Chewy, tender, gluten-free bagels?! OH yes — they’re here. After (quite) a few tests, we found a beautiful balance between wholesomeness and classic bagel goodness that we’re just in love with. These bagels are undetectably gluten-free and we can’t wait for you to try them!
Enjoy as breakfast sandwiches or slathered with (vegan) cream cheese. Just 9 ingredients required for bagel bliss, friends. Let us show you how it’s done!
Who Invented Bagels?
Today, bagels are a type of bread so well-known it’s hard to imagine a world without them (and let’s not, it’s too sad)! While the earliest known recipe for a bagel-like bread (called ka’ak) appeared in a 13th-century Arabic cookbook, bagels as we know them were popularized by Ashkenazi Jews in Poland in the 17th century, possibly even earlier.
The tradition of putting a hole in the middle of bagels is also hundreds of years old. It helps ensure more even baking and makes bagels easier to transport and display! The following is our vegan and gluten-free take on the concept.
How to Make Gluten-Free Bagels
First, gluten-free bagels need the right mix of flours. Brown rice flour, sorghum flour, and tapioca starch create the perfect balance of structure, fluffiness, and chew! Next we add both ground flax seeds and ground chia seeds, which makes the dough thick and easy to handle.
In addition to a balance of flours, bagels need yeast for the right texture as well as their classic bagel taste. After the yeast proofs (a.k.a. gets frothy from munching on a little sugar), it’s time to combine the wet ingredients with the dry and give the dough time to rise!
After rising, the dough is ready to form into the shape of bagels. We evenly divide the dough and shape each piece into a “roll” before creating a hole in the center. This is when they start to look like bagels, and yes, it’s very exciting!
Next, it’s time to boil! Boiling is what gives bagels their classic chewy texture and shiny exterior, and it also helps the toppings to stick. We tried skipping this step, but it’s just not the same, friends.
Once the bagels are boiled and topped with seasoning (like everything bagel seasoning, cinnamon sugar, or poppy seeds), it’s bake time. Baking the bagels is crucial for cooking the insides and creating the fluffiest result. YAY — bagels will be on the table shortly!
We hope you LOVE these gluten-free bagels! They’re:
Wholesome
Chewy
Tender
Versatile
Undetectably gluten-free
& SO classic!
We love topping them with vegan cream cheese, using for sandwiches, or enjoying as part of breakfast! They’re perfect for making a big batch on the weekend, then storing in the refrigerator or freezer and toasting when ready to eat.
Love Gluten-Free Recipes? Try these next:
- The BEST Gluten-Free Bread (No-Knead!)
- Gluten-Free Flatbread (1 Bowl, 20 Minutes!)
- 1-Bowl Vegan Gluten-Free Crackers
- Fluffy Gluten-Free Naan (Yeast-Free, 20 minutes!)
If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo @minimalistbaker on Instagram. Cheers, friends!
The Ultimate Gluten-Free Bagels (Vegan)
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cup warm water
- 2 Tbsp cane sugar (organic for vegan-friendly)
- 2 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 ½ cups sorghum flour*
- 1 ½ cups tapioca starch (also called tapioca flour)
- 2/3 cup brown rice flour (plus more for dusting)
- 3 Tbsp ground chia seeds*
- 3 Tbsp flaxseed meal (ground flax seeds*)
- 2 tsp sea salt
TOPPINGS (choose one – optional)
- Everything Bagel Seasoning
- Cinnamon Sugar (see notes*)
- Poppy seeds
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the warm water (100-110 degrees F / 38-43 C) and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Whisk in the yeast and let it bloom on the counter for 10 minutes until frothy. If it doesn’t foam, start over — your water may have been too hot or the packet of yeast was expired.
- While your yeast blooms, in a separate mixing bowl, combine the sorghum flour, tapioca starch, brown rice flour, ground chia seeds, ground flax seeds, and salt. Whisk well to combine.
- Once the yeast has proofed, make a slight “well” in the middle of the flour mixture, add water/yeast mixture to the “well,” and use a wooden spoon to begin mixing immediately. The mixture will start out quite loose and liquidy, but should start to thicken as you mix. When the mixture has thickened slightly and has no lumps (~1 minute) cover it with a thin kitchen towel and let rise at room temperature for 1 hour.
- When the dough is almost done rising, bring 3 quarts of water to a boil in a Dutch oven or other large pot. Preheat the oven to 400 F (204 C) and line a large baking tray with parchment paper. Set nearby.
- While your water is coming to a boil, dust a clean work surface with a little brown rice flour. Turn the dough out onto the surface and divide it into 8 equal pieces (adjust amount if altering default number of servings). Shape each piece into a ball, adding a little flour to your hands if the dough is sticky. Then, shape each ball into a bagel by pressing your pointer finger into the middle of the ball and moving it in a circular motion to widen the hole. The hole of the bagel should be ~1 inch (2 ½ cm) in diameter, as it will shrink slightly when boiled. Dust your work surface once more so the formed bagels are easy to pick up.
