This post may contain affiliate links
Add Bake with Zoha as a preferred source on Google and find more of my tried-and-tested recipes.
If you enjoy bread and are a fan of Pakistani / Indian flavors like chicken tikka masala or tandoori chicken with naan, you will LOVE these tandoori chicken naan buns! They are made with the softest, fluffiest naan bread, filled with spicy, smoky chicken, and drenched in warm garlic butter. Every bite is heavenly with a beautiful explosion of flavors in your mouth, and these are absolutely perfect for Ramadan and Iftar feasts. And the best part? This recipe is EASY! I am all about simplifying things, and you will find this to be as simple as it gets for such a beautiful dish.
How did I come up with this recipe? Well, I have always been a sucker for warm, soft bread rolls, and am always looking for new ways to innovate them. Being a Pakistani, I also love tandoori chicken with fresh naan. So as I was ideating recipes for Ramadan, it was only logical for me to merge all of that into one with these tandoori chicken naan buns!
If you want to turn this recipe up a notch, try my Tandoori Chicken Star Bread, which turns the same flavors into a showstopper star shaped bread! Looking for a vegetarian version? Check out my Paneer Tikka Naan Buns!
INGREDIENTS
Tandoori (Smoked) Chicken Filling
So, originally, tandoori chicken refers to marinated chicken that is grilled in a “tandoor” or clay oven. It has a smoky flavor and a beautiful char on it. If you have access to tandoori chicken, just buy and shred that! But for this filling, we are simplifying things for the home cook who doesn’t have a clay oven.
Here’s what you will need to make this filling (quantities are given in the recipe card at the end of this post):
- Chicken breast tenderloin (also called chicken tenders), cut into medium sized cubes. I like using tenders as I find them to be most moist than breasts, but you can use any boneless chicken you like
- Plain, full fat yogurt: Yogurt is incredible for marinating chicken and lends a fresh flavor
- A pureed tomato: I just blend a tomato in my Nutribullet, but you can also use canned crushed tomato
- Ginger garlic paste: Use fresh or bottled
- Lemon juice
- Spices:
- Salt
- Turmeric
- Red chili powder (kashmiri chili is ideal, but you can also use cayenne)
- Chili flakes
- Coriander powder
- Cumin powder
- Onion powder
- Garam masala
- Optionally, I love to add a little Shan Tikka Masala! It adds a lovely aroma and depth in flavor
- Fresh coriander (or cilantro)
- Oil, butter or ghee to cook
- Optional: Shredded mozzarella cheese. I just like cheese in everything, but you can totally skip this!
The exact quantities are written in the recipe card below!
To get the smoked flavor, you will also need smoking chips or coal! In the US, I find smoking chips easier as they smoke less aggressively (and we don’t want to set off that smoke alarm, if you know you know).
Naan Buns
For the naan dough, you need the most basic pantry ingredients:
- Warm milk (~110F)
- Active dry yeast (you can substitute instant yeast)
- All purpose flour (also called plain flour)
- Sugar
- Salt
- Softened, unsalted butter
- Plain full-fat yogurt – this is what lends naans their moist, soft texture and slightly tangy flavor!
Great news is, these are eggless (except the egg wash, but you can do that with just milk)! So if you don’t eat eggs or have an allergy, you can use this recipe to create naan buns or plain naans, and fill them with anything you like. Yay!
Garnishing
To bring everything together, you will need:
- Egg wash: This is just a mixture of egg yolk and milk, brushed onto the buns it lends them a beautiful shiny golden color
- Sesame seeds: Because they’re added to naans and are yummy
- Garlic butter: I make this with butter and garlic powder, simple!
- Freshly chopped cilantro / coriander
You can also serve these buns with chutney (like mint and coriander chutney), but I loved them just as they are.
HOW TO MAKE TANDOORI CHICKEN NAAN BUNS
Now let’s walk through the process. As promised, I will make this very simple for you guys 🙂
1. Marinate the chicken
Combine everything except the oil, coriander and cheese in a large bowl and set aside. See, promised you guys simple!
