One of the best ways to use your gluten free sourdough starter discard is for sure to make these little tasty flatbreads. They remind me a lot an Indian style naan bread or a pita bread. They are soft, delicious and make the perfect side for your saucy dishes.
My sourdough discard was 100% rice flour, but this recipe works with every type of sourdough starter (buckwheat, teff, sorghum…). The recipe includes only naturally gluten-free flours, without gums nor commercial blends. Moreover, eggs do not appear in the ingredients. So the recipe it’s also vegan and dairy-free.
You can make these fluffy flatbreads directly on the stovetop, no need to use the oven. This makes them perfect for summer and all other occasions when there is not an oven.
Tips & replacements
The dough will look very wet and not shapeable at the beginning. That’s completely normal. If it’s too wet, leave the dough aside for about an hour: in this time the psyllium will act as binder and thicken the dough. Then shape it. For this recipe, psyllium husks are essential as binder of the dough (you can buy it here).
In a recent test, I replaced the potato starch with buckwheat flour: the naan are a bit less soft, but still very tasty and chewy. This could be a good alternative if you want to eat starch-free and/or without potatoes.
Sourdough discard gluten free “naan” bread
4
servings10
minutes15
minutes3
hoursA stove top recipe for naan style bread made with gluten-free sourdough discard.
Ingredients
100 g / ⅓ cup sourdough discard
80 g / ½ cup rice flour
80 g / ¾ cup potato starch
10 g / 2 tbsp psyllium husk
200 g / ¾ cup + 1 tbsp water
3 g / half a tsp of salt
rosemary or other herbs
How to
- In a large bowl, dissolve your sourdough starter discard in the water until it dissolves. Then add the psyllium husk and let it jellify (about 10 to 15 minutes).
- Add to the same bowl the rice flour and the potato starch. Season with half teaspoon of sea salt and the herbs you prefer (chopped fresh rosemary for example). Mix with a wooden spoon or a whisk by hand, until all ingredients are well incorporated.
- Divide in 4 equal balls of dough, place them on a flat plate lined with parchment paper and let them rise uncovered in a warm and dry place for 3 hours (it takes an hour more if you are in a very cold environment). The dough will be quite soft but shapeable, and it will harden while rising. If you have any difficulties in forming the balls, leave the dough as it is and then shape the 4 parts after the rising time.
- Once the resting time is over, flatten each dough ball with your hands until quite thin.
- Heat a flat pan until very hot, then lower the heat to medium and cook each flatbreads one by one, for 4-5 minutes for each side.
- Once fully cooked, brush them with some oil and more herbs, then serve warm.
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Looking for a CHEESE gluten free naan bread?
For a cheese 🧀 version, just add a cheese cube and a butter flake in the middle of each ball before flatten them out. Cook them as in the instructions and they will be completely melting at heart. In this version, you can also brush some melted cheese on top once cooked.
Ingredients and substitutions
If you are allergic or intolerant to potatoes, you can sub the potato starch with corn starch or tapioca flour. But I would keep a starch among the ingredients anyway to keep the naan softness.
Other ideas with your gluten free sourdough discard
Check out these super easy and super crunchy crackers with sourdough discard and whatever flours you prefer.
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Why does it say melt the sourdough starter in water? I keep it in the fridge so it is cold. Do you mean let it warm up?
Hi Jill, a sourdough starter should always be active before starting a dough. So you should feed it before starting the bread dough. When it’s active, add it to a bowl with water and mix until it’s dissolved.
I’m having a hard time with gluten free 🙁 please help. I believe my husk powder is the problem. My first batch came out very weird color a purple brown color and a little chewy. My second batch came out the same color but also had patches of husk stuck together.
I used brown rice flour/ tapioca flour and husk powder but 10g
I have been kneading them until it becomes a ball in the kitchenaid
Hi Liz, sorry to hear this. I know that sometimes Psyllium can turn pink-purple, and the only solution is to change the brand you use. To avoid having patches of husks, you can try to mix the husks with the flour before mixing them into the water+sourdough. Also, if you are using husk POWDER (I imagine this from what you write), you should only use 8g.
Let me know if you manage to sort it out!
Recipe is good taste is good but the u instructions are too vague. What size bowls? Add which ingredients to what? Mix when and how? Do you cover when they’re rising? If so, with what? You say a hot pan, but on high heat or low heat? All of these questions are necessary if a beginner is using your recipe.
Example, I burned them because I assumed very hot pan meant high heat, but by the last one a hot pan on low heat worked better.
Thanks for the recipe! It just would help if it was clarified a bit better.
Thank you for your feedback Emily, I will try to answer all of your question so that can be helpful for others, too. But I’m happy you liked the final result!
