Fry Bread Recipe - Cooking Classy (2024)

Published April 29, 2023

Homemade Navajo Fry Bread! This is pillowy soft on the inside lightly crisp and beautifully golden brown on the outside and each tender bite just melts in your mouth! They’re the perfect base for Navajo tacos or they make an excellent dessert when smothered with sweet honey butter.

Homemade Fried Bread

This fry bread recipe is a family favorite recipe! It’s one of those comfort foods that reminds me of my mom’s dinners growing up since we always had these in the rotation and I always looked forward to them.

Some people refer to these as “Indian fry bread” but there’s a bit of confusion around this and they are more correctly known as Navajo fry bread since they were a created by Native American’s.

These are very quick and easy to make from scratch, and they use ingredients you likely already have on hand. The dough is a breeze to mix up, you only need a shaggy rough dough here. No mixer and no kneading required.

You’ll love how fluffy they are, and even though they are made with the simplest of ingredients they have undeniably delicious flavor!

What I recommend is making a double batch because people will be wanting them for the main dish for Navajo tacos and extras for dessert finished with honey butter.

I think everyone will agree they are completely irresistible in every way – especially when they are still warm!

Fry Bread Recipe Ingredients

• All-purpose flour: I use unbleached flour though bleached would be fine. I haven’t yet tried this with a gluten free blend, please let us know if you do and how it turns out.
• Baking powder: If possible use aluminum-free so it has no metallic taste.
• Instant yeast: I like using this type of yeast so it doesn’t have to be proofed first. Rapid rise yeast works as well.
• Salt: Just regular table salt works well here.
• Warm milk: Anything but skim milk is recommended.
• Butter: Salted or unsalted butter works fine since only a minimal amount is used. I just melt it in when heating the milk.
• Vegetable oil: You’ll need enough for deep frying. You could also substitute peanut oil.

How to Make Fry Bread

1. Mix dry ingredients then make a well in center of mixture.
2. Whisk melted butter and warm milk together and pour milk mixture into dry ingredients.
3. Stir with a wooden spoon until mixture comes together and forms a rough ball, dough should be fairly sticky (if needed you can add an additional 1 – 2 Tbsp milk to reach a good consistency but try not to overwork the dough).
4. Cover dough with plastic wrap and let rest 10 minutes.
5. Heat 1-inch of vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Heat to 360 degrees F°.
6. Divide rested dough into 8 equal pieces. Line a baking sheet with paper towels, set aside.
7. Working with floured hands and one piece of dough at a time (keep other pieces covered with plastic wrap), roll dough or pat dough out on a lightly floured surface into a 6-inch circle (for fry bread to cook more evenly you can make poke a small hole in the center of the dough which helps it not inflate excessively in the center).
8. Carefully add rolled out fry bread into hot oil, and cook until golden brown, then flip and cook opposite side until golden brown (this usually takes about 30 seconds per side though the second side tends to cook faster). Lift with tongs and let excess oil drain off back into pan.
9. Transfer to paper towel lined baking sheet to drain. Repeat process with remaining fry bread dough while monitoring oil temp to keep close to 360 degrees F°.

Helpful Tips for the Best Fry Bread

• For fluffy tender fried bread be careful not to overwork the dough. This includes when mixing it up in the bowl (it should just be shaggy) and when rolling the dough out into rounds.
• Preheat oil because with under-heated oil they’d absorb excess oil and have a greasy flavor. This will also achieve that nice golden brown color and they won’t have to cook as long if the dough is heated to the right temp.
• You also want to be careful of not overheating the oil or the exterior will brown and crisp before the interior has cooked through. (Plus overheating oil is hazardous of course.)
• Have paper towels ready to drain the fry bread before you begin.
• Keep paper towels between layers if stacking them. This will also help keep them a little warmer.

How to Keep Them Warm

• If you aren’t serving them right away you can keep them warm in a 200 °F oven.
• Wrap in foil so they don’t dry out.
• Preferably don’t keep in the oven longer than 20 minutes.

How to Store and Reheat

• While these are best made fresh leftovers can be saved for 1 day.
• Store leftover fry bread in an airtight container at room temperature.
• To reheat I recommend rewarming in a 350 degree oven wrapped in aluminum foil just until warmed through, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Can they be frozen?

• Yes fry bread can be frozen (but again it is best made fresh).
• If freezing you can freeze up to 3 months.
• I don’t recommend freezing the dough because the baking powder won’t have the same leavening strength later on.

More Delicious Deep Fried Recipes to Reuse Oil

• 15-Minute Donuts
• Apple Fritters
• Churros
• Fried Shrimp
• Onion Rings