Navajo Fry Bread
Rounds of yeast-free dough stretched thin and fried in hot oil until puffed and golden, crisp at the edges and soft in the centre.
Photograph credit: Navajo Fry Bread by tinyfroglet · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Don't Make These Mistakes
Rest the dough so it stretches without springing back.
Keep the oil at 180°C / 355°F; cooler oil makes greasy bread.
Fry one round at a time so the oil temperature stays up.
Making Navajo Fry Bread
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Mix the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in the warm water to a soft dough. Knead for 1 minute only, then cover and rest for 30 minutes.
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Divide into 6 pieces. Pat or stretch each into a round about 15 cm across, with a small hole in the centre.
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Heat the oil to 180°C / 355°F in a wide, deep pan. Fry the rounds one at a time for 2 minutes on each side until puffed and golden.
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Drain on kitchen paper and serve hot.
Why the Method Works
Do not over-knead the dough. Fry bread is a simple mix of flour, baking powder, salt and water, and the longer you work it, the tougher it gets. Mix it until it just comes together into a soft, slightly sticky ball, then let it rest under a cloth for 30 minutes. That rest makes the dough easy to stretch and tender when cooked.
Divide it into 6 pieces and pat or stretch each one into a round about 15 cm across, thinner in the middle than at the edge. Poke a small hole in the centre of each, which helps it cook evenly and stops it ballooning. The oil needs to be hot, about 180°C / 355°F, so the dough puffs and browns quickly without soaking up fat.
Fry for about 1 to 2 minutes a side, turning once, until deep gold with a few dark blisters. Drain on paper. Serve it hot as bread, with honey or powdered sugar, or as the base for toppings such as chilli, beans, cheese and lettuce.
Leftovers, Reheating and Keeping
Best eaten hot, on the day it is made.
What to Serve Alongside
- Honey
- Chilli
- Beans and cheese
- Powdered sugar
Questions and Answers
How long does Navajo Fry Bread take to make?
15 minutes of preparation and 15 minutes of cooking, plus 30 minutes of resting, so allow 1 hour from start to finish. The recipe serves 6.
Nutrition per Serving
No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (how much frying oil the food takes up cannot be known from the recipe). Why some recipes have none.
Your notes on this recipe
Cooked this? Keep a note for next time
Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked.
First published ; last changed .
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