This will take ~30 minutes, during which you will get started on the naan dough.
2. Prepare the naan dough
The dough is also simple. First mix the yeast with warm milk and let them foam up (usually ~10 minutes), then add everything else and knead. You can knead this dough by hand or use a stand mixer like my KitchenAid.
If kneading by hand, know that this will be a soft and sticky dough, and it will take ~10 minutes or more of a push-pull motion for the dough to come together. Don’t be tempted to add more flour, just keep working it. I find it really helpful to use a scraper to keep my counter clean while doing this.
Once the dough is smooth, soft and stretchy, transfer to a clean bowl sprayed with some oil, cover with cling wrap, and set in a warm spot for about 60 minutes or until it doubles in size.
3. Cook the Tandoori Chicken Filling
By this point, your chicken should be done marinating. Heat oil or butter in a large wok, and cook the chicken on high heat until it becomes tender and most of the water has evaporated. Turn off the heat, and use a fork and knife, or two forks, to shred the chicken into smaller chunks.
Now, take your smoking chips in a piece of aluminum foil. Gently fold the foil so that there is a small opening at the top. Place onto your stove with the burner on low heat, and heat until you see smoke leaving the opening on the top. At this point, use a tong to transfer the foil into your work, open the foil more, and cover with a lid. Let the chicken smoke for 5-10 minutes.
Note: Be very careful when handling smoking chips as you don’t want to set off the smoke alarms. Keep your exhaust on on the highest setting.
Finish with some fresh chopped coriander, and this filling is done!
4. Assemble the naan buns!
Once the dough has doubled in size, your filling should be ready and slightly cooled down. Now you can start assembling the buns!
Prepare a 9×13″ pan with parchment paper. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces (using a kitchen scale makes this easier), then roll each piece into a ball with your palms.
Working one ball at a time, flatten into a small disc (roughly ~3.5″ in diameter). Use a 2″ scoop to scoop the chicken filling into the center of the disc. Add some mozzarella cheese if using. Then pull up the edges and pinch them in the middle, so you have a ball that is filled with the chicken. Using your fingers, press the edges together so the ball is well sealed, then gently roll in your palms to perfect the shape. And now you have a chicken filled naan bun! Place onto the baking tray, and repeat until all 12 rolls are done.
Now let the rolls rise again for ~30-45 minutes until they are more puffy.
5. Bake and serve!
Once the buns have risen again, brush them generously with egg wash and sprinkle over some sesame seeds.
Bake in a pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes until they have a beautiful golden color all over.
Take out of the oven and brush with some garlic butter and garnish with fresh coriander.
The naan buns are ready for you to enjoy! And enjoy, you shall 😉
VARIATIONS
This is a very versatile recipe which you can modify in different ways! For example:
- Use the naan dough to make actual naans, instead of filled buns
- Make naan buns without any filling and serve with garlic butter – yum!
- Make naan buns with a different filling. For example, you could do just cheese. Or you could make a keema (minced meat) filling. Or a vegetarian filling – really, whatever you like as long as it’s not soupy!
EQUIPMENT REQUIRED
No fancy equipment is needed in this recipe. You will just need:
- A few large mixing bowls
- A stand mixer like a KitchenAid (or knead by hand)
- A large wok with a lid
- Wooden spoon
- Aluminum foil for smoking chips
- A scoop (but you can also use a spoon)
- A 9×13″ baking sheet
- An oven, of course
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
The buns will develop a beautiful golden color all over when they are done baking. You can also test by pulling one bun away and looking at the edges – do they look raw or cooked?
You can keep these in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. Use a toaster oven or normal oven to heat up for a few minutes before enjoying!
Yes! You can use this dough to make naan. After the first rise, divide the dough into 6 pieces and roll out into naan shapes. Either bake in a pizza oven, or cook on a pan until they are done. Brush with some ghee or butter and serve!
