Breakfast naan pizzas, which also make terrific breakfast-for-dinner pizzas, use a fluffy naan for the base of veggies, cheese, and a perfectly baked egg. A sprinkle of chili, cilantro, and flaky salt finishes these scrummy breakfast delights.
Adapted from Amisha Dodhia Gurbani | Mumbai Modern | Countryman Press, 2021
On weekends, especially when we tend to skip breakfast and have brunch instead, this is a great, hearty option. Use leftover naan and top it with your favorite cheese. I love using Oaxaca cheese, which has the taste of Monterey Jack and the string-like stretchy texture of mozzarella. Top it with vegetables—I add spiced potatoes, bell peppers, and onions. And finally, top it off with an egg or two. I would use small eggs so that they do not spill over the edge of the naan.—Amisha Dodhia Gurbani
Breakfast Naan Pizzas FAQs
You could add anything seasonal, such as fresh corn, squash blossoms, cherry tomatoes, and more. Red peppers or a different variety of onions would work, too. Really, you can use anything that your family will eat, right?
If you don’t have Oaxaca cheese or can’t find it, substitute with pepper Jack, Monterey Jack, mozzarella, or Cheddar cheese.
Gurbani recommends using small eggs and making a little well in the toppings of your breakfast pizza. Anything bigger than a small egg, though, and you’re going to have a problem. You do have the option of frying your eggs separately and just sliding them on top of your finished pizzas. At least one of our testers preferred this option, so you might too.
Breakfast Naan Pizzas
Ingredients
For the breakfast naan
- 3 small (6 oz) potatoes scrubbed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon red chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 naan breads
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced or grated Oaxaca cheese
- 1/2 small (3 oz) red onion sliced thin
- 1/2 small (2 oz) green bell pepper sliced thin
- 2 to 4 small eggs
To garnish
- Fresh cilantro
- Finely chopped fresh chives
- Maldon flaky salt
- Kashmiri red chili powder
Instructions
Make the breakfast naan
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF (200°C).
- Using a mandoline or with a sharp knife, slice the potatoes about 1/4 inch (1/2 cm) thick. Working in batches if necessary, place them in a single layer on a plate and microwave until softened, about 2 minutes.
☞ TESTER TIP: Cover your plate of potatoes with a damp tea towel while microwaving to help them cook more evenly.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the olive oil, spices, and salt. Add the potatoes and gently toss to coat them evenly with the oil and spices.
- Place the naan on a parchment paper-lined rimmed baking sheet.
- Equally divvy the cheese between each naan.
- Top each naan with a few slices of spiced potatoes, red onion, and green bell pepper. Make one or two small indentations in the fillings with a spoon, depending upon how many eggs you want to use.
- Break an egg into a small bowl, and carefully pour the egg into an indentation. Repeat for all the eggs. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake until the eggs are just set, 12 to 14 minutes.
Garnish the breakfast naan
- Remove from the oven and garnish with the cilantro leaves and chopped chives. Sprinkle with a bit of Maldon salt and Kashmiri red chili powder for the final touch!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
Once I had these breakfast naan pizzas, I quickly replaced “breakfast” with “anytime” in my head. In fact, I made them as a quick weeknight dinner on several occasions, and the recipe has already become a staple in my kitchen.
The naan was crispy on the edges and tender and supple in the middle—exactly what I look for in a great pizza. The combination of the toppings was lovely, too, and with the hot Kashmiri chili powder and other warm spices, the naan pizzas were very satisfying despite the limited “real estate” compared to traditional pizzas. For a variation, I replaced the green pepper with thinly sliced cremini mushrooms and scattered fennel fronds on top.
In order to end up with fully cooked potatoes in the end, I needed to cook the slices for two minutes in my 1100-watt microwave (loosely covering them with a damp tea towel). The eggs took twelve minutes to almost set in my oven, and the piping hot pizzas provided them with enough carry-over heat. The egg whites were perfectly set and yolks were still delicate and runny by the time the pizzas made the dinner table.
The flavor of the finished breakfast naan pizza is really good. The cheese really makes the dish. As a note, I thought a finer dice on the red onion and pepper might be better. Also, you can make a lot of substitutes here—for example, you could use red bell pepper and other types of naan and cheese.
The time to make this dish is a bit long if you want to make this on a weekday. If you have everything all sliced ahead of time, this could be finished quickly. Sliced potatoes can stay without browning if you place them in water with some lemon juice. You definitely don’t need as much potato, red onion, or bell pepper as specified; however, if you have them on hand, you could use more naan and feed a crowd. Since the cooking is mostly done in the oven, you could spread it across several sheet pans.
When cooking, note that the potatoes may not fit in one layer on a plate in your microwave. You may have to do two batches. Please also take the baking time as a guide. Every oven is different and the layers underneath the egg might affect the cooking time.
I love breakfast for dinner and these breakfast naan pizzas were both delicious and quite substantial. I like a recipe that is versatile and this one fits the bill. You can use whatever vegetables are in season or you have on hand.
I would make two changes in the future. One is that I would probably roast or fry the potatoes for better texture and flavor (or use leftover roasted potatoes). The other is that I would fry the egg separately; this is just a personal preference but I’m not crazy about baked eggs. For this recipe, I left space in the center of the naan in order to create a little nest for the egg but I would have liked to cover the entire naan with toppings and then thrown the fried egg over all the good stuff.
Originally published December 13, 2021
