Before You Buy the Best Bread Maker Gluten Free Bakers Can Trust

Mexican cooking is built on corn, so a lot of what comes out of a Mexican kitchen is naturally free of wheat. Sandwich bread is a different story. If you or someone at home eats gluten-free, a good loaf for tortas, toast or a breakfast sandwich usually means buying expensive bread or baking your own. A bread machine makes the second option much easier, as long as it has a gluten-free program you can rely on.

This guide narrows our main bread machine guide to that one question. Every machine here has a gluten-free setting that its maker names in writing; we did not include any machine where we had to guess. To give you real choices beyond the main guide, we picked different machines here, and where one is closely related to a main-guide pick, we say why.

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Quick verdict: which gluten-free bread maker to buy

A note before you buy: a gluten-free setting controls timing and temperature. It does not make a shared machine safe for someone with celiac disease. We cover that below, with what the Celiac Disease Foundation says.

Five gluten-free bread makers side by side

Our five standout picks, one for each kind of baker, with the specifications each maker or listing states. All seven machines are reviewed in full below.

Product images from Amazon. Programs are as stated by each maker or listing; check the listing before you buy.

Our picks for the best bread maker gluten free bakers can rely on

These seven machines all name a gluten-free program in writing. They range from Japanese machines with custom memory settings to budget models from Elite Gourmet, Amazon Basics and Neretva. Each pick explains who it suits, what the maker states, and one honest reason to skip it.

Choosing a bread machine for gluten-free loaves

Every machine on this page has a gluten-free setting, so the choice comes down to how you bake and who you bake for.

A gluten-free setting the maker names in writing

This is the first filter. Some listings mention gluten-free bread in a recipe or a photo without a dedicated program. We included only machines whose maker or listing names a gluten-free course, menu or program.

Custom programs

A gluten-free recipe may call for different times than a machine’s preset. Machines with custom memories, like the two Zojirushis (three each) and the KitchenArm (four, with temperature control), let you save a schedule that works.

Loaf size and how fast you eat it

A 1-pound machine suits one or two people; 2 pounds suits a family. If you bake more than you eat in a few days, slice and freeze it, or keep it in a bread box for the short term. Weighing ingredients on a kitchen scale for baking makes any recipe easier to repeat than measuring by the cup.

Pan coating

Pans differ. Zojirushi’s BB-PPC20 has a ceramic nonstick pan free of PFAS, Elite Gourmet and Neretva list ceramic pans, and KitchenArm states a Teflon pan. If coatings matter to you, check the listing; we only repeat what each maker states.

Shared kitchens and celiac disease

A gluten-free program does not remove gluten from a pan that has baked wheat bread. The Celiac Disease Foundation’s baking advice is to bake gluten-free items first and cover them before bringing out the wheat flour, and to use parchment, foil or liners if you do not have dedicated gluten-free baking pans. It also advises washing pots, pans and utensils with soap and water after each use, and following your own celiac care team’s guidance. A bread machine pan is a baking pan, so a household with celiac disease should ask its care team whether a dedicated machine, or at least a dedicated pan, is right for them.

How we picked these seven machines

We started from the machines our main bread machine guide did not already recommend and kept only those whose maker or Amazon listing names a gluten-free setting. We checked each one with Amazon’s product data for stock, model numbers and stated programs, read Zojirushi’s own product pages, and used America’s Test Kitchen’s bread machine review where it covered the same or related machines. ATK’s review lists gluten-free cycles but does not report gluten-free results, so we do not claim any machine bakes better gluten-free bread than another.

We left out machines that were not in stock, unbranded listings, and machines where gluten-free appeared only in a photo or recipe. We also checked the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s recall database for every brand here and found no bread maker recalls for Zojirushi, KitchenArm, Elite Gourmet, Amazon Basics or Neretva; the bread maker recalls we found were for Lidl’s Silvercrest (2020) and West Bend (1995), neither on this page. We have not used these machines ourselves.

Gluten-free bread machine questions, answered

What is the best bread machine for gluten free bread?

For most households, the Zojirushi Virtuoso Plus with ceramic nonstick (BB-PPC20): a named Gluten Free course, three custom memories, two heaters and a PFAS-free pan. For one or two people, the Zojirushi Maestro.

Do I need a gluten-free setting, or can I use the regular cycle?

A gluten-free program runs the maker’s own preset timings for gluten-free bread. If your machine has custom programs, you can also set a recipe’s own times. We recommend buying a machine with a named gluten-free setting so you are not guessing.

Is a bread machine safe for someone with celiac disease?

The machine’s program does not decide that; cross-contact does. Follow the Celiac Disease Foundation’s advice above and your care team’s guidance, and consider dedicated equipment if wheat bread is also baked at home.

Can I bake regular bread in the same machine?

Every machine here bakes regular bread too. If anyone at home has celiac disease, though, sharing the pan is the question to ask your care team about.

Are corn tortillas gluten-free?

Corn tortillas are made from masa, water and lime, and corn contains no gluten, as our guide to eating gluten-free at a Mexican restaurant explains, though cross-contact in a kitchen is a separate question. See also corn vs flour tortillas.

Our final pick for gluten-free bread at home

Buy the Zojirushi Virtuoso Plus with ceramic nonstick if you bake gluten-free bread often and want a full-size loaf with room to tune the program. Choose the Zojirushi Maestro for small loaves, the Neretva 3.3 LB for the biggest loaves and mix-ins, the KitchenArm for full control, the Elite Gourmet on a budget, the Amazon Basics for the simplest controls, and the Neretva 20-in-1 for dual heaters at a low price.

And when you want a meal that starts with corn rather than bread, see our menu or call to order, and ask us about ingredients when you do.