Chickpea flour is often known as garbanzo bean flour and is ideal for baking. Chickpea flour is harder to find in supermarkets since they mainly sell white flour or wheat flour. Therefore, today we will discuss the best chickpea flour substitutes.
Chickpea flour is made out of Bengal grams and is strong in protein and fiber. Chickpea flour is gluten-free, making it an excellent choice for making digestive recipes. However, if you cannot find chickpea flour in supermarkets (it may be hard), these flour substitutes will help you best in your recipes.
I am sure you must be wondering, what are the best substitutes for chickpea flour? The best chickpea flour substitutes are fava bean flour, brown rice flour, corn flour, buckwheat flour, quinoa flour, millet flour, cassava flour, oat flour, almond flour, and coconut flour.
For each recipe, food requirements are different. You can create fantastic recipes by trying these chickpea flour substitutes. However, before we discuss the best substitutes for chickpea flour, let me tell you a little bit about the chickpea flour itself. This will make it easier for you to pick your substitute. So, let’s dive into the world of flours!
Quick Peek: Chickpea Flour
This section has all the information you need on chickpea flour. You will also get to understand the ingredient itself, its flavor and texture profile, uses, and nutritional information. So, let us discover peanut oil together!
What Is Chickpea Flour?
Chickpea flour is a gluten-free flour popular in Indian cooking. It is gaining appeal in western countries as an alternative to wheat flour. Chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans, are the major ingredient in meals like hummus, falafel, and Chana masala.
So, you might have a question – Is chickpea flour just ground-up chickpeas? Well, it’s yes and no. The original chickpea flour, also known as gram flour, is derived from the brown variety of black chickpeas, also known as Bengal chickpeas. To make the flour, the brown hulls of dried chickpeas are removed, and the interior seed is split.
Chickpea flour is well-known as healthy vegan and vegetarian food that can be used in place of meat in a variety of cuisines. Hummus and falafel are two of their most popular foods. Both vegetarians and vegans rave about its incredible health benefits, as well as its flavor and versatility in the kitchen.
Describing Chickpea Flour: Flavor and Texture
Chickpea flour is prepared from dried, powdered garbanzo beans. It has a nutty flavor, a light, powdery texture, and a golden tint that enhances all forms of cookery. Chickpea flour is used in savory crepes called Pudla and also in fried veggie meals.
It has a very neutral flavor that is slightly nutty. Chickpea flour works well in both savory and sweet dishes. When chickpea flour is mixed with liquids, it gets a stickier texture than all-purpose flour. Because of these characteristics, it is an excellent binder for baking.
Chickpea flour has grown in popularity around the world, but it is not always available. Therefore, you will find these chickpea flour substitutes working magically for you.
Uses of Chickpea Flour
Chickpea flour can be used to make fritters and veggie burgers. Due to their thick consistency, use them in sauces, soups, and stews for a perfect texture. Make flatbreads and batter-based dishes such as pancakes and waffles with chickpea flour. Also, chickpea flour is great for making batters for deep-frying foods.
It’s a perfect vegan egg substitute for omelets and quiches. When combined with equal parts of water, it can be used as an egg substitute in your recipes. It can also be mixed with other gluten-free flours to make quickbreads, cookies, and muffins.
Also, chickpea flour is a high-protein, gluten-free flour, so you can use them to make low-diet calorie food. Overall, chickpea flour goes well in both dishes: sweet and savory.
Chickpea Flour On The Health Radar | Looking Through The Wellness Telescope
Let’s start with the obvious: Chickpea flour is rich in vitamins and minerals. Moreover, chickpea contains antioxidants that help you fight free radicals. It has 25% fewer calories than white or wheat flour, making it the best choice for low-calorie diet foods.
Chickpea flour is a low GI food; therefore, it’s good for diabetic patients. Studies prove that eating chickpea flour can reduce blood sugar and give you a healthy lifestyle.
Because chickpea flour has more protein, fiber, and vitamins than white flour, using it in place of refined wheat flour adds significant nutrition to the recipes.
Due to the protein and fiber content, dishes made with chickpea flour are healthy alternatives if you trying to lose weight. Similarly, it keeps you full for a longer period, so you feel satisfied until your next meal, making you less prone to snacking.
Why Use A Substitute For Chickpea Flour?
I am sure this question must have popped into your mind, considering how healthy chickpea flour is. While there are many reasons to use chickpea flour in a recipe, there are a few reasons why you can consider using a substitute for the same.
