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
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 100 g (3/4 heaped cup) buckwheat flour (see notes)
- 100 g (2/3 cup) white rice flour
- 100 g (1 cup) chickpea flour
- 40 g (5 Tbsp) tapioca flour/starch (see notes)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3/4-1 tsp sea salt
- 50 g (3/8 cup) pumpkin seeds (optional - see notes)
Psyllium mixture:
- 450 ml (1.8 cup) 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
Kirana
Hi Ela.
I just made this bread just now. The outside looks amazing but inside still a bit damp and the texture is a bit more cakey. Is it because I kneaded wrong? Please advise.
Ela
It can have a few reasons, the most common is that your oven maybe underheats a bit, so you would need to up the temperature by 10 degrees or bake for 10 minutes longer. Kneading a bit longer often also helps. 🙂
Betty Freitag
Finally really good bread! We are on an elimination diet due to inflammation in the esophagus and the one thing I have really been missing is good bread. I have bought frozen “bread” at Whole Foods, but have been so disappointed. But after hours of research and determination, I found your recipe, thank you Ela! I tried my first loaf exactly as you lay it out in the recipe and it was delicious! So tonight we brainstormed and saw what others had done and we added about 4 large garlic cloves sliced, 1/2 tsp garlic powder and 1/2 tsp onion powder and topped the loaf with a Trader Joe’s sprinkle called “Everything but the bagel” ….Yummy!! I am so grateful. Of course this is not helping us with our carb intake, but we are right now gluten free, dairy free, egg free and soy free and so right now to have a good slice of bread is such a treat!
Ela
I am so glad to read that, Betty! Thanks for your great feedback. 🙂
Tami
Just came across this recipe and ABSOLUTELY going to give it a go!! Looks and sounds delish!! Just wondering…. do you think there’s any chance it would work as a pizza dough? If you followed all steps but divided and flattened out to pizza shape/size, Popped topping on and used in a pizza oven?! I’d love to find a vegan, GF, yeast free pizza base recipe (but one that can hold topping and be able to be floured underneath to slide off the pizza ‘tray’… paddle… whatever it is, into the oven) and just wondering if this might be an option?! Cheers
Ela
I never tried it, so I am not sure Tami. You could make my gluten-free pizza crust and just leave out the yeast: https://elavegan.com/best-gluten-free-pizza-crust-vegan/ 🙂
Charlize
THANK YOU so so much for this recipe. It is impossible to find a gf recipe without yeast or sugar. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!!
Ela
You are very welcome, Charlize. Happy you like it. 🙂
Sandra
Wow! My first time making bread and it turned out amazing! The bread has a nice light crust and is soft on the inside and very tasty. Such an easy recipe – I will not be buying gluten free bread again. Thanks @elavegan.
Ela
I am so glad you loved it, Sandra. 🙂
Stephanie
I have just made this. I used flours as per recipe, including seeds. I weighed everything. I measured water in a jug then weighed. The mixture was a paste. I added about a third as much flour again and it was still a stodge. I baked in a tin. It didnt rise and tastes unpleasant. I have also tried the chickpea flour bread and the coconut and almond. The latter was the most acceptable flavour but both, again, far too wet with water quoted.
Ela
Hi, did you even make my recipe? I do not have a (plain) chickpea flour bread and also, I don’t have a coconut and almond bread. I assume you a referring to other recipes and left the comment on the wrong site.
If you tried this recipe, did you add the psyllium husk powder at all? This is very important, otherwise, the recipe won’t work. I (and many other people included) have tried the recipe countless times and it works perfectly.
Barbara
Hi, Ela, I can’t find video recipe. ?jump to video’ button jumps to recipe.
Any suggestion? Thank you!
Ela
Hey, Barbara. If you are using an ad blocker you won’t see it. Otherwise, it will load in the post while scrolling down as a pop-up. And it’s also visible in the post (right above the second photo). But it’s taking a while to load if you have a slow internet connection. 🙂
Sal
Fantastic recipe,Ela! Turned out looking as nice as yours and is a great texture and flavour. I didn’t have tapioca flour on hand so used corn flour instead and it worked fine.
I’ve never used psyllium husk before as a binder – it’s great! I can’t eat egg yolk so in the past I’ve resorted to commercial egg replacer powders or chia “eggs”. I’ll definitely be using the psyllium trick again.
Thanks so much for putting the time into these recipes.
Ela
You are welcome! I am so glad you liked it. 🙂
Catalina
Hi! How can i replaced the psyllium? Is impossible to find in my country. Maybe xanthan gome or flax meal? Thanks!!
Ela
You could try ground chia seeds (with less water) but the result won’t be the same! Maybe you can order it online (it’s also not available in my country, so I bought it online). 🙂
Marc Levesque
I found your recipe on the internet and I will say it has turned out to be the best recipe I have ever tried (and I have attempted a lot of try’s LOL). I love that it contains no oils, eggs, dairy or yeast. It rises and is as spongy as sour dough.
I mixed a combination of different flours (but kept to the recipe amount of around 2.5 cups) without any issues.
I would love to share a picture of the bread for your files.
