Flour is a versatile ingredient that can be used in many recipes, and many types of ingredients can be used to create flour, such as lentils to create lentil flour.
For people who have never tried lentil flour before, it is natural to wonder what lentil flour is. I looked up the facts, and here is what I discovered!
What Is Lentil Flour?
Lentil flour is a type of legume flour created from lentils, and lentil flour can be made from any kind of lentil such as yellow, green, brown, and red lentils. Since lentil flour is much denser than other types of flour, lentil flour works best for recipes that need denser textures and not much volume.
Do you want to learn how lentil flour is made, if lentil flour contains gluten, and what you can substitute for lentil flour? Keep reading!
What Is Lentil Flour Made Of?
Lentil flour is made of finely milled lentil grains, which can be from any type of lentil including red, brown, yellow, and green lentils.
Is Lentil Flour A Wheat?
Lentil flour is not considered wheat flour because lentil flour is made from lentils, which are legumes.
What Does Lentil Flour Taste Like?
Generally, lentil flour does taste similar to lentils, but the exact way lentil flour will taste will depend on how you used the lentil flour.
For instance, most people note that lentil flour used to create lentil pasta noticeably tastes like lentils.
On the other hand, if you were to use lentil flour to create muffins with chocolate chips, the lentil flour may taste fairly neutral due to the other stronger-tasting ingredients.
What Is Lentil Flour Used For?
Lentil flour can be used for most types of recipes that call for flour given that the recipe does not require much rise or volume.
For instance, lentil flour is popularly used to create pasta since pasta does not require a lot of volumes, making lentil flour a good substitute for wheat flour in pasta recipes.
Another example is how lentil flour is commonly used to create tortillas and flatbreads because lentil flour can give great textures without volume.
Additionally, lentil flour may be used for baking recipes like muffins, but how much lentil flour you can use in a baking recipe will depend on the dish.
For example, lentil flour is very dense, so lentil flour may only be used to replace 20-25% of other types of flour in bread recipes.
Moreover, lentil flour can be a good binding or thickening ingredient when you cook recipes like meatballs, stews, and more.
How Is Lentil Flour Made?
Generally, lentil flour is made by placing lentils into a fine-mesh sieve and rinsing the lentils, removing any debris and discolored lentils.
Next, the lentils get covered by 1-2 inches of room temperature or cold water to soak for four hours or overnight.
When the lentils have soaked, the lentils will get drained and soaked again to remove any excess dirt.
Now, the lentils get spread onto baking trays where they will dry, and the drying methods include air-drying, dehydrator, or at a low temperature in the oven.
Once the lentils are fully dehydrated, the lentils then get ground using various grinding machines, such as a high-processing blender, food processor, mill, etc. until the lentils resemble a fine powder.
Normally, the lentils need to be sifted through a sieve to separate any larger chunks then the larger chunks get ground again.
How Do I Store Lentil Flour?
Generally, the best way to store lentil flour is to keep the lentil flour in an airtight storage container.
Ideally, you should keep the container in a dry place away from harsh light or sudden temperature changes, such as a pantry or cupboard.
Is Lentil Flour Just Ground Lentils?
Technically, lentil flour can be considered simply ground lentils since lentil flour is made from ground lentils.
However, there is a process that lentils go through before the lentils are ground, so you cannot simply ground lentils without soaking and drying the lentils first.
Is Lentil Flour Better Than Regular Flour?
Generally, lentil flour is not considered better than regular flour because regular flour has more uses than lentil flour.
Regular flour has gluten while lentil flour does not have gluten, meaning regular flour can offer better texture and volume to more recipes.
However, some people may prefer lentil flour because lentil flour is gluten-free and more nutrient-dense than regular flour.
Can I Replace Flour With Lentil Flour?
Normally, you can use flour to replace lentil flour in most recipes without noticing much of a difference, especially since lentil flour is used to replace flour as a gluten-free alternative.
Does Lentil Flour Cause Gas?
Lentil flour can cause gas because lentils can cause bloating and excessive gas.
Does Lentil Flour Have Gluten?
Lentil flour does not contain any gluten since lentil flour is made from legumes and lentils are naturally gluten-free.
Is Lentil Flour Keto-Friendly?
Generally, lentil flour is not considered keto-friendly because lentil flour contains a lot of net carbs, which is not ideal for keto diets.
What Can I Substitute For Lentil Flour?
If you want another gluten-free substitute for lentil flour, opting for nut flour like almond flour is an ideal replacement, especially since nut flour tends to be lighter than lentil flour.
On the other hand, people who do not mind consuming gluten can easily replace lentil flour with wheat flour, such as all-purpose flour.
If you want to learn what light spelt flour is, what light rye flour is, and what lotus flour is, read our related articles.
Conclusion
Lentil flour is legume flour created from different types of lentils, and lentil flour is a fairly dense and gluten-free flour alternative.
While lentil flour can be used alone to create recipes like lentil pasta, lentil flour may only partially replace 20-25% of the flour in recipes like bread recipes.