How to make soft, foldable garlic flatbread made with yeast. Use these easy flatbreads for dipping, wraps, and flatbread pizza.
I’ve been leaning on this garlicky flatbread a lot lately. I use them to dip into my favorite dips, love them for folded sandwiches, and even use them as the base for this Margherita flatbread pizza.
The secret to these flatbreads is olive oil that we infuse with fresh garlic and sesame seeds. We use the same trick when making our homemade garlic and herb focaccia. The infused olive oil adds so much flavor.
How to make homemade flatbread
We’re going to start by making our garlicky olive oil. I add olive oil, fresh minced garlic, and sesame seeds in a small skillet over low heat until it smells like lightly toasted garlic. I love the sesame seeds in this flatbread recipe. They add a bit of crunch and nuttiness. I especially love these with hummus, which has tahini, a paste made with sesame seeds.
To make the flatbread dough, we need yeast, water, sugar, flour, and salt. The sugar gives the yeast a head start — you only need 1/2 a teaspoon. The yeast helps leaven the dough and make it so soft and foldable (it does the same for homemade pita bread). If you don’t have any yeast, you can still make flatbread — we recommend hopping over to this no-yeast flatbread recipe.
The dough comes together similarly to the dough for our focaccia. We’ll combine all the ingredients and knead them 10 to 15 times. That’s it, and then the dough moves on to proofing, which takes 1 hour at room temperature.
To make the dough a day before, proof overnight in the fridge instead. You can do the same with our easy pizza dough. The cool air of the refrigerator slows the yeast down, but after a night in the fridge, it will rise enough to move on to cooking the flatbreads.
To cook the flatbreads, roll them out (or use the tips of your fingers like in the photo below), and then cook over medium heat until puffed and cooked in the middle. Use a heavy skillet or grill pan. I used a grill pan for the flatbread pictured — I love the grill marks!
How to serve garlic flatbread
- With dips: Serve this homemade flatbread with dips like our baba ganoush (a roasted eggplant dip), roasted red pepper hummus, our hummus with ground beef and mint, or this easy crab dip, which is delicious hot or cold.
- As a folded sandwich: Tuck fresh veggies, perfectly cooked chicken, chicken salad, egg salad, poached salmon, or falafel into the flatbread.
- With soups: Dip this soft flatbread into soups like our creamy veggie soup, this easy bean chili, classic beef chili, or this roasted cauliflower soup.
- Make pizza: We also love using these as a base for these easy flatbread pizzas.
Homemade Garlic Flatbread
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
Use this homemade flatbread for folded sandwiches, dipping into soups, or cut them into wedges and serve next to your favorite dips. They are soft and fluffy in the middle, giving just enough to fold them slightly. You won’t be able to make closed wraps with these — think of them more like what surrounds a gyro or similar to the texture of naan bread.
You Will Need
Garlic Olive Oil2 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
3 tablespoons olive oil
Flatbread2 cups (260g) all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
3/4 cup warm water
2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (1 packet)
1/2 teaspoon sugar or honey
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
Neutral flavored oil for lightly coating skillet such as grape seed or canola
Directions
- Infuse Oil
1Add garlic, sesame seeds, and olive oil to a cold skillet. Place the skillet over low heat and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 10 minutes or until aromatic, but before the garlic browns. Set aside.
- Make Dough
1Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the warm water, yeast, and sugar. Stir a few times, then let it sit for 5 minutes.
2Add 1 cup of the flour and the infused garlic-olive oil mixture to the bowl with yeast. Stir 3 to 4 times until the flour has moistened. Let sit for another 5 minutes.
3Stir in the remaining cup of flour and the salt. Once the dough comes together, transfer it to a floured board and knead the dough 10 to 15 times until smooth, adding more flour if the dough seems unreasonably sticky.
4Transfer to a large oiled bowl, cover with a warm, damp towel, and let it rise for 1 hour, or until it has doubled in size.
- To Finish
1Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and cut into 6 equally sized pieces for large flatbreads or 8 pieces for smaller flatbreads.
2Shape it into balls, cover it with a damp dishtowel, and let the dough rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
3Heat a large, heavy-bottomed skillet or grill pan over medium heat (see note below).
4Use your fingertips to press each dough ball into a flat disc about 1/8 inch thick.
5Lightly oil the skillet, then carefully lay down the flatbread and cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until it’s starting to brown. Flip, then continue to cook until cooked all the way through. If the pan is too hot or smoking, turn the heat down slightly. Continue with the remaining flatbreads.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Bake the flatbreads: Bake in a 425 °F oven until puffed and cooked through, about 10 minutes. (Baking allows you to cook multiple flatbreads simultaneously, but the bread won’t be as soft as a skillet.)
- Storing: Allow flatbreads to cool completely, then store covered at room temperature for 2 to 3 days or freeze for a month or two. When ready to eat, rewarm in a hot pan or the oven.
- Add herbs: We’ve also made these flatbreads with herbs added to the dough. Add chopped fresh or dried herbs to the olive oil and garlic mixture — I’d use 1 tablespoon of fresh or 1 teaspoon of dried.
- Make ahead: Instead of proofing the dough at room temperature, which takes 1 hour, you can do so in the refrigerator. Add the dough to a lightly oiled food-safe bag, seal it, and store it in the fridge for 24 to 36 hours. When you are ready to cook the flatbreads, remove the dough from the refrigerator and bring it to room temperature. Shape into small balls and continue with the recipe above.
- Vegan recommendations: Use sugar instead of honey.
- Nutrition facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA database to calculate approximate values. We assumed 8 flatbreads per recipe.
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This recipe was A-MAZ-ING!! I made it exactly as is. It was sooooo good! I love the added texture/crunch of the sesame seeds inside. So clever, they don’t fall off but you still get the flavor & crunch. YUMMY!
Yay! So glad you enjoyed your flatbreads 🙂
Like you said, it’s so easy…and delicious! We use it as a healthy alternative to addictive(!) potato chips, dipping in soups, and just snacking on. Thanks for the photos, step by step, which help and your notes at the end. This will be like a good friend to make over and over again, and then I’ll have it memorized. Good job!!
The taste was wonderful and instructions were very clear, will definitely be making again! Will add, for anyone running into this issue, that for me the dough really didn’t become workable until around 3/4 of an extra cup of flour. Just add little by little.
Love your website with all of the awesome recipes! We’ve been whole-food plant-based eaters for a decade now and seeing what you’ve created is very inspiring. Great work! Eat healthy and live!
I’m making your Irresistible Roasted Red Pepper Hummus this morning. It sounds wonderful.
Really great recipe, thanks! First attempt turned out perfect, better than anything I can get at the store. I’ll be making this often.
Do you have a yeast alternative that works? It’s an item I don’t buy and definitely cannot find in stores now. Thanks I love that this is not ingredient heavy and fast.
Hi Steph, we do. We shared a flatbread recipe that doesn’t require yeast. Here is the link.
would love to make this but can’t find yeast anywhere! can you make it with self-rising flour?
Hi Tracee, we shared a yeast free flatbread recipe. Here is the link.
Have you tried other flours like almond?
We have not tried an alternative flour in this recipe. Please let us know if you do.