This is the best homemade gluten-free vegan bread recipe which is egg-free, dairy-free, yeast-free, and nutritious! This German bread is actually healthy since it contains psyllium husk powder. It’s crispy on the outside and soft on the inside!
Homemade Gluten-Free Vegan Bread
I cannot tell you how many times I tried making the perfect gluten-free vegan bread… Actually, I lost count how many times I ended up throwing the towel because it’s damn hard to create good gluten-free bread without eggs.
But since I can be quite stubborn (haha) I actually never gave up and continued with the recipe testing…
Psyllium Husk Powder
One day, I started experimenting with gluten-free pizza crust that contains psyllium husk powder. The recipe turned out so good, that I got intrigued.
To make a long story short, I made an online search about homemade gluten-free vegan bread + psyllium husk and found a couple of different recipes that were using huge amounts of psyllium husk powder in their bread recipes.
One recipe was from a German blogger, and she inspired me to give psyllium husk a try. I tweaked her recipe and used a different flour blend and the bread turned out amazing!
I was shocked by how great it turned out, especially since the bread is wheat-free (and therefore gluten-free), and egg-free (vegan)! It did rise, even though it doesn’t contain yeast and it actually looked like German bread from a bakery.
Conclusion: Psyllium husk powder is a godsend for gluten-free vegan baked goods. It’s also very healthy, especially for our gut! So please do yourself and favor and buy it or order it online. It’s cheap and absolutely amazing!
How To Make Gluten-Free Bread?
Check the video in the post to see how I made this amazing bread.
Step 1: Make the psyllium husk gel first. Mix the psyllium husk powder and water in a bowl. Try to be quick, because it gels instantly, within SECONDS. I always use a whisk, it works the best. Set aside and measure the dry bread ingredients in the meantime!
Step 2: It’s time to measure/weigh all dry ingredients and add them to a big bowl. You can also preheat your oven to 390 °F (ca. 200 °C) now.
Step 3: Mix it all together: Add the psyllium gel to the big bowl and mix all ingredients with a hand mixer (use the dough hooks). You can also knead the dough with your hands or use a Kitchen Aid. It will take about 5-10 minutes until the dough comes together.
Step 4: Shape the dough and bake the bread in the oven for about 55-60 minutes. That’s it!
Add Seeds Of Choice
I love adding pumpkin seeds but you can also use sunflower seeds, sesame seeds or nuts of choice (e.g. hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, almonds, etc).
The Ingredients
You can find all the ingredients with measurements below in the recipe card! Please also check the recipe notes below where I list different substitutes.
My favorite flour combo is this:
- Buckwheat flour
- Rice Flour
- Chickpea Flour
- Tapioca Flour
Recipe Notes & Substitutes
- Some readers replaced the buckwheat flour with oat flour or sorghum flour (or a combo) and the bread still turned out amazing.
- Rice flour works great in this bread recipe, but feel free to experiment with lentil flour, teff flour, sorghum flour, or quinoa flour.
- You can use arrowroot flour instead of tapioca flour/starch. Cornstarch or potato starch will most likely work as well.
- Chickpea flour is the same as garbanzo bean flour. It adds plant-based protein and I love adding it to bread. Some readers had success using oat flour instead.
- Psyllium husk powder is the most important ingredient in this recipe and cannot be subbed by any other ingredient. Make sure to use psyllium husk POWDER. If you have psyllium husk (not the powder), you can blend it in a blender or electric spice/coffee grinder until it’s a fine powder.
Can I Freeze Gluten-Free Bread?
You can definitely freeze this gluten-free bread! Slice it and wrap all individual slices in wax paper or parchment paper. Put in zip lock bags and freeze for up to 3 months. Let thaw at room temperature and then toast the bread once you want to serve it.
