You are going to love this naan pizza idea. You could add whatever topping you like to this.
I’m currently travelling through Rajasthan, India and staying in Pushkar. Pushkar is an amazing place and I have found their creativity with food very impressive. Pushkar is a meat-free and alcohol-free town and although I love both my meat and alcohol, I have been too busy to miss them.
At our hotel, they have a pizza oven that is fired up all day long. Two days ago I ordered their ‘Special Spicy Naan Pizza’ and I had to order it again today. This naan pizza is incredible and I love their use of different chillies. Particularly the dried Chinese red chillies that I have never seen on a pizza anywhere else but they will most definitely feature on my naan pizza evenings at home.
What makes naan pizza so good?
If you like naans, I probably don’t even need to answer that one. Naans are the perfect base for a pizza and personally I prefer naan dough to artisan pizza dough and you might too.
Italians are of course famous for their amazing pizzas but as with most good food, different cultures like to have their own play at a good thing.
In this naan pizza recipe I will show you exactly how we made our pizza at the hotel but feel free to get creative and add other toppings. Kofta, keema, paneer, pepperoni … they would all work nicely.
How do you prepare the naan dough?
That is up to you. In the recipe card below, I featured my naan dough recipe with yeast in the note. I have a few other naan recipes on my blog and any of them will work for naan pizza.
If you would like step by step photos of how many naan dough with yeast is prepared, you can click here.
How do you make the sauce?
Detailed instructions to make the tomato sauce base are in the recipe card below. It is very similar to an Italian base but with more chillies, chilli powder and lots of garlic.
You start by frying the garlic and chillies in a little olive oil to soften. Then pour in some passata and let it cook down. Chilli powder is added to the sauce while the passata is simmering to taste.
About the ingredients in this naan pizza recipe.
The topping ingredients are really quite similar to what you would find on an Italian pizza. I did, however love the use of dried Chinese chillies which are popular all over India and often served, fried with nothing but a bit of salt.
These dried chillies are first soaked and then cooked with the pizza. They become really crispy and very good while the pizza cooks.
What is the best way to cook naan pizza?
The best way is exactly as you would cook an Italian pizza, in a wood-fired pizza oven. So if you have one, that is what you want to use.
My Kamado Joe barbecue has a pizza oven attachments which would work really well here.
Failing a large or small pizza oven, you could cook the pizza, preferably on a pre-heated pizza stone in your oven, set to its highest temperature for about 15 to 20 minutes.
Don’t blame me if you burn it though. Check on it from time to time as ovens do vary.
Can you easily upscale this naan pizza recipe?
You sure can. You just might need to make a little more sauce by doubling the recipe and ensure you have plenty of toppings.
My naan dough recipe makes enough dough for about 3 of these pizzas and it too can by upscaled simply but doubling the recipe or tripling it.
By the way, both the naan dough and tomato sauce freeze well for up to 6 months if you find you have too much.
Can you keep leftovers in the fridge?
We have all had cold pizza from the fridge the morning after I think. So yes and you can keep this spicy, veggie naan pizza for at least 3 day, covered tightly in the fridge.
To heat it up, you could make it easy on yourself and heat it in the microwave but you will lose that crispy texture of the dough if you do.
You could also place the cold pizza in your oven or air-fryer, set to 200C/400F until heated through which should only take about 10 minutes.
Can you freeze leftovers?
Freezing leftover naan pizza is a great way to preserve it for future pizza cravings. Here’s the best way to freeze leftover pizza:
1. Cool the Pizza: Allow the leftover pizza to cool down to room temperature. This helps prevent condensation from forming inside the packaging, which can lead to soggy pizza crust.
2. Wrap Individual Slices: If you have individual slices of pizza, you can wrap each slice separately. Place each slice on a piece of parchment paper or wax paper to prevent them from sticking together, then wrap them tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil.
3. Use a Freezer Bag or Container: Once the slices are wrapped, place them in a freezer-safe resealable bag or airtight container. Make sure to remove as much air as possible from the bag before sealing it. Alternatively, you can arrange the wrapped slices in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze them until they are firm before transferring them to a freezer bag or container.
4. Label and Date: It’s essential to label the freezer bag or container with the contents and date of freezing. This will help you keep track of how long the pizza has been in the freezer and ensure you use it within a reasonable time frame for the best quality.
5. Freeze: Place the freezer bag or container in the freezer and freeze the pizza slices for up to 1-2 months. Frozen pizza can be stored for longer periods, but it’s best to consume it within this time frame for optimal taste and texture.
6. Thaw and Reheat: When you’re ready to enjoy the frozen pizza, remove the desired number of slices from the freezer and let them thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Once thawed, you can reheat the pizza slices in the oven, toaster oven, or microwave until warmed through and crispy.
Step by step photographs.
These photographed instructions don’t show the dough being made or the sauce being prepared. Detailed instructions for making the dough are in the recipe card below. You will also find step by step photographed instructions for making the naan pizza dough here.
Cut each chilli in half and roughly chop the broccoli and then grated or finely chop the mozzarella and Cheddar.
Get your pizza oven or oven hot and ready to start baking. Check out that view! I love Pushkar.
Take out a dough ball that is about 224g (1/2 lb.).
Place the dough on a flour dusted surface. The chefs here proved their dough for 24 hours and I recommend doing the same for a sour-dough flavour.
Roll and stretch the dough out into a circle that is about 30cm (12 inches) in diameter.
