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This Gluten-Free Sourdough Focaccia Bread is a simple seven-ingredient focaccia recipe that’s made with gluten-free sourdough discard. It’s easy to make, super fluffy and soft, and absolutely delicious! Perfect for dunking in olive oil, using as sandwich bread, or making into sourdough croutons.
Want to make focaccia without a sourdough starter? You’ll love this quick and easy gluten-free focaccia recipe made with yeast!
Early in my gluten-free sourdough bread journey, I wanted to try making focaccia. I had never made focaccia before — gluten-free, sourdough, or otherwise, and I was a bit lost on where to start. I scoured some recipes that used sourdough and all seemed longer and more complicated than they needed to be. They also used eggs, and I want to keep this recipe vegan. So, as it always does, I couldn’t find what I was looking for and had to start on my own journey in focaccia land.
Thankfully, the focaccia gods were smiling upon me and it turns out – gluten-free sourdough focaccia can be EASY. It can be made with sourdough discard, doesn’t need eggs, and doesn’t even need a whole lot of ingredients. In fact, this recipe uses just seven ingredients…and two of those ingredients are water and salt.
This recipe is adapted from my gluten-free sourdough pizza crust – a major winner in itself that you’ve got to try if you haven’t yet!
Love this focaccia recipe? You’ll adore all of my favorite gluten-free sourdough recipes!
Madison says: “This is the best gluten free bread ever! This is my third time making it (the last one I made I brought to a potluck and got compliments). Thank you for putting this lovely recipe with its AMAZINGLY EASY to follow instructions out into the universe.”
Here’s what you need to make gluten-free sourdough focaccia:
- Psyllium Husk: this recipe uses whole psyllium husk to provide chew and elasticity to the bread.
- Water: filtered is best for all things sourdough!
- Gluten-Free Sourdough Starter: here’s a how-to make your own gluten-free sourdough starter. It doesn’t need to be super active here, new discard works just fine, just don’t use discard that’s been sitting in your fridge or freezer for a while.
- Starch: I like using potato, tapioca, or arrowroot starch here.
- Gluten-Free Flours: I typically use a combination of brown rice flour, sorghum flour, and/or quinoa flour here. You can also use flours like cassava, teff, buckwheat, etc. Grain and pseudograin flours tend to work best.
- Sea Salt: for flavor!
- Olive Oil: a must for focaccia, make sure to use a good one to drizzle all over your bread before drizzling and baking!
- Toppings of your choice: sometimes I leave the sourdough focaccia plain, other times I press tomatoes into it, as pictured, or top with herbs…but be creative here! There’s tons of great toppings you can use for your focaccia…(see my idea list below!)
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 335g.
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 focaccia:
Full recipe is in the recipe card below!!
- Mix up the psyllium husk and water and give it a few minutes to let it gel up, then add the sourdough starter.
- While the psllyium gels, combine all of your flours and the salt.
- Mix the flour into the psyllium starter mixture and stir to combine. You’ll have a thick, but soft and squishy dough.
- Press into a well-oiled 9×9″ pan, or press into a similar sized shape on a baking sheet.
- Let rise for three to five hours, or until it feels light and puffy.
- Drizzle with olive oil and use your fingers to dimple the dough, being careful not to press too much that you deflate it.
- Add your toppings!
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown and baked through.
- Let cool…or tear into it while it’s still warm!
The best focaccia toppings:
In case you need some inspiration, here are some of the best sourdough focaccia toppings to use! Use them alone, or pick a combination.
- Tomatoes (slow roasted or raw)
- Fresh or Dried Herbs
- Cheese (vegan or regular)
- Onions (raw or caramelized)
- Edible Flowers
- Your favorite seasoning blend, like everything bagel seasoning, dukkah, za’atar, etc.
- Caramelized Onions
- Artichoke Hearts
- Roasted Garlic
…and so many more. Whichever you choose, I always recommend a healthy sprinkle of flaky sea salt before it goes into the oven!
Best ways to enjoy focaccia:
- Dunk into olive oil and vinegar as an appetizer
- Turn into gluten-free sourdough croutons
- Serve with your favorite soup recipe
- Use as delicious sandwich bread
Want more gluten-free sourdough goodness?
- Gluten-Free Sourdough Bread
- Easy Gluten-Free Sourdough Pizza Crust
- Gluten-Free Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Gluten-Free Sourdough Scones
Gluten-Free Sourdough Focaccia
Ingredients
- 20 g psyllium husk, see Notes
- 450 g filtered water, room temperature
- 225 g gluten-free sourdough starter, can be active or fresh discard
- 120 g starch of your choice, such as potato starch, tapioca starch, or arrowroot starch. See Notes.
- 215 g gluten-free whole grain flours of your choice, such as quinoa flour, sorghum flour, brown rice flour, or combination. I have tested with these three. See Notes.
- 12 g to 15g sea salt, use the smaller amount if you’re adding salty toppings
- Olive oil, for drizzling on top
- Toppings of choice: herbs, sea flaky sea salt, tomatoes, raw or caramelized onions…be creative!
Instructions
- Grease a 9×9″ square baking pan with olive oil; set aside.
- Combine the psyllium husk and the water in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Let it thicken and gel up for about 5 minutes. Add in the sourdough starter and mix to combine.20 g psyllium husk, 450 g filtered water, 225 g gluten-free sourdough starter
- Add in the starch, flour, and salt. Mix until a smooth dough forms. If the dough seems sticky, let it rest for a few more minutes to let the psyllium and flours absorb.120 g starch of your choice, 215 g gluten-free whole grain flours of your choice, 12 g to 15g sea salt
- Press into your prepared pan, or press it into a similarly sized shape on a baking sheet.