Firstly, chickpea flours sometimes get difficult to get in supermarkets. So, finding a substitute for chickpea flour is the best choice at the moment.
Secondly, some people can be allergic to the use of chickpea flour in their recipes. Studies indicate that chickpea allergy symptoms most commonly appear on the skin. Therefore, this article helps you with finding the best chickpea flour substitutes.
I believe I have provided you with enough information about chickpea flour. So now, without further ado, let me quickly introduce the best chickpea flour substitutes to you!
Other Food Substitutes You Can Try
- Best Cake Flour Substitutes That Are Easily Available
- Best Corn Flour Substitutes That Are Easily Available
- Best Sweet Rice Flour Substitutes You Can Try
- Best Millet Substitutes You Can Try
- Best Potato Flour Substitutes You Can Try
- Best Spelt Flour Substitutes You Can Try
- Best Coconut Flour Substitutes You Can Try
- Best Cassava Flour Substitutes You Can Try
- Best Rice Flour Substitutes That Are Easily Available
- Best Buckwheat Flour Substitutes You Can Try
10 Best Chickpea Flour Substitutes
This section has all the best substitutes for chickpea flour. You will understand why you can use these flour substitutes and get information about which recipes the substitutes would work best.
1. Fava Bean Flour
Fava bean flour can become an excellent substitute for chickpea flour due to its versatility. Using fava bean flour is always suitable for muffins, cookies, bread, and waffles. This diet-friendly substitute is also gluten-free.
You can cook, grind, and can also freeze chickpea flour. Flour made from fava beans has a rich, nutty flavor, ideal for making pizza bases, pancakes, and flatbread. When it comes to baking, fava bean flour alone can not create magic. You need to mix it with other flour to make your recipes yummy and delicious.
2. Brown Rice Flour
Brown rice flour is another substitute for chickpea flour which is also gluten-free. Thinking about adding fiber and antioxidant-rich brown rice flour to your daily diet? Then it is perfect.
We all know brown rice flour is more nutritious than white rice flour. Brown rice is also easy to find for your recipes. The desserts made from brown rice flour are chewy and soft. The best part about this substitute is that you can fry brown rice and grind it home to make flour.
Brown rice flour is an excellent source of vitamins and minerals. Chickpea flour has more protein content, while brown rice does not. Whether you need to bake bread, cake, or waffles, brown rice flour will do the best trick.
3. Corn Flour
Corn flour is about making your recipes with this amazing chickpea flour. It is made from corn kernels. The taste of this flour is sweet, earthy, and natural. The flour’s color completely depends on what kind of corn you grind. It can be yellow or sometimes white too.
Corn flour is ideal for waffles, muffins, and pancakes due to its similar texture to chickpea flour. There is a difference in taste between the two flours. But with corn flour, you can make grilled and fried food too. The recipes will be tastier with corn flour. Corn flour is a gluten-free ingredient that can make a well-structured and spongy cake-like corn starch.
4. Buckwheat Flour
From morning buns to structured cake, buckwheat flour is the perfect alternative to chickpea flour. Buckwheat flour has a nutty and earthy flavor, while chickpea flour has a nutty grassy and earthy flavor.
The signature taste of buckwheat flour is bitter, but the aroma and scent can really make good butter cakes, cookies, and crackers. This flour is vitamin and protein-rich and full of fibers too. To avoid sawdust taste, always mix buckwheat flour with other flour.
Buckwheat flour behaves differently for various cooking methods. Sometimes it tastes soft and spongy, and other times it tastes crumbly, soft, and earthy. If you are on a low-calorie diet, this can benefit you because of its gluten-free and grain-free properties.
5. Quinoa Flour
Quinoa flour is produced from dry quinoa seeds and is the perfect substitute for chickpea flour. This yellow and white flour is also very similar to wheat flour. To increase the amount of protein in your daily diet, quinoa flour is the best ingredient.
We love adding Quinoa flour to our smoothies and shakes. Low-carb quinoa flour can make really good muffins and morning bread. Quinoa can be the best base for your soups as it has thickening properties. A spongy, chewy, tender quinoa flour is perfect for baking. To reduce its natural taste, you just have to mix cocoa powder with quinoa flour.
6. Millet Flour
Millet flour is made from cereal grains high in antioxidants and protein. It’s a great gluten-free substitute for chickpea flour on the list. Millet flour is also beneficial to you from a health perspective. It is widely used in African and Asia cuisines and is similar to chickpea flour.
Millet flour helps you manage your blood sugar level and lowers the body’s cholesterol level if used daily. You can use millet flour instead of chickpea flour at a 1:1 ratio. To give better structure to your recipes, mix millet flour with other flour and get winning results in your baking.
