This healthy Easy Vegan Flatbread recipe requires only main 5 ingredients, is very easy to make, is made with no yeast and no oil! It is absolutely delicious and so much better than store-bought!
EASY VEGAN FLATBREAD RECIPE
Ok, I’m telling you this easy vegan flatbread has made for one happy household. I’ve made several of these in just 2 days because they are so good. It takes literally about 30 minutes to make from start to finish, only 5 ingredients and 1 bowl and cooked in minutes in a skillet. Did I mention how soft, chewy, fluffy and incredibly delicious this healthy flatbread is?!
Bonus that it is oil-free and so much healthier than anything you can get at the store, not to mention, tastes much better.
My daughter literally said “Mommy this is so much better than store-bought!” We’ve been eating homemade personal size flatbread pizzas all weekend with them.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED
- All-purpose flour: This is meant to be a very simple classic flatbread recipe. No fuss. If you need gluten-free, I’m super close on perfecting that version, so hold tight!
- Baking powder
- Garlic powder
- Salt
- Canned lite coconut milk: This is the only fat here. Unlike oil or butter typically used in homemade flatbread recipes, the coconut milk makes it dairy-free, vegan and oil-free. But it provides LOTS of moisture. I tried a version with almond milk and the flatbread didn’t hold together as well and was quite dry. If you are allergic, you can try another high fat milk, but I have not tested that. OR, you could try another milk like the almond, but replacing a couple of tablespoons with oil if you don’t mind using oil. Again, I haven’t tested this, but I think it would work. It needs the fat! It leaves no coconut taste.
- Applesauce: This provides an extra bit of moisture and flavor.
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN FLATBREAD
Step 1: To a large bowl, add the flour, baking powder, garlic powder and salt. Whisk very well.
Step 2: Pour in the room temperature coconut milk and applesauce. Use a large spoon to stir the mixture together until it forms into a shaggy texture and no more loose flour remains.
Form roughly into a ball.
Step 3: Flour a work surface and scrape the dough from the bowl onto the surface. Keep the flour handy, as you will need it to knead the dough.
Step 4: Adding flour, a little bit at a time, only as needed, to knead the dough for at least 7 minutes until it comes together into a smooth, pliable dough. You will need flour to add consistently as you knead, as it will be a bit too sticky without it. It helps to continue to add flour to the work service so it doesn’t stick. To knead properly, you will continually rotate (turn), fold over the dough towards you in half and press down with the heels of your hands. Do this repeatedly, adding small bits of flour, only as needed to prevent it sticking to your hands. Do this until it’s smooth and pliable (stretchy and doesn’t break). Once the dough is no longer breaking into pieces easily when you pull it, it is done. Kneading the dough is what will give the flatbread that amazing chewy texture and not break easily when cooking.
Step 5: Form into a smooth round ball.
Step 6: Divide the dough into 4 even size portions. Using a bench scraper makes it easy. 4 will yield large flatbreads, perfect for individual pizza sizes, similar to the sizes sold in the stores. If you want smaller ones for dipping into curries or soups, etc. divide into 8 balls.
Step 7: Roll each piece between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick into an oval shape. It WILL poof up while cooking, so pay attention when rolling it out to not leave it too thick.
Step 8: Heat up a large 10 inch skillet over medium-high heat. A cast-iron skillet gives the best results and beautiful browning. Once hot, lightly spray or brush with a tiny bit of oil if your skillet is not already pre-seasoned.
Step 9: Cook the first piece 2-3 minutes on the 1st side until browned and a few bubbles should form.
Step 10: Cook the 2nd side 1-2 minutes.
WAYS TO USE THIS FLATBREAD
- Pizza. My favorite way is to use it as personal size pizzas! It yields the fastest pizza ever. Not to mention, absolutely delicious. Just make the flatbreads as directed, cool a few minutes and then add your toppings and bake at 375°F until heated through or the cheese is melted.
- Spinach Pesto Pizza. My favorite! Make my homemade vegan spinach pesto, top with my lemon vegan parmesan, red pepper flakes, fresh chiffonade basil and it’s amazing! Here is the full tutorial for the vegan spinach pesto pizza!
- Serve with curry. Make the mini size flatbreads and they would be great served alongside one of my vegan curries!
- Enjoy it on its own. It’s delicious by itself, too. You could drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil if you are in to that thing and add fresh basil or any herbs of your choice on top!
MORE VEGAN BREAD RECIPES
Easy Vegan Flatbread (No Yeast!)
Ingredients
- 4 1/4 cups (510g) regular all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups (360g) canned lite coconut milk (this provides the fat needed so that it is wonderfully soft and moist), room temp
- 2 tablespoons (30g) unsweetened applesauce
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- To a large bowl, add the flour, baking powder, garlic powder and salt. Whisk very well.
- Pour in the room temperature coconut milk and applesauce. Use a large spoon to stir the mixture together until it forms into a shaggy texture and no more loose flour remains. Form roughly into a ball.
- Flour a work surface and scrape the dough from the bowl onto the surface. Keep the flour handy, as you will need it to knead the dough.
- Adding flour, a little bit at a time, only as needed, to knead the dough for at least 7 minutes until it comes together into a smooth, pliable dough. You will need to add flour consistently, as it will be a bit too sticky without it. It helps to continue to add flour to the counter so it doesn't stick. To knead properly, you will continually rotate (turn), fold over the dough towards you in half and press down with the heel of your hand and pushing it away. Do this repeatedly, adding small bits of flour, as needed, to prevent sticking. Do this until it's smooth and pliable (stretchy and doesn't break). Once the dough is no longer breaking into pieces easily when you pull it, it is done. Kneading the dough is what will give the flatbread that amazing chewy texture and not break easily when cooking.
