My Gluten-Free Focaccia Bread recipe has the perfect focaccia texture. You would never suspect that it is gluten-free. Naturally vegan and xanthan gum free, too!
A Note From Kristen
I’ve spent nearly a year working on this recipe, testing batch after batch until I finally landed on the texture and flavor I wanted in a gluten-free focaccia. I’m so excited to share it with you because it has become a staple in our home, something we make at least a few times a month. It’s delicious on its own, and you can easily mix in or top it with olives, vegetables, cheese, or herbs (anything your heart desires!). I really hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
~Kristen
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“I have tried GF vegan focaccia recipes thrice now and none of them worked! But this recipe saved me! I was nervous when I saw the batter as it was quite liquidy and when I tried to make holes in the batter, it didn’t really show. But the end results were great! Texture is just like wheat bread and I can’t thank you enough for it! Trust the process guys!”
— Cynthia
Ingredient Notes
Please keep in mind that this is just a quick overview. Visit the full recipe for amounts and instructions!
How to Make Gluten Free Focaccia
- Combine water, yeast and sweetener. Let sit to ‘bloom’ for 5 minutes.
- Add flour, salt, baking powder and oil. Mix well.
- Cover and let rise until doubled in size.
- Pour into prepared baking pan. Let rise for 30 minutes longer.
- Make holes in the dough, drizzle with oil, sprinkle with rosemary and bake.
- Enjoy!
Kristen’s Top Tips
- Use the Right Flour Blend – In case you missed it further up in the post or in the recipe card, it is imperative you use a gluten-free flour blend without xanthan gum for best results. I tested with xanthan gum numerous times and while I was able to create tasty bread, it did not produce the lovely texture you would come to expect from focaccia. I recommend some of my favorite store-bought blends as well as a DIY blend in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Yeast – Letting the yeast/water/sweetener mixture sit for 5 minutes and get foamy is indicative of the yeast being healthy and active. If your yeast mixture does not begin to bubble or get foamy, then you may want to start again with a newly purchased batch of yeast for to ensure your dough rises as intended.
- Let it Rise – Rising times can vary due to brands used, altitude, temperature, etc. Just make sure it doubles in size during both rising times, regardless of how long it takes. Patience serves you well here! If it does not rise for some reason, you either used a blend with xanthan gum (which is not advised!), you did not wait long enough for it to rise, the ambient temperature is not warm enough (move to a warmer location), or your yeast is mostly like old or inactive for some reason and you should start again with new yeast.
- Topping Ideas:
- Simple dried rosemary, olive oil and flaked salt makes for a divine combo, but you can certainly top your focaccia off however you would prefer! Some other ideas:
- Sliced onions.
- Sliced cherry tomatoes.
- Fresh or dried thyme.
- Fresh or dried basil.
- Fresh or dried oregano.
- Sliced olives.
- Roasted red peppers.
- Sun-dried tomatoes.
Storing and Reheating Gluten-Free Focaccia
This focaccia tastes best fresh from the oven but it does keep well lightly covered at room temperature for up to about 24 hours. Otherwise, I recommend freezing it over refrigerating it, if storing. To freeze, store in freezer safe containers for up to one month. To reheat, whether kept at room temperature or the freezer, place the bread into a 400F oven and heat until crisp and warmed throughout.
Serving Ideas
This is the kind of bread that doesn’t need anything else but itself! It is that delightful. But if you’re looking for ways to mix it up a little, here are some great ways to enjoy this bread:
- Dipped into olive oil with or without dried herbs.
- Slathered with a healthy dose of butter or ghee.
- Dipped into marinara sauce.
- Topped off like a pizza and reheated until toppings are melted.
- Dipped into soup.
- Sliced and used as sandwich bread.
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Gluten-Free Focaccia Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon coconut sugar or any granulated or liquid sweetener of choice
- 1 ½ cups warm water
- 3 cups gluten-free all purpose flour blend without xanthan gum
- 1 teaspoon sea salt or pink salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil plus more for topping and pan
- 1 tablespoon crushed dried rosemary optional, for topping
- coarse or flaked sea salt optional, for topping
Method
- In a mixing bowl combine yeast, sweetener and warm water. Whisk well and let sit 5 minutes or until appearing foamy.
