GF Sourdough Bread (Vegan, No Yeast, No Xanthan)
This is my family’s everyday gluten free sourdough bread: vegan, no commercial yeast, no xanthan gum, no oils and no psyllium. It’s made with gluten free sourdough starter and sprouted whole-grain flours for a soft, sliceable crumb that toasts beautifully.
Back in 2018, most gluten free breads I could find leaned on gums and heavy refined starch blends low in fiber/nutrients and not the simple, whole food slices I wanted (especially for a sensitive digestion). It also seemed “impossible” to get a tall, sliceable loaf without all those add-ins. So I started testing my own: whole-grain flours, no commercial yeast, gum free binders, and a strong GF starter. A plain loaf with good texture is much harder to achieve than banana bread or small buns, there’s no eggs, and no fruit to add softness, no shortcut with baking soda or powder + acid, so the starter had to do the real work, and it does.
Why This Loaf Works
- No commercial yeast – naturally leavened by a GF sourdough starter, just real ingredients doing the work.
- No xanthan gum – gentle binders (flax; optional psyllium) for structure. Some people report GI discomfort (me included) when using gums.
- No oil – no cheap oil like canola or other seed oils.
- Sprouted, whole-grain flours – great flavor, may improve mineral availability after sprouting and easier to digest, hence healthier.
- Sliceable crumb – batter-style dough bakes tall in a loaf tin, no Dutch oven needed.
So to ensure a well risen loaf with a good structure, I had to get my hands on an active gluten free sourdough starter. I admit, at first I was a bit intimidated because I wasn’t sure what I would do with so much starter, but then I realized that it can be used for so many recipes.
Since baking gluten free so often, I managed to switch entirely to only using sourdough and I use it in most of my favorite breads, rolls, tortillas, muffins and naan, you can find these in my cookbook too.
Key Ingredients (And Simple Swaps)
- GF sourdough starter (active): fed and bubbly. See how I feed and store my GF starter tutorial.
- Flours: light buckwheat + millet or oat (sprouted versions if you have them, are the best).
- Binder: ground flax (primary).
- Water, sea salt. Small maple touch is optional for flavor/rise.
Note on oats: If using oat flour, choose gluten-free labeled (and organic, ideally trusted source) due to common cross contact in the supply chain. Some people also react to oat avenin.
See all measurements in the recipe card:
How To Make It
Step 1. Wake The Starter
You will need to use only 1 cup of starter for the recipe. Activate it with flour (1/2 cup of brown rice flour) + water (1/2 cup of filtered water)+(3-5h warm spot) until bubbly. If your starter is thin and watery, use less water (about 1/3 cup), if it’s thick – use more. I’m using a gluten free sourdough starter from Cultures For Health (maintained with brown rice flour).
Keep in mind that this recipe uses an established GF starter. Take the amount of starter you need, the rest feed it and place it back in the fridge. If your starter is sluggish, give it one extra feed before mixing the dough.
Step 2. Mix a thick batter (no kneading)
- When your starter is active and bubbly, add the flours (sifted), water, salt and maple syrup (it’s optional, but I use to enhance the taste plus the sugar makes the bread rise faster). Use same bowl.
- The dough should look like a thick batter like a thick oatmeal porridge, or like a brownie batter once everything mixed. No kneading is required.
Step 3. Proof
- Scrape the dough into the pan (use a in a high-wall loaf tin) and smooth it out with a spatula (the final batter is pretty sticky) to produce a nice dome shape. Add seeds or nuts on top if you want.
- Cover with a plastic wrap or a towel to seal moisture (you can also spray the inside of the wrap with water to prevent dough cracking) and let it rise in a warm place approximately 4-5 hours. It depends on how warm is your kitchen.
Tip: Best baking dish for GF sourdough
Skip the Dutch oven for this batter loaf. Gluten-free batter-style dough needs tall walls to rise up (not out). So here are two reliable options I always use:
- Adjustable oval baking frame (no base): slips off for easy release and resizes for different loaf sizes.
- High-wall non-stick loaf tin: supports vertical lift; parchment paper not needed, very easy to take out once baked.
If you want your loaf to stand up on it’s own, you can add high starch flours. But I prefer a more nutritional gluten free bread made with whole grain flours only.
Step 4. Bake
- Preheat oven at 425 degrees F (220 C).
- Once ready to bake the bread, cover with an aluminum foil (without touching it, any shake-up can deflate it), turn the temperature down to 390 F (200 C) and bake for 30 minutes.
- Then remove the foil (at this time you can also remove the baking tin for an uniform baking on all sides) and bake for another 40-45 minutes until golden brown.
- Allow to cool completely before handling or slicing (use a serrated knife)! Best to do that the next day.
