Abstract Xanthan gum is a water‐soluble polysaccharide obtained by fermentation of the genus Xanthomonas with several properties, such as low‐cost, biodegradability, biocompatibility and non‐toxicity. However, an important limitation of xanthan gum‐based biomaterials is the high swelling degree in solvent and the mechanical weakness, which results in biomaterial disintegration. For this reason, the aim of this work was to develop a hydrogel with reduced swelling degree. The xanthan gum produced by X. arboricola pv pruni 106 achieved a volumetric yield of 10.78 ± 0.27 g L −1 . The content of acetyl group was relatively low, around 1.33%, which the deacetylation process reduced its level to 0.8%. The hydrogel was produced using deacetylated xanthan gum and glutaraldehyde as crosslinker. The xanthan gum‐based hydrogel has shown lower swelling degree and higher apparent viscosity, overcoming the initial drawbacks of the xanthan gum in its nature form. Overall, the xanthan gum‐based hydrogel has remained stable during the whole storage conditions.