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This delicious, pillowy soft Turkish Flatbread is an easy, one-bowl-no-mixer recipe. It’s perfect with hummus, tabouli, for wraps and so much more!
If you think you have to have a bit of Middle Eastern heritage to make great Turkish Flatbread, think again! This recipe comes together quickly, without a mixer and minimal kneading and rising. These delicious, tender, pita-type flatbreads are cooked in a pan on the stovetop in minutes.
What is flatbread?
Flatbread has become popular restaurant and grocery store fare in recent years, but it’s definitely not a new invention. Rather, it has a long history, originating in ancient Egypt. Over the years, many other cultures, including India, Armenia, Iran, Uzbekistan, Afganistan, and Turkey have come up with their own version of flatbread, each one having slightly different characteristics. What’s really fascinating, is that some countries, like Turkey, have numerous types of flatbread, each region of the country having its own distinct version.
In Turkey, flatbread is a staple and there are shops that exclusively sell this simple, delicious type of bread. The variety is staggering. I’ve read about Pide, Lahmacun, Gözleme, Yufka, Lahmacun, and Bazlama, to name a few. The main differences are in the shape, toppings and cooking methods.
The Turkish flatbread recipe I’m sharing today is Bazlama. Bazlama is similar to naan and, in Turkey, is often baked over an outdoor, wood fire. Bazlama is also known as “village bread” as it’s often sold in stands at Turkish markets. One of the distinctions of Bazlama is that it’s made with Greek yogurt, making the bread super tender and giving it a tasty tang.
The ingredient list for this Bazlama is, like most flatbreads, super simple: yeast, sugar, water, flour, yogurt, and salt. The dough is stirred up by hand in a bowl, then turned out onto the counter for a short kneading time. It’s then covered and allowed to rest for 15 minutes and then it’s ready to roll into circles. A short stint in a hot pan and you’ll find these fragrant, tender flatbreads difficult to not devour, all by themselves. (Don’t ask me how I know!)
I’ve made several batches of this Turkish flatbread, tweaking it a bit each time and finding more and more ways to use it.
Ways to use this Turkish Flatbread
- Eat it plain or with a spread of peanut butter and a drizzle of honey for a delicious snack.
- Divide the dough into 14 or 16 portions and make the flatbreads smaller. Serve them warm in a bread basket as a dinner bread.
- Spread a spoonful of hummus down the center of a flatbread. Top with grilled (or rotisserie) chicken, diced tomatoes, cilantro, Kalamata olives, crumbled Feta and a drizzle of Zoe’s Copycat Dressing. Serve it as a wrap – delish!
- Make flatbread pizza. Just add toppings and bake for 5-8 minutes in a 450˚F oven.
- Stuff with scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast flatbreads.
- Use them in place of bread for your favorite sandwich.
- Heat a medium non-stick sauté pan over medium heat until hot. Add a small drizzle of olive oil and swirl pan to coat. Add a Turkish flatbread and cook until underside is golden. Flip to opposite side and continue cooking till also golden. Cut in wedges and serve as a delicious accompaniment to salads, soups or as an appetizer with hummus or spreads.
- Serve it with Grilled Chicken Swarama and Turkish Cucumber Tomato Salad – recipes coming!!
Café Tips for making this Greek Yogurt Turkish Flatbread
- You can make these flatbreads thicker or thinner by rolling the dough rounds bigger or smaller. I like a medium thickness and roll mine approximately 7 inches in diameter.
- Since every stove is different, you might have to experiment a little bit with the first flatbread. You want the heat high enough that bubbles appear on the top surface and the underside is getting a few golden spots after about 45 seconds to 1 minute. If you’re not seeing the bubbles, increase the heat. If the underside is getting brown too fast, decrease the heat a bit. On my stove a heat setting slightly below medium is perfect.
- Brush the dough rounds lightly with olive oil. You want to cover the surface but you don’t want greasy flatbread.
- I use whole milk Greek yogurt, but I think any variety of plain Greek yogurt will work fine.
- A tablespoon of kosher salt sounds like a lot, but it’s divided between 10 large flatbreads. I tried it with less and the results tasted somewhat bland. However, if you use regular iodized salt instead of kosher salt, definitely use less. Here’s a great conversion chart for kosher and table (iodized) salt.
- If you’re not used to working with yeast, don’t worry! The only trick with yeast is to use the right water (or other liquid) temperature. You want it to be right between 105-110˚F. If you test it with a finger, that’s fairly hot, but not so hot that you’d pull your finger back. If you’re not sure, use a thermometer to test the temp before adding the yeast and you’ll be just fine.
This delicious, pillowy soft Turkish Flatbread is an easy, one-bowl-no-mixer recipe. It's perfect with hummus, tabouli, for wraps and more!
- 1 ¼ cups warm water 105-110˚F
- 2 ¼ teaspoons active dried yeast 1 packet
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ¾ cup Greek-style yogurt
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 3 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley
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Combine the yeast, sugar, and water into a medium-large bowl and stir well. Allow to sit in a warm place for 5-10 minutes to activate the yeast. The mixture will be foamy and bubbly when activated.
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Whisk in the Greek yogurt olive oil and salt.
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Add flour and parsley and stir with a wooden spoon or sturdy spatula and until the dough comes together. Turn dough out onto a well-floured counter and turn to coat. Knead for 3-4 minutes or until dough is no longer sticky and springs back when lightly pressed. Sprinkle more flour onto the counter if the dough is sticky during kneading.
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Divide dough into 10 equal pieces, sprinkle lightly with flour, then cover with a clean kitchen towel. Allow to rest for 15 minutes.
