Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter (Grain-free Option)
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If you love sourdough but need to avoid gluten, you don’t have to give up that wonderful tangy flavor. You can make a gluten-free sourdough starter using gluten-free flour, water, and a little time.
I’ve always loved good sourdough, so finding ways to enjoy it while eating gluten-free is especially interesting to me. And while making a starter can sound intimidating at first — all that feeding, bubbling, fermenting, and wondering whether you’re doing it right — the basic idea is actually quite simple.
A sourdough starter is a living culture made from flour and water. As it ferments, naturally occurring yeasts and bacteria become established in the mixture, eventually creating a starter that can be used in sourdough baking.
Gluten is a big health concern for many, but I still love good bread. And while this flax bread is super tasty, there’s just nothing like a good sourdough.
Since there are so many people who can’t tolerate gluten, I’ve been meaning to try my hand at making gluten-free sourdough bread. Thankfully there is a reliable way to do that.
This recipe was originally contributed by a guest writer and has been updated over the years with additional tips, troubleshooting information, and gluten-free flour options. I’ve also included information about grain-free sourdough for those who need Paleo or AIP-friendly alternatives, with notes about where those methods differ from the gluten-free starter recipe below.
Benefits of Sourdough
There are many benefits to sourdough including:
Easily Digestible
Sourdough is easier to digest than regular bread.
Fewer Nutrient-Binding Qualities
Most of the phytic acid in sourdough is broken down, reducing the effects of nutrient-binders on other foods in your diet.
Lower Glycemic Load
Since sourdough takes longer to digest, it doesn’t cause as much of a spike in blood sugar as traditional bread does.
Functions As a Prebiotic
Sourdough functions as a prebiotic, so it helps support healthy digestion.
Reduced Acrylamide
Souring the dough reduces the amount of the amino acid asparagine which is a precursor of acrylamide formation, and acrylamide is a cancer-causing ingredient found in toasted grains, including bread crusts. So with sourdough, you can enjoy your bread crust with less acrylamide.
Gluten-Free vs. Regular Sourdough
Making a gluten-free sourdough starter is the same basic idea as making a regular sourdough starter.
– Both start with flour and water.
– Both take a few days, and both get bubbly.
– The only real difference comes when you’re ready to make sourdough bread and you have to pull out all the various types of gluten-free flour.
Gluten-free sourdough starter can be made in as little as seven days using gluten-free flour, water, and a medium-sized bowl. You can use brown rice flour, white rice flour, teff flour, sorghum flour, or even a gluten-free all-purpose blend.
Is Sourdough Gluten-free?
While many think that sourdough is already gluten-free, here are the facts.
I have seen this argument many times. People claim that white flour has no gluten in it since all of the gluten is in the hull, and that whole grain flour sourdough bread is gluten-free since the enzymes break down the gluten.
Sadly, that is not the case.
White flour has between 8-11% gluten so all the gluten is not in the outer hull that is sifted away.
Not enough of the gluten is broken down by the fermentation process. The definition of gluten-free is 20 ppm or less. Sourdough is known to have 2000 ppm of gluten. Regular bread has 80000 in many instances, so 2000 is less, but it’s not gluten-free.
Please take care that if you need to avoid gluten that avoid traditional sourdough.
Grain-Free and Paleo Sourdough Starter Options
Since this post was first published, many readers have asked whether it’s possible to make a sourdough starter without grains. The short answer is yes — but grain-free sourdough starters can behave very differently from starters made with gluten-free grain flours.
That means grain-free flours should not automatically be treated as a direct 1:1 substitute in the starter recipe below.
Some grain-free sourdough methods work best with starchier ingredients, while others use a fermented liquid to help get the starter going. Because of that, the flour choice, the amount of water needed, and even the fermentation method can vary quite a bit.
Grain-Free Flours People Use
Grain-free sourdough starter is made from ingredients such as:
- cassava flour
- green banana flour
- tiger nut flour
- coconut flour
Each of these behaves differently, so results can vary depending on the method used.