- Form the dough into a large even size smooth ball. (Refer to post for photo tutorial to help).
- If making large flatbreads (for like a personal size pizza, about 8-9 inches wide), divide the dough into 4 even pieces. Using a bench scraper makes it easy. If you want smaller ones for dipping into curries or soups, etc. divide into 8 balls.
- Roll each piece between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick into an oval shape. It WILL poof up while cooking, so pay attention when rolling it out to not leave it too thick.
- Heat up a large 10 inch skillet over medium-high heat. A cast-iron skillet will give the best results and beautiful browning. Once hot, lightly spray or brush with a tiny bit of oil if your skillet is not already pre-seasoned.
- Add the first piece of rolled out flatbread carefully and cook 2-3 minutes on the first side, or until it's golden brown underneath. A few bubbles should appear, but if not, no worries. Just take a peek to to make sure it's not burning. Don't flip before it has browned.
- Cook another 1-2 minutes on the second side. Remove gently to a plate. I used large tongs to remove them. They will seem stiff when removing, but will soften perfectly within a couple of minutes.
- See post above for uses for this flatbread!
Notes
- Coconut milk: This is the only fat here. Unlike oil or butter typically used in homemade flatbread recipes, the coconut milk makes it dairy-free, vegan and oil-free. But it provides LOTS of moisture. I tried a version with almond milk and the flatbread didn't hold together as well and was quite dry. If you are allergic, you can try another high fat milk, but I have not tested that. OR, you could try another milk like the almond, but replacing a couple of tablespoons with oil if you don't mind using oil. Again, I haven't tested this, but I think it would work. It needs the fat! It leaves no coconut taste.
- Coconut milk brands: I use the 365 whole foods lite canned coconut milk or the Sprouts lite. Both are very creamy and not watery. Do not use the Polar brand, it is all fillers and gums and will ruin the texture.
Nutrition
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So, so good! The perfect amount of garlic! We made the bbq chicken pizza with these and they were perfect! My daughter loves the TJ’s garlic flatbread, and I think we’ve found the healthier alternative!! Thank you!!
SO happy you loved it Kelley!
Hi! Is your gluten free version ready yet? Thanks!
What skillet are you using?
It is just a standard cast iron skillet.
These flatbreads were a hit with my family! They were so easy to make, soft and pillowy, and went wonderfully with a vegan biryani. My kids requested that I make them again ASAP!
I would like to know also if I can use a bread mixer to kneed the dough. The bread looks wonderful.
Hi! I’m sure you could, but this recipe is quite fast, so I’m not sure you need one.
Brandi, would it be possible to knead the dough using a stand mixer?
Well I had to wait until my order of lite coconut milk arrived to make this but… It was worth the wait!!! If I could give this 10 stars I would! First time I made flatbread that was so soft and delicious! Thank you so much for posting this great recipe😁
Would regular canned coconut milk work?
Hi Laura, you need the lite here! Full fat is 3 times the amount of fat and very thick, it won’t work the same and also would yield a coconut flavor, which the lite does not.
This recipe was so easy and delicious!! Thanks Brandi!
So glad you enjoyed it Tiffany!
Haven’t made it yet, waiting for the gluten-free version. Is that available yet?
Not yet!
Was there a gluten free version posted?
Love this one, we use it for pizza crust when we don’t want mess with yeast. Also yummy served with curry. The first time I tried it I expected to taste coconut but didn’t at all. Thanks for the recipe!
This was so easy and turned out so good. Definitely a winner and will go wonderful with some homemade curry.
I just made this new flatbread recipe. I made 11 smaller flatbreads to use with soups/curry etc. I ran out of AP flour so I used white whole wheat and it worked out beautifully. This bread has some great flavor even plain and it was super simple to throw together. Hubby absolutely loved it and gave it 10 stars. Highly recommend!!
Thank you SO much for your comment about using WHITE whole wheat flour! Of course you mixed it with your remaining AP flour, so it wasn’t ALL white whole wheat! We don’t eat AP flour so WHITE whole wheat is my plan to use for these flatbreads. Your comment and Brandi’s really boost my confidence to make this with WHITE whole wheat flour! THANKS SO MUCH!
This looks great, I am so looking forward to the gluten-free version!
Oops X3! Notice the theme here !
These recipes sound really yummy. Have you tried this with any whole grain flour? I’m not a fan of white flour. Maybe I will!
Looks awesome! Could I use whole wheat flour?
Oops! Just saw the previous comment!
These look amazing! Do you have any thoughts if it would be okay and how to adjust to using another flour like white whole wheat, whole wheat pastry, or whole wheat instead of all purpose flour? We don’t use any white highly processed flour anymore.
I would suggest trying white whole wheat! It is the most similar in gluten percent as all-purpose flour. Do not do regular whole wheat (way too much gluten), it would be extremely dense. Just keep in mind it may be a bit more tough, not as soft/fluffy, but please let me know after you try it! Pastry flour would be too fragile.
THANKS so much! I will try it for sure! ATC just had a segment on my local PBS station showing these being made…I’m definitely try it with White Whole Wheat flour and have your AH.MAZ.ING Baked Falafel with them. I can’t find whole wheat pita pocket bread locally anymore, so thought this flat-bread would be perfect! I will definitely post pictures when I make them, because ya know Pictures Or It Didn’t Happen! Thank you so much, your recipes are awesome!
Sorry I meant to type ATK = America’s Test Kitchen