Hi I’m unsure about the psyllium after reading the comments. Does the recipe call for 10g of psyllium husks or 10 g of psyllium husk powdered ?
Thanks!
Hi Amanda,
There can be some difference based on psyllium brand used. Most people get the right texture with 10 g of psyllium HUSKS. If using powder, you can reduce to 7 g.
Let me know!
I followed the instructions as written and they were perfect!!!!! I love them! Thank you for the fantastic recipe 🙂 question though, has anyone tried to freeze these before to have on hand when needed?
Hi Lena! I tried to freeze them with a piece of parchment paper between each one. Then at the moment of using them, I let them 30 min at room temperature + reheat on the skillet for few minutes. They are a bit gummier than when fresh, but still good to eat!
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For me, best recipe for using sourdough discard. Followed the recipe to the T using weight measurements with 100% success.
Thank you, I’m happy you liked it!
1 cup of water is 240g. If you use 200g, as the recipe states, the flours will not be hydrated enough.
Hi Barbara,
Thank you for your correction. I’ve updated the measure, 200 g is the right amount. Did you test it with 240 g of water?
Perfect recipe. Thank you c
Thank you for your precious feedback!
While I do a lot of my own trouble shooting the first time I make a recipe I also make it a practice to read comments. I admit fault in not reading the entire post before combining ingredients, however, your time table says that it requires 3 minutes of rest while your post says, “Divide in 4 balls and let them rise in a warm place for 3 hours.” I discovered that with a preheated flat cast iron pan on the stove and the rest of prep done for our dinner. I did a quick fix for one piece and managed to toggle my meal into place since I’m the only one in my family who generally eats GF baked goods. All was not lost at this point but it wasn’t until the next morning that I found a comment about doubling the psyllium if you are using husks. That wasn’t updated in the recipe either. And, yes, I did follow the rest of it step by step.
The flavor and texture were both great so I will save it and try it again. I just wanted to make sure you had the feedback. I appreciate the GF option for recipes with sour dough so I will be back to try more soon.
Hi Pam,
Thanks for having taken the time to test this recipe and to leave me your feedback, I really appreciate that. The indicated 3 minutes were an error and that is correct now! For the psyllium husks, I always use the indicated amount (2 tbsp) and my dough is manageable. Did you have to use a double amount? I will update the recipe following also your feedback, thank you!
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I react to potato starch can I use tapioca starch instead of potato
Corn starch is the most indicated, but yes also tapioca starch can work here!
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Hi Marta. I was wondering about the 80 g/ 1/2 cup rice flour and the 80g/ 3/4 cup of potato starch. Is this a misprint? Do I go by grams or cups?
Thanks!
Hi Joyce,
The amounts are correct, a cup in volume changes its weight depending on what it contains. If you have a scale, I would always suggest to use grams! 🙂
For those that had issues with the dough being too watery, did you use whole psyllium husks or the powdered form? It looks like this calls for the powdered form, so if using whole husks you’ll need to double the amount.
I doubled the husks and the dough was perfect! Thanks!
Wow, I just came across this recipe randomly after trying to use up some gf sourdough starter discard and wow, its tastes soooo good! My mom (who eats gluten) even commented how it actually tastes good and you can’t tell that it’s made from sourdough discard. Its been so long since I had flatbread/pita/Naan, and now I’m super excited to make it again and make some gyros with it! Thank you so much for the wonderful recipe!
Hello Inna, thank you so much for this review, I’m always happy when you find a good bread recipe that everyone in the family can love! I hope you will try my other sourdough recipes and let me know what you think. Happy baking!
Wow, I just came across this recipe randomly after trying to use up some gf starter discard and wow, its tastes soooo good! My mom (who eats gluten) even commented how it actually tastes good and you can’t tell that it’s made from sourdough discard. Its been so long since I had flatbread/pita/Naan, and now I’m super excited to make it again and make some gyros with it! Thank you so much for the wonderful recipe!
Hi! I also have the same comment as Carla. My dough is too watery to form into balls. Approximately how long do you let the psyllium husks sit in the water to make it gelatinous? I stirred the husks in until I noticed it thicken a bit, but it didn’t become exactly *gelatinous.*
Hi Hale!
I let it sit for about 10-15 min, the final texture is really gelatinous! Thanks for asking this, I add this detail to the recipe. Let me know if you try again, this is a great idea to make with discard 😉
Hi there, my dough looks more like soup lol, are your measurements right?
Hi Carla,
Of course I have tested the recipe many times. What kind of psyllium did you use? It’s mostly this ingredient that keeps the dough together. It’s also important to respect the steps and let the psyllium gain a jelly texture in the mix water + sourdough, before adding the flours. Let me know so we can troubleshoot 🙂
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