Important Note
I have not personally tested all of these grain-free options in the exact starter method below, so I don’t want to recommend them as direct substitutes without that clarification. If you’re specifically looking for Paleo or AIP sourdough, grain-free sourdough is definitely worth exploring — just know that it may take a little experimenting to find the method that works best for you.
I’m leaving this information here because I know many readers need grain-free options, and I hope to test more of them in the future.
Coconut Flour Sourdough Starter
Coconut flour is one of the most interesting grain-free options, especially for people avoiding grains, nuts, seeds, and/or carbs, but it’s also one of the trickiest.
Because coconut flour absorbs much more liquid than most other flours, it does not behave like brown rice flour, sorghum flour, or other typical gluten-free flours. In other words, it should not be treated as a simple substitute in a standard gluten-free sourdough starter recipe.
Some people do experiment with coconut flour sourdough starters, but I want to be clear that I do not currently have a tested bread recipe specifically for a coconut flour starter. So for now, this is definitely a more experimental option than a standard recommendation.
One option is that coconut flour may be useful in other grain-free recipes such as flatbreads or cracker-style recipes, where additional ingredients can provide the structure that coconut flour lacks.
Can You Make Sourdough With Nut Flours?
Nut flours such as almond or cashew flour can be used in some grain-free fermented breads, but they don’t behave like grain-based sourdough flours and aren’t a simple substitute in the starter recipe below.
Some grain-free methods combine nut flours with a starchier ingredient and use a fermented or probiotic liquid, such as sauerkraut juice, to help start fermentation. Because the ingredients and methods vary quite a bit, I haven’t found one reliable, universal method for making a sourdough starter from nut flour alone.
If you’re experimenting with nut-flour sourdough, I recommend following a recipe specifically developed for that combination rather than substituting nut flour into a traditional gluten-free starter recipe.
Note: Tigernut flour is sometimes included in grain-free sourdough recipes, but despite its name, tigernut is a tuber, not a nut.
Sourdough Recipes
Gluten-Free Sourdough Recipes
The following are a variety of gluten-free sourdough bread recipes for you to experiment with.
Keep in mind that every recipe will be different, calling for different types of flour and possibly using yeast. I’ve included several sources so that you can find something that suits you!
- Gluten-Free Brown Rice Sourdough
- Artisan Style Sourdough
- Sourdough Bread Boule
- Rustic Gluten-Free Sourdough
- Bread Srsly’s Sourdough
- An excellent bread recipe, plus recipe adaptations in Sourdough A to Z by GNOWFGLINS
- Bread Machine Sourdough – note that you can try to adapt regular recipes to the bread machine, but here’s one that is done for you.
Any of these recipes would be great topped with butter or Homemade Nut Butter. Mmmmmm.
Grain-free Sourdough Recipes
Here are some sourdough recipe for you to try after you have your sourdough starter ready to go:
There are other grain-free sourdough recipes out there but those that call for a nut base will need a different method for fermenting due to them needing something to jump start it (like sauerkraut) rather than just the starch. This recipe is an example of that. I hope to have some additional recipes for you in the future.
What You’ll Need
To make gluten-free sourdough starter, you’ll need:
- gluten-free flour (see the Grain-Free and Paleo Sourdough Starter Options section above for grain-free methods)
- water
- a jar (or bowl)
- a cover
- something to secure the cover
How to Make the Starter
Following are some images and some brief info about how to do this. Full instructions are below.
Combine gluten-free flour and water.
Feed the starter for several days.
When your sponge looks like photo #8, you’re ready to make sourdough bread!
Recipe Notes and Substitutions
- Ingredient Amounts: The amounts we give in the ingredient list are the amounts you will need if you only feed the starter twice a day, which is the least number of times you should feed it. So if you feed it more often, you will of course need more flour and water.
- Flour: Different gluten-free flours behave differently in a sourdough starter. Brown rice, sorghum, teff, and other whole-grain gluten-free flours are commonly used. The hydration may need to be adjusted depending on the flour.
Grain-Free: Grain-free sourdough starters are possible, but the flour, hydration, and fermentation method can vary. See the Grain-Free and Paleo Sourdough Starter Options section above before experimenting with a grain-free version.
