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These Gluten-Free Sourdough Bagels are also vegan and made with gluten-free sourdough starter, whole grain gluten-free flours, and whichever toppings and mix-ins you love! These gluten-free bagels perfect for enjoying fresh from the oven or keeping in the freezer for a rainy day.
No gluten-free sourdough starter but still craving bagels? Check out these amazingly fluffy gluten-free bagels made with yeast!
Practically every single day since I first posted the recipe for my homemade gluten-free sourdough bread, I’ve gotten requests for one sourdough recipe more than anything else: gluten-free sourdough bagels!
In my Gluten-Free Sourdough Facebook Group, people request a gluten-free bagel recipe all the time. And I am SO thrilled to finally be able to share the recipe with you – and it’s a good one!!
Bagels have a very special place in my heart, so I wanted these to be perfect. For my whole life, my paternal grandparents have told me stories of the Jewish bakery that my great-grandparents owned in New York that made the most amazing bagels.
My grandparents, who met when my grandma was 13 and my grandpa was 15, would go to the bakery after school for egg bagels and water bagels hot from the oven. Unfortunately, no recipes have been preserved for me, just one cake server remains as my connection to that bakery.
But, as you can imagine, once I started recipe testing for gluten-free bagels, I needed them to be amazing. It runs in my blood! Of course, a gluten-free sourdough bagel isn’t what my ancestors were making, but I know these would make them proud.
These gluten-free sourdough bagels are…
- Perfectly baked and chewy on the outside
- Soft, tender crumb on the inside
- Mild sourdough flavor that isn’t overwhelming
- Perfect for adding your favorite toppings
- Easy to make with a little patience
Are bagels gluten-free?
No, unless you’re specifically seeking out gluten-free bagels, like these gluten-free sourdough bagels, bagels are not naturally gluten-free. They are traditionally made with wheat flour.
What is in gluten-free bagels?
So if not all bagels are gluten-free, you’re probably wondering what is in gluten-free bagels. Well, let me tell you! For this recipe, we’re using these ingredients:
- Active Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter: if you don’t have a gluten-free sourdough starter yet, follow this guide for how to make one! Since we’re skipping a preferment for this recipe to help these bagels be made more quickly, you’ll want your starter at peak activity when you make this recipe.
- Whole Psyllium Husk: psyllium husk is a form of fiber that acts as our gluten for these bagels: it provides the binding properties and elasticity that help the dough become workable. It gives the structure and support for the bagels to rise, as well. You cannot skip it or replace it with another ingredient.
- Maple Syrup: this provides sugar for the yeast to feed on, which allows the bagel dough to rise.
- Water: filtered water is best for all bread making!
- Olive Oil: this helps soften the crust so it doesn’t get too crunchy in the oven.
- Starch: starches, such as potato starch and tapioca starch, help give a nice, fluffy texture to the bagels.
- Gluten-Free Grain Flours: I love using a combination of different grain flours for this recipe, such as brown rice flour, sorghum flour, quinoa flour, millet flour, teff flour, buckwheat flour…I provide a recommended and tested combination in the recipe, but you can experiment with different combinations here.
- Salt: because no recipe is complete without it :)
- Baking Soda: this isn’t added to the dough, but you’ll use it for the baking soda boil that’s needed for a bagel to be a true bagel. It gives the classic chewy bagel crust!
Can I use a GF flour blend for this recipe?
If you would like to use a mix that you can pre-make to simplify the baking process, I recommend using my homemade gluten-free bread flour blend. This blend contains both starches and whole grain flours, so you’ll use it in place of the total amount of starch + flour. In this case of this recipe, that is 380g.
If you prefer a store-bought blend, I like this multi-flour blend from Vitacost. This blend uses very similar ingredients to the ones my recipe calls for, with no additives or gums.
How to make gluten-free bagels:
- Start by hydrating the psyllium with water, and then mix in the maple syrup, olive oil, and active sourdough starter. It should form a thick, gel-like consistency.
