Gluten free sourdough starter is a great way to use natural yeast in baked goods! With only a few ingredients and a couple of days of monitoring, you’ll have the best addition to gluten free breads and baked goodies!

The options are pretty much endless when it comes to using a gluten-free starter. Pizza, bread, waffles, pancakes, muffins, you name it!

There are mutliple different options for creating a gluten free starter that’s perfect for baking, but I’m going to share my favorite with you today! This one isn’t too tangy or sour like common gf starters.

When making a starter, there’s tons of different flour options to use. brown rice, sorghum flour, buckwheat flour, or a blend of our gluten-free flour, and there’s even the option of using a commercial gluten-free cup for cup type of flour, but I don’t personally recommend it. So let’s talk about why you need your own gluten-free sourdough starter…

Why do you need a gluten-free sourdough starter?

If you’re like me, and have celiac disease or maybe you have a very severe gluten allergy or gluten intolerance, it can be hard to find sourdough or other baked goods that are safe to eat and taste good.

That’s why we use a TRULY gluten-free sourdough starter recipe. It begins with gluten-free flour and never has anything else added.

I also personally wanted the benefits of sourdough like my friend Kelsey from Simple Life by Kels shares about HERE. For me with celiac disease though, I knew I needed an entirely gluten-free starter.

The thing that caught my attention most with what Kelsey said was how it has the ability to not only decrease the glycemic index of the food you are putting your GF sourdough starter in but also, everything else you eat for hours AFTER eating something with sourdough in it! Amazing!

Why you’ll love this sourdough starter

• It calls for pantry staple ingredients
• It’s super easy to make with a little maintenance and patience.
• You can use it in so many different recipes.
• It’s not tangy or sour which gives the perfect flavor and texture to whatever you’re baking.

What is wild yeast?

Wild yeast or sourdough starter is created by fermenting gluten-free flour and water. This fermentation process happens when the natural bacteria floating in the air of your home combine with the GF flour and water to create this cultured beauty! It’s a natural starter culture made right in your own home.

As I learned from my friend Laura Lives the Good Life, just one teaspoon of sourdough starter contains 5 billion lactobacilli bacteria or active cultures! Like you can also find in yogurt or kefir, this strain of probiotic is great for the body. It’s so much better than anything you could buy from the grocery store.

How to make a gluten-free sourdough starter

Day 1: Prepare

Step 1: Fill a clean, quart sized jar with 1/2 cup gluten-free flour and 1/4-1/2 cup water (not chlorinated tap water).

Step 2: Start with 1/4 cup flour then add a little as needed to get a consistency of pancake batter. The amount of water will vary depending on what type of flour you use.

Step 3: Gently place the lid on top but DO NOT screw it tight. Leave some space for air to flow.

Now, just let it sit out at room temperature (being in a warm place definitely helps) until tomorrow when you will go onto the next step…

Day 2: Rest and remove

Step 4: Remove the lid and discard half of the starter. Feed it another 1/2 cup gluten-free flour and 1/4-1/2 C filtered water then stir.

Day 3-7: Repeat

Step 5: Repeat the above step until day 7. Scrape down the sides of the jar using a spatula to prevent molding.

Pro Tip: Chlorinated top water will kill your starter. If you don’t know if yours is chlorinated simply leave a glass of water out on the counter overnight and the gas or chlorine will dissipate and then you can use that.

Can I make one with gluten-free all-purpose flour?

The best results are made by using single flours like brown rice, teff flour, white rice flour or sorghum flour or our blend of our gluten-free flour. Similar to other great recipes on our site like gluten-free pop tarts and gluten-free cinnamon rolls, following the recipe exactly yields a more “spot on” end result. However, we’ve also used a commercial GF all-purpose flour and it works ok, not great.

Make sure if you use commercial GF all-purpose flour, you avoid ones with bean flour, xanthan gum, or guar gum. Starches like tapioca starch, potato starch, corn starch or even cassia flour and nut flours like almond will not work either.

What is the BEST gluten-free flour for making a sourdough starter with?

Ok, are you ready for it? My family’s favorite was the brown rice starter for sure! It has great consistency and makes the most amazing gluten-free recipes. Our next favorite is the one we made using sorghum flour. The one I made with our blend of our gluten-free flour was also great good but not as good as the other two.

I didn’t personally like the one I made with commercial gf flour blend. It didn’t taste as good nor did it work as well in recipes.

How long does it take to get a mature starter ready to use as a leaven?

When your starter doubles in size and you see large bubbles within a few hours after a feeding, it is ready to bake with! Bubbly starter lets you know it is live and active.

The discard can easily be used in recipes like gluten-free zucchini bread and gluten-free biscuits that don’t call for yeast.

