Soft inside, crusty brown exterior–you’d never guess these vegan gluten-free buns are made without any oils or gums! The perfect bread for sandwiches, with soup, or just snacking.
I can explain. I can explain why it has been a ghost town around here. No recipe for over a week, what is this craziness??
Oregon
I took a spontaneous book-one-day-leave-the-next trip to visit my sister all the way across the country. I’ve been doing my best to still reply to comments in between planes and trains and travels to Oregon and back, but there was so much exploring to be done!
Morning mountain climbs. City street wanderings. Hunting down vegan eats. Latte and laptop-work afternoons. A taste of the car-free walk-everywhere life. Chilly nights and surprisingly sunny days. Admiring the crazy colorful flower scene. Drop-in yoga classes. Serious chats and silly chats and late night sleepy chats. Falling in love with this beautiful bit of the world. So many wonderful moments. The kind of moments that made me miss it before I even left.
It was the kind of vacation that left me twice as tired as I was before I left–my favorite kind. There’s always time to catch up on sleep later.
And it was so exciting to see vegan options just about everywhere! Vegan chick’n caesar salad. Vegan carrot cake parfait. Vegan chai frappucino. We even wandered in a little pie shop (mostly just looking for a restroom) and came out with a vegan and gluten-free chocolate tart! The place wasn’t advertised as being vegan at all, Portland is just that cool.
I didn’t get nearly as much work done as I thought I would on this trip. Four hour flight? That should be productive. Four hour flight next to a very talkative 3 year old…not so much. Four hour flight at 12:30 a.m. on the way home…slept the whole way.
But I did manage to get this post and video edited, and I’m super excited to finally be sharing it!
Vegan Gluten-Free Buns
Gluten-free, oil-free, vegan bread is something I’ve been dreaming about and experimenting with for a while. Pretzels still elude me, but these delicious little gluten-free buns are versatile and soft and golden brown–perfect for sandwich-making, soup-sopping, or just straight snacking.
Flour Options
In previous gluten-free bread recipes I used a store-bought GF all purpose flour blend for ease. But that always led to many questions and concerns since every mix is different and they are not universally available. So for this recipe I mixed my own flours to create a similar but simplified gum-free flour blend.
I used equal parts brown rice flour and white rice flour, plus tapioca flour (or starch) for extra sticky-ness. I have not tested any substitutions for the tapioca flour, potato starch or cornstarch may work but substitute at your own risk.
Since I know many of you love using oat flour for everything, I did test an oat flour version of this recipe and it does work. I still prefer the texture with the rice flours, but I really like the flavor with the oat flour.
Yeast and Friends
This is a yeasted recipe, but without gluten the yeast needs some help to get that lift. Baking powder and baking soda + acid help with that. I used apple cider vinegar for the acid, but you could use lemon juice as well.
Binding Options
Another important part of this recipe is ground psyllium husk. Ground psyllium binds and creates structure, fulfilling a similar role as xanthan gum in many gluten-free recipes. Why psyllium? Because psyllium is a plant fiber, it actually helps digestion as opposed to xanthan gum which can upset it. Psyllium husks are easy to find at any health food store, just make sure you get the powder or ground not whole.
The best substitute here is ground flax seed. The one tablespoon of ground psyllium husk can be replaced with 1/4 cup ground flax seed. I still prefer the texture with the psyllium husk, but it’s a pretty subtle difference.
The Potato Part
The potato part of these gluten-free buns is a potato puree. Cooked potatoes blended with water become very starchy and sticky, which gives the bread moisture and stickiness that makes for an easy to work with dough.
I always use gold potatoes for the potato puree, although I’m sure white would be fine too. One medium gold potato is all you need. For an exact measurement, mine was approximately 250g.
In order to have enough volume to blend the potato puree, you will have to make more than the 1/2 cup you need for the recipe. You can save the extra for another batch of buns, or add some seasonings and nutritional yeast to make a delicious vegan cheese dip/sauce.
If you don’t want to bother with the potato cooking and pureeing, you can substitute with an equal amount of unsweetened plain non-dairy yogurt.
