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The Café Sucre Farine

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Greek Yogurt Turkish Flatbread (Bazlama)

Total Time: 1 hour
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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.

Photo of a stack of Greek Yogurt Turkish Flatbread (Bazlama) on a slate surface with a sprig of cilantro in the foreground.

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.

Photo of a stack of Greek Yogurt Turkish Flatbread (Bazlama) on a slate surface resting on a wood table.

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!)

Closeup photo of a stack of Greek Yogurt Turkish Flatbread. (Bazlama)

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!!

Side closeup of a stack of Greek Yogurt Turkish Flatbread. (Bazlama)

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.
5 from 26 votes
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Turkish Flat Bread (Bazlama)

This delicious, pillowy soft Turkish Flatbread is an easy, one-bowl-no-mixer recipe. It's perfect with hummus, tabouli, for wraps and more!

Author: Chris Scheuer
Vertical picture of Greek Yogurt Turkish Flatbread (Bazlama) stacked on a cutting board
Course: Breads
Cuisine: Turkish
Keyword: Turkish Flatbread
Prep Time: 35 mins
Cook Time: 25 mins
Total Time: 1 hr
Servings: 10
Calories: 217 kcal
Ingredients
  • 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
US Customary - Metric
Instructions
  1. 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.

  2. Whisk in the Greek yogurt olive oil and salt.

  3. 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.

  4. Divide dough into 10 equal pieces, sprinkle lightly with flour, then cover with a clean kitchen towel. Allow to rest for 15 minutes.

  5. 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. 

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

  8. 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.
Recipe Notes

See Café Tips above in post for further instructions and tips. 

Adapted from Allrecipes. 

Calories 217kcal
Fat 3g
Sodium 705mg
Potassium 97mg
Carbohydrates 38g
Fiber 1g
Sugar 1g
Protein 7g
Calcium 24%
Iron 2.2%

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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 more! #pita, #flatbread, #turkishflatbread #easyrecipe #easyflatbread

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lina Gonzalez says

    Simply delicious! Simple and easy to make. I used fresh chopped Basil leaves with cherry tomatoes from our garden, topped with mozzarella cheese, for my daughter I made her the plain topped with mozzarella cheese and omelette. Thanks for this amazing recipe!

    Reply

  2. Judy says

    Wow, this is such a forgiving dough recipe. I used 1/2 whole wheat flour to up the nutritional value! I am serving Greek Keftes so rolled them very thin and it worked beautifully. Thanks!!

    Reply

  3. Sandra hasan says

    Another winning recipe. We mixed it in the breadmaker. Lovely easy to handle dough. Rolled out to fit two cookie pans painted with olive oil at sprinkled za’tar , sesame seeds. Baked in oven with steam at 350 til golden. Excellent.

    Will make frequently

    Reply

  5. rob says

    can sour cream be used as a yogurt substitute?

    cooking in a saucepan seems weird. why not a cast iron skillet?

    Reply

    • Chris Scheuer says

      Hi Rob, you could definitely use sour cream in place of yogurt. And thank you for noticing that typo. It should say sauté pan. I’ve correct that in the recipe.
      A cast iron skillet would also work well.

      Reply

  9. Kate says

    Delicious! Made this for the first time, only used dried parsley instead of fresh. Still absolutely yummy. Served with chicken schwarma and mixed greens salad – big hit with the whole family. Can’t wait for the leftovers for lunch tomorrow!!

    Reply

  10. Stu says

    One suggestion: For a softer and more supple texture, add a tablespoon or two of instant mashed potato flakes to the dough. It retains more moisture and keeps the flatbreads easier to fold and roll without breaking. The potato flour imparts no taste; it’s strictly textural. This trick also works with pita bread. They can also be made on a gas or charcoal grill. This recipe is fool-proof. I do not recommend storing in the fridge. Either store for up to about 3 days at room temp or freeze in heavy plastic freezer bags.

    Reply

  11. randy says

    I saw chef Spencer Watts make this bread on one of his shows. I would like to know if I could use almond flour? Or maybe it would be to heavy.

    Reply

    • Chris Scheuer says

      Hi Randy, I haven’t tried it but I think almond flour would be too heavy and would add too much of its own flavor. I love almond flour but it does add a unique flavor.

      Reply

  12. Afsheen says

    Can younplease tell what can j subtstitute greek youghurt with, since its not available where i live.
    Tha ks

    Reply

  13. Lucy says

    I loved this recipe! So simple yet so tasty! Was cooking them for a room of vegans so used almond yogurt instead of greek yogurt and they were delicious! Thanks so much!

    Reply

  14. Chris Kujawa says

    We LOVE this recipe in my family! Thank you so much!!! As we’re eating more and more Mediteranean/Middle Eastern food I know I’ll be making this again (as it is, this is the second time I’ve made it in the last month). Thank you for sharing!

    Reply

  15. Ken says

    Thanks for sharing this recipe. The taste was amazingly good. However, my execution of the recipe left a lot to be desired. I could not get the dough to the point where it was elastic and firm enough to roll out. I tried adding more flour but it helped only slightly and I stopped because I did not want to go overboard with that. I will confess to using the dough hook on a stand mixer – do you think that caused the problem? Another factor might be that I live in southern Florida – do you think it is necessary to adjust for higher humidity levels? Regardless, I managed to get the dough to the pan and fried up some larger dumpling-looking things that still tasted delicious — even if they did not resemble flat bread! And I have been happily eating leftovers this week. Will definitely try again.

    Reply

    • Chris Scheuer says

      I wonder if the mixer just overmixed the dough. I find I need less flour when mixing things by hand. Yes, the humidity could cause a looser dough, I wouldn’t hesitate to add a bit more flour. I’m glad you enjoyed the flavor!

      Reply

  16. George R says

    My first comment in 2019. This bread was great!
    I improvised and use half sour cream and half lemon nossa yogurt. That’s what I had. And used about 80% APF and 20% WW. Turned out great. Thanks and I’ll be back to look at what else you got here.

    Reply

  17. Helen says

    Ooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I’m going to try this recipe, too (I love the tortilla recipe) but will use homemade plant based yoghurt instead of a dairy yoghurt.

    Thank you again!

    Reply

  19. Karen says

    I made these and they turned out great! Thanks so much for sharing this recipe. I want to try it next using some whole wheat flour, has anyone tried it?

    Reply

  20. Jenny says

    Hi Chris!! Your flatbread recipe looks delicious & I can’t wait to try it!! Love Middle Eastern food. One question though…can I sub a whole grain flour for the all purpose?

    Reply

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