A round of dough fried until it puffs, chewy inside and crisp at the edge, then covered with beans, meat, lettuce and cheese as a Navajo taco or sprinkled with sugar and honey as a dessert.

Visit Arizona traces fry bread to the Long Walk, when the United States government forced thousands of Navajo to walk 300 miles to the New Mexico Territory and issued rations of flour, water, salt and lard, the makings of the bread. Many Navajo regard it as a symbol of perseverance, pain, adaptability and survival. In 2012 the Fry Bread House, opened in Phoenix in 1992 by Cecilia Miller of the Tohono O'odham Nation, won a James Beard America's Classics award.

Where to eat Fry bread in Scottsdale

The editor picks for Fry bread in Scottsdale are still in research. Meanwhile, see the Scottsdale signature-dishes index or the Scottsdale food guide.

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Make it at home

Serves Makes 6 rounds1 hrIntermediate

Ingredients

  • 3 cups (375 g) all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon fine salt
  • 1 1/4 cups warm water, plus more as needed
  • Lard, shortening or neutral oil, 1 1/2 inches deep for frying
  • Refried beans, seasoned ground beef, shredded lettuce, diced tomato and cheddar for a taco, or honey and powdered sugar for dessert

Method

  1. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt, then stir in the warm water until a soft, slightly sticky dough forms.
  2. Knead briefly until smooth, cover, and rest for 30 minutes.
  3. Divide into 6 balls and pat or stretch each into a round about 7 inches across, thinner in the middle.
  4. Heat the fat to 365F and fry one round at a time for about 1 minute a side, until puffed and golden brown.
  5. Drain on paper towels, then top as a taco or dust with sugar while hot.

Editor tip. Keep the oil at 365F; cooler fat makes greasy bread, and hotter fat browns the outside before the center cooks.

Common allergens: Gluten.