Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter (Grain-free Option)
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If you love sourdough like I do, but you’ve gone on a gluten-free diet, I have some great news for you. Yes, you can make gluten-free sourdough from this Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter and there are no special ingredients to buy!
And that’s not all: you can make a grain-free sourdough starter too. Read on to get all of the sourdough-loving life-changing info you’ve been waiting for.
I’m convinced that 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.
We LOVE the tangy flavor of sourdough, and 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. I am now that much closer to my goal!
In order to prepare myself for this post, I wanted to put myself in the shoes of someone who is gluten-free.
When most people think “gluten-free,” they think that bread is no longer an option–particularly breads like sourdough.
So in order to be able to empathize with them in their struggle to balance nutrition with their allergies or intolerance… I did some “research.”
Basically, I wanted to think about what it would be like to be gluten-free.
And bread-free.
So I ate bread.
Homemade bread.
Two pieces, actually.
With a lot of butter.
And I realized how much I would miss it if I weren’t able to eat bread like this on a regular basis.
I’m not trying to rub it in anyone’s face – quite the contrary! I know how fortunate my family is to be able to eat whatever we want without breaking out in hives or keeling over in digestive pain.
It saddens me to imagine what it would be like to:
– not be able to walk into my kitchen and slice off a piece of bread whenever I want
– request the waiter to remove the basket of bread instead of refilling it
– worry about being sick for days because someone accidentally contaminated a cooking spoon!
I think I can understand your pain.
That’s why it truly brings me joy to share with you a way to have your cake–er, bread–and eat it too.
Gluten-free sourdough, baby. Oh yeah.
Imagine capturing wild yeast out of thin air and cultivating it over a period of several days so that, without any help at all, it will magically make the dough rise and become a beautiful (and relatively inexpensive–) gluten-free loaf of bread.
It really isn’t as hard as it sounds!
But it is incredibly healthy! Quite possibly the healthiest bread you can make!
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Benefits of Sourdough
There are many benefits to sourdough including:
Easily Digestible
Sourdough is easier to digest than regular bread (preventing issues like indigestion, etc.)
Beneficial Bacteria
Sourdough contains the healthy gut bacteria lactobacillus (the same major player in yogurt and kefir)
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 isn’t any different than 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. I personally have successfully made gluten-free sourdough starter with brown rice flour, but I’ve read others have had success with white rice flour, teff flour, sorghum flour, or even a gluten-free all-purpose blend.
Typically, in the same way that using a blend of alternative sweeteners will work best when substituting for sugar, using a variety of flours will work best for your gluten-free sourdough.
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 20ppm 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 gf.
Please take care that if you need to avoid gluten that avoid traditional sourdough.
Grain-Free & Paleo Options
Since this post was published, several readers have asked if you can make sourdough starters without grains. Well, the good news is: YES YOU CAN! There are 2 schools of thought on this, however.
Some say that you need at least 1/3 of your flours to be a starch: tapioca, arrowroot, or maybe cassava flour. Starch is what feeds the yeast so that is the reason behind this requirement. If using coconut flour, however, you will need to add more water to the starter. Instead of a close to 1:1 ratio, for every cup of coconut flour that you use, you will need to use about 1 2/3 cups of water.
Coconut Flour Sourdough Starter
Can you make a starter from only coconut flour? Good questions.
There are some who say that you can, while others say that you cannot.
The information is in the recipe card so you can try it, but you might need to add some sauerkraut juice for it to work and not sure what kind of recipes you can make with it.
Sourdough Starter from Only Nuts / Nut Flours
You can make sourdough starter from nuts and likely only from nut flours, but you will need to add a fermented medium to the starter–like sauerkraut.
Sourdough Recipes
Gluten-Free Sourdough Recipes
The following are a variety of gluten-free sourdough bread recipes for you to experiment with. Because in all honesty, all sourdough breads (with or without gluten) are an experiment. A tasty experiment you can top with butter.
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
This is a grain-free sourdough recipe for you to try after you have your sourdough starter ready to go:
Grain-free Sourdough by It Takes Time
Grain-free AIP Sourdough Recipe
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 (some grain-free options will work)
- 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 flour (whatever gluten-free or grain-free flour or gluten-free flour blend you like) 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: 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 1 GF 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: For a Paleo Sourdough Starter or AIP Sourdough Starter, just use organic cassava flour or organic tiger nut flour in place of the gluten-free grain flours.
