Brown Rice Flour Substitutes (10 Alternatives To Try)

Brown rice flour is rice flour that has a mildly nutty flavor. Typically, brown rice is used to create gluten-free recipes, but brown rice flour can also be used in tandem with other wheat flours to enhance lightness and crispiness.

If you do not have brown rice flour available, you may be searching for brown rice flour substitutes. I did some research, and here are some brown rice flour alternatives you can try!

Brown Rice Flour Substitutes


1. White Rice Flour

Naturally, the best replacement for brown rice flour will be another type of rice flour, which is white rice flour. White rice flour is also a good substitute for brown rice flour if you want another gluten-free alternative.

However, white rice flour has a few differences that you need to keep in mind when using white rice flour as a substitute. For instance, white rice flour has a milder flavor than brown rice flour.

Moreover, brown rice flour absorbs more liquid and is denser than white rice flour. Therefore, you will likely need to add more white rice flour to your recipe to make up for these differences.

2. Tapioca Flour

Tapioca flour is starch taken from cassava roots, which is why some people may call it tapioca starch. Generally, tapioca flour has a mild flavor and a very starchy consistency.

When you use tapioca flour in a cooked recipe, tapioca flour gives the dishes a thick and chewy texture. However, tapioca flour is best used as a replacement for brown rice flour if you want to thicken dishes like soups or stews.

Normally, you can use the same amount of tapioca flour as you would brown rice flour as a thickening agent. However, you should gradually add tapioca flour to your recipe to keep your dish from becoming too thick.

3. Arrowroot Flour

While arrowroot flour is not as common as brown rice flour, arrowroot flour can make a decent substitute. Arrowroot flour is a grain-free and gluten-free ingredient, making arrowroot flour safe for most people with intolerances.

Arrowroot flour does not have any flavor, meaning arrowroot flour can easily replace brown rice flour in almost any recipe. Moreover, you can use an equal ratio of arrowroot flour to brown rice flour.

4. Potato Starch

If you need brown rice flour to fry food, potato starch is one of your best bets. Similar to brown rice flour, potato starch does not absorb much oil to prevent overly oily fried foods.

Other than frying, you can use potato starch to bake and thicken dishes instead of brown rice flour. Since potato starch does not have much flavor and works similarly to brown rice flour, you can use potato starch in a 1:1 ratio to brown rice flour.

5. Amaranth Flour

Amaranth flour is flour created from ground seeds from the amaranth plant. While amaranth flour is another gluten-free substitute you can try, amaranth flour does not work for every recipe.

You can use amaranth flour to thicken dishes instead of brown rice flour. However, amaranth flour does not work well in baking recipes because amaranth flour does not have gluten.

6. Oat Flour

Oat Flour

Oat flour is flour created from ground oats, and oat flour is another flour free of gluten. Since oat flour looks and tastes a lot like brown rice flour, you can use an equal amount of oat flour to brown rice flour.

7. Sorghum Flour

Sorghum flour is a gluten-free flour that is popular in various countries in Central America, South Asia, and Africa. Sorghum flour can be used in an equal ratio to brown rice flour in most recipes.

Generally, sorghum flour has a mild flavor, but some people note that sorghum flour tastes a bit sweet. Therefore, you may notice a slightly different taste in your dish.

8. All-Purpose Flour

All-purpose flour can be a good replacement for brown rice flour because of all-purpose flour’s versatility. However, all-purpose flour does contain gluten unlike brown rice flour since all-purpose flour is wheat flour.

Normally, you can use all-purpose flour in almost any recipe that calls for brown rice flour. However, you should be aware that all-purpose flour will be heavier than brown rice flour when used as a coating for frying.

9. Almond Flour

Almond flour is a great gluten-free and grain-free alternative to brown rice flour. However, almond flour will only work as a substitute for brown rice flour in certain recipes.

Generally, almond flour has a much stronger flavor than the other flours listed above. Almond flour has noticeably nutty and sweeter flavors, which can stand out in most recipes.

However, almond flour’s powerful flavor can work in your favor. For instance, almond flour can be great in sweet baked treats and the sweetness may not be noticeable when used as a coating for fried recipes.

Typically, you can use almond flour in an equal ratio to brown rice flour. However, you may still not get the same results as brown rice flour, especially in terms of flavor.

10. Coconut Flour

If you want to replace brown rice flour in a baking recipe, coconut flour can be a good choice. Coconut flour has a sweet taste like brown rice flour, but coconut flour is sweeter than brown rice flour.

If you want to learn what spelt flour is, what self-rising flour is, and what strong flour is, read our related articles.

Conclusion

Brown rice flour is a versatile ingredient that can be used in baking and frying recipes along with a thickening agent. However, brown rice flour is not readily available to everyone, but luckily brown rice flour can easily be replaced.

Choosing a substitute for brown rice flour will highly depend on the recipe you are making. For instance, white rice flour can be used in almost any brown rice flour recipe with a few adjustments while tapioca flour will work best as a thickening agent.

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