Real Recipes From Real Home Cooks ®

navajo frybread

(1 rating)
Recipe by
Ronnie Abbott
Ogden, UT

This recipe is from my Great Grandmother, she grew up making it with her mother and grandmothers. It was adapted to powdered milk by her sometime long before my birth. This bread makes an EXCELLENT substitute for any bread item...taco shells, hamburger buns and more. Look up Navajo Tacos if you don't believe me. Special thanks to Cynthia Detterick-Pineda for typing this up and reminding me of what a wonderful treat it is. Am sure my GGMa is smiling that "I found my way back."

(1 rating)
yield serving(s)
prep time 15 Min
cook time 5 Min
method Deep Fry

Ingredients For navajo frybread

  • 1 c
    unbleached flour
  • 1/4 tsp
    salt
  • 1 tsp
    powdered milk
  • 1 tsp
    baking powder
  • 1/2 c
    water (warm)
  • vegetable oil for frying
  • extra flour to flour your hands

How To Make navajo frybread

  • 1
    Sift together the flour, salt, powdered milk, and baking powder into a large bowl. Pour the water over the flour mixture all at once and stir the dough with a fork until it starts to form one big clump.
  • 2
    Flour your hands well. Using your hands, begin to mix the dough, trying to get all the flour into the mixture to form a ball. You want to mix this well, but you do NOT want to knead it. Kneading it will make for a heavy Fry Bread when cooked. The inside of the dough ball should still be sticky after it is formed, while the outside will be well floured.
  • 3
    Cut the dough into four (4) pieces. Using your floured hands, shape, stretch, pat, and form a disk of about 5 to 7 inches in diameter. Don’t worry about it being round.
  • 4
    In a deep heavy pot, heat the vegetable oil to about 350 degrees F. You can check if you oil is hot enough by either dropping a small piece of dough in the hot oil and seeing if it begins to fry, or by dipping the end of a wooden spoon in and seeing if that bubbles. Your oil should be about 1-inch deep in a large cast-iron skillet or other large heavy pot (I actually use a 2 inch deep frying pan)
  • 5
    Take the formed dough and gently place it into the oil, being careful not to splatter the hot oil. Press down on the dough as it fries so the top is submersed into the hot oil. Fry until brown, and then flip to fry the other side. Each side will take approximately 3 to 4 minutes to cook. Place the cooked Fry Bread on a paper towel to absorb excess oil.
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