This Gluten-Free Vegan Bread is nothing like other gluten-free breads I've tried: it's soft and bendy, crusty on the outside and pillowy on the inside! It's not dry or crumbly, hard or spongy or overly chewy. It's super easy to make, no-knead, yeast-free, oil-free, nut-free and contains no added sugar. There's no kneading required, no proving time needed, it's made in one bowl and requires just 15 minutes of prep time before baking! It's also filling and nutritious, and high in protein and fibre. It slices well and is perfect for toast and sandwiches!
Ingredients
- Chickpea flour – also known as gram flour, it's made ground up chickpeas. It's cheap, nutritious, protein-rich and seriously versatile. It gives the bread a subtle nutty flavour (but doesn't taste overwhelmingly of chickpeas, don't worry!) and creates a perfectly chewy texture.
- Rice flour – balances out the slightly heavier chickpea flour and keeps the bread light and fluffy.
- Tapioca flour – helps to bind the mixture together without gluten or eggs, and stops the bread from being dry or crumbly.
- Baking powder - acts as a raising agent instead of yeast.
- Bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) - another raising agent.
- Apple cider vinegar - its acidity reacts with the alkali bicarbonate of soda to make a bubbly batter which keeps the bread soft. You can replace it with lemon juice.
- Water.
Yes - if you don't want to use chickpea flour, you can find similar recipes I've posted using different flours instead. You might want to check out my rice flour bread recipe, buckwheat flour bread recipe or almond flour bread recipe. Or browse the whole bread recipes collection!
Yes - if you don't have rice flour you can substitute it with an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend and leave out the tapioca.
I have also tried replacing the rice flour with buckwheat flour, and while the recipe worked, the texture was much heavier and it had a stronger flavour. I would definitely recommend rice flour over buckwheat flour for this reason!
Yes - as long as you replace the rice flour with all-purpose gluten-free flour blend.
No! The purpose of the tapioca is to bind it together so you don't need to add xanthan gum too. If you don't have tapioca, I wouldn't recommend replacing it with xanthan gum either - just use an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend in place of the rice flour.
How to make this recipe
Scroll down to the bottom of the post to see the full recipe.
- Mix together all the ingredients in a glass mixing bowl.
- Transfer the batter into a one-pound loaf tin.
Tip: Line the tin with greased baking paper to make the bread easier to remove after.
- Bake in the oven for around 50 minutes.
- Transfer the loaf to a cooling rack to cool down on completely before packing away to store because otherwise the steam from the warm bread will get trapped and you'll end up with soggy bread, which nobody wants!
- It also needs to be left to cool completely before slicing.
Tips for making this recipe
- Make sure to use the right amount of baking powder – 4 teaspoons! This may seem like a lot, but you need to use this amount to ensure the bread turns out light and fluffy.
- The apple cider vinegar is crucial as its acidity reacts with the alkali bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) to create a bubbly batter and fluffy bread.
- The batter might look more runny than you expect, but a lot of liquid is needed as chickpea flour absorbs a lot of moisture.
- Make sure that you line your one-pound loaf tin with baking paper and that you grease the baking paper with a little oil, to make sure the bread can be removed easily from the tin.
- You'll know when the bread is done when an inserted skewer comes out dry - it will probably have a few crumbs stuck to it, but if it comes out wet then the bread isn't done.
- If you've kept your bread in the oven for the right amount of time and it's still not done in the centre and the outside is becoming hard/burnt, then I would recommend covering it with a piece of baking paper to prevent the outside from becoming burnt, and continuing to bake it until an inserted skewer comes out dry.
Ingredients you can add to the dough
- Mixed seeds.
- Dried fruit such as dried cranberries, raisins, chopped dates etc.
- You can make it more savoury by adding grated garlic, chopped olives or sun-dried tomatoes!
How long does it keep for?
This Gluten-Free Vegan Bread keeps well covered in the fridge for a good few days. If not eaten on the day it's made, it's best toasted before eating.
Can you freeze it?
If you're freezing it, you can just slice it up and put the whole thing in the freezer. Then when you want to eat it you can just pop the slices of bread in the toaster straight from frozen.
Serving suggestions
This bread is so delicious on its own topped with some coconut oil or nut butter and fruity jam, but it's also perfect for sandwiches. Here are some of my favourites:
- Vegan Grilled Cheese.
- White Bean "Tuna" Salad Sandwich.
- Chickpea Curry Salad Sandwich.
- Chickpea Mayonnaise Salad Sandwich.
- Hummus Toasted Sandwich.