Other Gluten-Free Bread Recipes
You can serve the bread with stews, soups and all kinds of comfort meals. Make sure to also check out my other vegan and gluten-free bread recipes:
- Gluten-Free Baguette
- Gluten-Free Pita
- Gluten Free Naan
- Gluten Free Buns
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Pumpkin Bread
- Moist Vegan Cornbread
- Marbled Banana Bread
Should you give this gluten-free German bread recipe a try, please leave a comment and rating below and don’t forget to tag me in your Instagram or Facebook post with @elavegan and #elavegan because I love to see your remakes! 🙂
Gluten-Free Bread Recipe
Video
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 100 g (¾ heaped cup) buckwheat flour (see notes)
- 100 g (⅔ cup) white rice flour
- 100 g (1 cup) chickpea flour
- 40 g (5 Tbsp) tapioca flour/starch (see notes)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¾-1 tsp sea salt
- 50 g (⅜ cup) pumpkin seeds (optional - see notes)
Psyllium mixture:
- 450 ml (1.8 cups) water
- 30 g (3 Tbsp) psyllium husk powder (see notes)
Instructions
- I recommend using the metric measurements for this recipe (grams/ml). In a bowl, combine the water with the psyllium husk powder and whisk well. It will gel instantly and become thick. Set aside for 20-30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, measure/weigh all the dry ingredients and add them to a large bowl. Preheat the oven to 390 °F (200 °C).
- Add the psyllium gel to the bowl and knead the ingredients with a hand/ stand mixer (use a dough hook). You can also knead the dough with your hands. It will take about 5-10 minutes for the dough to come together.
- If the dough appears too wet, sprinkle it with 1-2 Tbsp tapioca flour. If it feels too dry, add a little water.
- Shape the dough into a round or rectangular loaf and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (I sprinkled the paper with a bit of tapioca flour).
- Bake for 50-60 minutes. Let the bread cool completely, then slice and enjoy. The bread freezes well, for up to 3 months!
Notes
Video Of The Recipe
- Psyllium husk powder is the most important ingredient in this recipe and cannot be substituted by any other ingredient. Make sure to use psyllium husk POWDER. If you have whole psyllium husk (not the powder), you can blend it in a blender or electric spice/coffee grinder until it's a fine powder.
- A few people mentioned a weird smell in the bread (I didn't, and most other people didn't either), however, I received a few helpful comments.
- You can use whole-grain buckwheat flour or regular, both are fine. Some people replaced the buckwheat flour with oat flour or sorghum flour (or a combo) and the bread still turned out amazing.
- Rice flour works great in this bread recipe, but feel free to experiment with lentil flour, teff flour, sorghum flour, or quinoa flour.
- You can use arrowroot flour instead of tapioca flour/starch. Cornstarch or potato starch will most likely work as well.
- Chickpea flour is the same as garbanzo bean flour. It adds plant-based protein and I love adding it to bread. Some readers had success using oat flour instead.
- Please don't compare this bread with wheat bread which contains gluten and yeast or a gluten-free bread which was made with eggs and yeast. It's hard to make a gluten-free, yeast-free, vegan bread, but this is the best recipe I have tried so far, and it turns out amazing every time! Depending on the flour mixture, the bread might end up more fluffy or dense.
- Pumpkin seeds: You can use sunflower seeds instead, however, they will turn green due to a chemical reaction with the baking soda/powder. This is perfectly fine and shouldn't concern you.
Nutrition information is an estimate and has been calculated automatically
Equipment
„Simple and Delicious Vegan“ Cookbook by ElaVeganCLICK HERE to order!If you are using Pinterest, feel free to pin the following photo:
Thank you Ela. This recipe is simple and wonderful. It is so easy to prepare and the finished result looks and tastes like a healthy bread. I’ve been trying to find a recipe that my bread loving husband will accept as a healthy alternative. It slices so easily and holds together beautifully. We love the taste as well. This recipe has won my husband over. It is also a winner with the gluten free vegans in the house. Finally I can prepare a bread that pleases everybody. Hooray!
My pleasure! I am so happy you all love it. Thanks for your great feedback, Marian. 🙂
Very interesting recipe! I only have psyllium seeds, not the husk. I have a grinder, but do you think I need the same amount or maybe more, since the husk contains more fibers? Thank you so much!
That’s an interesting question, Anouk. Unfortunately, I never worked with psyllium seeds, and I am not sure if grinding them will yield the same result. They most likely don’t absorb as much water as the psyllium husk powder, so I would suggest using more of the ground seeds but less water. Please report back if you give it a try. 🙂
Hi Ela, can you replace the white rice flour with brown rice flour?
