The Best Ways To Reheat Naan To Perfection

It seems fitting that the first recorded evidence of naan bread is in the notes of a poet. The simple beauty of a perfectly baked naan is sure to inspire sweet words in nearly anyone who gets a taste.

The Indo-Persian poet Amir Kushrau is the first to mention naan in the year 1300. It likely came to South Asia from the central part of the continent and was originally baked exclusively in tandoor ovens. A few centuries later, naan would become a common fixture at royal dining tables alongside keema and kebabs. At the time, it was almost exclusively eaten by the royals because of its difficult preparation method.

Today, naan is well known as one of the most incredible flatbreads in the world for its versatility, delicious flavor, and pillow-soft texture. One of its most notorious drawbacks though is that it doesn't always age well. That soft flatbread can quickly turn rubbery as it cools. In order to get it back to its former glory to be enjoyed again, you're going to need the correct reheating methods. There are plenty of different ways to approach reheating naan, but we're going to walk through each one so you can create the best possible results.

Using a microwave is probably the easiest and quickest way to reheat your naan (and most other foods for that matter). But it just might take some trial and error to nail down how long your microwave will need to rejuvenate naan without turning it soggy, rubbery, or drying it out completely. Usually, this will be somewhere between 30 to 90 seconds depending on the size of the naan, the number of pieces you're reheating, and the power of your microwave. It might help to start by heating it in 30-second increments until you nail down the process.

Otherwise, reheating naan in a microwave is fairly simple. Place your naan on a microwave-safe plate, add a tiny amount of water to the bread's surface, and heat. If you're reheating more than one piece at a time, place a sheet of parchment paper between the pieces to keep them from sticking together; and don't forget to give each a few drops of water.

The air fryer is a great way to reheat naan bread because it is a dry heat source. The dry heat will crisp up the outer surface of the naan, while its circulating air will keep it from drying out like a more intense heat source would.

The simplest method to do this is to preheat your air fryer to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, add a little olive oil to the basket, add your naan bread, and let it cook for three to five minutes. It can also be helpful to add a little olive oil to the surface of the naan as well. This will also add a little more flavor and moisture to your naan. It gives you the opportunity to season the naan more as well. You can add minced garlic, mint, or other seasonings to the surface of the naan to help further flavor your flatbread. This can be done with most of these methods, but the ease of the air fryer makes this incredibly accessible. 

People already love air fryers for their speed and convenience, and they're no different when it comes to reheating naan.

Reheating naan on the stovetop is great because it is probably the most similar to how naan is already baked. Naan is typically cooked on the hot surface of a tandoor oven. A cast iron pan like the Indian tawa is a great surface to mimic the heat of a tandoor. The main thing to be wary of is burning the naan. So, be sure to keep an eye on the stove while reheating it with this method.

Preheat your pan on medium for a minute before adding a little bit of oil or ghee to the pan. You don't want to fry the naan so you don't need a lot — just enough to keep the bread from sticking will do the trick. Give the bread about two minutes on each side to reheat the center of the bread. Repeat this process with each piece of naan, and you'll be ready to eat in no time.

The most important quality when reheating your naan is to keep it from drying out. This is the biggest concern when trying to reheat naan in an oven.

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. While your oven is heating, lay your naan out in a single layer on a lightly greased baking sheet. Add a few drops of water to the surface of your naan to add some moisture to the oven and keep things from drying out while they reheat. In just three to five minutes, the naan should be reheated completely and ready to eat.

There's no need to stress if your naan does start to dry out. You can always add some toppings and turn it into a "naanza" instead. Just spoon out some tomato sauce and cheese and you'll have a delicious pizza snack that will make you wish mistakes always tasted this good.