Troubleshooting Your Starter
Here are three of the most common things that you might notice while watching your starter and what they mean:
Too Much Starter
If after a few days the starter begins to outgrow the bowl, pour some off to make a batch of sourdough pancakes. Leave at least 1/2 cup of starter in the bowl to continue feeding.
Liquid At the Top
Liquid may or may not collect at the surface of the starter. Either case is normal. (FYI: the liquid contains more lactobacillus and gives the bread its sourdough taste.)
No Bubbles
If you do not see bubbles at the top or at the sides of the starter, add a third feeding. Try to keep the feeding intervals equal. For example, 6am, 2pm and 10pm are all equally apart at 8 hours.
One thing you can do in this case is add one to two tablespoons of water kefir, dairy kefir, kefir whey or kombucha in place of the water for just one feeding. Since you are adding more bacteria “goodies” to the mix, you are boosting fermentation action.
FAQs
How Long Should You Feed Your Starter?
After the initial period of making the sponge, etc., your starter is officially in maintenance mode. Then you can feed it as often or as little as you like.
- At the very minimum, you can keep it in the fridge and feed it weekly. However, it’s not recommended to have it in the fridge until after it’s 4 weeks old.
- You can keep it on the counter and feed it daily, and use anything you don’t need for recipes.
- You could feed it daily with as little as 1 tablespoon of water and flour to keep it fed but not produce a lot of starter.
How Long Can You Store Your Starter?
You can keep it for quite a while provided you feed it daily. You will, however, need to revive it when you want to use it again.
- Three and a half days before baking, remove the starter from the fridge and bring it to room temperature (let it rest for about 1/2 a day.
- Feed with equal parts flour and water.
- About 1/3 of a day later, feed the starter again.
- Once you have foam and liquid rising to the top of the starter, you can use the starter for bread. If you don’t have that after 4-6 hours, keep feeding daily until you do.
Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter
Ingredients
Gluten-free Sourdough Starter
- 6 cups gluten-free flour
- 5 1/4 cups filtered water
Instructions
Gluten-free Sourdough Starter
- Combine 1/2 cup flour (whatever gluten-free flour or gluten-free flour blend you like) and a scant 1/2 cup filtered water in a medium to large bowl.Whisk until smooth and cover the gluten free sourdough starter with a cheesecloth or clean dishtowel to allow air to circulate but prevent particles from falling in.Set the bowl in a warm area where it will not be disturbed. A kitchen counter, pantry cabinet, or patio can all be good options.
- Wait 12-24 hours.
- At least twice a day for the next six days, at regular intervals, add 1/2 cup of flour and a scant 1/2 cup of filtered water to the existing starter. Mix until smooth, and cover.This is called feeding the starter.Make sure to watch your starter carefully.
- When your starter is very bubbly and creates a dome on top 2-3 hours after each feeding (like the above picture), you are ready to make bread. This is often called the sponge and typically it takes 5-7 days for this to happen.
- Use your starter for making the sourdough bread of choice. See above this recipe card in the post for some great options!
Notes
-
- Ingredient Amounts: The amounts we give in the ingredient list are the amounts you will need if you only feed the starter twice a day, which is the least number of times you should feed it. So if you feed it more often, you will of course need more flour and water.
-
- Flour: Gluten-free flour blends (just like with alternative sweeteners like stevia) tend to work best when used in conjunction with others. So it’s best not to try to make this sourdough starter or sourdough with only one type of gluten-free flour. Personally, I recommend using a blend of flours. As you can read in this gluten-free baking tips post, using a blend of flours tends to make baked goods turn out better when using alternative flours.
- Grain-Free / Coconut Flour Option: Grain-free sourdough starters are possible, but grain-free flours behave differently from gluten-free grain flours and may require different hydration or fermentation methods. Coconut flour in particular absorbs much more water, so it should not be substituted 1:1 for the flour in this recipe. I have not tested a bread recipe specifically for a coconut flour starter, so consider this an experimental option. See the Grain-Free & Paleo Options section above for more information.