- When the water reaches a rolling boil, carefully (we used a spatula) pick up each bagel and place it into the boiling water (we added 3 at a time). Boil each bagel for ~45 seconds per side, using a fork or tongs to flip each bagel. When ready to remove, use a skimmer or large slotted spoon to remove the bagel from the water, ensuring that all excess water drains off (we used a slotted spatula). Place the boiled bagel onto the prepared baking sheet and immediately top the bagel with 2 teaspoons of your preferred topping (if using). Repeat the process with the remaining bagels.
- When the bagels are done boiling, place them into the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, until dry to the touch and just beginning to brown. Let cool on the pan for 10 minutes before slicing, toasting, and enjoying. Delicious with vegan cream cheese, jam, peanut butter, avocado, or hummus.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days in the refrigerator, or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Video
Notes
*The closest sub for sorghum flour would be oat flour, but we haven’t tested it in this recipe.
*To make cinnamon sugar topping, combine 3 Tbsp coconut sugar or organic cane sugar with 1 tsp ground cinnamon and mix well.
*Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated without optional ingredients.
DJ says
This is a very dense recipe and, unfortunately, the bagels become one with the parchment paper. I would highly recommend heavily spraying the parchment paper with an oil spray if you hope to have the bottom half of the bagel intact. We had to slice the bottoms off because the dough acted literally like glue with the paper. The texture of the bagel is okay and the taste is okay, nothing spectacular. Sorry, just being honest.
We’re so sorry you had a negative experience with the recipe, DJ! Confirming you weren’t using wax paper? The bagels definitely shouldn’t stick! These bagels are more wholesome than a traditional bagel, but shouldn’t be dense. We assume you didn’t modify any of the flours?
Christy says
I did not have chia seeds so I added twice the amount of flaxseed and 1tsp of psyllium powder. The uncooked consistency I thought was perfect. I also used 3T +1tsp of baking powder instead of the yeast as my husband can not have fermented products. I have made gluten free bagels before and added honey to the water…probably not as much as I should have because its expensive…..but I noticed adding the baking soda to the water seemed to increase the browning while cooking. I also added a little molasses in the water. Between the two, they very nicely browned. I brushed them with egg white before putting in the oven. I had previously made bagels that I thought were good that used almond flour with the tapioca and flax, but we found out my husband has an almond sesitivity so I had tried using millet….it was ok and tasted ok, but the texture of these bagels using sorghum flour is better. These are going to work well for my husbands sandwiches at lunch. I am sure they are probably even better using yeast!
Thank you for sharing your experience, Christy! xo
Ekta says
Hi there! I know when baking regular/gluten bagels, the water that bagels are boiled in have barley malt syrup. To achieve a more similar crust, do you think boiling in honey or sugar water would help?
Interesting! That sounds like a good idea. Let us know if you try it!
rachael says
whoa, whoa, whoa! you know when you bite into something you’ve missed for so long and it’s so good you wanna cry? yeah, that’s these bagels. in my bagel excitement haste i misread the line on chia seeds and mixed them in whole instead of ground, but, zero issues. i also subbed coconut sugar for cane sugar, worked great. thank you MB, your recipes continually bring nourishment + joy into my home!
Amazing! So glad this recipe was a success for you, Rachael, we’re so happy you enjoy these bagels!
Kate says
So, so good! I have been wanting to try making bagels for a while, and this was so straightforward and easy. I am not gluten free, so I substituted whole wheat pastry flour for the sorghum flour and brown rice flour. I also only had just under a cup of tapioca starch, so I used more flour for the remaining needed. I also didn’t have parchment paper, so I oiled the sheet pan lightly with olive oil. I made some mini bagels and other regular sized, as well. Otherwise, I followed the instructions as stated and these turned out great! Chewy on the inside, crispy on the outside and so, so delicious! I will freeze these and defrost through the week for breakfast.
Amazing! Thank you for sharing your experience, Kate! xo
Bud says
I made these for the first time, they were really dense and chewy and delicious. After proofing, the dough was still a little wet and didn’t hold the bagel shape, they became kinda of flat. After baking, the finished product was between .5 and .75 inches thick. I followed the recipe (sub maple syrup for the sugar) – not sure where I missed something. My flours were not fine as I read in another comment. Any thoughts?
Hi Bud, did you make any other modifications besides the maple syrup? Typically any type of sweetener should work for proofing yeast, but we aren’t sure if the cane sugar might help these when rising. It might also have to do with the age of your yeast? Thanks for sharing your experience!
Barbara Gromacki says
I made these bagels and used oat flour. Overall, they turned out well with a few glitches.