Thank-you again for sharing your idea,
Ela
That’s wonderful, Marc! I am so glad you finally found a gluten-free, vegan bread that you love. You can send me a photo via email ([email protected]) or send it via DM to my Instagram account @elavegan. 🙂
Sherine Morsi
Hello:) I can’t wait to try this recipe. I don’t like buckwheat though. I was wondering what I can substitute that with: gluten-free flour? Or even whole wheat as I have no issue with either gluten or wheat
Ela
Hi Sherine, you could try oat flour. 🙂
Pamela
Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe! I have problems with yeast and sugar, so I have never found a bread that really works for me before this one. The flavor was fantastic; it was a little dense but I think it might just be somewhat of a learning curve for me. I think my problem was I tried to knead it with my hands before switching to the mixer, but when I took out my hands and washed them, there might have still been too much psyllium stuck to them that didn’t make it in to the final product.
Ela
Thanks for your feedback Pamela! 🙂
Morgan
Can I use plantago ovata psyllium husk powder?
Ela
Hi Morgan! Yes, I think that’s exactly the same. 🙂
Amanda Lyn
I forgot to mention, when I replaced the garbanzo bean flour with oat flour the loaf was slightly bigger than the first loaf.
Ela
That’s so interesting, thanks a lot for sharing. I will try that out soon and add the information to the recipe notes! 🙂
Amanda Lyn
*Applause* Bravo!
Three months ago I changed my diet, not only vegan and gluten free, but also no yeasts or vinegars.. Since then finding a satisfying bread has been incredibly challenging , until now. This is the best bread recipe with said ingredient restriction. After I made your recipe I did a little dance in my kitchen out of excitement and texted my husband, “We have bread!”
I made loaves back to back. The first try the dough was wet so I kneaded in some tapioca flour, it came out great. The second loaf I reduced the water to 400 ml and the texture was perfect the first time I didn’t have to make any adjustment.
I believe the first loaf came out wet because I live in Florida and it is very humid right now. Since moving here, I have a similar issue sometimes when I make rice. I have to reduce the amount of water in order for it to come out right and not watery and mushy.
The third loaf I replaced the Garbanzo bean flour with oat flour and that too came out perfectly.
Thank you for this recipe. This is the first recipe of yours I have tried and now I can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
Ela
Wow, that’s amazing, Amanda!! Thanks so much for your wonderful feedback! It will be so helpful to others. 🙂
Semra
Hi Ela;
Thank you very much for this great bread recipe. I am just wondering if the bread would taste even better with oat instead of water. Do you think psyllium husk would work with oat milk too?
Ela
That should be totally fine Semra. 🙂
Darren
Hi Ela,
I’m going make your bread for the first time. I have an allergy to chickpeas and my daughter has an allergy to rice. We’re both have gluten allergies as well. I’m going to make two different loafs. What should I have as a replacement?
For me it’ll be the buckwheat flour, white rice flour and (replacement flour)?
For my daughter it’ll be buckwheat flour, chickpea flour and (replacement flour)?
Really excited to give it a go.
Thank you ????
Ela
Hi Darren, please check the latest comment from “Amanda Lyn”. She said she used oat flour instead of chickpea flour with great results! 🙂
Val
Hi Ela! I love this recipe!
This was my second time making the bread and I decided to try with a buckwheat preferment for a little more flavour. I used 100ml of the liquid and all the buckwheat flour and let it sit at room temperature overnight. I reduced the liquid in the psyllium gel accordingly. Everything else I did as instructed. The first time I made the bread exactly according to the instructions, and while the texture is unprecedented, I felt it lacked a little oompf. It definitely got it! It tastes incredible with a preferment. It’s full bodied and wholesome and actually a little more like traditional bread I used to eat, especially with the seeds.
Thanks so much for the recipe. I love how endlessly modifiable it is once you’ve got the basics sussed. This is definitely becoming my staple bread. 🙂
Ela
That’s awesome and sounds so interesting! Thanks so much for sharing, Val. 🙂
Patricia
Hi val ????. Thanks for sharing your experience with this delicious bread.
I just want to know if you added vinegar or kefir to Fermented the flour , or just water.? Thanks in advance ????
Michelle
A KEEPER! My son can’t have gluten or eggs, as many other things, but these most often affects my ability to make nice bread. This is one of the softest bread I’ve made, twice. Both times it turned out well without such a hard crust which always makes it difficult to cut. This bread, when cooled, slices very nicely. I love it, thank you.
Ela
That makes me so happy, Michelle! Thanks for your fantastic feedback. 🙂
Melanie
Love this recipe! Best texture yet. Do you think it would work with spelt flour in place of buckwheat? I am aware spelt has gluten. I am okay with gluten, but not wheat, eggs, or yeast. Hoping to experiment with spelt bread.
Ela
Hi Melanie, someone commented that she used spelt flour and while the bread rose nicely, it was still a bit “wet” inside. Maybe because of the gluten. You could give it a try and just leave it for a bit longer in the oven. 🙂
Melanie
Oh great. I will try that! Thank you!
Ela
You are very welcome. 🙂
Vegan-hen
I have replaced the buckwheat with Rye flour as my husband doesn’t like buckwheat and it came out great.
Ela
That’s good to hear! Thanks for your feedback. 🙂
Ana
Hi, I made this bread today and it was amazing! Very easy and delicious! I didn’t use any mixer (because I don’t have one), just kneaded the dough with my hands. It’s the best gluten free bread I ever tried. Thank you for sharing this recipe! 🙂
Ela
You are very welcome, Ana! I am so glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Laken
Hi there! What would you suggest in replace of the chickpea flour? My daughter is allergic to lentils and nuts.
Ela
You could try quinoa flour or teff flour. Also, millet should work fine. 🙂
chrystalage
I used sorghum flour and the bread turned out very nice _(first time I made it)
Ela
Yay, that’s awesome! So glad it turned out fine with sorghum flour. 🙂