The Steamy Secret to a Toasty Brown Crust
These gluten-free buns bake best with the help of steam! That is the key to getting them to brown on the outside with a crusty exterior without risk of cracks or drying out. Place a large pan filled halfway with water on the rack underneath your bread before you preheat your oven, and that will create steam on all sides of the buns as they bake.
I love these vegan gluten-free buns by themselves warm from the oven, toasted with jam the next day, or sliced in two and sandwiched with all sorts of veggie fillings like so…
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PrintVegan Gluten-Free Potato Buns
- Prep Time: 120 minutes
- Cook Time: 18 minutes
- Total Time: 138 minutes
- Yield: 6 buns 1x
Ingredients
Potato Puree
- 1 medium yellow potato (about 250g)
- 1 cup water
Dough
- 3/4 cup plant milk
- 2 tsps yeast
- 2 tbsps coconut sugar
- 3/4 cup brown rice flour (*see notes for an oat flour option)
- 3/4 cup white rice flour
- 1/3 cup tapioca flour
- 1 tbsp ground psyllium husk (*see notes for substitution)
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsps apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup potato puree from above (*see notes for substitution)
Instructions
- Potato puree: Cut the potato into large chunks. Combine potato and 1 cup water in medium saucepan.
- Cover and boil until fork tender.
- Transfer potato and cooking water to a blender. Blend until smooth. You will only need 1/2 cup of the puree for this recipe.
- Dough: Heat the milk until it is warm to the touch but not hot (~110°F). Add the coconut sugar and yeast. Stir. Set aside for 5-10 minutes until foamy on top.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flours, psyllium husk, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir to combine.
- Once the yeast is foamy, add it to the dry ingredients along with the vinegar and potato puree.
- Mix with your hands until everything is combined and you have a very sticky dough.
- With slightly wet hands, divide the dough into 6 balls. Arrange on a baking pan lined with parchment paper.
- Cover with a damp cloth and set in a warm place for 1 hour.
- Fill a large pan halfway with water. Place in the oven on the bottom rack. Preheat the oven to 425?.
- Remove the towel covering the buns. Place them on the top rack of the oven (be careful of the steam that will come out when you open the oven door). Bake for approximately 18 minutes until golden brown.
- Remove from the oven, cool briefly, and enjoy. They are best within the first 24-48 hours.
Notes
Oat flour instead of rice: Use 1 1/2 cups oat flour instead of the white and brown rice flours. Increase tapioca flour to 1/2 cup.
Ground flax instead of psyllium husk:Use 1/4 cup ground flax seed meal in place of the 1 tbsp psyllium husk.
Yogurt instead of potato puree: Use 1/2 cup unsweetened plain non-dairy yogurt (I used coconut yogurt) in place of the potato puree.
Looking for more oil-free, gluten-free, vegan bread? Try this Flatbread!
You know what would be amazing on those veggie sliders up above? This Cauliflower Hummus!
OH GIRL. These are calling my name. That crackly outer crust is just too perfect! Love all the different substitution options too! Your spontaneous trip sounds so fun. I’ve always wanted to visit The pacific northwest!
It was so much fun!! The dates kept changing from June to July to not at all, but then my sister just called me and said come now so I jumped at the chance 🙂 Ahh travel, I love it so much!
Ohhh I can’t wait to try these!! i love a recipe when you already have evenly ingredient in the pantry!!
Somehow I’m not surprised that we have similarly stocked pantries 🙂 Thanks Laurina!
I am enjoying these a lot but mine are quite dense (it’s me not you). I used the flaxseed modification and then used Cassava flour in place of tapioca starch (found online and used slightly less. I covered the baking sheet with damp paper towels and set in the oven and set it on “Proof” for an hour. Then I baked as directed with the steam bath in a large coated cast iron under the baking sheet & preheated oven. I did regular bake vs. convection. Based on that, do you have any advice for making them less dense? I’m 100% sure it was something I did. We still love them though.
★★★★★
Gluten free bread is always going to be slightly more dense than that with gluten, especially when we are not using eggs to help lighten either. But it could be the cassava flour vs tapioca swap, they are slightly different even though they come from the same plant. That sounds like the only thing that would’ve made a difference in your process. So happy you still enjoyed them though Sher!