- THM: This recipe is an “E” for those on the Trim Healthy Mama plan.
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.
Boost Your Starter
One thing you can do is to 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 or grain-free flour
- 5 1/4 cups filtered water
Coconut Flour Sourdough Starter
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 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 gluten-free sourdough 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!
For Coconut Flour Starter
- Cover the bowl with a plate or other air tight cover, making sure there’s at least a 1/2-inch gap of air at the top.
- Approximately every 12 hours add another 1/8 cup of coconut flour and ½ cup purified water. Stir well and cover.
- In 24–48 hours the mixture should get bubbly and smell fermented. If no bubbles form, try increasing the frequency of feedings to every 8-10 hours.
- If at any time there isn't a 1/2 inch gap at the top of the starter, move it to a larger bowl.
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 1 GF 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: For a Paleo Sourdough Starter or AIP Sourdough Starter, just use organic cassava flour or organic tiger nut flour in place of the gluten-free grain flours.
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is merely an approximation. Optional ingredients are not included and when there is an alternative, the primary ingredient is typically used. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts since they have been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.
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!
Cultures For Health Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter Culture
Cultures for Health is a trusted brand for all things fermented. Make tangy, fluffy sourdough bread indefinitely with this heirloom-style starter. Non-GMO and and easy to follow recipe!
This is a fabulous jumping off point for tons of healthy creativity in the kitchen. So many options from breads to biscuits and more.
Tiffany is a frugal foodie, balancing the desire to feed her family healthy food while being a good steward of her finances. She realized it was possible to eat nourishing, traditional food on a budget if she made baby-sized changes in the kitchen. She continues to work hard at mastering real foods without going broke and shares her journey at Don’t Waste the Crumbs.
Hi, do you whisk in the flour and water every time you feed it or do you just mix it in with a spoon?
Hi there – you do not need to whisk–a spoon is completely fine. Enjoy!
I started this sourdough bread starter and it’s working brilliantly and I’m on my fourth day. The only question I have is if you can put it into hibernation or somehow do smaller feedings when you’re not making the bread.
Glad to hear it! I have heard that you can put it in the fridge and keep in the coldest part of the fridge, feeding it once a month.
For this starter recipe, do you NOT discard 1/2 before feeding?
You don’t need to discard ever technically, but discarding typically happens only if your starter outgrows the bowl or when you need to maintain it.
And then what recipe do you use to make bread? TIA
Hi there – there are links in the post – are you not able to see them? I will check to make sure that they are clearly indicated.
Got it! Thanks!
You are welcome!!
I just made my 3rd GF sourdough bread. As for the starter, I keep mine in a 1 litre Mason jar with a paper towel covering lid (I screw ring on to hold paper towel in place), and keep it in my cupboard away from all light while feeding it 2x/day. By 4th or 5th day, it starts to bubble. I’ve made my starter with just brown rice flour to start and then add different GF flours, such as oat, teff, amaranth, etc. throughout the week until Day 7 which is when I make my bread.
And then what recipe do you use for your bread? TIA.
Hi there – there are links in the post to a variety of recipes. Hopefully I will have one on the blog soon!
So this is just gf flour and water? There’s no yeast or sugar or milk?
Yes – the natural yeast from the air is what ferments it.
Do you move the starter to a different bowl each time? You state that on the first day there should be about a half inch air space between the starter and the plate.
Some people recommend putting it in a new bowl each time, while others don’t mention that as something that needs to be done.
I’m on day 7, and my starter has never gotten bubbly or had that dome shape. I did sub some apple cider vinegar in one day. I used Bobs Red Mill GF flour and another GF flour. If it’s not bubbly, does that mean it’s not ready?
Something must be going wrong–is your kitchen warm enough?
I’m thinking that might be the problem. I put it in another room that I thought was warmer, where the thermostat is, and it ranges 68-70 but it must still not be warm enough. Is there any way to save this or should I just try a different recipe with yeast?