Why do you have to discard during the first week?

It may seem wasteful but if you don’t discard, your starter would get too large. You have to feed your starter AT LEAST what you have in the jar so if you never discard, it would get huge really fast.

How often do you feed and store your starter to maintain it?

“Feed” your starter every 24 hours for the first seven days. After that, if you plan on baking often, keep it on the counter and feed it daily.

If you’d like a bit less maintenance, store it in the refrigerator and feed it once a week at least. You can also take it out and feed it anytime you are ready to use it.

How do I make sourdough more mild or stronger in flavor?

To make sourdough baked goods stronger in sour taste and flavor, stir in the hooch or liquid that has collected on top of your starter. When you go to feed it you will see this on top.

Most consider this the waste product but the more often you stir in the hooch each time you feed your starter, the stronger sourdough flavor you will get.

If you want a more mild sourdough flavor that you can hardly taste, pour out the hooch before feeding and using the starter. The more you pour it off before feeding, the more mild tasting your sourdough starter will be.

How to use a gluten-free sourdough starter

When you are ready to use your gluten-free sourdough starter, simply feed it 1/2- 1 cup of flour and 1/2-1 cup of water depending on how much you need. Then leave it out on the counter for at least thirty minutes to get live (active starter) and happy before using it.

Then you will use 1 cup of gluten-free sourdough starter in most recipes that call for dry yeast with 1 C warm milk or water.

I love using my sourdough starter in everything from our homemade sourdough bread recipe and gluten-free pancakes to gluten-free stuffing with our leftover gluten-free bread. The bread dough can be made in a loaf pan or in a dutch oven or cast iron skillet lined with parchment paper for a more rustic loaf.

How do you increase your starter for a large recipe?

To increase your starter for larger recipes, simply feed your starter the wet and dry ingredients you need for the recipe plus a bit extra to have something left.

As long as you have at least a tablespoon of your starter left, you can start a new starter or build yours back up. You can also do a bulk fermentation by using larger doll and 2-3x quantities of ingredients as you follow the directions.

If you love this recipe, please let us know below. Consider leaving a comment, a rating or sharing on social media. We are so grateful for wonderful readers like YOU! Here are some other great recipes perfect for using your sourdough starter and discard in…

• Gluten-Free Crescent Rolls
• Gluten-Free Buttermilk Biscuits
• BEST Gluten-Free Waffles

This post was originally posted on January 27, 2021 but has since been updated (May 2023).

This is hands down the BEST gluten free sourdough bread! It is soft, fluffy and full of gluten-free whole grains that nourish the body.

The honey adds just a touch of sweetness that make this bread perfect for everything from sandwiches to sourdough French toast! We even love making breadcrumbs out of it. This really is such a versatile recipe and great for using in a variety of ways.

Gluten-Free Sourdough Bread

A good gluten free sourdough bread recipe was the top of everyones list for things I needed to make with my gluten-free sourdough starter. I get it, a good gluten-free bread recipe gives you a great canvas for sandwiches like our Moons Over My Hammy, big, buff and cheesy gluten-free sandwich or pizza grilled cheese.

You can also use it to make gluten-free croutons or fantastic breadcrumbs for our gluten-free fried ravioli or gluten-free meatloaf. We even use it to make pecan pie bread pudding! I also love making our sourdough muffins and sourdough French toast, yum!

But, I decided to first master BIG buttery & fluffy gluten-free sourdough crescent rolls because I know that recipe from our regular gluten-free crescent rolls so well. They turned out so great that I couldn’t wait to get started on a bread recipe for you using nourishing sourdough! I love using this bread to also make gluten free garlic bread.

This recipe is one my mom and I have been making for years and we already knew it was good so making it with sourdough just made sense. Truly, this wild yeast bread is fluffy, soft and full of flavor!

It has lots of flavor and reminds me of whole grain wheat bread but using gluten-free grains making it perfect for those with gluten sensitivity. It is a bit sweeter and softer like white bread as well.

Serve it up with our viral Tik Tok butter board recipe. Or delicious soups like our Instant Pot hamburger soup, gluten-free cream of chicken soup, gluten-free chicken noodle soup or this minestrone soup. If low carb is your thing, try these soups with keto bread as well.

Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter

We started this gf sourdough journey over on our Instagram page where we share our entire experience as we made THREE different kinds of gluten-free starter recipe. Each was very different in consistency and yielded a slightly different end product.

One of the starters was extra tangy and sour. I now know it was because in that one, the hooch collected at the bottom and rarely got dumped out but rather stirred in. The other two starters made excellent rolls as well and neither even tasted of sourdough!