Hello Dee 🙂 If you press CTRL + F on your keyboard and search for “brown rice flour” you will find at least 4 reviews from people who tried this combo. Most of them were very happy but one reviewer said the bread turned out denser than with white rice flour. Hope this helps. 🙂
Dear Ela,
I made bread and instead of putting buckwheat flour (i dont have ????),I put hemp flour and it looked the same like yours with the buckwheat flour and it tasted great. You should try it. Thank you for the recipe !
Regards Maja
Sounds awesome, Maja! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Hello Ela,
I really look forward to trying this recipe. I’ve tried some GF bread recipes in the last and they came out crumbly. I luckily have a GF bakery that makes delicious bread but the ingredients could be a little cleaner. Ideally i’d love to be able to make my own. I do have a question as I don’t have phsyllium husk on had could i replace this with ground flaxseeds? Also, i can’t have legume flour so in place of the chickpea can i just use more quinoa flour since i would sub the rice flour as well?
Thank you in advance????
Hi Stephanie, I think you can use more quinoa flour. But I never replaced the psyllium husk powder in this recipe with ground flax seeds. Psyllium absorbs much more water than flax seeds, and I am afraid the result will be very different if you won’t use it. But you can, of course, give it a try. 🙂
I made this bread yesterday and it came out soo good! Best gluten free bread I’ve had so far (my bf said the same thing :)). I used a mix of corn flour and potato starch in place of the tapioca and it worked perfectly fine. Thank you so much Ela for this lovely recipe!
You are very welcome, Sylwia! I am glad you and your boyfriend loved the bread. 🙂
Hello! question.
What about using sea moss gel? instead of psyllium gel .
Thank you!!!
Hello, Anabell! I never tried it as I can’t buy it where I live. Sounds interesting though. 🙂
Hi Ela, I’m preparing to try out your recipe and i’m so excited !
Neverthless, I do not have chickpea flour in my pantry at the moment but I do have cornstarch instead. Do you think it is possible to replace those two ? If yes, what would be the quantities?
Many thanks, your blog is so inspiring to thrive on a vegan lifestyle!
Hello Hélène, thanks for your compliments! Emilye just commented that she used mung bean flour instead of chickpea flour and it worked perfectly fine. Also, you can check the other comments, as so many people used different flour combinations with success. 🙂
Does brown rice flour work as well instead of white?
If you press CTRL + F on your keyboard and search for “brown rice flour” you will find at least 4 reviews from people who tried this combo. Most of them were very happy but one reviewer said the bread turned out denser than with white rice flour.
This recipe is like heaven for people like me that can’t tolerate gluten, dairy, yeast etc, it is so great. Question about physillum husk substitute? I dont do well with it. Can I use egg instead? If so then would 2 eggs be enough. Thanks so much.
Hi Anu, I really can’t answer this question. I am vegan, and therefore, never made this recipe with eggs. 🙂
Hello Ela,
I’ve made this bread 3 times. All three times it needed longer in the oven. The 3rd time the middle to bottom looked raw, after having left it in 10-15 minutes longer then the 55-60 minutes per the recipe. I used almond flour this time in place of the brown rice flour. But, the other 2 loaves were also rawish looking and needed additional baking time. Otherwise, I like the bread a lot…. any ideas as to why this might be happening?
Many thanks!
I think it depends mainly on the flour blend but also on the type of oven. If you have a gas oven, it will take longer than baking in an electric oven. Also, kneading the dough is quite important. 🙂
This recipe is amazing Ela! My hubby and I have been wanting to transition to gluten free for a very long time but never had any success with gluten free recipes.. until we tried this one! I swapped the rice flour for oat flour and I had to add quite a bit of tapioca flour to get the right consistency but other that than, it was easy and delicious. I’m thinking of making everything bagels with this recipe, especially considering how wonderful the bread rises. Magic. Thanks for the wonderful recipe x
Thanks so much for your great feedback, Silver! I am so glad you love the bread. 🙂
Hi Ela,
I’m so happy to have found this recipe and your site!. I would like to try this recipe for vegan bread in a loaf pan and some ramekins to make buns. How filled should a typical 8.5 inch x 4.5″ pan be – half-way, two-thirds? And should I grease the pans? Also, will the temperature stay the same? Thank you – can’t wait to try it and many of your other recipes. I appreciate your dedication and hard work to bring us these healthy recipes.
