Millet is a popular type of cereal grain that is now commonly used as flour. Millet flour can make a wide range of recipes, such as baked goods.
If you want to try a recipe that has millet flour but you don’t have any millet flour available, you may be wondering what you can use instead. Luckily, there are many other types of flour that you can use instead of millet flour. I did the research, and here are eleven millet flour substitutes!
Millet Flour Substitutes
1. Rice Flour
If you want to make a savory dish that contains millet flour, you can use rice flour as a substitute. Rice flour has a fairly mild flavor with a chewy texture, complementing your savory recipes.
However, rice flour is not the best alternative to millet flour for every recipe. For example, rice flour has bigger grains than millet, which means that you may not want to use rice flour in a soup recipe.
2. Sorghum Flour
One of the best replacements for millet flour is sorghum flour, which may also be called jowar flour. Sorghum flour has a very similar texture to millet flour, but sorghum tastes a bit stronger than millet flour.
If you want to use sorghum flour, you have to remember that sorghum flour has a different cooking time. Moreover, sorghum flour will require a different amount of water.
For instance, sorghum flour needs to boil for 50-60 minutes until it softens while millet flour only needs to boil for 30 minutes. It is also recommended that you use three cups of water for every cup of sorghum flour.
3. Bulgur Flour
Bulgur is made from wheat groats that can be sourced from different types of wheat, but bulgur is often made from durum wheat. Bulgur is a good substitute for millet flour, but bulgur tastes fairly nutty while millet flour is a bit sweet.
If you want to use bulgur to replace millet flour, you need to shorten your cooking time. Typically, you only need to cook bulgur flour for fifteen minutes.
4. Quinoa Flour
For people who want to keep it gluten-free, you can opt for quinoa flour. Quinoa flour is made from ground quinoa, and quinoa flour is a great ingredient to use for gluten-free baked recipes.
However, it is worth noting that quinoa flour is best used in tandem with other types of flour. For instance, you may want to use quinoa flour with sorghum flour or buckwheat flour to improve the texture.
5. Barley Flour
If you want to create a recipe that requires a bit of rice, barley flour is a good choice. Barley flour contains a bit of gluten to help baked goods rise upward.
Moreover, barley flour will be a great replacement if you are making a hearty recipe, such as recipes that have dried nuts and fruits. However, barley flour tastes noticeably nutty compared to millet flour’s sweeter, corn-like flavor.
6. Buckwheat Flour
If you want an alternative to millet flour that is gluten-free, buckwheat flour is a good choice. Despite the name, buckwheat flour does not contain any gluten because buckwheat is not related to common wheat.
Generally, buckwheat flour is a good choice if you want to make a bread or cake recipe since buckwheat can offer good structure.
However, it is important to note that buckwheat flour tastes very nutty, which is why buckwheat flour is often mixed with mild-tasting flour like wheat flour or millet flour. If you do not mind the strong taste, you can use buckwheat flour by itself.
7. Amaranth Flour
Similar to millet flour, amaranth flour does not have gluten, making amaranth flour safe for people with gluten intolerances to eat. Amaranth flour has a much blander flavor than millet flour.
Amaranth flour is high in protein, making amaranth flour a great choice for flatbreads, biscuits, and pancakes. However, amaranth flour is not ideal for bread recipes that need gluten to rise.
8. Montina Flour
Montina flour is another excellent substitute for millet flour, especially if you want a gluten-free alternative. Montina flour is made from grass and Montina features a mild flavor, which can be considered bland when compared to millet flour.
9. All-Purpose Flour
Generally, all-purpose flour is a good replacement for millet flour since they have similar protein structures. Therefore, you can use all-purpose flour in an equal ratio to millet flour for most recipes.
All-purpose flour is also excellent if you want a somewhat lighter texture and color in your recipe. This can somewhat mimic what millet flour can do for most recipes.
10. Chickpea Flour
Chickpea flour can make an excellent alternative flour to millet flour. However, it is important to note that there are different types of chickpea flour, and the two more common types of chickpea flour are made from desi chickpeas and Kabuli chickpeas.
Desi chickpea flour often tends to be darker while Kabuli chickpea flour is normally lighter. Moreover, desi chickpea flour tends to be very finely ground and dense.
No matter what type you use, either variant of chickpea flour will make a great binding ingredient if you do not have millet flour. Chickpea flour can be very sticky, which can keep food like meatballs or burgers together.
11. Almond Flour
Almond flour is considered an excellent substitute for many types of flour including millet flour. For instance, almond flour is slightly sweet like millet flour but almond flour will also taste a bit toasty and nutty.
Normally, almond flour will be best used in baking recipes. However, you can also use almond flour in a light batter or as a thickening agent.
If you want to learn about mochiko flour substitutes, maida flour substitutes, and Manitoba flour substitutes, read our other articles.
Conclusion
Millet flour is an excellent sweet flour that can be used in tons of recipes. However, millet flour is not readily available for everyone, but luckily there are many substitutes you can use.
Some good alternatives to millet flour are amaranth flour, buckwheat flour, sorghum flour, rice flour, and more. While you need to adjust your recipe to use these substitutes, these replacements will work in a pinch.