FAQs
It contains no commercial baker’s yeast. Like all sourdough, it’s naturally leavened by wild yeasts and lactic acid bacteria in the starter.
No. Fermentation does not reliably remove gluten from wheat or rye. This loaf is gluten-free because it uses gluten-free flours only.
Long fermentation can reduce certain FODMAPs and modify starches, which some people find gentler; benefits vary person to person.
Sprouting can lower phytate and may improve mineral bioaccessibility, depending on grain and conditions.
Oat flour usually performs not very well when used to grow a gluten free sourdough starter.
Video: How to Make Gluten-Free Sourdough Bread (No Yeast, No Xanthan | Vegan)
Watch the batter texture and proofing height.
Gluten-Free Sourdough Bread (Vegan, No Yeast, No Xanthan, No Psyllium)
Ingredients
Activate The Gluten Free Sourdough Starter
- 1 cup gluten free sourdough starter - active ~ 240 g (100% hydration)
- ½ cup brown rice flour - (80g) to revive the starter
- ½ cup filtered water, room temperature - 118 ml (adjust if needed)
Main Batter (Add to The Activated Starter)
- 1 cup buckwheat flour - (120g) light color
- 1 cup millet flour - (120g), if oat flour (100g) if sorghum flour (120g)
- ⅓ cup flax seeds - (37g) ground
- 1½ cup filtered water - (355 ml) or plant milk
- 1 tsp Himalayan pink salt - (5g) or 1/2 tsp sea salt
Optional
- 1 tbsp maple syrup - (15 ml)
Instructions
Wake The Starter
- Take your (previously established) refrigerated starter and scoop 1 cup (that's all you need for this recipe).
- Feed it with brown rice flour (1/2 cup) and water (1/2 cup) mix in a large bowl; Rest in a warm place, covered: 3–5 hours until light and bubbly (depends on room temperature).Feed the rest of the starter in the jar and place it back in the fridge (or use for another recipe).See notes for troubleshooting.
Mix The Batter
- Once the starter is awake (is bubbling regularly within a few hours of feeding) – in the same bowl, add the rest of ingredients: flours, ground flax (all sifted) salt, and maple; Mix to a thick, scoopable batter (like brownie batter). No kneading is required.
Pan and Proof
- In a high wall non-stick loaf tin, scrape in batter; No parchment paper needed here. Smooth it out with a spatula to produce a nice dome shape. Since the batter is very sticky, I use parchment paper when I'm using my extendable baking tin (it has no bottom, just walls), so it's easy to remove while baking.
- Add seeds or nuts on top if you want. Mist a cover (wrap, foil or towel) and cover. Proof warm until noticeably domed (about 4–5 hours, room-temp dependent).
Bake
- Preheat 425°F (220°C).
- Uncover, tent with foil (not touching batter, it's really sensitive and collapsible). Reduce to 390°F (200°C) and bake for 30 min.
- Then remove the foil (at this time you can also remove the baking tin for an uniform baking on all sides) and bake for another 40-45 minutes until golden brown.
Cool And Slice
- Cool in tin 10–15 min, then on a rack until fully cool before handling. For best slices, wrap and slice next day with a serrated knife.
Video
Notes
- Do not shake or touch the dough once it has risen and is ready to bake, it will collapse and lose it’s shape.
- Topping bread dough with seeds and grains is a great way to develop even more crunch and depth of flavor. You can experiment with mixing seeds, nuts and dried fruit.
- For a lighter in color bread use lighter gluten free flours, read more about choosing the right flours in the post above.
- If you can’t find gluten free (and organic) oat flour, use your blender to grind some rolled oats.
- If you want your gluten free sourdough bread to be more sour you can keep it 1 hour longer to ferment, otherwise you won’t feel the sourness much.
- Whole grain flours tend to contain more organisms to feed the yeasts and bacteria. Switching from a whole grain flour to white flour may cause a decline in the health of the starter.
- Switch flours only when your sourdough starter has been fed for at least a week and is healthy, bubbling and growing.
- Pan choice: a tall loaf tin helps vertical lift, especially when the batter is soft and sticky like a porridge.
- The ground flax seeds act as a binder and help the gluten free sourdough bread form a better structure. They are stable during baking and do not loose their health benefits like the flax seed oil does at high temperatures. I also experimented with adding more ground flax seeds (increased from 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup) and added 1/2 cup more water – turned out even better.
- More elasticity: if you add 1 tbsp psyllium husk to the batter – will add elasticity, flexibility and pliability to the bread) even more. If you try it, make sure to mix it with 3 tbsp of water first.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator.
PRO TIPS: Baking Gluten Free Sourdough Bread
- Flour Mix: Aim for a mix, not a mono-flour: roughly 70% medium density flours (buckwheat, millet, oat), 10% heavier/coarse (teff/quinoa/amaranth), 20% soft/fine (oat or finely milled rice). This balances lift, moisture, and chew. Choose finely milled flours for a less crumbly slice.
