Make the Best Turkish Bread at home using a few easy-to-find ingredients. Cook the dough in a hot pan and watch the bread puff up! This delicious bread is a perfect side or appetizer to serve alongside kebabs, rice, fish, salad, and more.
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Wow, your friends and family with the best Turkish bread! It is soft, chewy, delicious, and smells fantastic while it cooks. I always make a large batch when making this bread because it is a crowd-pleaser that usually disappears fast!
For starters, Turkish bread is one of my favorite sides, and I always order it at Turkish restaurants. It tastes delicious and has a lovely texture that pairs well with various mains like Tandoor chicken kebabs, Homemade Chicken Doner Kebab and Fluffy Turmeric Rice Recipe.
Why You Should Try This Recipe
- This is the best Turkish bread because it has a soft texture and tastes delicious.
- Most of the ingredients can be bought from your local supermarket.
- This is the best Turkish bread because you can make it with less than ten ingredients.
- This recipe can be doubled or tripled to feed more people.
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour: Use all-purpose flour or bread flour to make the best Turkish bread.
- Warm water: Make sure the water is warm rather than hot because if it is too hot, it will kill the yeast. On the other hand, if the water is too cold, the yeast will not be activated.
- Warm milk: Same goes for the milk. It must be warm for the yeast to be activated.
- Salt: Add the suggested amount of salt.
- Sugar: Add the recommended amount of sugar.
- Instant rise yeast: For this recipe, I used instant yeast. However, you can use dry yeast instead. If you use dry yeast, combine it with warm water and milk, then mix it with the dry ingredients.
- Olive oil: This is the oil of choice because it is light.
- Herbs: To garnish.
- Chili: To garnish.
Tips and Substitutions
- Yeast: Check the expiration date on the yeast. If it has expired, then the bread will not rise. Make sure you are using instant/fast-action yeast for this recipe.
- Warm liquids: This recipe calls for warm milk and warm water. Make sure that the liquids are not too hot or cold, as this will affect the yeast.
- Rolling: When rolling the dough, make sure it is quite thin. The dough may not puff up properly on the stove if it is too thick.
- Stove: Ensure that the heat is high enough when cooking the best Turkish bread. If the heat is too low, the bread will not puff up.
How to Make The Best Turkish Bread
- Combine 500g of all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon of salt, ½ teaspoon of sugar, and 2 tablespoon of instant yeast in a bowl and whisk until combined.
2. Next, combine 150 ml of warm water and 150 ml of warm milk in a separate bowl, create a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour the milk mixture into the center. Stir the ingredients with a fork until combined.
3. Add 3 tablespoon of olive oil to the bowl and mix again until the dough forms a ball. Use your hands to shape the dough into a ball.
4. Add olive oil to the plastic wrap to prevent the dough from sticking. Then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave to rise for 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes.
5. Once the dough has risen, punch a hole in the center with your fist to knock the air out. Then dust a clean surface with all-purpose flour and place the dough on the surface.
Gently tuck the dough towards the middle to form a ball. You can also knead the dough if necessary but do not knead it too much, as this may stop it from rising as it cooks.
6. Next, cut the dough into equal-sized pieces and roll them into balls. I like to use a cake smoother to do this.
7. Dust the surface with more all-purpose flour and gently use a rolling pin to flatten the dough into a circular shape.
8. Heat a pan and cook the rolled dough on each side for 2-3 minutes on medium to high heat.
9. Finally, brush the bread with olive oil or melted butter, dust chili powder on top and garnish with fresh chopped parsley. Serve the best Turkish bread with baked chicken kebabs, the best Lebanese Tabbouleh, Easy turmeric rice, the best creamy hummus, or any other dish of your choice.
Recipe FAQs
Turkish bread is very similar to pita bread. However, Turkish bread includes milk and olive oil, while pita bread is made with water.
A popular bread from Turkey is called lavas. It is a flatbread used to make wraps and kebabs.
Once the bread is ready, wrap it in a clean cloth to keep it warm and serve when you are ready. If there are leftovers, keep them in an airtight container or Ziploc at room temperature for up to 2 days.
More Delicious Mediterranean Recipes
Best Turkish Bread
Equipment
- 1 Large mixing bowl
- 1 Plastic wrap
- 1 Rolling Pin
- 1 Pan
Ingredients
- 500 g all-purpose flour
- 150 ml warm water
- 150 ml warm milk
- 1 teaspoon salt;
- 0.5 teaspoon of sugar
- 2 tablespoon dry yeast; fast action
- 3 tablespoon of olive oil
- fresh parsley chopped
- Chili powder
Instructions
- Combine the all-purpose flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a bowl and whisk until combined.
- Combine the warm water and warm milk in a separate bowl. Then, create a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the center. Stir the ingredients with a fork until combined.
- Add olive oil to the bowl and mix the dough using your hands until the dough forms a ball. Use your hands to shape the dough into a ball.
- Add olive oil to the plastic wrap to prevent the dough from sticking to it when it rises. Then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave to rise for 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes.
- Once the dough has risen, punch a hole in the center with your fist to knock out the air. Dust a clean surface with all-purpose flour, then remove it from the bowl. Gently tuck the dough towards the middle to form a ball. You can also knead the dough if necessary but do not knead it too much, as this will knock the air out of the dough and stop it from rising as it cooks.
- Next, cut the dough into equal-sized pieces and roll them into balls. Do this by cutting across horizontally, vertically and diagonally twice.
- Dust the surface with more all-purpose flour if necessary and gently use a rolling pin to flatten the dough into a circular shape.
- Heat a pan and cook the rolled dough on each side for 2-3 minutes on medium to high heat.
- Once the flatbread is ready, stack them in a pile, brush melted butter or olive oil on top. dust with chili powder and garnish with fresh chopped parsley. Serve Turkish bread with chicken kebab, Tabbouleh, turmeric rice, hummus or any other dish you choose.
Notes
- Yeast: Check the expiration date on the yeast. If it has expired, then the bread will not rise. Make sure you are using instant/fast-action yeast for this recipe.
- Warm liquids: This recipe calls for warm milk and warm water. Make sure that the liquids are not too hot or cold, as this will affect the yeast.
- Rolling: When rolling the dough, make sure it is quite thin. The dough may not puff up properly on the stove if it is too thick.
- Stove: Ensure that the heat is high enough when cooking the bread. If the heat is too low, the bread will not puff up.
Marta
This Turkish bread recipe really is one of the best I've had outside of Europe. It was so fluffy and and addicting!
Camille
I made your Turkish bread recipe last weekend and it was a total hit! My family loved the soft texture and couldn't believe I'd made it from scratch. Thanks for sharing this gem - you've got a fan for life! xx
Robin
This Turkish Bread reminded me of naan or pita bread, a perfect companion to my meatless bean dishes. Fresh out of the pan, slathered with butter, the bread was incredible!
Natasha
Bread is always going to win in our home. I made the perfect lamb recipe to pair with this and I already had all of the ingredients that I needed! Brought the butter on and we had a TIME! Thanks for such an easy accompaniment to our lamb dish!
Jessica Lawson
This bread is amazing. It's easy to make and was so wonderful with just some simple grilled chicken and salad. My only problem with it is that I can't stop eating it!!!
Jazz
Thank you for this recipe! My Turkish bread came out fluffy and perfectly chewy. Love it with hummus.
Britney Brown
This was my first time making Turkish bread and it was better than store bought! It came out so soft and fluffy, I truly loved the texture and flavor!