Indian Fry Bread Recipe

Fry Bread is a beloved tradition in the United States. Serve it up savory as Navajo Tacos or go the sweet side and serve it up with a little honey butter and powdered sugar.

This recipe comes from an Aunt who lived among a local Native American tribe for many, many years. There are so many fond memories of visiting as a child and enjoying the culture. She learned to make Fry Bread from friends in the tribe and passed the recipe down several years ago. Fry bread goes by many names around these parts, including Indian Fry Bread, Navajo Fry Bread, Navajo Tacos, and Scones. Yes, we realize that the word “scone” means something completely different everywhere else in the world, but around here, scones are fry bread. There’s even a whole chain restaurant devoted to it called Sconecutter.

The dough for this is quite simple, requiring very few ingredients. Don’t underestimate how delicious it is based on the simplicity. This fry bread is so delicious! It is most frequently served as either Navajo Tacos, with all your favorite taco ingredients, or as a dessert. Our favorite way to enjoy it as a dessert is to lather on some honey butter and dust it with powdered sugar. Yum! It’s crunch on the outside, and soft and fluffy on the inside.

Watch the video below where Rachel will walk you through every step of this recipe. Sometimes it helps to have a visual, and we’ve always got you covered with our cooking show. You can find the complete collection of recipes on YouTube, Facebook Watch, or our Facebook Page, or right here on our website with their corresponding recipes.

Fry Bread Recipe

Fry Bread or “Navajo Tacos” are crispy pillows of dough with a soft inside. Complete it by adding sweet or savory toppings!

Prep: 20min

Total: 275min

Serving Size: 1 g

Nutrition Facts: servingSize 1 g, calories 450 kcal, Carbohydrate 55 g, Protein 24 g, Fat 14 g, Saturated Fat 5 g, Cholesterol 44 mg, Sodium 374 mg, Fiber 8 g, Sugar 1 g, Trans Fat 1 g, unSaturated Fat 7 g

Ingredients:

• 2 cups dried pinto beans (rinsed and drained (or 1 (16-ounce) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained))
• water
• 2-3 slices bacon (chopped and cooked)
• 1 pound ground beef (cooked and drained)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup hot water (130 degrees F)
• vegetable oil (for frying)
• shredded lettuce, sour cream, chopped tomatoes, sliced avocados, shredded cheese

Instruction:

1. Make the bean topping: Place rinsed dried beans in a slow cooker and cover with water. Cook on low for 4–5 hours, or until beans start to become tender.
2. Add bacon pieces and ground beef to the slow cooker and continue to cook on low for an additional 1–2 hours, or until beans are fully tender. (To make the bean topping using canned beans, combine canned beans, cooked ground beef, and cooked bacon and cook in slow cooker on low for 2 hours. Set aside.)
3. Make the bread: Sift flour, baking powder and salt together into a medium bowl. Add hot water and mix with your hands until a dough forms (dough should be a little sticky). Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
4. While dough is resting, preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Fill a large saucepan with 1–2 inches of oil and heat over medium-high heat to about 350 degrees F.
5. Break off golf ball–sized pieces of dough and roll into balls about 1½ inches wide.
6. Using a pastry roller and working on a lightly floured surface, roll each dough ball into a thin circle 6–7 inches in diameter.
7. Working in batches, fry each dough piece in hot oil until the dough is golden and puffs up, about 20 seconds, then flip and fry on the other side for 10–20 seconds more. Set on a paper towel–lined plate to drain. Keep the fried bread warm in the oven while frying the remaining pieces.
8. Spread beans over fry bread, top with any other desired toppings, and serve warm.

Traditional Indian Fry Bread

Traditional Indian Fry bread is a flat dough bread, fried or deep-fried, that magically puff like little pillows of happiness! Made with simple ingredients, this delicious authentic fry bread can be eaten alone or with various toppings like butter & honey, jam, or sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.