- Want a lighter crumb? Use light buckwheat (hulled) and sorghum/oat (choose GF labels).
- Want a heartier, darker loaf? Use dark buckwheat (unhulled) and more whole grain sorghum/teff.
- Whole grain flours tend to contain more organisms to feed the yeasts and bacteria. Switching from a whole grain flour to white flour may cause a decline in the health of the starter.
- Egg-free structure, gum-free feel: Ground flax is the primary binder here, stable during baking and great for sliceability, don’t skip it.
- More starter = faster rise (and you can proof a bit cooler).
- Tang control: shorter proof = milder; longer = more sour.
- Proof high, bake hot: cover for steam, then uncover to color.
How To Store
Slice. Keeps 3–4 days at room temperature in a breathable bag; If longer, keep in the freezer (flat in bags) and toast from frozen anytime. Personally I like double toasting or toasting at the highest intensity of my toaster, the texture and smell is just incredible!
More Healthy Gluten Free Bread Recipes
Extra Recipes Made With Gluten Free Sourdough Starter
- Soft Gluten Free Wraps / Tortillas (Vegan)
- Gluten Free Sourdough Pancakes – Light & Fluffy
- Gluten Free Sourdough Crackers With Seeds (Vegan)
- Gluten Free Sourdough Baguette (No Yeast Added)
Baked It? I’d love to hear how it turned out! Tap ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to rate it or leave a quick comment below! your feedback helps other readers (and keeps me creating new treats).
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Disclaimer
This article shares general food and baking information only and is not medical advice. Always use gluten-free labeled ingredients if you must striclty avoid gluten; consult your health professional for personal guidance.
can i ask if once leaving for 18-24 hours intially then u go into day 2, 3 4, etc – you say it must be fed every 8-12 hours – so would that mean for say day 3 for example if i fed it 4 tbsp of each at say 10am do i need to give it another 4 of each at 10pm same day ?
please let me know as just it fed its first 4 on day 3!
thanks !
Yes, as the starter grows it might require feeding more often. Observe how it looks, if it starts to form bubbles just after 3-4 hours of feeding then try to lower the temperature, because is growing too fast. If nothing happens just continue feeding it once or twice a day.
Thank you i think its ok one way to find out !!!- it is now on day 8 and it has some liquid on the top and some kind of bubble the solid part is looking airy with bubbles – should i mix the liquid in and then use it – then when u say leave remainder in fridge and feed every so often – how much feed do u give it ? thank s sorry for the questions i have never done it before !
Bubbles are always a good sign. It’s ok to mix the liquid back in / or discard it. It’s not a big difference. The starter that I keep in the fridges – I feed it once a week , usually when I make my next loaf.
Thanks a lot for the recipes. Can I use any gluten free flour like sorghum or buckwheat for the starter?
Yes but you have to make it yourself from scratch with the flour you like. If you want to use the store-bought gluten free starter you need to activate it with brown rice and once it’s fully active you can slowly start to incorporate other flour at each feeding until you convert it.
I did my second attempt at doing the sourdough bread. It was a little better. So I did more research and found out that my starter was not up to par. Some lady did a video and you could see the starter is more like a pizza dow, sticky and elastic. Mine was getting there but still not ready. I still have some starter which I feed and I put it in the fridge. In 3 days I will take it out and feed it before doing another bread. I will let you know how it turns out in about one week.
Active starters generally have a strong yeasty smell and have plenty of bubbles. When you stir it, it should feel thick with air and bubbles. If it smells acidic like alcohol and has liquid on the top, this means your starter is hungry, so you will need to up it’s feeding schedule a little. If it doesn’t smell and has no bubbles – it needs to age longer.
And experimenting is the best way to get how it all works! Let me know how it goes next time.
Thank you for your reply. Well, the second attempt did raise but not enough. My starter does have some liquid on top and has some bubbles. I disregarded some of the liquid since it make the bread sourer. Last night I added a 1/4 cup of rice flour and 1/4 cup of water. I will be repeating this for the next few days and then I will try one more time. I did order a starter kit from amazon has a backup.
The presence of the liquid indicates that your starter is hungry and needs to be fed. Feed a little more at each feeding, feed more often, or both.
When you are done with the sourdough starter and you are about to put it in the fridge. Can it be in a container with a lid, or does it have to have a cloth over it?
Sincerely,
I keep it with cloth over it for 2 years already, it needs a little air to survive.
I followed all your instruction even the sourdough starter. The end when you put it all in the deep dish and let it sit for 4-5 hours before baking the bread is where I am having an issue. It won’t rise. The sourdough starter did work like you showed. Have you come across this situation?
I found my issue.
Sincerely,