Fry Bread I
Serves 6 Time prep: 10 minutes resting: 30 minutes cooking: ~5 minutes Difficulty 2/5 Ingredients 5 Steps 9
Fry bread is a traditional Native American flatbread usually made on an open fire or a barbecue, or fried in a pan of hot oil over a stove top. This recipe uses modern techniques and tools.
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp shortening
- ⅔ cup hot water
Steps
- Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
- Cut shortening into flour with pastry blender (or two butter knives).
- Add hot water. Mix to a dough.
- Turn dough onto lightly floured board. Knead until soft and smooth.
- Wrap in plastic. Rest 30 min.
- Divide into 6 pieces. Roll each into a ball, then into a flat disk with rolling pin.
- Brush one side of each disk with melted margarine. Place on barbecue over a 3 Mississippi fire.
- Brush other side with margarine. Flip.
- Cook until both sides are golden brown. Serve hot.
Notes from the original
- You can substitute either ¼ cup plain yogurt, or a ¼ cup soured milk as a leavening agent instead of baking powder. If you do, add 2 hours to the rest time for the dough, and leave the dough somewhere warm. You can optionally include the baking powder as well to get a very puffy version of frybread. If using yogurt or soured milk for leavening, use ½ cup instead of ⅓ cup water.
- You can use mayonnaise in place of shortening for a crispy, crunchier texture.
- You can also fry the dough in hot oil over a stovetop. The dough cooks rapidly and will brown in about 12 seconds and must be turned over to allow the opposite side to brown, then be removed from the oil and placed sideways into a colander or large bowl lined with paper towels to allow the oil to drain off the finished product
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:Fry Bread I” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2025-06-18, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.