Prep: 40min

Total: 45min

Serving Size: 1 disc

Nutrition Facts: calories 149 calories, Carbohydrate 25 grams carbohydrates, Cholesterol 1 milligrams cholesterol, Fat 4 grams fat, Fiber 1 grams fiber, Protein 4 grams protein, Saturated Fat 0 grams saturated fat, servingSize 1 disc, Sodium 320 milligrams sodium, Sugar 0 grams sugar, Trans Fat 0 grams trans fat, unSaturated Fat 3 grams unsaturated fat

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons Milk
• Vegetable Oil for Frying

Instruction:

1. Place flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Add milk and stir until dough begins to ball up. On a lightly floured surface knead dough. Do not over-work the dough. After working dough, place in a bowl and chill for 30 minutes.
2. Heat oil to 350 degrees in a deep frying pan or kettle. You’ll need at least one inch of oil in the bottom of the pan.
3. Divide the chilled dough into four equal portions. Lightly flour surface. Pat and roll out baseball size pieces of dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Poke a hole in the middle of each disc with your finger or knife (so dough will fry flat). Place dough disc in oil and cook until golden brown, flip over and cook opposite side until golden brown. Dough is done in about 3 minutes depending on oil temperature and thickness of dough.
4. Place fry bread on paper towel lined plate. After fry bread is done top with favorite topping or make Navajo Tacos.

Indian Fry Bread

Fry Bread is a beloved tradition in the United States. Serve it up savory as Navajo Tacos or go the sweet side and serve it up with a little honey butter and powdered sugar.

Yield: 12

Serving Size: 1 serving

Nutrition Facts: calories 183 kcal, Carbohydrate 32 g, Protein 4 g, Fat 3 g, Saturated Fat 2 g, Sodium 196 mg, Fiber 1 g, servingSize 1 serving

Ingredients:

• 4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoons salt
• 1 ½ tablespoons baking powder
• 1 ½ or more cups hot water
• 2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 quart vegetable oil for frying

Instruction:

1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Gradually add in the water, mixing with a spoon or your hands until combined. It will be sticky.
2. Drizzle 2-3 tablespoons of oil over the dough to keep it from drying out. Cover and let rest 2 hours. This is not a risen dough so the dough will not rise, but it does need to rest.
3. Pull off golf ball sized pieces of dough and stretch or roll out until very thin, without ripping it. The thinner the better.
4. Pour enough vegetable oil into a pot to cover it with 2 inches of oil. Heat to 350 degrees F.
5. Working one at a time, fry the dough in the hot oil until golden brown, flipping halfway through. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate to drain.

Indian Fry Bread

This homemade traditional Indian or Native American fry bread is perfect for making Navajo Tacos. It is super easy to make with just a handful of ingredients.

Prep: 10min

Total: 45min

Yield: 6

Serving Size: 1 serving

Nutrition Facts: calories 194 kcal, servingSize 1 serving

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 1 Tbsp of baking powder
• 2 Tbsp of shortening, oil, or lard ((optional, usually just flour, salt, baking powder, and water are used))
• 3/4 to 1 cup of water. Start with 3/4 cup.
• Oil (shortening, or lard for frying (vegetable, canola, coconut, avocado, etc.))

Instruction:

1. Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. If you want to add shortening, lard, or oil to the dough, add it in now, and use a pastry blender or fork to blend it with the flour.
2. Add most of the water and blend it in to form a dough. The dough should be slightly sticky. Add the rest of the water as needed. Shouldn’t need more than 1 cup.
3. Knead the dough on a floured surface for 3 to 4 minutes until smooth. Add a little flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking to your hands.
4. Cover the dough with a clean cloth and allow to rest for at least 30 minutes up to 2 hours.
5. Pour oil into a large pot, enough for it to be about an inch deep. Set burner to medium and heat oil to 350 F/176 C
6. Divide the dough into 6 to 8 pieces. Shape into a ball and then roll them out into a flat thin circle. Almost as thin as a tortilla.
7. Fry one at a time in the oil for 2 to 3 minutes per side until nice and golden brown.
8. Remove from oil with tongs, allow excess oil to drain into the pot. Then place on a paper towel-lined plate or sheet pan.
9. Serve however you like. If you want to make Navajo tacos, put your favorite taco fillings on top kidney beans mixed with ground beef is classic, sour cream, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, black olives, etc.
10. For a sweet variety, drizzle honey, and add powdered sugar, or other pancake toppings.

How to make Navajo Fry Bread

FAQ

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