Thank you! They were still great and I’ll know what to do next time. Thanks!
★★★★★
Your trip to Oregon sounds amazing, Natalie!! I’m quite jealous of all the vegan options you had when you were there…. here in Connecticut it’s not the vegan epicenter of the universe haha. Also, these potato buns look absolutely amazing! I can’t believe they’re gluten-free AND vegan! 😀
Really?! Connecticut isn’t just brimming with all things vegan? Hahaha! I feel ya, neither is my little corner of FL. But that makes traveling to places like Portland extra exciting for us! And coming home extra hard. I’m like “Can I just get a Whole Foods…please!?” 😀 Thanks Sarah!
These look like some seriously glorious buns!! Love that they’re made with potato and that sandwich shot <3 <3 I'm so happy to hear you had an amazing time on your little adventure!! Portland is such a neat place and a mecca of vegan food, I definitely need to visit again! Maybe one day our trips will miraculously end up at the same time <3
I would happily put some planning effort into making that happen! It is an amazing spot. I need to go back with someone who cares about vegan food as much as I do so we can hit up all the yummy spots 🙂 Sandwich styling is nothing like cupcake styling, so not my strong point, but I try lol. Thanks Leah!
These look so delicious! I love how simple this recipe is.
Thank you Becky! I’ve always been kind of intimidated by yeasted bread recipes, but after 10 trials on this one I’m feeling much more comfortable lol 😀
Natalie, these look fabulous!! I am pretty sure I could find 10 veggie burgers to make just so I could eat these, hahaha! I love that you used potato in these, potato is one of my favorite ingredients to add to sneak into recipes and especially baked goods. You can’t beat the nutrition aspect and it makes things so soft! These look so delicious and a beautiful caramel color! That sounds like such fun too, to take a spontaneous trip like that. My middle name is spontaneous and I LOVE to do things like that. I love the video too, different setup, I like it!!
Hahaha, I actually just had someone on YT ask for a veggie burger to got with and I was like ummm not my forte. I should’ve sent him to you, I send people to you quite often when they start asking for savory things 😀 Yes potatoes win again! And its a good thing they are cheap too because I cannot even remember how many trials this one took. I know you can relate there lol! They did turn out wonderfully brown with the help of the steam bath trick, and the lighting was really working with me on those photos too. Spontaneous is not usually me, so this was slightly out of my comfort zone but in the end SO much fun!! Thanks Brandi 🙂
Lol, yes, can totally relate!! I worked on my gluten-free buns a few months back specifically due to a reader request and the trials that I have done are ridiculous and she actually asked me I think, on my cake post, where those buns were that I promised, haha! I had totally forgotten about them and promised her this month. I get so much more excited about desserts and totally get sidetracked and forget about the savory sometimes, I’m sure you totally get that, dessert is just SO MUCH more fun!
Yep these were a reader request as well, and honestly one that I could’ve easily just procrastinated on for forever! But I just decided not to let myself make anything else until I finished them and it only took a week of all bread every day lol. I love bread and all, but chocolate still wins!
I’m so jealous you visited portland!!! I’ve been meaning to go there like forever. Just talked to my boyfriend a few minutes ago that I HAVE to go to portland to next year’s vegan beer fest 😀 We’ll see how it goes 🙂
To the recipe, I don’t have to tell you that I’m completely excited to see a bread recipe on your blog, right?! This potato bun looks so amazing, I never thought yeast and gluten-free flours could work in such a way. I’m truly impressed! <3 And the video's amazing too.
I thought vegan beer fest was in LA, is there one in Portland too? Well whatever the reason, you have to go!!! It was amazing–the vibe, the food, fun little shops, walking along the river at night, everything! Hey you are giving him a whole years notice, that’s plenty of time to make it happen! Wouldn’t that be the perfect spot for a vegan blogger meet up 🙂 And as for yeast + gf flour, it is still VERY different without the gluten. Not as light. But with the leavening and acid it’s much better. All rising agents enlisted here 😀
There’s a vegan beer fest in LA and one in Portland. 🙂 And I really, really want to go to the portland one. Ehhmmm… yes.. vegan blogger meetup would be amazing 🙂 We actually wanted to go to portland this summer but my boyfriend got a new job and he can’t take any vacations now, so next year it is 🙂 Portland sounds soo nice! Ever since I started watching portlandia in 2011, Portland has been on the top of my to-travel list. Hihihi. Have you seen the show? It’s so funny!