I am reading it needs to be 70 degrees round the clock. I haven’t read that it’s a problem to keep trying in your case but just make sure it doesn’t mold or otherwise go “off”.
Hi Adrienne,
I came upon your website looking for a gluten free sourdough starter. I have done regular starter but never gluten free. Do I have to discard after each feeding like the regular starter?
Hi there. Welcome! There are a lot of things on the internet about this where some even say you don’t have to discard. So in theory you do, but you might be able to get away without it :).
So is the starter made with Rye flour good for diabetics or do I have to use a different flour for the starter?
Hi there. Sorry but I cannot make medical recommendations. I would consult with a physician on that topic. Thanks for reading!
When you say wait 12-24 hours, is that when you start feeding the starter? I’m new a sourdough bread.
Yes – after the 12 – 24 you start feeding – hope it goes well for you!
Hi! I was trying to make the starter and after about 5 days I got fuzzy layer of mild on the top. Is the starter ruined? What did I do wrong? Thanks!!!
Yikes – Was the temperature the right level….did you do everything else the right way? If the mold is only affecting the top of the starter, I have read that you can discard that part and keep using it but I am very nervous about mold so not sure I would do that. Use your best judgement!
What is the nutrition info on your ready to make at home product?
Hello Cindy – do you mean the starter–and which one…gluten free or grain free? I can only pick one and put it on the site. Otherwise please choose an online calculator that you like and use that. Thanks.
I used a half cup each of flour and water. Flours sere brown rice and potato. It wasnt smooth when mixed, it was sticky. Can i add more water?
You can always do whatever you think you need to make it the right texture.
Can you post how many carbs are in it and how many carbs would be in the paleo version? I am a diabetic and carbs are more important to me than gluten. Some are both. Thanks.
Hi there. Since you aren’t going to be eating the starter, but will be eating the bread, there really isn’t a serving size for the starter. Does that make sense? Let me know how I can help. Thanks!
I have Celiac Disease, and while it was a guest writer, I was impressed by how she tried to put herself in our shoes. Not everyone cares enough to do so! I’m glad I found your post doing a search for Gluten free sourdough recipies and I plan to use it to make starter. In most cases with cooking from home, I follow normal recipies just substitute flour with gluten free flour and so on. My 16 year-old also has Celiac Disease so making sure she eats gluten free is very important. As an auto-immune disease it could trigger other auto-immune diseases like MS and some cancers. So thank you for allowing her to guest write, an amazing heart to even try to think about how we feel. I look forward to reading more from you!
Welcome, Traci! That was kind of her for sure. I hope this works well for you!!
Yes, there is that concern with autoimmune. Important to do whatever you can to take care of your body! I was glad to have her here as well. I have done quite a bit of updating the post since it was done a long time ago–will be working on more possibly in the near future. Look forward to seeing you around and we also have a Healthy Living Group on FB if you’d like to join us: https://www.facebook.com/groups/171490083677560/
The article says “Do not try to make sourdough starter with brown rice flour alone. Trust me.” Uhhh…okay. Why? And how should we alter the recipe? And does the starter still work if it’s only brown rice flour– does cooking woth the starter change?
Hi there. I just updated the post to read better. Sorry this was written by another blogger. I’m not sure what her thoughts would be but you can read mine now. Hope that helps!
I am really sorry, but if was the most confusing recipe I’ve ever read. It has very unclear instructions. Gluten free is already complicated and not easy for a lot of people, and this recipe of a starter makes it even harder. I was looking for gluten free starter but without a starter package and this website was the first on google and looked like what I needed. Thank you at least for telling where you copied the recipe from. This was the only way I could understand the actual process. Very misleading and unprofessional.
Hello Anna. Welcome and thanks for reading.
I am very confused by your comment, however. First of all, this is not copied from anywhere–what made you think that it was? It is a guest post written by another blogger who wanted exposure for her blog so she asked to write for me.
Second, there are steps written out including corresponding photos. Can you tell me what was confusing? We had to update the post recently due to a need to change things so that Google could understand the recipe (yes, blogging can be exceedingly technical and demanding) and had to put the steps in 2 places…one without photos and one with. It’s possible we could put small photos again in the recipe card but I didn’t want people to waste ink printing them if they didn’t need them.