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It may vary depending on ingredient brands, substitutions, and preparation methods. Optional ingredients are not included. Net carbs are typically calculated by subtracting fiber and sugar alcohols (such as erythritol) from total carbohydrates. This information should not be relied upon for medical or nutritional purposes.
A Great Gluten-free Sourdough Starter You Can Buy
I know how it goes. It’s exciting to think about doing everything yourself, but then you just might not get around to it.
If that’s how you’re feeling after reading this post, you can just buy this Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter and have it all done for you. This would make a great backup to have in your pantry too!
Both this packaged starter and your own homemade version are fabulous jumping off points for tons of healthy creativity in the kitchen.
SOMEBODY HELP ME! SO frustrated with my sourdough starter. I threw the first attempt out, but my second attempt is doing exactly what my first did. I am using reverse osmosis water and brown rice flour. I feed it every 12 hours and let it sit at room temperature. By the end of the first 24 hours, it is bubbling and growing. This continues through about 48 hours. By the end of the 3rd day, it is still bubbling but not really growing. After that, it just looks dead. It smells right and tastes right, but their is no yeast. Is it dead? What am I doing wrong?
Adrienne, you’ve been so kind to “Lori” but I would suggest to stop answering him. The hateful tone from”Lori” towards “fat women” suggests a misogynist is impersonating a woman in order to spread his hate on a page obviously populated by a large % of women. And as this thread is specifically to help people find a GF option for bread, why is “Lori -the-lurker” even here. If “Lori” doesn’t eat grains then why is he looking up GF bread recipes? “Lori” is just looking for an audience and hoping to get our reaction. Kind of like when teenage boys make dirty prank calls – they “get off” on the shock value. Adrienne, next time you see hateful anti-women statements (ie. “I’m sick of seeing fat women”) do not reply and direct any energy towards encouraging that person to continue on this thread. Let’s just ignore the hate until it gets bored and goes home. Thank you for being such a kind person. Now let’s get back on track and talk about this yummy sour dough bread!!!! ;D
Thanks, Valentine! I tend to let ’em see they can’t get a reaction but that’s good advice – thanks for the encouragement :)!
Thank you Valentine!
Why be on this thread and ruining it for those who are seeking healthier options when “Lori” is anti-bread anyway? Time for that very offensive hater to get back under the rock his/her narcissistic personality belongs under. Those who use hate and prejudice (toward “fat” people AND women in general in this case) to belittle others in order to feel that they are more perfect (when they obviously have serious psychological issues/personality disorders) cannot be allowed to use their words to abuse others in a forum such as this!
Why did you, Adrienne, allow that hater to continue to make abusive comments directed at your other posters and those who seek this site for knowledge and growth? Do you agree with the poster on some level? Why did you chose to allow those hateful posts to even be there to continue to abuse even more women who begin reading this thread?
I am very disappointed in the lack of moderator judgment that has been displayed. Depending on your response to these questions, I and others may choose not to visit any part of your site in the future. My support is reserved for those who have the integrity to choose to eradicate abuse in all forms whether it is the perpetrator him/herself or the bystander that allows it and is just as responsible for allowing it to continue!
Being kind is a great virtue, however, the responsibility of a moderator to disallow abuse toward a site’s visitors trumps that in an online forum…ESPECIALLY a site aimed at those who are seeking growth and healing!!!
HI Jen. I appreciate your commenting.
All of the comments came in at once and I personally have chosen to respond to ignorant comments rather than just deleting them – it sounds like you would prefer that I just delete them since they were replying to others and not simply direct comments to me, correct?
If so that is fine with me and I can go back and delete them.
Let me know your thoughts. I really appreciate your thoughts :). Most bloggers just delete anything negative and I have chosen not to do that – I felt that my responding to the person before approving was acceptable but if you think otherwise I will be happy to reconsider. Thanks again!
