12 Gluten-Free Dutch Oven Recipes

Dutch ovens are my favorite tool when it comes to baking delicious gluten-free bread! It keeps the steam in because of the tight-fitting lids and its heavy weight so the bread can rise and have that wonderful rustic professional loaf look. However, bread is by far not the only thing you can make with this great piece of kitchenware! If you are on a gluten-free diet, have gluten intolerance, or even celiac, this collection of gluten-free Dutch oven recipes is for you!

What Do You Cook in a Dutch Oven?

The better question is what you don't cook in a Dutch oven! You can make SO many gluten-free foods in a Dutch oven from hearty stews to roasted meat, to rich chili, to bread, to jams, and even homemade condensed milk!

A Dutch oven is a heavy cast iron pot that retains heat very well hence its unique ability to make wonderful food. You can use your Dutch oven outside over a fire pit when camping or traveling with your RV-turned-home on wheels (congrats if you have one!) or you can cook everyday meals in a Dutch oven at home.

Cast iron is the main material a Dutch oven is made of. You can also use a cast iron skillet to make bread, pizza, pancakes, flatbreads, roast meat, and make many other wonderful dishes!

Enameled vs. Pure Cast Iron

If you aren't sure whether to get a Dutch oven with an enameling or without it, you need to know a couple of things to make the right choice.

First of all, enameling is a thin coating that looks glossy and has a color. If your cast iron is not enameled, it will be black inside and out. Is it better to use enameled Dutch oven? It could be if you are looking to cook with it at home only. Enameling provides a non-stick surface and frees you from the necessity to season your cast iron.

On the other hand, when it comes to high temperatures, enameling will crack and get discolored if you heat it too much. So, it is better to get a regular Dutch oven without enameling if you want to expand your variety of recipes to make.

However, keep in mind, that you need to season your cast iron kitchenware that is not enameled from time to time if the seasoning layer gets damaged for whatever reason.

Soups

Dutch ovens make great soups! The thick bottom ensures that the onions and carrots you are frying before adding the broth don't burn and the pot keeps heat in very well, so you don't need to keep checking if your soup is still simmering.

Jams

If you try using regular thin-bottomed pots to make jams, you might accidentally burn them on the bottom. But with a Dutch oven, there are way less chances of that happening!

Bread

I can't stress enough how important it is to have a Dutch oven to bake gluten-free bread (especially sourdough!). The steam that the Dutch oven holds in raises your bread like nothing else! Try it and you will never go back again.

What's Next?

Are you looking to use your Dutch oven during a camping trip? Here are more ideas of what to make during camping! If you're using your Dutch oven for gluten-free sourdough, make sure to check out my other gluten-free sourdough recipes!