Quick and easy vetkoek – with 2-ingredient dough

Delicious, golden brown and chewy. These quick and easy vetkoek are unbelievable. They taste just like the original version made with yeast, but these are mixed in just 5 minutes, with no yeast, kneading or rising time required. Just mix and fry for the tastiest, chewiest vetkoek ever – you won’t believe how quick and easy these are to make!

2-ingredient vetkoek

Ever since the success of my easy koeksisters with 2-ingredient dough recipe I’ve been meaning to try out the same concept to make vetkoek. The only reason it’s taken so long is because I didn’t really believe it was possible to make delicious, chewy vetkoek without yeast.

But oh boy, I wish I’d tried this years ago. I would have saved hours of my life spent mixing and kneading the dough, and then waiting around for it to rise in order to get the perfect vetkoek.

This recipe is amazing. All you need is some self-raising flour and Greek yoghurt, and you can have these perfect vetkoek on the table in less than half-an-hour. And these vetkoek have all the texture and taste of the real deal – but with none of the effort involved.

Of course, you can still make vetkoek in the original way if you have loads of time on your hands. I have a recipe on my site for Vetkoek and Curried Mince that you can try. But why would you want to do this, when you can make these quick and easy vetkoek in the time that it will take you to read this post.

Just look at the texture to these perfectly cooked vetkoek, then try them for yourself. You won’t be disappointed. They are not QUITE as puffed up as traditional vetkoek, made with yeast, but they come very close!!!

How to make quick and easy vetkoek

This recipe makes 6 medium-sized vetkoek. To make a larger batch you can just double up on the ingredients. The complete list of ingredients and full instructions for making these 2-ingredient vetkoek can be found on the printable recipe card at the end of this post.

To make these vetkoek you will need equal quantities of self-raising flour and Greek yoghurt. If you can’t get hold of Greek yoghurt, you can use thick natural yoghurt instead. Just don’t use the fruit-flavoured yoghurt that you can get in the supermarkets – you need the very thick unflavoured type of yoghurt.

If you don’t have self-raising flour you can just use plain all-purpose flour (or cake flour) and add one teaspoon of baking powder per cup of flour.

The final ingredient is optional. I like to add 1 teaspoon of salt to the mixture to add a little extra flavour. If you have issues with using salt you can leave it out.

For frying the vetkoek you will need sunflower, canola or any neutral-flavoured oil. Don’t use olive oil as it won’t get hot enough to fry the vetkoek properly, and will also alter the taste.

Mix the dough and shape the vetkoek

For this recipe I have used the standard US measuring cup. For those of you who like to measure by weight or metric, rather than volume, this is the equivalent of 140g or 240 ml of flour and 240 ml of yoghurt.

Measure out the self-raising flour into a mixing bowl and add the Greek yoghurt and salt (if using). Use a flat-bladed knife the mix the yoghurt into the flour, then get your hands in and press the dough together until it forms a smooth ball.

The basic recipe is for one cup each of flour and yoghurt. If the yoghurt is a little on the thin side, you may find that the dough becomes too sticky to form into a ball. If this happens, just add another tablespoon of flour. This is a very forgiving recipe, and a little extra flour won’t hurt.

Once the dough has been formed into a ball, tip it out of the mixing bowl onto a floured surface and divide it into 6 equal pieces. Press each piece out into a flat oval shape, approximately 1/2cm (or about a quarter of an inch) thick.

Fry the vetkoek

For frying the vetkoek I like to use my wok. As you will see in the above photos this is a very old wok that I’ve had for years. You can use a large frying pan instead.

There’s no need to deep-fry these vetkoek. You will only need about an inch of oil in the bottom of the pan.

Heat the oil until a small piece of dough dropped into the hot oil sizzles and turns brown in about 15 seconds. Then carefully lower as many pieces of dough as your pan will take into the hot oil. Don’t overcrowd the pan – the vetkoek will puff up as they fry and you will need room to turn them over easily.

Allow the vetkoek to brown on one side, them over and brown the other side. Fry them slowly – you may need to adjust the heat down slightly. If the oil is too hot they won’t cook through in the centre and there is nothing worse than uncooked batter in the middle of your vetkoek! I leave them in the oil, turning often until they are done. You will probably find that they will be cooked through in less than 5 minutes.

Once the vetkoek are done, remove them from the oil and place on paper kitchen towel to drain.

What to serve with vetkoek

I like to serve fresh hot vetkoek with curried mince or chili con carne. They are also good served alongside my beef vegetable winter soup instead of bread.

If you have any vetkoek left over, they make a lovely sandwich with just a slice of ham or cheese (or both). I find you don’t even need to spread them with butter first – just add the filling.

And if you have a sweet tooth, try spreading them with apricot jam or honey.

How do I store vetkoek?

Leftover cooled vetkoek can be stored in a plastic bag in the breadbin. They will stay fresh like this for a day, but after that they will tend to go stale.

Can I freeze them?

Technically you can freeze the cooled fried vetkoek in a plastic bag in the freezer, and then just place them on a baking tray in a hot oven until they are warmed through..

Practically – they take such a short time to make that I wouldn’t bother. I prefer to make them fresh as I need them.

Can I make them in advance?

You can make the pastry up to 3 days in advance. Just store the ball of pastry in the fridge wrapped in lightly greased clingfilm. When you are ready to use it, tip the pastry onto a floured surface, shape into vetkoek and fry as per the recipe.

Can I double the recipe?

Yes, you can double the ingredients for this recipe. Just keep the ratio of 1:1 for the flour and Greek yoghurt. If you are using salt, adjust the salt to taste. Don’t double up on the salt or the vetkoek will become too salty.

Other recipes for 2-ingredient dough

Once you have mastered the art of making 2-ingredient dough, the sky is the limit.

• 2-ingredient pizza dough – just add your favourite pizza toppings.
• Ham and cheese pinwheels – these make a delicious snack with a glass of ice cold beer.
• Curried dough balls – filled with leftover curry or bolognese for a quick and easy supper.
• Koeksisters – a traditional South African sticky sweet dessert.

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Convert grams to cups

To help you convert your recipe measurements, I have created a handy Cookery Conversion Calculator which will convert ingredients between grams, ounces, tablespoons, cups and millilitres. I hope you will find it useful.

If you live at a high altitude you may find you need to adjust your baking recipes to compensate for this. You can read about how to do this in this post on baking at high altitudes.