Thank you for your reply. My preference (and I am sure many, many more feel as I do) is to not allow abusively demeaning statements such as:
“but it’s not the only cause of why women/men are so fat nowadays…lack of discipline and self control are big contributing factors”
“the reason ppl. most ppl., part. women are fat,is b/c they have no self discipline and self control when it comes to diet and exercise – not ‘adrenals’, whatever that means”
“Again, my point was that most women are too fat, and should not be eating bread”
I HIGHLY doubt that “Lori” is a medical professional at any level. “Lori” is abrasively judgmental and mean-spirited toward both you and any of your viewers who are more than 15% body fat (which I am assuming is most) and my point is that by allowing this poster to insult your viewers have undoubtedly hurt the feelings and self-esteem of women who are purely seeking healing and knowledge from your site..
My understanding was that this string was supposed to be about learning how to make gluten-free sourdough bread….
It is about that….you would be surprised at the lengths some will go to insults folks – but it’s typically me they are after :). Would you like me to delete the comments? I am more than happy to do so and will be more careful in the future.
Sad some folks have nothing better to do, eh :)?
I just wanted to let you know that I disagree with Jen. As a woman and an obese person and a human being I don’t care for the ridicule and tone of the posts made by Lori and I feel nearly the same about the posts made by Jen. I appreciate your efforts to be courteous, to redirect, to inform, and even to call out Lori on rude tone. We benefit from grace so much more than from the total absence of the obscene. Let’s lift each other up in this journey! Many thanks for the info provided in this post and for all the commenters!
Thanks so much – I appreciate your encouragement!
I never said AHA was the ‘end all be all…’, I said 99% of people in the US fail to meet even their 7 most basic health criteria – 99% don’t exercise regularly, are overweight or obese, have high BP, have diabetes, etc.
Again, my point was that most women are too fat, and should not be eating bread. Ideally, women should be about 15% body fat, tops (they should only have 5% more than men). Bye!
Lori, what are you even doing in this conversation? It involves things that you yourself don’t wish to ingest. It’s none of your business if anyone else does, and frankly you sound like you have some body image issues that you might want to look at. Perhaps elsewhere……
? Yeah I mean…..not interested….hearing ‘adrenals’…the reason ppl. most ppl., part. women are fat,is b/c they have no self discipline and self control when it comes to diet and exercise – not ‘adrenals’, whatever that means.
Don’t believe it? The AHA tells us so. It says that less than 1% of the US, meet all 7 criteria for a healthy cardiovascular system (regular exercise, proper diet, maintaining a normal body weight, etc.).
And yes, I do think most women are too fat and do not need to be eating bread. The article said share thoughts……..that was my first thought. Tired of seeing fat women everywhere.
Hi again. I don’t personally think that the AHA is the end all and be all resource for heart health. They continue to bash saturated fats when more and more information is coming out about refined carbs being the real issue here. https://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/HealthyEating/Saturated-Fats_UCM_301110_Article.jsp
I hope you stay tuned and would love to hear what you think when I write about the Dr.’s findings. Thanks again.
So why did you say his opinion differs from mine? duh.
Hi Lori. I don’t know if you meant to be insulting but your tone comes off that way and I am just trying to be helpful. He gave an amazing talk about weight gain and adrenals and a study about it all and he made a very clear point that it isn’t like an alien came down and suddenly zapped our self control when obesity rates started skyrocketing. While I don’t think that he thinks that eating grains is a great option for everyone, I know that he thinks they are a valid option for many people. He just didn’t touch on grains during his talk.
I hope that I can get this into a post format for all of you – it was really incredible. Thanks again and I hope you stick around so you can read what he shared. Take care.
His conclusions are different than mine? Any doctor who says lack of discipline and lack of self control aren’t the main reasons for the obesity epidemic, and that grains are healthy, is not someone I’m interested in but thnx.
You’d have to see the research. It’s plainly fascinating. Thanks and hope to see you around again :). I don’t believe that he said that grains were healthy.
