Gluten-Free Matzo Recipe [18-Minute Matzo with Oat Flour]

Enjoy my gluten-free matzo recipe (also called matzah) recipe. It’s incredibly easy to make and elevates your gluten-free Passover celebrations. This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosures.

On the first night of Passover, Jews are commanded to eat matzo as a reminder of the food their ancestors ate as they left Egypt in haste.

Before leaving Egypt, they mixed wheat flour and water but didn’t allow the bread to rise because they didn’t have time to wait. When they baked the bread in haste, the result was a flat, unleaved bread that we call matzo today.

Traditional matzo is made from two ingredients – wheat flour and water. But it also can be made from any of the five grains mentioned in the Torah – wheat, rye, oats, barley, and spelt. Oat is the only grain mentioned in the Torah that is gluten-free.

People with celiac disease and gluten sensitivities should be mindful to use only gluten-free oats. Matzah made with spelt is NOT gluten-free.

On the Chabad website, I learned that even oats could be a controversial grain to use in your gluten-free matzo recipe for several reasons, many of which are hotly debated by rabbis worldwide.

Regardless of the debate, if gluten causes a severe health risk to you, most reasonable rabbis seem to agree that using oat flour to complete the mitzvah of matzo is a satisfactory solution.

(Please note that I take issue with the idea that the author of the Chabad article insinuates that gluten intolerance, celiac disease, and allergies are not all considered serious conditions. If you have celiac disease, are allergic to wheat, or are gluten sensitive, DO NOT eat matzo made from wheat flour. Doing so will impact your health regardless of where you are on the gluten spectrum.)

The mitzvah of matzo is further complicated when you consider that matzo must be prepared and baked fast to prevent leavening. 

You must prepare and bake the matzo in less than 18 minutes from when water and flour are combined to when you remove the matzo from the oven.

This is because once water is added to the flour, it begins to ferment and commences the leavening process. (Remember, old-time bread making used fermentation to leaven the dough vs. store-bought yeast. Read my article about sourdough to understand better how fermentation works in leavening bread.)

What About Gluten-Free Matzo in a Box?

I enjoy the taste of gluten-free matzo from the box. It’s light and crispy and doesn’t weigh on you like regular wheat flour matzo. I like Yehuda matzah the best and bought nine boxes because it was on sale at Sprouts, and we enjoy eating it year-round.

However, while the majority of store-bought gluten-free boxes of matzo are Kosher for Passover, they are NOT to be used to complete the mitzvah of matzo at the seder table. It says so right on the box, “Not a replacement for matzo at the Seder.”

This boxed matzo cannot be used at the seder table because it does not include one of the five grains mentioned in the Torah (and the only grain OK for those on a gluten-free diet is oats).

Matzo made from oats will be the only way someone on a gluten-free diet can complete the mitzvah of matzo. Most boxed matzo contains a blend of tapioca and potato starches and no oats.

Also, it’s uncertain if gluten-free matzo is baked within 18 minutes, although time doesn’t matter since the ingredients exclude someone from completing the mitzvah anyway.

Now mind you, you can buy Kosher for Passover gluten-free matzo that would satisfy the requirements of even the most conservative of rabbis.

Amazon carries a few brands:  Lakewood Oat Matzah ($39.99 for a 1 lb box) and Kestenbaum’s Oat Matzah (for $42.99 for a 16 oz box).  If you have the money, spend it by all means. But for me, I cannot justify this expense. Oh, and the shmura oat matzo tastes horrifically bad. Just saying.

Fear Not, My GF Friends

I want to complete the matzo mitzvah without consuming gluten. That’s why, this year, I decided to make my homemade oat flour matzo.

My process isn’t perfect. Unlike wheat flour matzah guarded from field to table to ensure no water or heat is used until it’s baked, I can’t provide such vigilance of my gluten-free oat flour. I can (and should) assume the oats were optically sorted and rinsed of gluten dust to be gluten-free.

I simply opened a fresh bag of Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free oat flour and used it.