Apply a ladleful or more of the sauce. You want it to cover the base.
Then start adding the toppings. If you like spicy pizzas, they don’t get much hotter than this and still taste good.
You are going to love the combination of dried, fresh and fried chillies on this naan pizza. The sun-dried tomatoes were also a nice addition.
Place the naan pizza in your pizza oven for a few minutes or longer if using a conventional oven.
Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with flaky salt. Vegetarian or not… this is one of the nicest pizzas I have had anywhere! Give it a try.
Those dried, crispy chillies were spectacular!
Dig in and enjoy!
If you like this vegetarian naan pizza recipe, you might like to try some of the Indian Vegetarian favourites.
Dum Aloo
Pakistani Chickpea Biryani
Punjabi Saag Curry
Punjabi Rajma
Butternut Squash Curry
Sri Lankan Green Beans Curry
Aloo Gobi
Saag Paneer
Onion Pakora Curry
Chana Saag Curry
Potato Curry
Saag Paneer
Mushroom Curry
Masala Corn
Gobi Manchurian
Bombay Potatoes
Masala Dosa
Saag Aloo
Tandoori Hummus
Tarka Dal
Masoor Dal
Dal Makhani
Chana Dal
Homemade Poppadoms From Scratch
Cabbage Thoran
Have you tried this recipe for naan pizza?
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Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
15 minutes
Total Time
30 minutes
Ingredients
- 225g (1/2 lb.) naan dough
- FOR THE SAUCE
- 3 tbsp light olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 green bird’s eye chillies, finely chopped
- 400ml (14 fl oz.) passata
- 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder, more or less to taste
- Salt and pepper to taste
- FOR THE TOPPINGS
- 170g (6 oz.) Mozzarella cheese, grated or finely chopped
- 85g (3 oz) Cheddar and/or Parmasan, grated
- 8 dried Chinese chillies, cut in half and soaked in water for 20 minutes
- 3 – 4 green chillies, your choice of chillies, roughly chopped
- 2 large broccoli florets, roughly chopped
- 4 sun dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 1 tsp red chilli flakes
- 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano (optional)
Instructions
- Be sure to bring your naan dough to room temperature before starting. 30 minutes out of the fridge should do fine. Cover and set aside.
- To make the tomato sauce, heat the olive oil in a saucepan over a medium-high heat. When hot, stir in the chopped garlic and green chillies and fry for about 2 minutes to soften.
- Pour in the passata and bring it to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium and let it simmer to thicken for about 20 minutes. Take off the heat and allow to cool some.
- Place you naan pizza dough out on a clean, flour dusted surface and roll and stretch it out until it is about 12 to 14 inches in diameter.
- Spread your prepared pizza sauce over the top and then add the Mozzarella, a handful of the Cheddar or Parmasan and the chopped broccoli.
- Top that with the sun dried tomatoes, dried chillies, fresh chillies and red chilli flakes. Then place the slice garic all over the top.
- COOKING IN A PIZZA OVEN
- When ready to cook the pizza, bring you pizza oven to at least 250 to 260C (450 to 500F). Pizza ovens can achieve much higher temperature and that is great if you can do it. The pizza will cook faster and better at the higher temperature.
- COOKING IN A CONVENTIONAL OVEN
- Ideally you want to pre-heat your oven as high as you can get it and pre-heat a pizza stone in the oven for a good 30 minutes. That is ideally. You can still cook this pizza without a pizza stone and at a lower temperature than 250C/450F but it will take longer.
- Place your pizza in the oven and bake until it is turning crispy around the edges and browning nicely on top. In a very hot pizza oven, this should only take a minute. In a small pizza oven or conventional oven, your pizza should take about 10 to 15 minutes but be sure to watch it. Oven temeratiures do vary.
- Transfer your naan pizza to a cutting board and drizzle all over with olive oil. Sprinkle with flaky salt and dried oregano to taste and serve.
Notes
To Make the Naan Dough
- Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a large bowl. Heat the milk in the microwave or on the hob until hand-hot.
- Pour into a jug (if heated on the hob), add the yeast and sugar, and whisk it all together. Cover with a cloth and leave in a warm place for about 20 minutes. It should foam right up. If it doesn’t, don’t worry, your naans will still rise.
- Lightly beat the eggs and yoghurt together. Pour the yeasty milk mixture into the flour, along with the whisked eggs and yoghurt, and mix everything to combine.
- Your dough will be quite wet and difficult to work with at this stage. That’s how it should be. You will need to add more flour when kneading.
- Tip the dough out onto a flour dusted work surface and knead for about 10 minutes until you have a soft, slightly sticky dough ball. Add more flour as needed until you have a soft dough ball that is easy to knead and slightly sticky but not sticking to your hands.
- Brush the insides of the bowl with a little oil and place the dough back in the bowl. Cover and allow to rise for 1–24 hours –longer rising times achieve a tasty sourdough.
- Now divide the dough into smaller balls and use as required. You could difice it into 4, 8 or just 2 balls depending on the size of naan you are going for.
- Any leftover doough can be divided into convenient portion sizes and frozen in air-tight containers or freezer bags for up to 6 months.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
2
Serving Size:
1
Amount Per Serving:
Calories: 1016Total Fat: 58gSaturated Fat: 17gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 36gCholesterol: 18mgSodium: 1230mgCarbohydrates: 114gFiber: 17gSugar: 20gProtein: 21g