Yeah……carbs are needed by all…not by some I’d have to say. Veg and fruit are carbs…the rise in obesity, disease, cancer, etc. does coincide w/ the onset of modern agriculture…….grains/legumes…..just not human food, evolution of man, his diet. The digestive track of humans is carnivorous, not made for such stuff. Resistant starch? good if you want to eat it, not sure what it’s got to do w/ bread…….plantains, jicama, are res. starch, as well as non-human foods like beans…. The obesity problem in most of the world not just US…has gotten so bad, the if a woman is 20% body fat, she is considered ‘thin’ or ‘fit’, which is ridiculous.
Can’t condone grains, but it’s not the only cause of why women/men are so fat nowadays…lack of discipline and self control are big contributing factors. Take a look at the AHA’s criteria for cardiovasc. health and what percentage of Americans meet all 7…..it’s less than 1%. Yeah, most ppl. don’t need bread but good recipe for those that can’t do w/out….
Hi Lori. I for sure need to do a lot more learning about resistant starch. I think you would really love the upcoming Wellness Family Summit. I just met Dr. Alan Christianson this past week and he spoke about the obesity epidemic. I hope to type up notes soon. You would be very interested in them I think. His conclusions were different than yours and were based on very interesting research. I think you will really like it.
Why are you posting here? Those of us searching this site have done so with the thought of making sourdough. If I want a grain debate I’ll go somewhere else. Please troll some other site
Thanks, Donna :).
Judgemental twit!
This is why most women are fat. Bread of any kind is not human food. Women should eat protein, vegetables, fruits and nuts and seeds – not ‘bread’. Women are too fat now a days. I am female and do not eat bread and am about 14% body fat and in my forties (and I don’t eat bread).. Most women are waaay over that. This recipe is cool and all, but really women don’t need more fattening things to eat.
Hi there. I don’t totally agree with you. There is more and more info coming out about carbs being needed by some and that grains are well tolerated by some. Have you read about prebiotic resistant starch? I am just digging into this. Thanks and I would love to know what you think.
Hi Adrienne,
My sourdough is giving me such a hard time! I’ve been through two starters, 3 loaves of bread and a batch of dinner rolls. Each time I have the same exact problem: the bread does not cook!. It forms a very hard crust and NEVER cooks through. I left one loaf in for 2 hours just to see what would happen. The crust became like cement and the inside was still gooey. On my second batch, the dough rose beautifully, and the loaf looked great inside the oven, but when I took it out, the crust had totally separated from the rest of the bread–or the goop, that is. The only conclusion I can draw, since I’ve done each bread dough recipe slightly differently, is that my starter is inactive. But the starter I’ve been feeding now, I’ve had for almost 2 weeks, and I’ve been meticulously feeding it with precise measurements, distilled water, and Pamela’s All Purpose GF Flour Blend. It still doesn’t really look like any of the photos of bread-ready starter that I’ve seen. I don’t know if it’s the flour (even though I’ve used it to create wonderful pizza crusts, pie crusts, dinner rolls, etc), or if I need to actually put my starter outside where it can thrive. We live on the Gulf Coast so it’s very humid and warm…HOT right now actually. What am I doing wrong here??? The kitchen is one arena where I always come out on top. Not so much with this dang sourdough bread!!!
Hi there. So sorry for the late reply. I am trying to play catchup. I will contact the author to see if she can help out. I am not a sourdough expert and am off grains right now….:(.
From what I’ve run across in general searches on this today, distilled water is a bad choice for sourdoughs (and will kill even a regular sourdough starter – my start on the search was a friend pointing me to the following, telling me she wants me to try and make a gluten free sourdough starter for her, and it was noted here that distilled water is a -bad- idea: https://sourdoughhome.com/index.php?content=startermyway2 ) – the process of distillation takes out minerals necessary for the starter to survive, as the point of distillation is to leave you with water and *only* water.
Better options would be spring water or just filtered water, which will be lacking the added chlorine/fluoride/etc. but still have various other minerals in them.
If that doesn’t help, you may need to find some other type of flour, or buy a new batch – you could have one that could have had the naturally found yeast killed already.
Hi! I was wondering if I am able to use sorghum flour for the sourdough recipe above? If so, do I have to mix it with something else or is it ok by itself? Thanks!
I think you should be just fine- pls check back and let me know!