But starting one is very simple. We’ve tried with brown rice only, a mix of my gluten-free flour mix and a Bob’s Red Mill 1-1 GF flour blends and all worked. I will say that the flour blends didn’t work as well and that’s because of the starch I believe.

I also think blends usually contain xanthan and guar gum which doesn’t help the starter either. It’s the same reason cassava flour and gf starches do not work as a starter base. Even so, my family’s favorite was the brown rice starter especially for making this gf bread.

You can also use buckwheat flour, teff flour or sorghum flour to create your gluten free-starter. We did sorghum and it was delicious and hearty plus had more nutritional benefits than the brown rice only.

You can even get a bit fancy and use organic white rice flour, organic millet flour or organic sorghum flour. Whatever you choose to use is great but I will say, using fresh flour really helps get the best result and a good starter.

“Feed” your gf starter every 24 hours for the first seven days. We show you exactly how to take care of your gluten-free sourdough starter here. It will walk you through the fermentation process and help you along the way.

What kind of sourdough bread is gluten-free?

The answer is simply, only those made with a gluten free sourdough starter AND with entirely gluten-free ingredients. While regular sourdough bread does have significantly less gluten than regular bread, it is still NOT gluten-free as it does contain gluten. 

Gluten-free baking can seem intimidating at first but its worth it to keep your belly happy. You will agree once you taste this delicious gluten-free loaf of bread.

Gluten-Free Oats

Some people with celiac disease are not able to tolerate oats. The best thing to ensure your oats are truly gluten-free is to buy them certified gluten-free. We like and trust Gluten-Free Prairie oats because they are grown in dedicated gluten-free fields in gorgeous Bid Sky, Montana.

We use the oats whole on top of the bread and ground as flour in the bread. You can also buy oat flour but its so easy to grind it in your blender or Nutrimill.

Their oats are amazing in so many recipes including our chocolate oatmeal cake, gluten-free meatloaf and gluten-free oatmeal cream pies.

How to make this bread…

• Using a sturdy mixer (we used our Bosch mixer) combine all dry ingredients from oat flour to psyllium husk powder
• Add the eggs, milk, honey and vinegar and mix until combined
• Add the butter, Chia seeds and sourdough starter making sure to scrape down the sides as needed. Mix for an additional 3 to 4 minutes. Bread dough will be thick but still sticky. Cover and let rest for 2 hours

• Grease a loaf pan liberally with olive oil (or another oil you prefer) then transfer the dough into the bread pan 
• Use your hands or a spatula to smooth the top and edges. Place the dough in a warm draft-free place and let rise for 5 to 6 hours until the dough is about 2 inches above the pan
• Heat oven to 350°. Brush top of the loaf with beaten egg (ONLY IF YOU WANT A CRISP TOP!) & sprinkle w/ gluten-free oats & course sea salt. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes.
• Cool bread on a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing from pan. The bottom of the bread will sound hollow when you tap it.

How do I make sourdough more mild or stronger in flavor?

This is a very mild sourdough bread. If after the first attempt, you find that you want it to be more sour, you can absolutely make that happen.

To make sourdough baked goods stronger in flavor, stir in the hooch or liquid that has collected on top. When you go to feed your starter, you will see this on top. The more often you stir in the hooch each time you feed your starter, the stronger sourdough flavor you will get.

If you want a more mild sourdough flavor that you can hardly taste, pour out the hooch before feeding and using the starter. The more you pour it off before feeding, the more mild tasting your sourdough starter will be.

Can I make it dairy-free?

Yes, you can remove the buttermilk powder or replace it with coconut milk powder. You can exchange the butter for a dairy-free option. Earth Balance butter sticks work great.

You will also need to replace the milk with full fat coconut milk (the fat helps the recipe) as well. It will work though and will be delicious!

Can you change the shape of the bread?

Yes! While we haven’t tried, you can certainly experiment using a hot dutch oven lined with parchment paper as well for a more rustic looking loaf. 

You can also split the dough into smaller sizes for mini loaves.

How do I store this gluten free sourdough bread?

This bread is fantastic right out of the oven nice and warm, but also good at room temperature the next day.

Once cooled, you should store the loaf in an airtight container. It is best within the first 2 days. You can reheat it in the microwave to give it a bit more softness and warmth like when it’s fresh out of the oven.

Does it freeze well?

You can make this bread and freeze it once baked. I like to slice it before freezing so I can pull out one slice as needed. Unthaw in the refrigerator or toast to unthaw.

What else can I use this bread for?

You can use this homemade sourdough bread for our gluten-free French toast bites or gluten-free stuffing. Both are fantastic!

I also love making it into breadcrumbs for making our Instant Pot meatballs, gluten-free meatloaf and for coating our air fryer ravioli or gluten-free ravioli.