Good thing it worked with the rising agents 🙂 You’re a master of gf bread baking now. 🙂
Oh gotcha! Well portland is all about the breweries so I’m not surprised. Nope never seen Portlandia. Tbh until you just said it I never made the connection between the title and Portland lol. You are going to go and then write an awesome post about all the vegan food you found and then I’m going to want to go back! And definitely not a master…still 90% lost…but getting better 😀
Welcome back, Natalie! You and your recipes were missed… But these buns totally make up for it. Such a clever and delicious-sounding recipe 🙂 Now I have a reason to use that psyllium husk that’s been neglected in my pantry…
I’m so glad you enjoyed your trip and were spoilt with vegan options! It sounds like it was wonderful.
And again, I just love your videos. The way you design them is just perfect! I’m starting to get back into making videos and I’m definitely using yours for inspiration. <3
I’m really excited at the mention of more videos from you! We just need to get together and I’ll get you going on the video thing and you can help me with the photos 😀 I LOVE your photo style so much, the simplicity and brightness and composition–I stalk your site for photo inspo all the time. I had such a fun time in Oregon, but I feel like I missed so much! It’s not until I’m away for a minute that I realize how much we all interact daily 🙂 It’s awesome! It makes blogging so much less of a solo job. And yes, put that psyllium to good use!
Generally I don’t comment on the recipes unless I made them. (And I will come back with the comment after I try them – with any luck this weekend.) But wanted to say that I missed you and your posts and so glad you are back ? So welcome back! And thanks for another very intriguing recipe. Can’t wait to try it. Potatoes and bread what can be better? In terms of food – not much.
Aww Milda this is such a lovely comment to receive, thank you! It means a lot to me 🙂 I’m happy to be back too, feeling very inspired. I know right, these are any carb lovers dream! I can’t wait to hear how they go for you!
Yay now i’ve got the perfect bun to accompany my veggie burger!!! These look so perfect and chewy!
And now I just need to make your veggie burger for my bun 😀 Thanks Rachel!
You’re back!! Yay!! I’m so happy to hear that you had an awesome time in Oregon. I’ve been to Portland and it’s just incredible. So beautiful and full of fresh air. *Happy sigh* It was so exciting to read about your book-one-day-leave-the-next trip! Those spontaneous trips are the best, aren’t they? Makes you feel so free and alive. 🙂 “The kind of moments that made me miss it before I even left.” I know exactly how you feel. And the way you described it–I was right there with you, basking in those chilly nights and eyes shining from staring at all the beautiful flowers. 🙂 It’s wonderful that you didn’t spend all of that incredible time working, but actually enjoying everything. I felt refreshed just reading about your trip. We all need a break and breather, ya know?
Meanwhile, these potato buns look incredible! You never cease to amaze me with your inventive and delectable creations. Everyday, I kick myself for not living closer to you! I would be the best taste tester ever. Lol. I’ll be dreaming about these buns… 😉 Oh, and Portland too. 🙂
Big yes to the need for a break sometimes! I am just on a roll now with the recipe creation, so much renewed inspiration and excitement! It’s so easy to just keep plodding along, but not so good mentally. It was a very good reminder 🙂 And so much fun!! It is just fresh and bright and so much nature to explore. It almost makes me want to move further north, which is something I’d never thought I’d say ? You hopped all the way from one side of the country to the other right, so it could happen 🙂 And seriously I wish we were neighbors too. I just spotted a new beautiful milkshake that I would LOVE to have a sip of! Sometimes I wonder why all of us bloggers don’t just live on the same street, it would be so much more convenient and fun that way!
THESE look so awesome! I think I really need to try the potato version, I have never had a potato bun before but it sounds so GOOD! 😉 … I know I’m thinking WAY in advance but these would be so yum for thanksgiving, I always avoid the regular biscuits because besides my mom I’m the only vegan one in the family so the biscuits are always loaded with butter! and being GF even better! love this!
