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.