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Preheat a medium saute pan to a medium-low heat. While pan is heating, roll one of the dough portions into an approximately 7-inch circle. Brush the top surface lightly with extra virgin olive oil. When the pan is hot, pick up the first circle with your hand and place in pan, oiled side down. Lightly brush the top surface with oil. Allow to the flatbread to cook for about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, until top surface is covered with bubbles and underside is golden around the edges and in spots.
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Flip to opposite side and cook for another 60-90 seconds until a few small golden spots appear. Don't overcook on the second side. Repeat rolling, oiling and cooking with remaining portions of dough.
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Sprinkle flatbreads with a bit more chopped parsley when finished, if desired. Stack flatbreads in a clean kitchen towel after cooking to steam a bit and retain softness.
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When cool, store in a ziplock bag. Reheat in a pan without oil for a minute or two on each side OR wrap flatbreads in paper toweling and heat in the microwave on low power until warm.
See Café Tips above in post for further instructions and tips.
Adapted from Allrecipes.
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Mary says
I have a lot of instant yeast. Any suggestions on how to adapt the recipe so I can use it?
Chris Scheuer says
You can use instant yeast in place of regular yeast in this recipe. The rising time may be a little shorter but otherwise it should work the same.
Meghan says
Yes you can use instant yeast in recipes that call for active dry. However it isn’t a direct replacement as Instant yeast is stronger than active dry so you don’t need to use as much. You would use 1.5 tsp of instant yeast in place of 2.25 tsp of active dry.
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Meghan, thanks for your input. I have also used equal amounts with good success.
Laurie Grosso says
I love this recipe and also use it for the base of Lahmajun (armenian pizza). I was wondering if I could let the dough rest in the refrigerator so it doesn’t dry out.
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Laurie, so happy to hear you’ve enjoyed this recipe! I think you could definitely let the dough rest in the refrigerator. Just keep it well covered!
Cathrine says
When I make them the mixture is really wet, so really difficult to kneed, I end up needing to add loads of flour, is that how you make them?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Catherine, I use flour on my island to knead the dough but I wouldn’t say I’m using tons of extra flour. The dough is somewhat wet. I turn it out onto a floured work surface and then turn to coat it with flour with dough scraper. When I divide it into portions, I again toss each portion in flour to coat it. Then I’m fine to roll the pieces out on a floured work surface.
Wayne Rodgers says
Is 38carbs for one flat bread or for the ten?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Wayne, the nutritional information is for one flatbread. That’s not horrible since an average piece of bread has 15 carbs per the USDA.
Debby says
An average piece of loaf bread for sandwiches has 15 grams of carbohydrates.
Debby says
I meant to add to my above comment on the carbohydrate count: Naan bread is usually larger than a slice of loaf bread and also a little heavier making it to have more carbohydrates per piece.
I have a question: Every one else says to use a cast-iron pan and your recipe does not call for one. I do not have a cast-iron pan. Will a regular pan make a difference in the taste or how the bread turns out? I love Naan and your recipe sounds very good.
Thank you!
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Debbie, I just use a heavy duty regular pan and it works fine.
Chris Scheuer says
You’re right, Debby! I must have read something wrong.
Sharon says
You don’t allow the dough to rise before cooking? Some recipes allow the dough to rise until double.
Chris Scheuer says
It’s not necessary for this recipe, Sharon! They’re delicious and so easy. Hope you enjoy them!
Graeme says
What a great recipe, did these last night and everybody including all 4 kids loved them. The instructions make it easy to get right. I remember having a bread like this on IOS and have tried to 30 year to find something similar and now I have. Thank you
Chris Scheuer says
That’s so awesome, Graeme! The end of a 30-year search, I love it! Thanks so much for taking the time to share your results!
Carol says
Hi! Thanks for this, but it took more than 20 minutes to cook…🤨 not sure what happened, but tasted nice.
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Carol, I’m happy you enjoyed these flatbreads. They shouldn’t take more than 2-3 minutes to cook. The cooking time is 25 minutes which should be just about right. You may want to turn your heat a little higher if it’s taking longer than that.
Jane says
A fabulous recipe – literally just cooked my first batch and eaten one already!!!
I measured and weighed everything using electric scales as I think that this really makes a difference.
I filled mine with sun dried tomatoes-olives -feta cheese and fresh flat leaf parsley. I’m back in Turkey now!
Amazing and now there’s a queue in the kitchen!
Chris Scheuer says
Yummy! Wish I was in the queue! They sound delicious! Thanks so much for sharing your results, Jane!
Jane says
Still making these Chris and the recipe has gone to my relatives in the 4 corners of the world !
I tried using the weighing methods – using cup and spoon measurements as per this recipe and found out that there was no difference to weighing. Freeze so well too.
Chris Scheuer says
I LOVE this Jane, thanks so much for sharing 🥰
Katrina Bonds says
I tried these yesterday and omg they were amazing! So yummy! I’m making more but do they freeze well? Or should I just stick to making them fresh?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Katrina, these do freeze well and they’re great to have on hand for days when you’re busy!
Lynda Ross says
Yes they freeze well just defrost as required
Elaine Jackson says
Hi can i make theses in morning and cook in afternoon please. Without losing taste and texture
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Elaine, I haven’t tried that so I can’t say for sure. I know that you can make them early in the day and then just warm them in a pan with a touch of oil before serving.
Rebekah says
We’ve enjoyed this recipe several times – perhaps the softest flatbread we’ve ever made! Thank you!
Chris Scheuer says
That’s so awesome, Rebekah! Thanks so much, for sharing your results!
Samia says
It’s an easy ,rich recipe… I may suggest adding sundried tomatoes….I tried it & it was great addition ❤
Chris Scheuer says
That sounds wonderful, Samia! Thanks for sharing your results and adaptation!