Similar recipes
- Gluten-Free Vegan Seeded Buckwheat Bread
- Gluten-Free Vegan Irish Soda Bread
- Gluten-Free Vegan Wraps
- Gluten-Free Vegan Rice Flour Bread
- Gluten-Free Vegan Bagels
- Gluten-Free Vegan Almond Bread
- Gluten-Free Vegan Oat Bread
- Gluten-Free Vegan Cornbread
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.
Watch how to make this recipe
Gluten-Free Vegan Bread
Ingredients
- 150 g (1 ¼ cups) chickpea (gram) flour
- 150 g (1 ¼ cups) rice flour
- 2 tablespoons tapioca flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- ¼ teaspoon salt (to taste)
- 310 ml (1 ⅓ cup) water
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Place the chickpea flour, rice flour, tapioca flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a large bowl and mix well.
- Add the water and vinegar and mix again.
- Transfer the mixture to a loaf tin (I used a one-pound loaf tin) lined with greased baking paper.
- Bake in the oven for around 50 minutes, until risen and an inserted skewer comes out dry - it will probably have a few crumbs stuck to it, but if it comes out wet then the bread isn't done.
- Leave to cool on a wire rack before putting away to store.
- Keeps well in the fridge for up to a few days.
Video
Notes
- The batter might look more runny than you expect, but a lot of liquid is needed as chickpea flour absorbs a lot of moisture.
- Make sure that you line your one-pound loaf tin with baking paper and that you grease the baking paper with a little oil, to make sure the bread can be removed easily from the tin.
- If you’ve kept your bread in the oven for the right amount of time and it’s still not done in the centre and the outside is becoming hard/burnt, then I would recommend covering it with a piece of baking paper to prevent the outside from becoming burnt, and and continuing to bake it until an inserted skewer comes out dry - it will probably have a few crumbs stuck to it, but if it comes out wet then the bread isn't done.
- Make sure to leave the bread to cool down completely on a cooling rack before packing it away to store because otherwise the steam from the warm bread will get trapped and you’ll end up with soggy bread, which nobody wants!
- It keeps well covered in the fridge for a good few days. If not eaten on the day it’s made, it’s best toasted before eating.
- If you’re freezing it, you can just slice it up and put the whole thing in the freezer. Then when you want to eat it you can just pop the slices of bread in the toaster straight from frozen.
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G
Wow, I am shocked at how amazingly this bread turned out! I've never made gluten-free bread or bread without yeast before. It had the perfect texture, it wasn't dry or gummy. It sliced perfectly too! Instead of rice flour I used gluten free all-purpose flour blend and omitted the tapioca flour. I'll have to buy a lot more chickpea flour so I can keep making this bread again and again 🙂 Thanks for the recipe!
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, so happy to hear that!!
Lynn
I'm trying to reproduce a rice bread that I have bought for years at a bakery for my daughter now they have stopped making it it is rice bread Brown and white with yeast agar agar tapioca potato spring water wondering if you had any ideas that would help thanks
Rhian Williams
Hi! Yes I have a rice flour bread recipe here which you might want to check out! https://www.rhiansrecipes.com/rice-bread/
Rebecca Clews
Help! I made this bread but it turned out so crumbly even the day after when it had been left in the fridge it just broke into pieces as soon as you tried to pick a slice up, I'm wondering what you think I may have done wrong? X x
Rhian Williams
Hi - sorry to hear that. Did you make any substitutions?
Rebecca
No I didn't make any substitutes so must have made a mistake somewhere but can't work out what xx
Rhian Williams
Was the batter very watery or quite dry before baking?
Geraldine Pike
Hi there
This bread is very versatile. The first time i made it it was very dry. Then i decided to add more water.
Wow it came out amazing. I used 1 cup of plant based milk and 3/4 cup warm water. The mixture came
out very runny. I put it in the oven for 50 min turned the heat off and left it in for another 5 min. Best bread
ever.Now i can have my bread fresh gluten free and yummy. Was thinking to put some nutritional yeast in
to give it a better flavor than the chickpea flavor.
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, so glad you like it!
Katy
Hello,
I followed this recipe closely - the only substitution was I used lemon juice instead of apple cider vinegar, as mentioned in another one of your recipes. I also shaped the loaf by hand for a more artisan bread shape. The bread turned out very dense and crumbly. It also tastes strongly of chickpea - the flavor is very reminiscent of falafel. Do you have any insight into what might have happened? The dough seemed a bit dry to me but I didn't add in any more liquid since I followed the directions exactly.
Rhian Williams
Hi - so sorry to hear that and thank you for your feedback. It seems like your dough was much too dry as you definitely shouldn't be able to shape it by hand!! If making again I'd definitely recommend adding more liquid and pouring it into a loaf tin.