fine. Hope you enjoy the flatbreads. 🙂
rose says
joskitchenlarder
can you use powder milk
joskitchenlarder says
Yes, as long as you reconstitute it to the liquid form first and use the amount as per recipe.
Clifford Williams says
Great recipe when I roll them out I have a small pastry cutter and make little Blinis
joskitchenlarder says
Hi Clifford, I'm so pleased you like the recipe and love your blinis idea - perfect base for little appetisers!
Amanda says
Tried the recipe, it worked really well. Thank you! Ate everything before I even got a chance to take a picture.
joskitchenlarder says
Hi Amanda, I'm so pleased to hear that and it's great that it went down so well and so quickly too! 🙂 Jo x
Dalia Natural says
Oh man those look amazing!! And they are beautiful to look at.
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks 🙂
Balvinder says
This looks awesome, Jo! we make flat bread like this everyday but without butter and skimmed milk.
joskitchenlarder says
Thank you Balvinder! 🙂 There are so many takes on flatbread making aren't there. This recipe has been a favourite for a long time and we love it.
Eb Gargano | Easy Peasy Foodie says
Yum! These look fab! I love homemade flatbreads and they are so easy to do. I love how you've made yours - totally different to how I make mine, but I am sure just as yummy! Eb x
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Eb! 🙂 Totally agree plus they don't have all the unnecessary and weird ingredients you tend to find in the shop bought ones plus taste million times better! 🙂 x
Jacqui Bellefontaine says
I love flat breads and when they are this easy there really is no reason not to make them.
Thank you for sharing this easy and delicious recipe with #CookBlogShare
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Jacqui! 🙂 Totally agree! 🙂
Kat (The Baking Explorer) says
They really do look so easy to make, and so versatile too!
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Kat! 🙂 They really are and oh so good ! 🙂