By Wendy Stoltz / Last Modified On January 22, 2023

If you're a fan of our tried and tested gluten free bread recipe, you are going to be thrilled about this new recipe for Gluten-Free Sourdough Bread! 

While our other bread recipe is meant to bake in a bread machine or a loaf pan, this one makes a beautiful free-form rustic loaf. 

Your sandwiches will be heavenly on slices of this tangy, chewy, homemade sourdough. Learn all of our best tips and tricks for making the perfect sourdough bread gluten-free.  

CAN SOURDOUGH BREAD BE GLUTEN-FREE? 

Yes! We wouldn't be showing you this easy recipe if a delicious gluten-free sourdough bread wasn't possible. Not only is it possible to make gluten-free sourdough, it's actually easy and fun too!

We are skipping the wheat flour as always, and we have tested this recipe using different varieties of all-purpose gluten free flour and are very pleased with the resulting loaves. 

This recipe for gluten-free sourdough bread has a dense, fluffy crumb, and is super simple to make. 

Want to become a sourdough master? Consider this Gluten-Free Sourdough Masterclass.

HOW TO MAKE A GLUTEN-FREE SOURDOUGH STARTER

Follow our full instructions on our Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter recipe page.

If you know anything about making traditional sourdough bread, you probably understand that the key ingredient, and the thing that makes sourdough what it is, is a good sourdough starter. 

For a normal sourdough starter, this involves mixing wheat flour and rye flour together with water, and leaving it out to collect wild yeast spores. You feed this yeast on a schedule in order to keep it alive and available for baking. 

You can get some gluten-free sourdough starter from a gluten-free friend, or you can ask at your local wheat-free bakery. 

It might be easier to make your own sourdough starter if those options aren't available to you though. The full gluten-free starter recipe will be below, but here's the basic idea.

You may need 1-2 weeks to get a strong, working gluten-free sourdough starter, so plan ahead! 

1. Mix 1 cup of all-purpose gluten-free flour with ½ cup of cool water. I use King Arthur's Measure for Measure Flour for this. 
2. Cover the mixture with a clean towel and let it rest overnight at room temperature. 
3. The next day, discard half of the mixture, then feed it another cup of flour and another ½ cup of water. 
4. Repeat this process every day for 5 to 10 days. Sometimes it could take even longer.
5. The gluten-free sourdough starter is ready when you notice that it only takes a couple of hours for the mixture to double or triple in size, rather than overnight. 

Once you have your gluten-free sourdough starter going, it can potentially be kept alive and working for a very long time. 

At room temperature, you'll need to feed the sourdough starter every 24 hours or so. 

You can also store the starter in the fridge in an airtight container. At the cooler temperature, it only needs to be fed once per week. 

INGREDIENTS IN GLUTEN-FREE SOURDOUGH BREAD

Starter - In order to make this bread, you'll need an active gluten-free sourdough starter. The starter provides yeast and also the characteristic sour flavor you want in a sourdough loaf. See the recipe card or the instructions above to learn more about this process. The best case scenario is that you have a gluten-free friend who can share their starter with you so that you can make this recipe right away

Warm Water - You don't want the water to be too hot or too cold when you're working with sourdough yeast. Tepid, lukewarm water is ideal for making the dough. 

Instant Yeast - This might not be entirely necessary, and I know that it sort of defeats the purpose of using a natural yeast source to make sourdough,  but I add it in to be extra sure that this bread gets a good rise and has lots of airy texture. Gluten-free bread needs all the help you can give it sometimes! 

Sea Salt - To give the bread a bit of flavor. 

Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour - This has been tested using our gluten-free flour blends, King Arthur's Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour, and Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Flour (plus 2 tablespoons of xanthan gum). You can experiment using other flours or blends, but you may come out with different results. 

Xanthan Gum - Only add this if your flour blend doesn't already include it. Some, like the King Arthur brand,  have added it for you already!

GF BREAD MAKING EQUIPMENT AND TOOLS

To make this simple, rustic loaf of bread, you don't really need any fancy tools. As you get more and more into bread baking,  you may want to look into some of this specialty equipment: 

Danish Dough Whisk - Instead of using your hands or a wooden spoon to mix the dough, this tool was made especially for the job!

Dutch Oven - You can bake a loaf of bread on a metal baking sheet, but if you'd like an extra crusty loaf, you'll want to try baking it in a 5-6 quart Dutch Oven instead.

Banneton Basket or a large glass bowl - This is where your bread will rest to proof before baking. 

HOW TO MAKE GLUTEN-FREE SOURDOUGH BREAD

1. Combine all your ingredients in a large bowl. Mix, then knead to form a smooth dough.
2. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover with a kitchen towel. Let the dough rest for 2 hours in a warm place, until it's double in size.
3. Shape the dough by pulling the edges into the center. Turn it over so the seam is on the bottom of the dough. Form a ball and then let the dough rest for another 15 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C while the dough rests. 
5. Place the ball of dough on a lightly greased, parchment-lined baking sheet. Dust the top of the dough with flour, and use a sharp knife to cut into the top of the loaf. This will allow the loaf to expand and create crispy ridges on the crust. 
6. Bake for 30 minutes at 400°/200°C.  Then reduce the heat to 350°F/180°C and bake for 30 minutes more, until the crust of the bread is a dark golden brown. 