★★★★★
Never too early to start planning ahead 😀 I totally agree, I almost called them rolls actually! Slice them in half and shove the tofurky inside lol. I’m just kidding, I’ve never had tofurky. And I’m not sure potato buns are a thing or if anyone has had them before, but I love potato bread so why not! Plus a whole big loaf just sounded way hard…goals 😀 Thanks Michele!
Totally crazy!! I was just eating a random-clean-the-fridge type of not-so-pretty- but-tasty soup and was like – SOMETHING is missing!! I need BREAD. And then I see THIS 🙂 The most gorgeous and delicious looking – perfect vegan gluten-free buns!!!!! I am very impressed!! I really know it’s not easy to bake gluten-free vegan bread. And wow your trip to Oregon sounds like a lot of fun! Reminds me of my trips to Munich to meet my sis <3 Have a wonderful week <3
★★★★★
It would’ve been the perfect meal! I think soups work like smoothies–not pretty is often more delicious than instagram perfect 🙂 I sort of suck at soup making, but these buns are begging me to give it a shot. I’m just imagining a delicious tomatoey veg-filled steaming bowl to dunk these in and it sounds too good to resist! It’s a bummer not living super close to sisters, but it does give us reasons for fun trips and a built in place to stay 🙂 Thanks Tiina <33
Love this! To be honest, I add veggies to my bread nearly every time I bake them . . . either cauliflower, sweet potato, or lately zucchini! It’s a great way to get the veggies in, plus helps in holding them together and keeping them moist. I love that you tried a bunch of different flours for this too . . . seems like your kitchen experiments work very similar to mine! Looks awesome Natalie!
I almost went with cauliflower in here! Cauliflower bread is kind of an awesome idea, I really need to try that! I know right, an extra serving of veg and the bread comes out more moist and delicious–um YEAH!! This was more flours than I think I have ever called for at once, it’s tricky stuff. I admire your ability to work all sorts of funky flours and produce into desserts, I need to branch out 🙂
Natalie!!!! These look amazing!!! And I was SO excited to see that they were oat-free ☺️ I absolutely can’t wait to try these because there isn’t a single store-bought bun we can eat and homemade always tastes better anyway! The video for this recipe was beautiful, too!
Sounds like your Oregon adventures were perfect!! Next time you’re here we WILL meet up! So glad you had a great time! ❤️❤️
Finally an oat free recipe!! It’s been forever it seems, I was pretty proud lol 😀 Honestly oat flour isn’t awesome for bread, too…heavy. You have quite an extensive GF bread selection over there in OR compared to here, but yeah homemade is still always my favorite 🙂 At the grocery stores in Eugene there were countless times where I was like “Oooh I remember this from one of Mandy’s favorites!!” haha So many fun things to try, I couldn’t even get to them all. But I did get to try the Rebbl drinks finally and those Theo Kids Crunch bars–both delicious <3 I hope you are happily home again and feeling much better! Next time for sure 🙂
Dear Editor,Please restore or reinstate Norman Eff’s post considering its exemplary character and substantial historic monument value. Once shown and commented upon, there is no sense in hiding such a fragrant flower. I suppose that you guys are not in the business of protecting Norman Eff.
I saw you were in Oregon on snap 🙂 It’s honestly one of my favorite places to visit — I used to go down every year to meetup with some friends. Those yellow hills are mesmerizing.
Now those buns — holy cow, they look perfect! I’m running to share them on fb — I know people will love them. I was experimenting with a potato bread a little while back — can relate to the amount of work to get it right sometimes. I think you nailed it!
Everything about Oregon is mesmerizing! I love the vibe of the cities there, but the nature is just magical! Yes I had intended to keep going with the snapchatting while there but didn’t happen. Oh well, enjoying the moment 🙂
Oh yay, thanks for sharing!! I won’t go comment on it immediately 😉 I wanted to procrastinate so much with this request, bread is time consuming! But now I feel like I maybe sorta kinda have a slightly better feel for yeasted things. Or I just got lucky and next time will be tricky all over again, it could go either way 😀
I LOVE spontaneous trips like that! I hope you have tons of fun 🙂 Good job getting this recipe out, I’m in Prague now getting my wedding ready and I’m horrible at keeping my blog under control 😀 And the buns look amazing! So crispy on the outside <3 And it's great you give so many options especially for the gum replacements. I'm intrigued by the psyllium husks I've heard a lot of those but never got to experiment with them.