Please do explain. Happy to clarify things and adjust the post as necessary. Thanks in advance.
First, the ingredient list is wrong, because it is 1/2 a cup of each only for the first batch. After 12/24 hours you add MORE ingredients. 1/2 cup of each EACH feeding and that’s the second confusing thing, because you neither put it on the ingredient list neither mention later that EACH feeding requires 1/2 a cup of each. It really sounds like you take 1/2 a cup of water and 1/2 cup of flour and devide this amount into 12 feedings (6 days). That leads to a third confusing thing – the size of a jar you keep your sour dough going. I started in a small one and had to transfer to a bigger one once I read the whole and original ( I assume ) recipe at save the crumbs. You don’t say what temperature you keep it going. You don’t give instructions about how to preserve or baking. You refere to Instruction #4 which does not exist. Even better, when someone asks you about cooking instructions you just tell them to look it up on the other websites that you linked at the end of the post! I am sorry, how many misleading and confusing instructions I mentioned already? There is no actual recipes you made out of this particular sour dough started. The website save the crumbs have all the clear pictures and instructions how to make gluten free sourdough. It really looked like you took it from there and just made a short confusing version. That’s I felt. But it might be totally all right for someone else who is more experienced in sourdough making.
Hi Anna.
Sorry for the delay in responding. I will go through point by point.
First of all, I did not steal this from the other site. You will notice that Tiffany’s bio is at the end of the post. It’s her post. She wanted to write for me to get exposure b/c my blog was larger than hers.
Since that time, she has taken additional photos and changed her post more.
Blogging is very time consuming and I spend hours and hours responding to people, helping them, and researching new topics (and managing technical issues), so I can’t be on top of everything, especially when it’s a topic I am not that familiar with, as is the case with sourdough.
In any case, here are my other thoughts.
1. I adjusted the ingredient list. You can see the Tiffany’s are still incorrect according to your concerns.
2. As for the jar, it should be in a bowl as indicated. You could do a jar–that’s your choice. I’m updating the post accordingly. Again, this was an oversight by the original writer.
3. As for temperature, that is being updated as well.
4. This is for sourdough starter–not for bread. So that is why we had the links to other recipes. I will see if we can add that to the post but Tiffany doesn’t have instructions either. Again, this is for sourdough starter and not making bread. If it was a bread recipe then it wouldn’t make sense to not have baking instructions. She has another separate post about bread. I can see if we can get that on my blog.
5. Not sure what you think is missing about #4. I see instructions there.
Sometimes bloggers forget to add things and later realize that they needed them.
I hope this clarifies everything!
It won’t let me reply.
Hi again, Anna. Not sure what you are referring to here. Are you saying that you can’t reply to a comment? Let me know. Thanks.
I typed a text about confusion in the recipe but it said I can’t post it because it looks like I’ve already said it and it’s a double comment. It looks like you already fixed the ingredient list. Also would be nice to see how you preserve the starter or keep feeding and what you cooking out of it. That’s it. Thank you.
Hello again. Yes, the system alerts to duplicate comments and I moderate all comments.
We are working on the preserve / feeding part. Again, hope that helps.
It appears to me that Tiffany had a cursory post that she submitted to me and then updated the one on her site to a more professional and helpful post. Again, I did not copy. Her name is on the post. Thanks :).
Once you’ve combined the starter ingredients, do you leave it at room temperature to rest or in the fridge?
Room temp otherwise it won’t ferment.
Thank you, I’m new to fermenting this will be my first go at it.. also what do you mean by ‘scant’ in reference to the water measurement ?
Sure! Scant means not sufficient so “a little less than.”
I’m sort of confused. How long after the initial starter is begun, do you start using it to make bread. Also, do you make bread everyday?
Hi there. See step #4 in the instructions. You do not need to make bread every day. You can put the starter in the fridge to save it for later.
Once you have the sponge, what are the cooking instructions?
There are a number of links to GF sourdough recipes at the end of the post. I hope to have one on my site soon – thanks!
Any updates on a recipe that has worked well?
Hi there – I haven’t tried any but the ones that are linked to at the bottom of the post should work :).
Excellent post! We will be linking to this particularly great article on our website. Keep up the good writing.|
Thank you!