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Gluten-Free Sandwich Bread

We tasted five white, and nine multigrain gluten-free sandwich breads to see if we could find a supermarket brand worth buying.

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Published Nov. 1, 2015.

UpdateAugust 2020

Our favorite gluten-free sandwich bread by Glutino has been discontinued. In its place, we are promoting our runner-up, Three Bakers 7 Ancient Grains Whole Grain Bread, Gluten-Free.

See Everything We Tested

What You Need To Know

When you’re avoiding gluten, it’s tough to give up toast and sandwiches—and if a recipe calls for bread slices or crumbs, you’re really out of luck. That’s where gluten-free supermarket bread can step in. While fresh loaves are scarce, the freezer section of most supermarkets is usually packed with many gluten-free options for both white and multigrain or whole-grain breads. A few years ago, we tasted eight brands of white sandwich bread and found only one to recommend. This time around, we wanted to revisit the world of white sandwich breads and also try to find out if any of the multigrain/whole-grain options would fare any better.

GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS

Among the new brands of white sandwich bread, two were subpar in every application. Even toasting and buttering them could not make these samples palatable. The other three breads were acceptable, though tasters still had quibbles with texture or flavor. Our previous winner (Udi’s Gluten Free White Sandwich Bread), which has been reformulated since our last tasting, dropped to second place. On the multigrain front, we were pleasantly surprised by the positive response from tasters; two brands received high praise and were deemed “actually really good!” while three more fell into our Recommended with Reservations category.

TAKING A CLOSER LOOK

At first glance you might assume the multigrain breads fared so much better because they had an abundance of hearty grains and fiber. But in most instances, these breads looked like their gluten-free white bread counterparts (with the exception of those with a smattering of seeds or grains that were visible in the crust or floating within the mostly white interiors). To be labeled “multigrain,” breads only have to contain more than one type of grain—and that can be in the form of refined flours, which lack the fibrous bran and nutrient-rich germ. In fact, our favorite “multigrain” gluten-free bread, Glutino Gluten Free Multigrain Bread, contains no fiber or protein at all, a sign that it contains no whole grains. By contrast, the second-place bread, Three Bakers 7 Ancient Grains Whole Grain Bread, Gluten-Free contains 4 grams of protein and 10 grams of fiber in a 100-gram serving (equivalent to about 3 slices). These two breads are our favorites from both tastings; despite being labeled as multigrain and whole-grain, in our opinion these breads are so much like white bread that they are interchangeable whether you are simply making a sandwich or using them as part of a recipe such as when making bread crumbs or a breakfast casserole.

BROWN RICE IS NICE

What was clear across both tastings was that brown rice flour, with its flavorful germ an...

Everything We Tested

*All products reviewed by America’s Test Kitchen are independently chosen, researched, and reviewed by our editors. We buy products for testing at retail locations and do not accept unsolicited samples for testing. We list suggested sources for recommended products as a convenience to our readers but do not endorse specific retailers. When you choose to purchase our editorial recommendations from the links we provide, we may earn an affiliate commission. Prices are subject to change.

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The mission of America’s Test Kitchen Reviews is to find the best equipment and ingredients for the home cook through rigorous, hands-on testing.

Lisa McManus

Lisa McManus

Lisa is an executive editor for ATK Reviews, cohost of Gear Heads on YouTube, and gadget expert on TV's America's Test Kitchen.

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