OH MY GOODNESS!!! When is the wedding? Ahh that’s so incredibly exciting, what are you doing here leaving me comments you should be off planning and having fun! I find blogging while traveling to just be way too stressful and takes me out of the moment too much so I don’t even try for the most part. Hey you still got a newsletter out this morning I see, so that is very impressive considering!
Oops, sorry, you can see I’m not that diligent after all 😀 it was on July 16th and the blog posts and newsletters were pretty much all I was able to get out. I agree blogging is a bit distracting while traveling. Normally, I have the posts scheduled for vacations but it sometimes it doesn’t work out so well
Hi Natalie! wanted to try this and was curious about the steaming part.. should I remove the pan with water after the oven is heated or keep it in?
xx Kathy
Hi Kathy! Keep the pan of water in for the whole baking time. Having the pan on the rack underneath the buns means steam is rising up on all sides of the buns while they bake, which is what you want. After the buns are done baking, I usually let the oven cool complete and then take the pan of water out and empty it a few hours later. I should’ve been more clear on that, sorry!
Hi Natalie! Thanks for the hint and your instructions were pretty clear, I’m just not a bread baking kind of person 🙂 amazing recipes on here! You’re an inspiration xx THANK YOU!
Sounds good, but there is no nutritional information. I won’t make a recipe without knowing the calorie count or fat contain.
You are welcome to find that info out for yourself by copy-pasting the ingredients into a nutrition app like this: https://www.caloriecount.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php. I personally choose not to include nor worry about that information for myself personally.
Hi Natalie, These look soooo good!! I have all the ingredients for except coconut sugar, can I use maple syrup instead?
Hi Sarah! Yes, maple syrup will be just fine here. Happy baking 🙂
Thank you!
I’ve made these buns twice and they are the best homemade buns I’ve had, but they don’t rise at all like they should and instead just fall flat, and I don’t see any steam even though I put a pan of water like you’re supposed to. I’m not sure if it’s my oven or what. Awesome recipe though! ❤️
Hi Annie! The not rising thing I think has something to do with the lack of gluten proteins to hold in the yeast-created bubbles…or something like, I’m still trying to figure it out myself. That is a little odd that you don’t see any steam though. But despite all that, I am glad you like them still 😀 Thanks Annie for the feedback!
substitute for psyllium husk please??????
As noted at the bottom of the recipe, you can use 1/4 cup ground flax instead😊
Idea! I had a great idea! (totally not bragging here btw) Carrot puree instead of potato! Actually,I have already tried this with Chocolate Covered Katie’s Pumpkin Oat Cookies(you know,using carrot puree instead of pumpkin)and it worked!I wonder if carrot puree would work in other pumpkin-y or potato-y baked goodies…i can’t see why not…Anyways,I’ll try it out and let you know.Be on stand-by for alternative deliciousness 🙂
Love the idea and totally worth trying, but the potato works so well here because of it’s starchy gooeyness when blended that almost acts as a binder in place of gluten. I’m not sure carrots (or pumpkin actually) would do the same. But flavor wise they would be awesome with that veggie sweetness so all fingers crossed it still works! Let me know 🙂
Hi, Natalie! I want to make these to go along with some minestrone soup tonight, but I’m not GF and don’t keep the special flours around. Do you know if this would work using all-purpose flour and omitting the psyllium husk? Thanks so much for giving us such awesome oil free vegan baking recipes!!
Hi Maddie! I haven’t tested them with all purpose flour, and while I do think it will work I cannot guarantee the amount will be the same. You definitely won’t need the psyllium with AP, but I would recommend starting with 1 1/2 cup flour and just adding slowly until you have a slightly sticky dough that you can work into balls. Hope that helps and good luck with your meal!
Just came upon your recipe and it looks sooo good! Can you tell me exactly what plant milk you used in this recipe?
Oh goodness, that was a long time ago! But I’m pretty sure it was just almond milk, probably the Silk brand 🙂