Now let’s get baking!
Print
Email This Recipe
Enter your email and I’ll send this directly to you. Plus you’ll get new recipes from me every week!
Ingredients
Tandoori chicken filling:
- 400g chicken tenders (about 4)
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt
- 1 small tomato, pureed
- 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp salt (or to taste)
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- 1 tsp chili flakes (reduce as needed)
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp garam masala
- Optional: 1-2 tbsp Shan chicken tikka masala powder
- 2 tbsp oil, butter or ghee for cooking
- Handful of wooden smoking chips
- 1–2 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro to garnish
Naan buns:
- 160g milk, warmed (2/3 cups)
- 2 tsp active dry yeast (can be substituted with instant yeast)
- 325g all purpose flour (2 1/2 cups)
- 40g sugar (3 tbsp)
- 1 tsp salt
- 60g unsalted butter, softened (about 1/4 cup)
- 1/4 cup plain yogurt (preferably full fat)
Assembly:
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (optional)
- Egg wash (1 yolk + 1 tbsp milk)
- 1–2 tbsp sesame seeds
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp garlic powder or minced garlic
- Chopped cilantro for garnishing
Instructions
Marinate the chicken:
- Mix all the ingredients except the oil, smoking chips and cilantro into a large bowl. Mix until combined, and set aside for at least 30 minutes
- Prepare the naan dough:
- Mix the warm milk and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer and let sit for 10 minutes to activate the yeast. Add all the remaining ingredients, and knead using the dough hook attachment on medium high speed for about 7-8 minutes. You will know the dough is done when it pulls away from the edges of the bowl, is smooth and stretchy
- Transfer the dough into a clean bowl sprayed with oil, cover with cling wrap, and place in a warm place for 60-90 minutes until it doubles in size
Cook the tandoori chicken:
- Heat oil in a large wok on high heat. Add the chicken with the marinade and cook for ~10-15 minutes or until the chicken is tender and most of the water has evaporated. Taste and adjust spices as needed
- Use a fork and knife to shred the chicken into smaller pieces
- Place the wooden smoking chips into a sheet of aluminum foil and fold it up so only a small opening remains on the top. Place onto a burner on medium heat until you see smoke escaping from the opening. Use a tong to transfer to the wok, open the foil more, cover with a lid and let smoke for 5-10 minutes. Be careful and keep the exhaust on during this step
- Lastly, garnish with fresh cilantro / coriander. Let the filling cool down slightly
Assemble the rolls:
- Once the dough has risen and the filling is not hot any more, start assembly. Prepare a 9×13″ pan with parchment paper and a spray of oil
- Punch down the dough to remove large air pockets. Divide into 12 equal pieces, and roll each into a bowl
- Use a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to roll a ball into a 3-4″ diameter circle. Place a scoop of filling (about 2 tbsp) in the center of the circle so the edges are uncovered. Add mozzarella cheese if using
- Lift the edges and meet them in the middle to seal and turn into a ball. Pinch together the edges firmly, and lightly shape into a ball using your palms. Place the ball into the prepared baking sheet
- Repeat until all 12 rolls are done. Keep an even spacing between them, they shouldn’t be touching at this time
- Leave the tray in a warm spot for 30 minutes for the second rise.
- In the last 20 minutes, preheat your oven to 350F (conventional)
Bake the rolls:
- After the second rise, brush the buns generously with egg wash using a pastry brush, and sprinkle over some sesame seeds. Transfer to the pre-heated oven (350F), and bake for ~20-22 minutes or until the buns are golden in color
- While the buns are baking, melt the butter in a pan or the microwave. Add the garlic powder or minced garlic to the hot butter and mix. Chop up cilantro for garnish
- Remove the buns from the oven, and brush with the garlic butter. Sprinkle the cilantro, and serve!
