DIY Gluten-Free Flour Recipe

Want to make your own all-purpose gluten-free flour? Here’s a gluten-free flour recipe that takes just minutes to put together.

Whether you can’t get your hands on store-bought gluten-free flour or you simply want to make your own gluten-free flour mix, this DIY gluten-free flour blend is super easy and inexpensive to make in your own kitchen.

I originally created this gluten-free flour recipe while under quarantine because of the COVID-19 pandemic. When I couldn’t find gluten-free all-purpose flour anywhere, I figured out how to make my own. 

Read on to find out how to make gluten-free all-purpose flour mix!

Ingredients

Making your own flour blend that doesn’t contain any wheat flour is very easy. You’ll need the following ingredients:

White rice flour

This ingredient helps give your gluten-free all-purpose flour a neutral flavor.

There are many brands of white rice flour out there, including Bob’s Red Mill and King Arthur Flour. Any of these will do. By the way, people often think white rice is without nutrients.

But that’s simply not true! Per a ¼ cup of white rice flour, you get 3 grams of satiating protein!

Brown rice flour

Of course, since I’m a registered dietitian nutritionist, I had to add some whole grains to this wheat-free flour recipe. And using brown rice flour in your gluten-free flour substitute helps add satiating fiber to your baking blend.

Brown rice flour also offers protein. Per ¼ cup, you get the same 3 grams of protein you’ll find in white rice flour.

You get other nutrients, too. These include dietary fiber, as well as a little bit of blood-pressure-helping potassium and iron, which helps to keep your red blood cells oxygenated. 

I find that using the rice flour as a base makes the flour more versatile than if I were to use almond flour.

Xanthan gum

This is the last ingredient I’ll talk about in this substitute for wheat flour recipe. Xanthan gum is a natural thickener, and you’ll see that you only need to use a little bit of it. It’s also thankfully not too hard to get your hands on! 

Xanthan gum is often used in gluten-free baking because it works to emulsify and bind ingredients and add volume to the finished products. Xanthan gum helps to emulsify and bind ingredients and also add volume to finished products. 

It also has the benefit of providing protein, 1 gram per Tablespoon. In regular baked goods, gluten contained within flour binds the ingredients together. You need a gum gluten-free baked goods to get that job done.

Corn starch

When I was looking to make a substitute for regular flour, I found plenty a recipe that calls for tapioca flour. But I didn’t have any of that ingredient on hand.

What I did have: corn starch! So I played around with the ingredients I had on hand to make this flour recipe work! This ingredient has long been a staple in my kitchen, and it’s an important part of wheat-free flour. It’s used not only as a thickener. 

When using corn starch in your gluten-free baking, it’s important to choose a brand that is in fact gluten free. Many brands are cross contaminated.

Corn starch is a great ingredient to have on hand for other recipes, as well. I often use it as a thickener for sauces, such as in a sauce for Brussels sprouts.

Ingredient substitutions

In case you have a hard time finding the ingredients to this gluten-free flour recipe, here are a few substitutions that should work well. 

Instead of corn starch….

Try potato starch or tapioca starch. Theoretically, any food-based starch should be able to stand in for the corn starch in this wheat-free flour.

Instead of xanthan gum…

Substitute equal amounts of corn starch or guar gum in your flour recipe. Like xanthan gum, guar gum is also used to emulsify or bind ingredients. Unlike xanthan gum, however, it doesn’t contain protein but does boast fiber.

Instead of rice flour…

You may find that other starchy flours work as substitutes, such as potato flour or oat flour. These are substitutions you’ll have to play around with to see if they work.

If you can, I’d try substituting only one of the rice flour ingredients; for example, you could try swapping in oat flour for the brown rice flour.

Step-by-step instructions

Making this gluten-free flour recipe is super easy.

In a large bowl, mix ingredients together. Then store in an air-tight container.

Making your own gluten-free baking mix can save you money. Gluten-free baking and gluten-free products can be pricey, and one reason is that the all-purpose flour often required for it is more expensive than regular flour.

Recipe FAQ

More gluten-free recipes

If you enjoy this gluten-free flour recipe, you’ll also like:

• Gluten-free egg casserole
• No-egg cookies
• Avocado chocolate brownies

I’d love to hear from you! Let me know how what you’re baking up with this gluten-free all-purpose flour recipe. Will you be making your own no-gluten flour soon?

Are you planning to bake a gluten free bread recipe or some quick breads sometime soon? What are your favorite g-free flours? Have you ever tried sorghum flour?