HOW TO STORE GLUTEN-FREE SOURDOUGH

Try to enjoy your sourdough bread when it's fresh. I know you'll want to after smelling it baking, and that's when it's the most delicious! 

Any leftovers can be wrapped up and stored on the counter for a few days. Older bread is delicious when toasted and topped with jam.

VARIATIONS AND SUBSTITUTIONS FOR GLUTEN-FREE SOURDOUGH

We've made this recipe simple on purpose. Are there other flours that might work better? Maybe, but we didn't test them here. If you want to make substitutions in the recipe, feel free, but understand that it will be an experiment.

Come back and let us know how different flours worked for you please!

CAN I MAKE DAIRY-FREE GLUTEN-FREE SOURDOUGH?

Sourdough bread is a dairy-free food! Enjoy this bread recipe that is both gluten and dairy free. 

HOW MANY PPM OF GLUTEN IS IN SOURDOUGH BREAD?

There has been some research into the differences between traditional yeasted bread and sourdough yeasted bread when it comes to gluten levels. The fact is that wheat-based sourdough bread has much less gluten in it than regular bread. This is because the dough goes through a process of fermentation where the bacteria in the starter actually start to break down the gluten in the flour. 

Instead of the 80,000ppm of gluten that is in typical bread, sourdough bread has about 2,000ppm.

For this reason, there are some non-celiac, gluten-intolerant folks who can actually eat sourdough without negative reactions. 

That said, I don't recommend that you risk it. Make this recipe instead, so you can be sure that there is NO gluten in your sourdough at all. 

Continue to Content

Yield: 1 loaf

Gluten-Free Soughdough Bread

Print

Your sandwiches will be heavenly on slices of this tangy, chewy, homemade sourdough. Learn all of our best tips and tricks for making the perfect sourdough bread gluten-free.  

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Resting Time 2 hours 15 minutes

Total Time 2 hours 55 minutes

Ingredients

For the Starter:

• 1 cup gluten-free flour (about 120g King Arthur’s Measure for measure gluten-free flour)
• ½ cup cool water

For the Sourdough Bread:

• 1 cup ripe gluten-free sourdough starter (about 230g)
• 1 ½ cups warm water
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 5 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour (about 600g King Arthur GF Measure for Measure)
• Optional : 2 tablespoons Xanthan Gum - Only if your flour doesn't include any.

Instructions

Sourdough Starter

1. To Make Gluten Free Sourdough Starter: Combine 1 cup flour with ½ cup cool water. Cover and allow to sit at room temperature overnight. Each morning for 5-10 days, remove and discard half of the starter, then feed with another cup of flour and ½ cup of water.
2. You will know that the starter is ready when it is very active and will double in size in a couple of hours.

Sourdough Bread

1. Combine all your ingredients in a large bowl. Knead to form a smooth dough.
2. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover with a kitchen towel. Let the dough rest for 2 hours in a warm place, until it's double in size. 
3. Shape the dough by pulling the edges into the center. Turn it over so the seam is on the bottom of the dough. For a ball and then let the dough rest for another 15 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C while the loaf rests.
5. Place the rested dough on a lightly greased parchment-lined baking sheet. 
6. Dust the dough with flour. You can optionally make some cuts into the dough, using a sharp knife.
7. Bake the bread for 30 minutes at 400°F. Then reduce the heat to 350°F and bake for 30 more minutes, until the bread is a very deep golden brown. Remove it from the oven and cool on a cooling rack.

Notes

• We have provided metric amounts for the flour in this recipe, but please note that the grams will be different depending on the brand or blend of flour that you're using.
• You can make your own sourdough starter, or get some from your local wheat-free bakery or a gluten-free baker friend.
• For an extra crusty loaf, bake the bread in a Dutch oven that you've preheated in a 400-degree oven. You'll still put the pan in the oven to bake, but pre-heating it makes it work so much better.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases. They never cost you extra.

• 
  Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour, 44-ounce (Pack of 4)
• 
  King Arthur, Measure for Measure Flour, Certified Gluten-Free, Non-GMO Project Verified, Certified Kosher, 3 Pounds, Packaging May Vary
• 
  Farielyn-X 2 Packs 9 Inch Bread Banneton Proofing Basket - Baking Dough Bowl Gifts for Bakers Proving Baskets for Sourdough Lame Bread Slashing Scraper Tool Starter Jar Proofing Box
• 
  Amazon Basics Enameled Cast Iron Covered Dutch Oven, 6-Quart, Blue
• 
  Zulay Kitchen 13 Inch Danish Dough Whisk - Large Wooden Danish Whisk For Dough With Stainless Steel Ring - Traditional Dutch Whisk Baking Tool For Bread, Batter, Cake, Pastry
• 
  StarSun Depot Bobs Red Mill Xanthan Gum (1 Item only)

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

5

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 547Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 854mgCarbohydrates: 114gFiber: 5gSugar: 0gProtein: 16g

This nutrition info is based on the exact ingredients and brands that I used a the time. It may not be 100% accurate. Please check your ingredients nutrition labels.