Video Tutorial
Notes
- If using instant yeast instead of active dry yeast, you cans skip the activation step and mix everything in the stand mixer bowl in one step
- This recipe might make excess filling. Don’t stuff the buns with too much filling, you can use the excess to make puff pastry parcels
- You may serve with chutney of choice (e.g., mint and cilantro chutney)
Note: This post contains affiliate links. By using these links you can help keep Bake With Zoha in business!
Comments
Sania
Hi Zoha! The buns turned out very soft and the filling was amazing! Glad I trusted your recipe
Zoha
Thank you so much, Sania!!
Fatima
Awesome recipe… they are a perfect iftar item. The buns were so soft and buttery. I love trying your recipes Zoha. Now i have come to the point that I trust your recipes as they always come out perfect. Keep up with the good work !!
Umme
I agree. Best food ever I made at the 1st attempt. Thank you Zoha.
Zoha
:’) Thank you so much!!
Zoha
You have no idea how much that means to me. Thank you so so much, Fatima!
Azza
just made these yesterday for iftar and they were so fantastic!! Buns were sweet and soft, and the filling was smoky and tasteful
Zoha
Yay! Thank you so much, Azza! So happy to hear this.
Shez
I made these tandoori chicken naan buns yesterday and they were absolutely delicious. Thank you for sharing the recipe and looking forward to trying out more of your recipes ?
Zoha
Yay!! So so happy to hear this.
Saba
Hey! I made these naan buns day before yesterday for iftar. I started making them and thought I won’t be able to make it in time for iftar and almost gave up but thank God I didn’t because they turned out so perfect omggg! ? everyone absolutely loved them, especially my 2 year old girl who’s usually a picky eater. ?♥️ thanks so much for the efforts you put in your recipes and then the time you spend in writing/editing these videos and the recipe text. You’re so hardworking, MashaAllah! May Allah swt reward you abundantly.
Zoha
Awww, I am so happy to read this!! So much love to you and your little cutie. Thank you for the prayers <3
Herum
The recipe CANNOT get any more perfect than this! I never knew getting buns that too filled would be so easy to get perfect. This is such a fool proof recipe! Everything from the softness of the buns to the filling to the topping off with garlic butter goes so well together. I have tried this once and I can say for sure that this one’s going to become a regular for me!!!!! Thank you BakewithaZoha!!!
Zoha
YAY!!! Thank you SO much Herum! I am so pleased to read this, truly.
Ami
Since I am vegetarian, I substituted the chicken with paneer and also put a little bit of green chutney inside the bun for both taste and help prevent the dryness with paneer. It came out really good. Also used cheddar cheese because I ran out of mozzarella also a good choice.
Zoha
I love these suggestions! Thank you so much for trying my recipe and giving it your own twist 🙂 I need to try the paneer version myself.
Usha
This is so easy to make and turned out amazing! I made the naan dough in my bread machine. Thank you for the recipe.
Zoha
Yay! Thanks so much, Usha!
Ghazala Khan
Hi Zoha,
My daughter made it recently and now I’m making it too today for the first time.
I have a quick question. May I use olive oil instead of butter.
Faiz
I just made these, i will have to say these were amazing!!! It was my first time baking anything… this was actually a great experience, i just messed up with the color and couldn’t make em as perfect as yours but still these were fire!!! thank you so much for this yummy recipe!
Zoha
THANK YOU for trying my recipe, Faiz! Hopefully it’s the first but not the last time 🙂
Faiz
Ahahahaha, came back for the 2nd time, hopefully i will be able to make em perfect now?
Faiz
They turned out amazing todayyy!!!???? The color was perfect this time✨ Sending you the vid on insta kindly check it out?thanks alotttt!
Zoha
The video made my day! Thank you!
Zaheera Ebrahim
Omg. I made them and they came out amazing. Thanks to all the previous comments. I got it just perfect. So it’s 165 deg. Fan forced. Middle of the oven. ?
Zoha
Yay! SO happy to read you liked this recipe! <3
John Yearwood
I just made them. Oh my goodness. They turned out amazing. I followed your directions and perfect. Will be making these again.