- Let rise for 3 to 5 hours at warm room temperature, or for up to a day in the refrigerator. The dough will feel lighter and puffy when it’s ready.
- An hour before you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 425ºF.
- When it’s fully risen, drizzle the dough with a healthy glug of olive oil and use your fingers to press dimples into the dough.Olive oil
- Add toppings if desired, or just sprinkle with flaky sea salt.Toppings of choice: herbs
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown and baked through. If you’d like to test for temperature, you’re looking for an internal temp of about 210°F (or a little less if you’re at altitude).
- Let cool for 30 minutes and then remove from the pan and allow to cool completely on a wire baking rack (this keeps the bottom from getting soggy).
- Store at room temperature for two to three days, in the fridge for up to a week, or slice and freeze in an airtight container for up to six months.
I’m at the beginning of my gluten free sourdough journey — at the end of week 2. I’ve successfully made this focaccia bread 2X. I’ve used arrowroot as my starch. I’ve used equal parts of brown rice flour, cassava and sorghum for the flour. I learned from making it the first time, that it would require more time to get the inside ‘done’ and at 210 degree internal. But, it is taking 50 minutes minimum to get to that point. Would it be the starch/flour combinations? The 1st bread was with fresh discard / the 2nd was with active. I followed the recipe and made no changes. I have liked using cassava flour for my normal gf baking. I really appreciate the full details of the Bakerita recipes!
Hi S, what size pan are you using? If the dough is thicker, it will take longer to reach that internal temp. Flours shouldn’t have too big of an impact on it.
That’s good to know about the flour, Rachel. I used an 9 x 12 half sheet metal pan. Thanks.
Hi there, I tried to make this today and for some reason the dough didn’t form and continued to be sticky even after allowing to rest (as instructions recommend). It never form into a smooth dough. What have I done wrong?
Hi Lauren, this dough is on the stickier side but should be workable. Did you change anything about the recipe?
Sorry, I failed to rate this recipe. It’s great! And, I will be making it again. I’ve made this 2X, once savory and another time with sugar and grated apple on top. Next time I do the sweeter version, I will grate apple and add it to my batter.
do you have calorie/carb count for this? thanks
Since I provide options for the flours I don’t have a nutritional count for this, since it can vary widely. You can also input the link into a nutritional calculator and add the specifics on which ingredients you’ve used to get a custom amount!
I doubled the recipe, and made it in a jelly roll pan, the focaccia came absolutely incredible! Thank you so much Everything worked great! And thank you for answering my DM questions. I learned a lot today on using starters and the discard… Grateful! ♥️
So glad to hear it! Thanks for the feedback, Peggy.
I made this today and it’s the best GF foccacia I’ve ever made. Excellent rise, texture, and flavor. I will be making this again.
The best compliment! So glad you’re loving it, Loretta. Thanks for the review.
is psyllium husk powder or whole?
I always use whole. To use ground, you’ll want to use 75% of the amount called for, which is 15g in this case. However, I haven’t tested it this way since I tend to use whole psyllium husks.
Question! If I put it in the fridge overnight, should I let it sit room temp before baking in the morning? Thanks!
I like to let it come to room temp to rise a bit while the oven is preheating. Some people like to bake straight from the fridge though, so worth experimenting with both so see what works best for you!
I recently made the focaccia bread according to instructions. I used Caputo gluten free flour (the only change).
May I ask how long the focaccia has to prove out of refrigerator overnight? Room temperature? Or right in oven? I had a large separation between crust and bread. Otherwise the focaccia rose well and cooked well! I did room temperature (4hour) than oven.
I couldn’t find that information in your recipe..
Otherwise my bread was DEFINITELY focaccia!
Hi Ann, usually a separation between crust and bread indicates overproofing, so you’ll want to proof a little less time than you did. Exact timing varies based on temp, conditions, starter strength, etc, but you want the dough to be feeling puffy and light but still sturdy, if that makes sense. It tends to feel pretty fragile when it’s overproofed.
The focaccia bread has a beautiful brown crust, but the inside is still slightly moist and sticky. I used your brown rice starter (that is doubling) and followed your recipe exactly. I even baked 45 minutes as I was afraid it would be gummy based on previous failed attempts. I used all brown rice flour (and arrowroot starch) as you said you tested with that. However, I now have read every single comment and you say in some of your replies all rice flour can be sticky and recommend switching to combination. Do you think this is why? Would oat flour work? Combination or all oat? Also, just as a side comment, I tried to find the temperature the inside needed to be, but it wasn’t in your directions anywhere. I did eventually come across it (210F) in the comments. You may want to add this to the Notes section. Appreciate any advice you have as I desperately want this to work.
Hi Sharon, different flour brands can work wildly differently, unfortunately. Superfine brown rice flour is what I use and test with, and what generally works best. Combinations can help mitigate problems from certain flours not being ideal. Oat flour should work. I generally haven’t tested too much with oat because my sister doesn’t tolerate it and I was living with her when testing this recipe, but it should work! I’d try it in combination with other flours. I will add the temp to the notes, thanks for pointing that out!
Thanks Rachel. I am using Anthony’s Organic Brown Rice flour (finely ground). Should I do a combination of Brown Rice, Sorghum, and Oat? If so, is there a percentage you would recommend for each?