Rice Flour is used for making noodles, thickening soups/stews, and making some baked products. It is also used as an alternative to wheat flour in making cookies and biscuits.
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What is Rice Flour?
Rice Flour is a white milled flour of regular rice used in much Asian cooking for making baked products such as cakes. Gluten-free rice can be found in most Thai, Vietnamese, or other Asian markets. Many popular brands are selling it. It is easily available at your nearest grocery store.
Nutrient Profile of Rice Flour:
| Nutrient proximates | Brown Rice | White Rice |
| energy | 82 calories | 68 calories |
| protein | 1.83 g | 1.42 g |
| total lipid (fat) | 0.65 g | 0.15 g |
| carbohydrates | 17.05 g | 14.84 g |
| fiber, total dietary | 1.1 g | 0.2 g |
| sugars, total | 0.16 g | 0.03 g |
| calcium | 2 milligrams (mg) | 5 mg |
| iron | 0.37 mg | 0.63 mg |
| sodium | 3 mg | 1 mg |
| fatty acids, total saturated | 0.17 g | 0.04 g |
| fatty acids, total trans | 0 g | 0 g |
| cholesterol | 0 mg | 0 mg |
Health Benefits of Rice Flour:
- Rice is a gluten-free grain.
- It can stabilize the blood sugar level.
- Rice is a powerhouse of energy.
- It aids heart health.
- Rice is very easy to digest.
What can I Substitute for Rice Flour?
If you are looking for an alternative to Rice Flour to thicken a soup and you don’t have one, you don’t need to get anxious. We have a list of substitutes for Rice Flour. You can choose what you have in your kitchen/pantry right now.
1. Cornstarch:
Cornstarch is one of the best substitutes for Rice Flour to thicken soup & sauces. Cornstarch is gluten-free same as the Rice Flour. You cannot use the same technique to thicken the soup with Rice Flour. You just need to sprinkle some Rice Flour in your recipe and mix it well. But, with Cornstarch, you have to make a mixture of sem-liquid in the bowl before adding it to your recipe. If you do the same as with Rice Flour, you may see lumps in your recipe. All this you can do by maintaining the same ratio of 1:1.
2. All-Purpose Flour:
All-Purpose Flour is a good Rice Flour to thicken sauces. It is not a gluten-free product. All-Purpose Flour contains 8%-11% of gluten. You’ll need to add some water to All-Purpose Flour before adding it to your recipe. If gluten is not an issue for you, then you can use it as a Rice Flour alternative. All-purpose flour is better than Rice Flour to make baked products. It makes the baked product fluffy and soft.
3. Coconut Flour:
Coconut Flour is also gluten-free same as the above-mentioned flour. This flour adds the divine aroma of Coconut to your recipe/dish. This flour is rich in vitamins and minerals. Coconut Flour is made from dried coconut pulp. It has a low glycemic index, is reasonably high in fiber, and is low-calorie. For baked dish/recipe, you may replace 3/4 of natural vegan Coconut Flour with 1 cup of brown rice. There is another benefit of using Coconut Flour. It has its own sweetness, so it would be good to cut back on the sugar amount.
4. Sorghum Flour:
We are not 100% recommend this substitute. Some people think that this can be used as a substitute for Rice Flour that’s why we have added this to our list. This flour contains vitamins, minerals, protein, fiber, and other nutrients which are good for health and regulate the metabolism of the body. You can swap it with a ratio of 1:1 to the Rice Flour. It has a strong and bitter overpowering taste. That taste is not good in our opinion. It works really well with sweets and bread.
5. Potato Starch:
If you are cooking any frying dish/recipe, Potato Starch is the perfect Rice Flour alternative for frying. There are high chances of getting the dish/recipe better with Potato Starch. It makes the food crunchy or you can say crispy with its enhanced flavor. Using Potato Starch as a substitute for Rice Flour doesn’t absorb lots of oil, so the final recipe would be low in calories.
6. Almond Flour:
Almond Flour is a nut-based flour that doesn’t have any gluten. Almonds are healthy nuts. This flour works well with baked products/goods, but it’s not bad with frying. It is used to make an outer coating layer to your food that gives a crispy texture to the recipe/dish. Almond Flour is gluten-free and contains protein, potassium, fiber, and other vitamins and minerals. It is also better for your heart when compared to All-Purpose Flour.
7. Millet Flour:
Millet Flour is not a perfect Substitute for Rice Flour because its taste is different. It’s a gluten-free replacement for Brown Rice Flour. Brown Rice Flour has some nutty flavor while Millet Flour has a corn-like flavor. We know it’s all different still both can be used as substitutes for each other in some baked recipes. Millets give almost the same texture as All-purpose Flour in baked goods like bread, muffins, cakes, etc.
8. Chickpea Flour:
Chickpea Flour is another gluten-free flour. It is easily available in some grocery stores. Some people don’t purchase it from stores but make their own at home. It is rich in fiber, protein, and other necessary vitamins. This flour has its own binding power without having gluten which makes it unique from other Rice Flour substitutes. It can replace Rice Flour in a ratio of 1:1. It works well with sauces and dressings where it gives a silky and creamy consistency.
9. Tapioca Flour:
Tapioca Flour is extracted from the Cassava plant which thrives in warm climates. Tapioca is popular due to Tapioca Balls which are used in boba tea or milk tea that originated in Asia. Tapioca Flour works perfectly with fry dishes. It gives the perfect crunchy texture to baked goods. This flour is also a gluten-free flour but doesn’t have health benefits as compared to the above-mentioned substitutes. You can use it as a substitute for Rice Flour maintaining a ratio of 1:1.
10. Amaranth Flour:
Amaranth Flour is a protein-rich flour. It is made from well-grinding the seeds of the Amaranth plant into a fine powder. The protein of Amaranth Flour gets high marks for quality because it contains amino acids lysine and methionine. We recommend using some other gluten-free flour with Amaranth Flour for a good blend for baked recipes/dishes.
11. Oat Flour:
Oat Flour is easily available in the grocery market. Oat Flour contains dietary fibers but it is not well refined as compared to other Rice Flour substitutes. It is also ranked among the world’s most healthy grains. Vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that are beneficial for our body, are also offered by Oat Flour. All these qualities of Oat Flour resemble Brown Rice. You won’t differentiate when you replace them with each other.
12. Arrowroot Flour:
Arrowroot Flour is a less common gluten-free powder that is extracted from a plant named Maranta Arundinacea. Plant Starch help to make Arrowroot Flour. This can be used to thicken sauce and soups. You can add Arrowroot Flour to the almond, coconut, and tapioca flours for bread and dessert recipes/dishes.
FAQ:-
What does Rice Flour do in baking?
Rice Flour is used as a replacement for wheat flour in gluten-free baked goods. A bread that is made with this ingredient has lower loaf volume, harder texture, and shorter shelf life.
Is Ground Rice the same as Rice Flour?
Ground Rice is coarse and is usually boiled into a pudding whereas Rice Flour is finer and usually made into rice bread.
What is a substitute for Sweet Rice Flour?
Sweet Rice Flour can be substituted easily with tapioca starch, or regular potato starch. Any of them can give the same stickiness and chewiness given by the glutinous Rice Flour. You may think of using regular Rice Flour would be enough.
Now, you know the best Rice Flour Substitute. You can choose according to what you have in the kitchen or you can also buy from amazon. Please! comment down below your questions, and let us know how much informative is this article for you. 🙂
