15 Types Of Gluten-Free Flours, Explained

As little as a decade ago, grocery store shelves held limited options for people suffering from Celiac disease and other gluten sensitivity-related conditions. However, gluten-free eating is a staple in many of the hottest fad diets that have taken over the wellness landscape over the last few years. Popular diets like the Whole 30, the South Beach diet, and the Master Cleanse emphasize eating foods with no (or very limited) gluten in an effort to reduce the intake of carbohydrates, and the commercial success of such movements led to an explosion of gluten-free products on grocery store shelves, in specialty shops online, and even in fast food restaurants.

Although there is no substantial research that shows that a gluten-free diet will prevent disease or help everyone to lose weight (per Harvard Health Publishing), many people nowadays still choose to limit or eliminate gluten from their diets entirely regardless of whether they struggle with gluten sensitivity — and the market has responded to the demand for such products in a big way. In the past, it was particularly difficult to find baked goods sans gluten, but these days, you'll find a sizable collection of GF bread, pastries, and desserts in most grocery stores along with an entire world of recipes online. Baking typically requires flour of some sort, and thankfully, there's no shortage of exciting gluten-free flour available to amateur bakers and professional pastry chefs alike today. Here are some gluten-free flours derived from grains, nuts, seeds, root vegetables, and more.

Oats have enjoyed a prime spot in the limelight for some time now due to fads like overnight oats, oat milk, and now oat flour. As Verywell Fit explains, oat flour makes for a healthy gluten-free flour substitute as it's low-fat, a great source of complex carbs, and high in protein. It's also easy and cheap to make at home — to make your own oat flour, just blend up whole-grain rolled oats in a high-speed blender until they've been pulverized to the fine consistency of flour. It's important to note that while oats are gluten-free on their own, they're often processed on equipment that is also used to manufacture foods that do contain gluten. Those concerned about cross-contamination should make sure to select oats or oat flour that is clearly labeled "gluten-free."

In cooking and baking, oat flour can be substituted for regular flour in equal parts (if a recipe calls for one cup of AP flour, you can substitute 1 cup of oat flour in its place). If oatmeal conjures up visions of breakfast foods for you, you may enjoy swapping out oat flour for regular flour in pancake, muffin, or banana bread recipes, but it can also be used to make other baked goods like sandwich bread, cakes, and cookies.

Almond flour is one of the most common and readily available forms of gluten-free flour. Not to be confused with almond meal, which is more dense and coarse, almond flour is made by blanching skinned almonds, drying them out, and then grinding them into fine flour before packaging, per Blue Diamond. If you have de-skinned blanched almonds or almond slivers at home, you can make your own almond flour in much the same way as oat flour. Simply place the almonds in a high-speed blender or food processor and blend until a fine consistency is reached.

Almonds and other nuts are known to be great sources of unsaturated fat, and the same is true for almond flour, according to WebMD. It's also rich in manganese, magnesium, and vitamin E, all of which help improve body and brain function. Almond flour is one of the most popular flours used in gluten-free recipes, but it can also be substituted for regular AP flour in a 1-to-1 ratio in non-GF recipes. Note that you may need to adjust the number of eggs used in baking recipes — recipes utilizing almond flour may require an extra egg in order to bind ingredients effectively. Use almond flour to whip up some delicious gluten-free muffins, tortillas, or this nutty coffee cake.

Like tapioca, cassava flour is also derived from the cassava plant — but cassava flour contains the plant's entire root, versus tapioca flour which only includes the starchy part. As Medical News Today explains, cassava flour is made by taking small pieces of grated cassava root, drying the pieces out, and then pulverizing the dried morsels into a superfine powder. Cassava flour is richer in fiber than tapioca flour, so while tapioca is a fine thickener on its own, cassava is even better due to its higher starch content. Cassava flour is thought to aid in digestion and promote gut health and subsequently may help stave off ailments and illnesses such as constipation, Crohn's disease, and even colorectal cancer.

Mikey's describes the taste of cassava flour as nutty and earthy, and it's a little more noticeable in food than flavorless, odorless tapioca flour. Still, it's a popular choice in gluten-free cooking and baking and can be substituted in equal parts for all-purpose flour in most recipes. Recently, it's even been used in quite a few pre-made store products, like Aldi's popular grain-free pretzels. Use it to make pasta dough, brownies, banana bread, and other baked goods. Given that cassava flour is grain, nut, and gluten-free, it's a great choice for those whose food sensitivities and diet limitations extend beyond gluten.

Chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans) are an incredibly nutrient-dense legume, and chickpea flour carries many of the same dietary advantages. Dr. Axe tells us that chickpea flour is high in fiber, contains lots of vitamins and minerals like calcium and magnesium, and packs a high concentration of folate, which is excellent for prenatal development. Chickpea flour is actually still commonly used in parts of the Middle East and Asia as default, as opposed to being a substitute for AP flour, and some researchers believe that consuming garbanzo beans and other legumes has contributed to these populations' notoriously superior health (per the National Library of Medicine).

It's fairly easy to make chickpea flour at home if you have dried garbanzo beans on hand (although it can also be processed from raw or roasted beans). Its sweet, rich flavor is quite versatile, and it's a key ingredient in making flatbreads like crispy Indian papadum or socca, and its creamy consistency makes it a great gluten-free binding choice in recipes for fritters or falafel. When using chickpea flour in baked goods, the flour should be combined with another gluten-free flour in order to help the dough to rise.

There are a few different varieties of rice flour, and all of them are gluten-free (yes, even glutinous rice flour, in spite of its name!) The best-known and most widely available variations are white and brown rice flour, both of which give dishes a unique, stretchy texture. Rice flour is a crucial part of the population's diet in parts of Asia where regular rice is a staple (via Dr. Axe). While it's fairly high in fiber (1 cup of white rice flour delivers 4 grams of fiber, while one cup of brown rice flour contains 7.3 grams), it lacks the high concentration of other nutrients like iron and vitamin E that some of the other gluten-free flours on this list are able to deliver.

White rice flour is best used in batters, while brown rice lends itself well to thickening and creating baked goods. Use white rice flour to make dishes like dumplings, tempura-battered meat, and veggies, or this gluten-free fritto misto. Brown rice flour is better used to thicken sauces and stews and is the more commonly used of the two varieties in baking. Because there are many varieties of rice flour, the ratio for substitution of rice flour to AP or other flours can vary greatly — however, Livestrong recommends that you don't replace all of the flour in a baking recipe with rice flour: rather, blend rice flour with other flours for best results.

Corn can be made into many different products, including cornmeal, cornstarch, and corn flour. Roughly ground cornmeal, as Dr. Axe explains, contains the corn kernels' bran, germ, and endosperm, and corn flour is simply cornmeal in its more finely ground state. There are a few different types of corn flour made from various varieties of corn (white corn, yellow corn, blue corn) and while each has its own benefits, most corn flour is rich in antioxidants and chock-full of protein. Organic, sprouted corn (corn that has been soaked in order to eliminate phytic acid) is the most nutritious, and corn flour made from sprouted corn comes with similar benefits.

Because corn flour has a highly distinctive taste, it's not easy to substitute it for regular flour or milder-tasting GF flours, but it's delicious in recipes in which the corn flavor serves as an enhancement. Dishes such as cornbread, hush puppies, and savory pancakes are popular ways to use corn flour. Masa harina, a type of corn flour produced by soaking the corn in lime juice prior to processing, is used widely in Mexico and South America (via Freshly) to make corn tortillas, arepas, tamales, and other traditional dishes. As a bonus, soaking the corn for masa harina in lime juice adds a calcium boost to the gluten-free flour.

It seems chia seeds are everywhere these days: They're topping açaí bowls, getting blended into smoothies, being mixed into chia seed overnight oats, transforming into vegan eggs, and more. There's a great reason for that. As the National Library of Medicine explains, the superfood is incredibly high in fiber, bursting with antioxidants, and also a great source of protein, making them a great addition to a well-balanced diet. Processed from chia seeds and containing similarly excellent health benefits, chia flour is a great gluten-free substitute for all-purpose flour in both cooking and baking recipes.

Chia seeds have no detectable flavor on their own, but chia flour will give dishes a very mild, nutty taste when added to the recipe. Bakerpedia recommends substituting chia flour in recipes calling for wheat flour in equal parts or using chia flour as ⅓ of the mix if combining it with other gluten-free flour. Chia flour also makes an incredible egg substitute: To replace one egg, simply mix one tablespoon of chia flour with 3 tablespoons of water. The resulting mixture will take on the gelatinous consistency of an egg after sitting for 10 minutes and makes an excellent binding agent.