- To the same bowl add flour, salt, baking powder and oil. Mix well. Cover with a damp cloth and let sit in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size (it will be a rather wet batter, do not fret!).
- Grease a 9"x13" pan and line with parchment paper (greasing helps the paper stick and hold shape).
- Pour the risen batter into the center of the pan. Cover and let sit to rise for 30 minutes longer, or until the entire pan has filled with batter (see how-to photos in post for reference).
- Preheat the oven to 450°F. Press a wet finger into the batter to make small indents throughout. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with dried rosemary (if using). Bake for 17 minutes, or until the bread is firm and golden brown.
- Let cool for 5-10 minutes before slicing. Optionally, sprinkle with a little coarse or flaked sea salt before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is automatically calculated using a third-party calculator and is an estimate only.
Can I use instant yeast in this recipe?
Hi! Yes, instant yeast works just fine here. You can mix it right in with the dry ingredients and use the same amount, just keep an eye on the rise since it may be a bit faster. It should turn out great either way. 🙂
I made this for the first time last night and was very skeptical because I haven’t had much luck with gluten free bread-like items. However, it turned out great! We ate some warm out of the oven with butter and I used some to make a sandwich today for lunch. I just did it very plain the first time, but next time I’m going to try some fancy toppings like olives, meat, and veggies. This is a keeper!
I’m so very happy to hear it! I’m really glad you enjoyed this recipe, and I really appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback here. 🙂
This is a great recipe. Although I made it with regular flour. It’s easy and always comes out delicious. I tried with sun dried tomatoes and olives but I like it best without and used fresh chopped rosemary on top.
Hi, Rose! Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing! I’m so happy you enjoyed the recipe. 🙂
Hello, i made the GF focaccia. I used tapioca and brown rice flour.
Turned out super. I am pretty impressed. Thank you for the recipe. Next time i will try the other flour combinations you suggested. Potato starch and sorghum.
Crunch, great texture and rise.
I’m so very happy to hear it! It’s a fave around here. 🙂 I appreciate you taking the time to share here!
I have tried GF vegan focaccia recipes thrice now and none of them worked! But this recipe saved me! I was nervous when i saw the batter as it was quite liquidy and when i tried to make holes in the batter, it didn’t really show. But the end results were great! texture is just like wheat bread and i can’t thank you enough for it! Trust the process guys!
Hi, Cynthia! That makes my day! Thanks so much for taking the time to share here. I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe! 🙂
Excellent! Super easy to make and delicious!
I’m so happy to hear it! Thanks so much for taking the time it share here! 🙂
Hi there. I scoured Pinterest for a GF foccacia with ingredients I have on hand and finally stumbled upon yours. I live in South Africa and we don’t have Bob’s Red Mill or King Arthur, so I used your recommended diy blend of equal parts tapioca starch and brown rice flour. I followed the instructions to the letter and was very skeptical about the batter dough. I decided to not fret as you said. I added garlic, chili flakes, dried herbs, pink salt, & crushed black pepper. I just took it out of the oven 10 minutes ago and OH. MY. STARS. This is foccacia. It’s bread. It’s amazing! I really didn’t think it was going to work, even told my sister if this dough becomes bread, I’m Mary Poppins. I am absolutely delighted to have been proved wrong. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I haven’t had good bread since December and I could cry big fat tears of happiness. This will be a weekly bake from now on.
This makes my day! I’m so happy you had a positive experience. Thank you so much for taking the time to share here! 🙂
I tried the recipe and it was delicious! Crunchy on the outside and soft inside, very flavorful, I will definitely make this again, thank you so much for sharing your recipe 🩷
Trying this recipe today. Dough was dry. Double checked water to dry ingredient measurements to make sure I followed the recipe and it was correct. Anyone else have this issue?
Hi, Chris! Can I ask what kind of flour you used? It definitely should not be dry at all. In fact, the batter should be very wet so long as the right kind of flour was used (gum-free).
