Naan stuffed with goat cheese and hot peppers was a crowd favorite at the 2024 World Naan Festival in San Diego. This recipe for quick sourdough naan closely approximates that popular naan by using goat cheese, diced jalapeƱo peppers, and sourdough discard. It’s also extremely easy to make this bread at home on a cast iron skillet, so there’s no need for a specialized tandoor oven.
Why This Recipe Works
Creamy goat cheese balances out the heat from diced jalapeƱo peppers, making this a winning flavor combination for a stuffed naan. Since naan can be made with a fermented or unfermented dough, this unfermented sourdough version comes together in just over 30 minutes. All you need is sourdough starter or discard, and baking powder to make the naan puff up.
What Type of Pan or Oven to Use
I used a 10″ cast-iron pan for this recipe.
Naan is typically baked in an extremely hot tandoor oven at restaurants, or on a flat pan called a tawa in home cooking situations. If, like me, you don’t own a tawa, you can use a cast-iron pan, a flat-top grill, or a Mexican comal.
You can also preheat your oven to 500Ā°F (260Ā°C) and cook the naan on a pizza stone or baking steel.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Water: Filtered tap water or un-chlorinated bottled water is best.
- Plain Yogurt: I used plain, unflavored Greek Yogurt, but any plain, unflavored yogurt or “curd” will work.
- Sourdough Starter (active or discard): I don’t usually have a lot of sourdough discard, so I fed my sourdough starter and then waited over 24 hours to use it. It had sunk back down in the jar by that time and was loaded with tangy flavor.
- Vegetable Oil: Use olive oil or a neutral tasting vegetable oil. I used vegetable oil.
- All-Purpose Flour: All-purpose flour works great for this recipe, yielding a tender yet chewy result.
- Baking Powder: Many quick naan recipes call for baking soda, which you could use, but when I tested this recipe, I ended up preferring the rise and bubbling effect that baking powder had on the quick sourdough naan.
- Salt: I used Kosher salt, but any plain salt or sea salt will work fine.
- White Sugar: Sugar adds a touch of sweetness and softness to this dough.
Note: Check recipe card below for full ingredient amounts and quantities.
How to Make Quick Sourdough Naan with Goat Cheese and Hot Peppers
Step-by-Step Instructions
Making the Dough
- Add the wet ingredients (water, yogurt, sourdough starter, and oil) to a mixing bowl and stir thoroughly to combine.
- Pour the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, and white sugar) on top of the wet ingredients and mix to form a shaggy dough.
- Knead the dough on an un-floured surface for 3-5 minutes until it forms a smooth ball without any dry clumps of flour left. (It’s OK if the gluten in the dough ball isn’t fully developed; it doesn’t need to be a strong dough.)
- Cover up the dough ball with the mixing bowl and let it rest for 10 minutes.
Preparing the Fillings
- Finely dice one medium jalapeƱo pepper. The more finely you dice the pepper the better (larger pieces of pepper will tend to tear the dough as you roll it out).
- Cut the 4 oz log of unflavored goat cheese into six equal pieces.
- Melt 1 Tbsp of butter in a small bowl.
Shaping the Naan
- Uncover the dough after it has rested for 10 minutes and divide it into six equal pieces with a knife or a bench scraper. Each piece should weigh roughly 76 grams if you want to weigh them out.
- Flatten each piece of dough into a circle and then place a piece of goat cheese into the center of each piece of dough. Flatten the goat cheese with your fingertips.
- Scoop 1 tsp of finely diced jalapeƱos on top of the goat cheese on each piece of dough.
- Press the jalapeƱos down into the goat cheese so that they stick. Take one disc of dough and stretch the ends of the dough over the goat cheese and peppers and fold it over the top. Hold each end of the dough under your thumb. Stretch and fold the dough over top of the fillings and seal the dough tightly closed with your thumb. The fillings should be securely sealed inside of the ball of dough.
- Let the dough balls rest uncovered for 10 minutes.
Cooking the Quick Sourdough Naan
- A few minutes before you’re ready to cook, preheat a 10″ or larger cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat.
- Roll each ball of dough into a circular or oval shape with a rolling pin. Flatten the dough until it is around 1/8 of an inch thick.
- Place the dough carefully on top of the hot cast-iron skillet on medium-low heat. Don’t use any oil on the pan. The dough should release from a well-seasoned cast-iron pan as it cooks without any issues.
