Stovetop Turkish Flatbread: Soft, Pillowy Rounds Brushed With Garlic Parsley Butter

No oven. No bread machine. Just a hot skillet and a soft ball of dough.

That is all it takes to make a stack of these golden flatbreads, still steaming, glistening with garlic butter and flecked with green parsley. The first one never makes it to the table. Someone always tears it in half right by the stove.

Why You Will Make This Bread Again and Again

In Turkey, home cooks make a soft skillet bread called bazlama. It puffs up in a dry pan, gets golden spots on both sides and stays tender enough to fold around anything. It is everyday bread, made in village kitchens for generations, and it is far easier than any loaf you have ever baked.

The secret is plain yogurt in the dough. It makes the bread tender and slightly tangy, and it keeps it soft for hours after cooking. A little yeast gives it those lovely air pockets, but the dough needs just one rise and almost no kneading skill.

Then comes the part that turns good bread into irresistible bread: while each round is still hot, you brush it with melted butter, garlic and chopped parsley. The butter soaks in, the garlic perfumes the whole kitchen and the stack becomes something people talk about.

Serve these with soup, a pot of chili, grilled chicken, a bowl of hummus or a simple Greek salad. Use them to scoop, wrap and wipe the plate clean.

Let me show you what goes into the dough. You probably have it all already.