Zoha
So glad to hear that, John! Thanks for trying the recipe.
Sara
I had to come and comment – I baked these yesterday, followed your instructions and they came out perfect! Thank you so much!
Zoha
SO happy to hear that, Sara!!! 🙂 Thank you.
Ayesha
These look amazing ? I’ve bought all the ingredients ? just wanted to ask if we can make these up until the second rise, refrigerate them and then bake the next day? Thank you xx
Sara Faizan
Love this recipe. Love the texture of buns. I can feel their smoothness and softness while kneading.Made few variations.i added 10g of yeast and used vinegar in marination instead of lemon juice. Thanks Zoha for introducing such a good recipe.
Zoha
Love this review! Thanks so much, Sara! 🙂
Mariam Hamid
I had so much fun making this! I’m generally not a pro when it comes to dealing with making the dough from scratch (this was my 2nd ever time doing it) and I didn’t have a kneading machine so I had to do it with my hand. It was tiring haha but I actually enjoyed it. At first my dough didn’t rise (I checked after one hour) and I live in Norway so the kitchen was quite cold. That really made me sad because I was really excited about this recipe but added some more yeast mixture and then put the dough near the fireplace and within 30 minutes it rose. ?
The filling itself was super easy and my buns turned so soft and absolutely delicious! I can’t wait to try more recipes from Zoha! You’ve got a lifetime follower ?♥️
Zoha
Aww, thank you SO much Mariam!! So happy to read this lovely review and glad it worked out for you. Hope to cross paths in Norway one day! <3
Awaba
Tried these. Turned out AMAZING. Period
Zoha
Wuhu!! Thank you!!
Sapna
It’s the world best recipe I have ever tried..Its awesome ?? Thanks
Zoha
Awww, thank you so much, Sapna! <3
Amna
Love the recipe
Every thing was so good I add a little bit of Shredded cheese in the chicken masala but I did not marinate I added water chicken and yogurt and ginger garlic paste and spices on to stove with water till it dries up and added few more spices like crush pepper overall really good and the naan was so soft and yummy that I ended just making naan buns the next day!! (Zoha’s recipe)
Zoha
Ahhh – thank you so much for the thourough review! Really really happy to hear this worked well for you ❤️
Aatika
Loved the recipe! ❤
The only thing is, the buns got a bit brown and hard from underneath ?
I’m wondering if i should reduce the heat or shift the baking tray to the top rack? Please help?
Bilkis
I made these today, they were delicious, I could taste the sweetness in the buns, is it possible to reduce the sugar quantity without affecting the end results?
Zoha
You can reduce a bit but the yeast feeds on the sugar, so it helps the buns rise. You can also add more salt to help 🙂
Zoha
Hi! Every oven is different. Mine is a conventional oven (no fan) and I use the middle rack with only bottom heating. You can try changing your settings or lowering the temp!
Anar
So yummy!! instructions were clear and easy to follow!! thank you!
MH
love this recipe, I am really looking forward to try it. could I half this recipe and make 6 buns?
Zoha
Thank you so much, Anar! <3
saad
PLEASE SHARE RECIPIE AS VIDEO IS TO FAST AND VOICE IS ALSO VARYING. I COULD NOTE NOTE DESPITE OF MANY TIMES REPLAY
Madi
Can we reduce the amount of sugar? 3 tbsp seems like a lot. I’m sure it enhances the flavor of the buns. If we reduce it to 2 tbsp, would that significantly affect the taste, or how the bread rises?
Erum
Can i just make the chicken filling and freeze it. The smell of coal stays there
Zoha
Hi, that should be ok
Zoha
I’m sorry, but what do you think this is? This IS the recipe…. I am so confused
Sarah
Hi are you able to prep the buns with the filling in advance and bake once needed, for example like a day in advance?
Zoha
Nope, because the bread has yeast it will overproof. You can bake the buns and then freeze them 🙂