1. They stuck to the parchment paper after baking which was unfortunate. It was restaurant grade parchment but I’m guessing it had to do with the moisture from the water bath.
2. They were very dense which was great but a bit doughy. That could have been due to the oat flour.
I will definitely make again and plan to use sorghum flour to see if it makes a difference. Over all very good and I love your website.
Hi Barbara, we’re so glad you enjoyed these overall! The bagels are a bit dense but not overly! We think this outcome could have come from the oat flour.
kiki says
I made this recipe and the dough was way too wet, I added a lot more flour and it was still too sticky. Very unhappy with the recipe and the worst part I wasted all that flour. Maybe re-test your recipe again because it does not work :-(
Hi Kiki, so sorry this one didn’t work out for you! The dough should be quite sticky, bagels do need a higher water ratio to have the right texture! Did you make any substitutions?
Stacy says
Made these this weekend, an easy recipe overall. My bagels initially sunk in the water but popped up within 30 seconds. Great taste! Will be making them again :)
Yay! We’re glad you enjoyed them :) Thank you for sharing, Stacy! xo
Jodi says
This is by far my FAVORITE and the best bagel recipe especially with dietary restrictions. Thank you!
Yay! Thanks so much for the lovely review, Jodi. We are so glad you enjoyed them! Next time, would you mind leaving a star rating with your review? It’s super helpful for us and other readers. Thanks so much! xo
Elaine P says
Oh my goodness, I’m in heaven!! To be able to have good bagels again since going gluten, dairy and egg free is amazing! These bagels are so good they make my heart sing!! Thank you Minimalist Baker for all your incredible recipes. You’ve made the world a better place!
Aw, thank you SO much for the lovely review, Elaine! We’re so glad you enjoyed them! xo
Kerry says
Absolutely delicious! We didn’t have tapioca flour so we used cassava flour and cornstarch in equal parts to substitute and they came out perfect. This recipe will be a new staple for us! So easy to make and way better than store bought.
We’re so glad you enjoyed them, Kerry! Thank you for the lovely review and for sharing your modifications! xo
Erin says
Hi there! I’m so excited to try these for my birthday breakfast! I don’t know much about baking, so bear with me. Is the sugar absolutely necessary, or do you think these can be made without sugar? I’d love to make these without added sweetener if it won’t mess up the results too much.
Hi Erin, that sounds like the BEST birthday breakfast! Happy early birthday! Some form of sugar is necessary for activating the yeast, but you could use a natural sweetener like maple syrup, if preferred. Hope that helps!
Erin says
Thanks so much! :)
Elaine P says
I use honey instead of sugar and it works beautifully. The sugar/honey is necessary to make the yeast rise, so don’t skip it. Enjoy!!
Nikki says
This recipe was amazing! I cannot remember the last I was able to eat a good bagel. I had some trouble with the first few bagels falling apart when I boiled them, but for the second bath I made the bagels a bit thicker and they came out great!
Yay! Thanks so much for the review, Nikki. We’re so glad you enjoy these!
kierstyn says
i have been gf for almost a year now and i’ve missed bread so much because every gf bread has ingredients i also can’t eat lol. i tried this tonight using light buckwheat flour instead of the rice flour and they turned out! the dough was a little dry but the final product was crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside :) if i wanted to incorporate blueberries what would be the best way to do this?
kierstyn says
if you’re looking for sorghum flour, try health stores! that’s where i found mine
Yay! Thanks for the great review and for sharing your modifications, Kierstyn. We haven’t tried this with blueberries so we cannot guarantee results, but we think fresh wild blueberries would probably be your best bet, as they are on the smaller side. Frozen might work, but we aren’t sure. You could probably mix them in before rising/shaping? Let us know how it goes!
Stephanie says
I’m thinking dried blueberries might be the best bet because they won’t add any additional moisture that fresh blueberries would. It would kind of be like adding raisins :)
That’s a great idea, Stephanie! Thanks for sharing!
Suzannah Kolbeck says
Made with one modification: I used cornstarch instead of tapioca.
I will say these were ok. I am going to try them again, this time with a touch less salt and baked longer. I feel like they were a little damp in the middle, and I like a bit more color.
The flavor was ok.
This may seem a lackluster review, but it’s not. This was my first time making bagels ever, and I really enjoyed the process (which was clear and well-explained, so thank you for that!). I’d like to see if operator error was the issue, and I will get some tapioca starch for the next go-round. They were good enough to spend the time making to have in the freezer, so that’s the goal.
Thanks so much for sharing, Suzannah! A slightly longer boil/bake time should help with more color, though gluten-free bagels do tend to be a bit more moist on the inside than a traditional bagel. Let us know how it goes if you make them again!