Hi Ellen, I hope you will like it! There were some people here who commented that they successfully made the bread in a loaf pan. I never tried it but I would definitely recommend greasing the pans or using greased parchment paper. The temperature should be the same. 🙂
Thanks for your quick reply, Ela. Greased parchment paper is a good idea – it will also help me lift the bread out of the pan. Oh, I forgot – I tried your banana oat flour pancakes and really liked them – the recipe made it into my ‘keepers’ file 🙂 I made 7 medium size ones and ate 5 -could have eaten them all but didn’t want to be too much of a piggy!
Haha, love the piggy part! 😀 So glad you liked the oat flour pancakes. 🙂
Hi Ela,
The last few times I’ve tried to make the bread the dough turned out very wet and the bread came out flat. All ingredients were measured carefully. So disappointed… any idea why?
Danke, Lily
Hi Lily, did you knead it for at least 5-10 minutes? I really noticed that this is very important. Also, did you leave it in the oven for 60 minutes or shorter? What kind of oven do you have? I made it so many times with success. Only once, when I didn’t knead it (and baked it) long enough the bread didn’t rise as much.
Much love, Ela
Hi Ela
An amazing recipe- I absolutely love it!
Often times I did it with the three flours you mention (rice, buckwheat and chickpea) but due to the chickpea flour being out of stock in the grocery store I tried it with chestnut flour.
And you really have to try it yourself- its amazing. The colour is a bit redish, but the taste is very good 🙂
Have a wonderful easter!
Sincere, Isabelle.
Happy Easter, Isabelle! I am glad the bread turned out amazing with Chestnut flour! Awesome idea to use it. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
This bread is truly AMAZING. I followed recipe exact. I’ve been in search and I’m stoked on how simple and delicious the recipe is. Texture is perfect. This is the first GF and egg free bread I’ve ever felt inclined to ever comment on— thank you!!!
Wow, thank you so much for your amazing feedback, Penny! I am glad you love the recipe. 🙂
So happy to find this recipe!
I am glad you like it, Erica. 🙂
I am in love with this recipe! So easy and delicious! Thank you!
You are very welcome, Sally! I am glad you love it. 🙂
Could I sub oat flour for the chickpea flour?
Hi, I never tried this combo. One reader commented “I switched the rice flour for oat flour and it turned out amazing!”.
Bravo! I made the second one today and adjusted the flours slightly. I replaced the chickpea flour with an ancient grain flour mix and replaced the rice flour with potato flour. Came out great! Tastes just as good and wholesome and rose even better! Thank you for this! It really helps a gluten free, dairy free and egg free diet!!
That’s wonderful! Thanks for sharing, Mike! 🙂
Super excited to try this! I am wondering if the baking powder can be replaced with homemade baking powder (such as a mixture of baking soda, cream of tarter, and arrowroot powder) or do you think that will negatively affect the outcome of the bread? I would love your insight. Thanks for this recipe!
I think that could work! So interesting that you make homemade baking powder! 🙂
I always use baking soda & cream of tartar as a baking powder substitute. Used it here as well. Worked great. I use 1/2 tsp cream of tartar & 1/4 tsp baking soda for 1 tsp baking powder. I can’t eat corn which is what’s in baking powder.
I made this bread for the second time yesterday and both times it came out perfectly! I love that it has no eggs or oil in it! Thank you Ela, for this amazing bread recipe! I know I will make it again and again.
You are very welcome!! SO glad you love it. 🙂
This Bread is PHENOMENAL. And so easy. Thank You !!! I definitely recommend that other followers of your blog purchase a kitchen scale to get the measurements accurate.
Thanks so much, Elizabeth! I am glad you love it. 🙂
Ela, do I need both baking powder and baking soda?
Thanks
Lily
Hi Lily, it helps the bread to rise more, however, if you just have baking powder then it should still turn out ok. 🙂