- While that hydrates, mix together your starches, gluten-free grain flours, and salt in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients. Use a dough whisk or the dough hook of your stand mixer to mix into a smooth dough, scraping down the sides as needed to make sure all of the dry ingredients are incorporated.
- Cover and let the dough bulk-ferment in a warm place for about three hours, or until noticeably puffy.
- Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and shape each piece into a bagel. I like to do this by rolling into a ball and then using my thumb to press a hole in the center, and then open the hole a bit more with my fingers.
- Place the bagels on a lined baking sheet and cover with a towel; let rise for 1 hour.
- While the bagels rise, preheat the oven and get a big pot of water boiling.
- When the bagels have puffed up, add the baking soda to the boiling water and boil the bagels 1 or 2 at a time, depending on the size of your pot, for 30 seconds on each side. Remove from the pot, letting the excess water drip off, and place back down on the baking sheet.
- Repeat for all bagels and add any toppings, like everything bagel seasoning or other seeds of your choice.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown!
How to store gluten-free bagels:
To store, keep in an airtight bag or container for 2 to 3 days at room temperature.
You can also slice them in half and store them in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Want more gluten-free sourdough recipes?
- How to Make Gluten-Free Sourdough Bread
- Gluten-Free Sourdough Crackers
- Gluten-Free Sourdough Pizza Crust
- Rosemary Roasted Garlic Gluten-Free Sourdough Rolls
- Gluten-Free Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Gluten-Free Sourdough Focaccia
Gluten-Free Sourdough Bagels
Ingredients
For the bagels
- 150 g gluten-free sourdough starter
- 20 g whole psyllium husk
- 380 g filtered water
- 20 g maple syrup or honey
- 20 g olive oil
- 60 g potato starch
- 50 g tapioca starch
- 130 g superfine brown rice flour, see Notes
- 140 g sorghum flour, see Notes
- 12 g salt
For the boiling mixture
- 1½ tablespoons baking soda
- 6 cups water
Equipment
- Dough Whisk
Instructions
- In a bowl or large liquid measuring cup, hydrate the psyllium husk with water, and then mix in the maple syrup, olive oil, and active sourdough starter. Let stand for about 10 minutes. It should form a thick, gel-like consistency.150 g gluten-free sourdough starter, 20 g whole psyllium husk, 380 g filtered water, 20 g maple syrup or honey, 20 g olive oil
- While that hydrates, mix together the tapioca flour, potato starch, sorghum flour, and brown rice flour (or my gluten-free bread flour blend) and salt in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer.60 g potato starch, 50 g tapioca starch, 130 g superfine brown rice flour, 140 g sorghum flour, 12 g salt
- Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and use a dough whisk or the dough hook of your stand mixer to mix into a smooth dough, scraping down the sides as needed to make sure all of the dry ingredients are well incorporated.
- Cover and let the dough bulk-ferment in a warm place for about three hours, or until noticeably puffy.
- Punch down the dough to release the air bubbles, and then divide the dough into 8 equal pieces (about 122g each) and shape each piece into a bagel. I like to do this by rolling into a ball and then using my thumb to press a hole in the center, and then open the hole a bit more with my fingers. You can also roll the dough into a long piece and then seal the ends together.
- Place the bagels on a lined baking sheet and cover with a clean tea towel; let rise for 1 hour.
- While the bagels rise, preheat the oven to 425℉ and get a big pot of water boiling.6 cups water
- When the bagels have puffed up, add the baking soda to the boiling water and boil the bagels 1 or 2 at a time, depending on the size of your pot, for 30 seconds on each side. I use a spider to place the bagels in the water and remove them, as it allows excess water to drip off easily. Remove from the pot, letting the excess water drip off as much as possible, and place back down gently on the baking sheet.1½ tablespoons baking soda
- Repeat for all bagels and add any toppings, like everything bagel seasoning or other seeds of your choice. Immediately place into the preheated oven.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown on top and crisp on the bottom.
- To store, keep in an airtight bag or container for 2 to 3 days at room temperature. You can also slice them in half and store them in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 6 months.
