3 Ingredient Flatbread
These flatbreads are a revelation – ridiculously easy to make, they need only three ingredients that you can get in any corner shop and are so deliciously fluffy. Most bread recipes need exacting precision. That’s not the case with this one, it’s a very forgiving recipe!
I first made these back in 2019 when I was doing my final year thesis at The Hague University of Applied Sciences. I was living in a ‘studio apartment’ – which sounds fancy but is basically an open plan kitchen/ living room/ bedroom situation with lots of cleverly placed Ikea shelves. It was in a beautiful bright building in the heart of The Hague, designed specifically for students. So, an amazing place to live for any student. But with it being designed for students, cooking was very far down the priority list. As you can imagine the kitchen was minuscule. It didn’t even have an oven! So, no roast veg and no baking. My mum sent me this recipe, the Jamie Oliver version was what she used - an easy and minimalist bread recipe, no oven required.
Scroll forward to today and have just moved to Cape Town from London. Until we have a long-term apartment sorted, we’re AirBnB hopping and so are back to minimalist kitchens. We are shipping our kitchen things over, but the container is currently somewhere between London and SA and who knows when it will get to us! Until then I have no kitchen scales, wooden spoons or mixing bowls. Potentially not a great time to be recipe testing but it is a testament to how forgiving this recipe is that they still turn out great.
There are many many versions of this online – I love how versatile it is. I recently saw a version which was filled with feta and herbs and I can’t wait to try that! Sometimes I use a rolling pin (or bottle of wine) to make them flatter or else I will just shape them with my hands for more of a taller fluffy bread. I love the flatter versions for wrapping or scooping and the thicker ones for dunking.
I would eat these with a big bowl of dal, shakshuka or any curry that needs mopping up. The Greek yoghurt brings a great protein hit to compliment a veggie curry.
Makes: 4 breads
Time: approx. 1 hour with resting
Ingredients
Self-raising flour 150g
Low-fat Greek yoghurt 150g
Salt ¼ teaspoon
A note on ingredients
It is basically equal amounts (by weight) of flour and yoghurt and a dash of salt. If your yoghurt is more liquid than thick Greek yoghurt then use a little less yoghurt/more flour. If (like me) you don’t have a weighing scales and are using volume – i.e. cup measurements, it’s approx. 2;1 flour to yoghurt – so 1 cup of flour to ½ cup of yoghurt
Flour – if you don’t have self-raising you can use plain flour and add 1 tsp of baking powder
Low-fat Greek yoghurt – this may also be called light Greek yoghurt. Full fat would work also. I have made this with natural yoghurt and it works well, but it is slightly more liquid so you probably need less yoghurt. I think it needs some fat, I have made them with fat-free yoghurt before but they were just a bit flat. I’m sure a thick vegan yoghurt alternative would work but I haven’t tried it yet. If in doubt just use what you have – we move.
Salt – this is for flavour but if you are trying to reduce your salt intake it can be omitted, you could add some dried/finely chopped fresh herbs for flavour also!
Method:
Mixed the three ingredients together – start with a wooden spoon to combine. Once fully combined knead gently for two - three minutes. You can do this in the bowl if it’s big enough or on a lightly floured surface. Depending on how liquid your yoghurt is you may need to add more flour. We are aiming for quite a soft dough.
Cover with a towel and leave to rest for 30 minutes. This can be left for a few hours at this stage if you want to prep in advance.
Using a knife cut the dough in half and then into quarters.
If you would like flatter bread roll the dough out on a floured surface to until approx. ¼- ½ inch thick, or just to the thickness you’re happy with. At this stage, I like to leave them to rest for 10 minutes.
If you prefer a thicker bread, good for dunking in dal, then just gently pull it out with your hands and shape it to about 1-inch thickness. I cook these straight away but they will happily sit until you are ready.
Heat a heavy pan on a medium heat. Once the pan is hot dry fry the breads (no oil!). The thinner breads need approx. 3 minutes per side. The thicker breads need approx. 5 minutes on the first side, flip and then 3 minutes on the second side.
These will be HOT so be careful handling them straight from the pan!
Enjoy.