Millet flour tastes sweeter than most flours and may be used in dessert recipes. The best part about millet flour is its more protein, amino acids, and dietary fiber.
7. Cassava Flour
Cassava flour is made from ground cassava roots and works great as chickpea flour substitutes. The flavor of cassava flour is kind of similar to chickpeas. It has an earthy and nutty flavor.
The flour tastes like boiled potatoes, which you can consume raw or boiled. Also high in protein, satisfying & filling as well as nutritious. This can be a decent substitution for chickpea flour if you want to make gluten-free baked dishes.
Moreover, you can also combine it with other flour when preparing bread. Keep one thing in mind – Cassava cannot rise, so it will produce a denser loaf if it is not combined with other flours.
8. Oat Flour
Oat flour is another gluten-free option that can be used as a substitute for chickpea flour. Oat flour is widely available in most grocery stores. It is high in vitamin B1, copper, magnesium, and fiber.
Oat flour works nicely in dense-textured desserts such as brownies or muffins. It gives a mild taste to your desserts. But adding another flour with oat flour works well. So, next time you make spongy cakes, make sure to add a 1:1 ratio for baking success.
To get oat flour at home, simply grind oatmeal in a food processor until it is powdery in texture. Bind it with nutritious vegan recipes, as well as baked goods.
9. Almond Flour
Almond flour is similar to chickpea flour – high in nutrients and gluten-free. Truly, almond flour is the best chickpea flour substitute. Moreover, it’s easier to digest. Add in your food dishes for many reasons. One such is it releases sugar into your bloodstream. Ultimately, it regulates blood sugar levels.
The flavor is not identical to chickpeas. However, it is nutty and earthy, making it an excellent substitute for chickpea flour. Almond flour is often prepared using blanched almonds. Just make sure to peel the skin first, so it doesn’t impart a bitter flavor to the flour.
10. Coconut Flour
Coconut flour is another best substitute for chickpea flour. It is white and soft in texture and made out of a dried coconut. Coconut flour takes longer to mix than other types of flour because it holds more liquid. When baked with coconut flour, recipes will have a distinctive coconut flavor.
If you want to bake some chewy and moist cakes at home, add coconut flour to your recipe. You will get spectacular results. Coconut flour is high in fiber and aids in digestion. Coconut flour is widely used in gluten-free and grain-free baking. It is suitable for baking cakes, biscuits, bread, and muffins.
A Short Recap For Best Chickpea Flour Substitutes
That was an extensive read on chickpea flour and its substitutes. The following points will make things easy for you to remember about chickpea flour and its substitutes:
Best Chickpea Flour Substitutes In Terms Of Flavor And Texture
- Almond flour
- Oat flour
- Coconut flour
Best Chickpea Flour Substitutes That Are Not Grain Based
- Quinoa flour
- Buckwheat flour
Best Chickpea Flour Substitutes Should Be Least Considered
- Brown rice flour
- Millet flour
How To Use Chickpea Flour Substitutes In A Recipe
Chickpea Flour Substitutes
Ingredients
- Brown Rice Flour
- Fava Bean Flour
- Buckwheat Flour
- Corn Flour
- Quinoa Flour
- Millet Flour
- Cassava Flour
- Oat Flour
- Almond Flour
- Coconut Flour
Instructions
- Go through the substitutes and see which one seems fit for the recipe.
- Collect your ingredients and use your preferred substitute.
- Use the substitute in the required amount and proceed to make the dish according to the recipe.
Final Thoughts
Chickpea flour is an ideal ingredient that works great in baking recipes and as an egg replacer. Its flavor, texture, and consistency make it a versatile ingredient that can be used for experiments in the kitchen. It’s a great complement to a lot of recipes.
However, choose a substitute based on your recipe, and let me know what turned out the best for you. See you soon with another write-up!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is Chickpea Flour Healthy?
Yes, chickpea flour is full of healthy nutrients. It’s a great alternative to wheat flour and has a high amount of protein and fiber.
What Is The Difference Between Gram Flour And Chickpea Flour?
Gram flour is made of Chana Dal, whereas chickpea flour is made of white chickpeas.
Is Chickpea Flour Keto Friendly?
No, chickpea flour has a high amount of fiber and carbs, therefore, not suitable for a ketogenic diet.
Is Chickpea Flour Good For Baking?
Chickpea flour is dense in texture, therefore giving good binding to the baking. So, chickpea flour is good for baking.