I wanted to ask if it’s possible to prepare the dough and let it slow rise and then you can do the remaining of the shaping and 1 hour rise the following day?
Hi Naina, yes that’s fine – I’d do the long proof in the fridge.
Wow… I am so excited to try this recipe. My 8 year old granddaughter was just diagnosed with Celiac and is longing for both sourdough and blueberry bagels. Is it possible to make blueberry sourdough bagels with this recipe.
Hi Lisa, yes you can add blueberries to these! Small fresh blueberries work best for this recipe. Just fold them in after the dough is mixed together, before shaping (or you can mix them in after you divide the dough into pieces if you don’t want the whole batch to be blueberry).
I’ve made these a few times now. Easy and delicious! If you can handle wheat starch, try the KAF GF bread flour – closest I’ve come to a “real” bagel.
This last time, I also used Psyllium POWDER (rather than whole, on accident) and they were SUPER easy to form (like wheat dough!). I was afraid they’d be dense but they came out perfectly.
I also cold fermented for a day after shaping to enhance the sourdough flavor.
Thank you so much for this recipe!!!
I’m so happy to hear about you loving the bagels, thanks for sharing your tips, Dan!
This recipe was wonderful! My 7 year old has allergies so he hasn’t had bagels in a long time. He was absolutely in heaven eating these!
I do want to mention that I put the dough in the fridge overnight since I saw some questions about doing that. I fed my starter in the morning and realized I didn’t time it right bc I’d be baking through the night haha. So I fed my starter in the morning, made my dough 8 hours later when starter was at peak rise, and then placed it in the fridge overnight. Whelp, the next morning my dough looked exactly the same with no rise at all. I took it out of fridge, placed it in oven with light on, and finally moved it to the garage to get the chill out so it would start to puff up. This whole process took 8 hours to warm it up and get it to rise. I think my dough wasn’t quite as happy as it otherwise would have been had I not put it through all of this. After that I moved forward with the recipe as it’s written. They came out so amazing and delicious! We did some plain and some with sesame seeds on top.
Next time I will definitely feed my starter at night and complete entire recipe the next day with no fridge. Or if I do attempt fridge again I’d definitely let the dough rise first and then put it in the fridge. Or better I’d get to the step where bagels are formed, let them rise a bit and then move them to fridge. That way I can just boil and bake the next day.
Either way these were fantastic and I highly recommend the recipe!!
So glad it worked out, Dianna! Thanks so much for the detailed review. I’m thrilled they turned out delicious!
I’m having a problem figuring out how many grams of premix flour blend I should use. Can you advise me. With the 1x recipe. Thank you
Hi Serena, for this recipe it’s 380g – the total of the starches and flours. Hope this helps!
I just made my dough. I store it in the fridge overnight and proof in the morning when I have more time. My Smart Oven has a dedicated Proof setting-works like a charm.
I love them so much I try to make a batch every 2 weeks and freeze.
Perfection on a plate
So glad you’re loving it, Deb! Thanks for the feedback.
I am just finding your recipe in 2025 (now 2026!). I am wondering if you expect the bagels to float in the baking soda bath? This is my first recipe with my starter I began in early December. With my traditional sourdough, the bagels will float when they have raised enough. One did float before I removed it from the bath. And I saved a couple to try in another hour. I ended up putting the shaped bagels in the fridge overnight to boil and bake this morning. So I am also not sure how that might affect them.
Hi Denise, yes generally the bagels will float when they’re ready! It should be fine after an overnight fridge proof.
Has anyone tried Honey instead of Maple syrup?
That would work just fine!
These were SO amazing! I didn’t have the brown rice flour so I subbed in all purpose GF flour for that part and they were still great! I wish I could share a picture with you all but can’t upload ! Thanks for this gem of a recipe!!
Thanks so much for the feedback, Paris! So glad you love them.
I’ve done these now 4 or 5 times.all the neighbors say best bagel they’ve had. I’ll keep making them each week, used fioreglut bread flour blend. And rise overnight. Thanks so much
This makes me so happy to hear, thanks for sharing Duane!