Elaine Taylor says
These bagels are amazing! I was a little nervous because I have NEVER baked with yeast before. I must have watched your video at least 10 times. I normally never really follow recipes exactly. This time I most certainly did. They were pretty easy to make because I prepared in advance. They boiled and baked up perfectly. Being a Celiac I am always disappointed because GF bagels are so underwhelming. Not the case with these. They are chewy like a real bagel (I use to eat them) fabulous right out the oven, nutritious and not a gazillion calories! A million thank yous for your delicious recipes, great videos and EPIC end products.
We LOVE to hear this. Thanks so much for the wonderful review, Elaine. We’re so glad you enjoy these bagels!
Katie says
These looked amazing and I just had to try them, even though I’ve never made bagels before, GF or otherwise. My grocery store didn’t have sorghum flour, so I substituted oat flour as you suggested and yep, it worked great! They turned out perfectly. I am no longer intimidated by bagel-making. 😁 Thank you!
YAY for bagels! Thank you for sharing your experience, Katie! xoxo
Tasie says
I cannot have chia. Can I use more flax in place of the chia? Thanks
Hi Tasie, it’s not as absorbent as ground chia, so we’d just suggest using a bit more in that case. Hope that helps!
Natalia says
Is there an option to make them yeast free??
Hi Natalia, the yeast is pretty essential for the classic bagel taste and texture. We have seen other bagel recipes that use baking powder instead of yeast and skip the boiling, but we haven’t tried that with this recipe so we cannot guarantee results. Hope this helps!
Sheila Schroeder says
Would you have a recipe for GF bialies?
No, but GREAT IDEA, Sheila! We’ll add it to our requests list. YUM!
Michele says
The only food I miss more than a good bagel is a real bialy—if you could achieve a gf, vegan version…!!!
Ooo.. we’ll add to our ideas list!
AH says
Would Bob’s Red Mill GF 1:1 flour work as a substitute for the brown rice flour? I’ve got the rest of the ingredients.
Thanks!
Hi AH, unfortunately that flour blend has a lot of starches in addition to brown rice flour which would probably change the texture of the bagel quite a bit. We haven’t tried it and we suspect it might be too dense or gummy. Hope this helps!
Jamie says
Do you know how long these beauties can be stored on the counter, in the fridge, or in the freezer? From things that I have made that are similar, I would think 1 week on the counter, 2 weeks in the fridge, and 3 months in Freezer. May you confirm please?
Hi Jamie, we wouldn’t recommend keeping these on the counter for more than 2-3 days unless you live in a very dry climate. We like to keep ours in the refrigerator for ~1 week or in the freezer for up to 1 month. Hope this helps!
P.R. says
Hello there!
I am allergic to flax; is there any possible work-around/substitution, or is this recipe impossible without it?
Thanks!
Hi there! You can use more ground chia in place of the flax and it should work well. Let us know how it goes!
Sam says
Do you think ground psyllium husk would work as a sub for the ground chia? I use psyllium husk as a binder in other bread recipes, so I have it on hand.
Hi Sam, we haven’t tried it but we think that would work. Typically psyllium is more absorbent than chia or flax, but we think a 1:1 sub is worth trying. Let us know how it goes!
sidnie o'connell says
It sounds really interesting and fun to do.. one of my favorite bagels is onion bagels. How do you think you could incorporate onions into this recipe? Or other things like blueberries?
Thanks.
Hi Sidnie, you could use dried minced onion (from the spice section) and maybe some salt on top of your bagels instead of the everything bagel seasoning. Let us know how it goes if you give it a try!
Alex says
Hi, they are in the oven as we speak but they were really dense (did not even float in the water). Do I need extra water and if so, how much? Thanks!
Hi Alex, hmm! Did you make any modifications to the flours? Is it possible your yeast didn’t activate (meaning the dough didn’t rise)?
Alex says
Thanks for the quick response. No, used all the indicated products. My yeast was nice and frothy. The mix was so dense and dry it did not seem to rise much.
Strange! Is it possible you were using any super fine flours? They will absorb more moisture.
Jamie says
I am following Sam’s question and hope to see posts of the results.
Katy says
ditto. Psyllium has been working well to give my bread that “chew” that GF is often lacking. From my research and experimenting, it seems that you need about 1 part psyllium for every 3 parts of chia/flax you’re subbing (so you’d use 1 tbsp powdered psyllium husk in place of the 3 tbsp chia seed). I’ve always hydrated mine first – so I’d be inclined to add the psyllium to the water/yeast mixture once the yeast has bloomed. Just spitballing though! I’ll have to give it a shot to see!
Alex says
Will double check if the flours are superfine. Thanks for pointing that out. What would I do to compensate if they are superfine? Cheers.
Hi Alex, if they’re superfine, we’d suggest using slightly less of them. Hope that helps for next time!