YUMMMMMMY & so forgiving. I was short on yeast (so I used a mix of fast rising & instant & for some reason the dough was really really wet (so I just cooked it longer) but it still came out GREAT!!! I’ll use a bit less oil next time but it’s a good recipe. Thanks so much!!!
I used Bobs Red Mill (the red bag). I’m amazed at how nicely it browned for being GF! It was crispy, and had such a nice soft inner crumb. Probably some of the best GF anything I’ve had in a while. Thank you!
I’m so very happy to hear it! Thank you for taking the time to share here. 🙂
I’m not the greatest baker but the rise was perfect, and the texture is amazing. I used Bob’s Red Mill flour, and it turned out golden brown and delicious.
Delicious! I have made it this for lunch to enjoy with my broccoli soup 🙂 Love the texture of this
The texture and flavor of this bread was spot on and it was so easy to make. Thank you for sharing such a great recipe.
Awesome recipe! This is one of the best unique breads that I’ve ever made. The fact that it is gluten-free was a great bonus!
This is what I have been missing since going gluten-free!! Thank you for sharing! The texture was perfect and it baked up beautifully. Adding to my weekly meal prep so that I can enjoy every week!!
To be honest, before I tried another recipe I always checked all the reviews and comments. All of them are right! This is one of the best gluten-free recipes that I’ve ever tried out, love the texture but I think I need to improve it because the one I made yesterday does not look as good as in your sample photo well it’s my first time. Maybe the second time I will do it properly! But overall this recipe is DARN SO GOOD!
I’m so very happy to hear it! Thank you so much for sharing! 🙂
From a grandma experimenting for her gluten free vegan grandaughter….she wanted a bread that would hold up to dipping in her homemade soups and this is perfect! From my point of view; it came across as very salty. If I cut back, would it be a problem for texture or riding or anything?
Hi — do you have any tips on measuring flour? I think mine came out too wet, first time trying to make any bread recipe! Thanks!
Hi, Tara! So, compared to most bread recipes, the batter for this focaccia is supposed to be rather wet and loose but should bake up perfectly, so long as you are using a xanthan gum-free flour blend. As for measuring, just be certain to pack a measuring cup and give it a little tap on the counter to let it settle and measure accurately. I hope this helps!
This bread is delectable! I had given up hope finding a truly delicious gf bread recipe. I used deglutenized Caputo brand flour. It was so easy to make!
Thank you for creating such a perfect recipe.
I’m in heaven!!
I’m so very happy to hear it! It’s great to know that that flour works well with this recipe. Thank you for taking the time to share! 🙂
I appreciate anyone who takes the time to share their favorite recipes, so thanks for this. Very confusing information though re: flour. “Secret is using a gluten-free flour blend WITHOUT xanthum gum. If you use one, you will end up with dense and gummy bread, so I do not advise it”. ?? If we use what’s recommended we’ll get gummy bread? The note then goes on to recommend two gluten free flours, but one is free of xanthum gum and the other one has xanthum added – I looked them up. King Arthur (without) and Bob’s Red Mill (with). I asked in the store and was told that they can only get Bob’s gluten-free flour with xanthum. So what does this baker recommend re: xanthum gum for this recipe? Why recommend one flour that has it and one that doesn’t? Yes or no to xanthum gum?
I was looking for a foccacia recipe that doesn’t state a mixer has to be used because I don’t have one. But the information given here isn’t confidence-inspiring.
Hi, Dru! Sorry for any confusion. Both flours that are recommended and linked to in the post do not contain xanthan gum. There are two types of Bob’s Red Mill all purpose flour blends on the market, one with (the 1:1 in a blue bag) and one without. The one I link to throughout the post and in the recipe card (this one in a red bag: https://amzn.to/432wxZF) is without xanthan gum and is the one I recommend using in this recipe. I hope this helps!
Hi Kristen, How kind you are to respond to comments. For some reason a friend thought it would be funny to submit a snarky review using my name. Sorry! I’ll have to try my hand at your focaccia.