- Cook the dough on the first side for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Check under the edges with a spatula. Look for the underside to gain plenty of brown spots and maybe even a few charred black spots. (If you see too many black spots, turn the heat down to low.)
- Flip the dough over and cook it on the other side for about one minute, or until it looks well-cooked.
- Repeat with each piece of dough and rest the cooked breads on a wire rack.
- Finish the quick sourdough naans by brushing them with the melted butter using a pastry brush.
- Enjoy while the breads are still warm from the pan.
Yield: 6 flatbreads
Quick Sourdough Naan with Goat Cheese and Hot Peppers
This recipe for quick sourdough naan with goat cheese and hot peppers closely approximates the most popular naan at the 2024 World Naan Festival by using goat cheese, diced jalapeƱo peppers, and sourdough discard. Making this bread at home is extremely easy. Since you use a cast iron skillet, there's no need for a specialized tandoor oven.
Prep Time
10 minutes
Cook Time
18 minutes
Additional Time
10 minutes
Total Time
38 minutes
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- Water - 70 grams
- Sourdough Starter (active or discard) - 100 grams
- Plain Yogurt - 65 grams (4 Tbsp)
- Vegetable Oil - 10 grams (1 Tbsp)
Dry Ingredients
- All-Purpose Flour - 200 grams
- Baking Powder - 6 grams (1 1/2 tsp)
- Salt - 6 grams (1 tsp)
- White Sugar - 2 grams (1/2 tsp)
Fillings
- JalapeƱo, finely diced - 1 medium pepper
- Goat cheese, plain - 4 oz
- Butter, melted - 1 Tbsp (for brushing)
Instructions
Making the Dough
- Add the wet ingredients (water, yogurt, sourdough starter, and oil) to a mixing bowl and stir thoroughly to combine.
- Pour the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, and white sugar) on top of the wet ingredients and mix to form a shaggy dough.
- Knead the dough on an un-floured surface for 3-5 minutes until it forms a smooth ball without any dry clumps of flour left. (It's OK if the gluten in the dough ball isn't fully developed; it doesn't need to be a strong dough.)
- Cover up the dough ball with the mixing bowl and let it rest for 10 minutes.
Preparing the Fillings
- Finely dice one medium jalapeño pepper. The more finely you dice the pepper the better (larger pieces of pepper will tend to tear the dough as you roll it out).
- Cut the 4 oz log of unflavored goat cheese into six equal pieces.
- Melt 1 Tbsp of butter in a small bowl.
Shaping the Naan
- Uncover the dough after it has rested for 10 minutes and divide it into six equal pieces with a knife or a bench scraper. Each piece should weigh roughly 76 grams if you want to weigh them out.
- Flatten each piece of dough into a circle and then place a piece of goat cheese into the center of each piece of dough. Flatten the goat cheese with your fingertips.
- Scoop 1 tsp of finely diced jalapeños on top of the goat cheese on each piece of dough.
- Press the jalapeños down into the goat cheese so that they stick. Take one disc of dough and stretch the ends of the dough over the goat cheese and peppers and fold it over the top. Hold each end of the dough under your thumb. Stretch and fold the dough over top of the fillings and seal the dough tightly closed with your thumb. The fillings should be securely sealed inside of the ball of dough.
- Let the dough balls rest uncovered for 10 minutes.
Cooking the Naan
- A few minutes before you're ready to cook, preheat a 10" or larger cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat.
- Roll each ball of dough into a circular or oval shape with a rolling pin. Flatten the dough until it is around 1/8 of an inch thick.
- Place the dough carefully on top of the hot cast-iron skillet on medium-low heat. Don't use any oil on the pan. The dough should release from a well-seasoned cast-iron pan as it cooks without any issues.
- Cook the dough on the first side for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Check under the edges with a spatula. Look for the underside to gain plenty of brown spots and maybe even a few charred black spots. (If you see too many black spots, turn the heat down to low.)
- Flip the dough over and cook it on the other side for about one minute, or until it looks well-cooked.
- Repeat with each piece of dough and rest the cooked breads on a wire rack.
- Finish the quick sourdough naans by brushing them with the melted butter using a pastry brush.
- Enjoy while the naans are still warm from the pan.