On top of not guarding the oat flour from field to table, I’m no matzo-making expert, nor do I have a Kosher kitchen.

That said, I can still complete the mitzvah of matzo in my unique way that would satisfy at least two requirements: (1) I would eat matzo made from gluten-free oats, and (2) the matzo would be unleavened, prepared, and cooked in less than 18 minutes flat.

• Is my gluten-free matzo perfect? Nope.
• Does it meet all the halacha requirements? Nope.
• Did a Rabbi supervise the process – from harvesting and milling the oat flour – to my baking process? Nope.
• Is my home Kosher? Nope.

However, I did get a few things right:

• Does making my own gluten-free matzo recipe make me feel closer to completing the mitzvah of matzo without making me sick or breaking the bank? Yep. 
• Did I make a huge effort to complete the mitzvah of matzo? Yep.
• Does the gluten-free matzo recipe taste good? Ah, that’s a trick question. Let me ask you, “Is matzo supposed to taste good?”

Gluten-Free Matzo Recipe

This gluten-free matzo recipe is quite simple and requires certified gluten-free oat flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill GF oat flour), water, and Kosher salt (optional but recommended). It also requires a little potato starch for dusting the surface for when you roll out the dough.

To prepare and bake this gluten-free matzo recipe in 18 minutes flat, you must have everything ready to go. You’ll use about 7-8 minutes to do the prep work, and you’ll need the last 10-12 minutes for baking. Hurry!

First, you must have the oven preheated to 500ºF so you can quickly cook the matzo in 10-12 minutes. The oven must be really hot and ready to go before you begin combining ingredients.

Second, you must prepare your baking sheet. Line it with parchment paper. Do not use any cooking sprays or silpat mats as the oven is too hot for that.

Third, you must measure out all your ingredients and have them ready to go. Have the oat flour measured and placed into a large bowl (this will be your mixing bowl), your salt in another, and the water in another.

Forth, you must have all your supplies ready to go. Have a rolling pin, fork, butter knife, mixing spatula, and flat spatula (for lifting the flattened dough from the countertop to your baking sheet) at your side.

Fifth, dust your rolling surface with potato starch. Have it ready to go.

Sixth, and lastly, have your phone nearby. Tell Siri, “Set my timer for 18 minutes.” When she says, “Go,” you go!

To make this gluten-free matzo recipe:

1. Add the salt to the oat flour, give it a swirl, then add the lukewarm water. Mix it together quickly and efficiently with your spatula and/and or hands. If the dough is too dry, add a tiny bit more water at a time. If the dough is too wet, add a little more oat flour. Have a bowl of oat flour and additional water at your side, just in case.

2. Once the dough holds together, place it into your hand, shape it into a giant ball, then place it on your floured surface and roll it out as thin as you can go without breaking it or sticking to the surface.

3. Cut off the fray edges with a knife, then cut it into four sections. This isn’t a beauty contest, so don’t worry if the edges aren’t even or in perfect squares. Use your flat spatula to transfer each square onto your baking sheet.

4. Take a fork and puncture holds throughout the matzo (to prevent it from bubbling or rising).

5. Get that baking sheet in the oven ASAP and bake it for 10-12 minutes. Be sure to remove it from the oven at least 10 seconds before your alarm goes off.

Mazel Tov! You are ready to complete the mitzvah of matzo in your own unique and gluten-free way.

I hope you enjoy this gluten-free matzo recipe and the mitzvah that comes along with it. Chag Sameach!

Want to learn more? This article “Of Matzah and Mitzvah” from Forbes likely sums up how most of us gluten-free folk feel.

Other Passover Recipes

Try these Passover recipes, too – everything is gluten-free!

• Passover Charoset
• Gluten-Free Matzo Ball Soup
• Easy Beef Brisket
• Sweet BBQ Cola Chicken
• Chocolate Quinoa Cake
• No-Bake Gluten-Free Chocolate Matzah Cake
• Lemon Crinkle Cookies
• Overnight Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies
• Gluten-Free Flourless Chocolate Torte