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When starting a keto diet, many people want to re-create their favorite non-keto foods to help with compliance on a keto diet. Many foods people seek to re-create are breads, buns, muffins, cookies, brownies, pastries, tortillas, and many other flour-based foods.
If you’re brand new to keto, below are a list of our favorite flours to use on a keto diet. The links below are amazon affiliate links. If you purchase anything through our links, we will receive a small commission with no additional cost to you. By using our affiliate links it helps support this blog 🙂
The Best Flours to Use on a Keto Diet
Coconut Flour is very high in fiber and low in carbohydrates so it is perfect to use in baked goods such as breads and desserts. Since it is high in fiber it usually only requires about 1/4 the amount if substituting in place of normal flour or almond flour.
Almond Flour is high in fat, low in carbs, and moderate in protein. It is more dense than coconut flour and is usually a 1:1 substitute for regular flour, unlike coconut flour.
Psyllium Husk Flour
is a flour that I had never used before I started to follow a ketogenic diet. It’s high in fiber and is mostly used in breads and roll recipes.
Ground Flax Seed is high in fiber and fat, and is packed full of ALA Omega 3 fatties acids.
Ground Chia Seeds are high in protein and fiber and have 0g net carbs per serving. They are great for using in baked goods, but I like using ground chia for smoothies because it tends to not stick on the inside of the blender like regular chia seeds do.
Ground Sunflower Seeds. I’ve seen a lot of pre-made baking mixes use this as their flour of choice. They make for really chewy cookies and brownies!
Cricket Flour. Are you feeling adventurous? Cricket flour has 2g fat, 1g carb and 7g protein per 10g serving.
Oat Fiber. With 3g of carbs all coming from fiber, this flour is perfect to add to baked good without the fear of spiking your blood sugar.
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Xoxo, Lara & Faith
Hello Lara, thank you for the article! May I ask, can we use zea flour? I’d like to make my own pasta! 😊
I’ve never heard of zea flour I will have to look into it
Rice flour, can this be used.
Rice flour is higher in carbohydrates so it will be hard to eat a lot on a keto diet
Do you have experience cooking with Lupin flour? I’ve been using it in some pancake recipes in place of almond flour with some success.
Hi Sarah,
I have never cooked with it before.
What about semolina made macaroni or flour?
Semolina is higher in carbohydrates and you won’t be able to consume much and stay in ketosis.
I was told spelt flour was ok to use to keep glycemic numbers low. Is this correct? I love pretzels for a snack and have found a pretzel made from spelt that is very tasty.
Spelt is higher in carbohydrates and you may not be able to consume much and stay in ketosis.
Hi, is water chestnut flour ok to use when on keto diet?
Is tapioca flour keto friendly?
Tapioca flour has 26g net carbs per 1/4 cup so it would be hard to consume it in large amounts on a keto diet.
But it’s resistant starch, meaning it behaves like fiber…thoughts?
It may slow down the spike of glucose because it is a resistant starch, but too much may kick you out of ketosis. Each individual is different depending on their ADLs, metabolism, how long they’ve been in ketosis, etc. I hope this helps.
Hi Faith,
Hope you are doing good. Just wanted to remind you about your Naan recipe. Are you done with that? Or it is still under research?
Hi Faheem, Thank you so much! I’m doing well and hope you are too. 🙂 And thanks for checking back! The naan recipe has been perfected and will be included in our upcoming Keto Bread cookbook, to be published on Sept. 10, 2019. Here’s more info on the book if you’re interested: https://theketoqueens.com/keto-bread-cookbook/
Hi can you use amaranth flour on a Keto diet
Amaranth flour has 17g net carbs per 1/4 cup so it would be pretty hard to use on a keto diet.
Hello,
Is carbalose flour Keto friendly?
Yes carbalose is keto friendly. It has 2g net carbs per 1/3 cup. We tend to not use pre-made mixes instead we use individual ingredients.
Yes it has 16 carbs but 14 fiber you subtract fiber from carbs so it has only 2 carbs to 1/3 cup
I have sever digestive issues and unable to have coconut, Psyllium, Flax Seed, Oat, any cereal kind of flour. A lot of recipes call for both almond and coconut flour and all the substitute is something that I’m unable to use.
Hi Diana,
We’re sorry to hear about your digestive issues.
I’ve read many reviews that say that the Lupin Flour is very easy to digest. 🙂
Cassava flour? Does that work for Keto diet
Hi Debbie,
It’s higher in carbohydrates so it’s hard to make fit on a keto diet.
What about soy flour?
Soy flour has 5g net carbs per 1/4 cup. We haven’t experimented with it much.
Is Einkorn Flour keto friendly?
it has 18g of net carbs per 1/4 cup so it would be hard to fit a lot of in a keto diet
Can you use lentil flour or water chestnut flour when on the Keto diet?? Also is there any type of flour that is affordable in Keto?
Lentil flour has 14g net carbs per 1oz so it will be hard to make anything with it on a keto diet. Chestnut flour has 3g net carbs per 1oz so it’s a better option than the lentil flour. Coconut flour (especially), ground flax seed, and almond flour are super affordable nowadays.
Thank you that was a great help
Can i use chickpeas in keto diet?
Chickpeas are higher in carbohydrates so I don’t consume them.
Is Quinoa flour any good to be used on the keto diet?
Hi Dawna,
It’s higher in carbs so it’s hard to use a large amount in recipes. I’d opt for something lower in carbs like almond or coconut flour
What about einkorn flour? It’s the original non-hybridized wheat. I make my own einkorn sourdough bread. I understand that it would be higher in carbs, but would it be ok in small quantities? Thanks for the info!
Hi Kelly,
Truly you can eat anything that contains carbohydrates, it’s just the serving size that you would need to moderate. So if you’re okay with having a few bites of bread, more than likely it will not kick you out of ketosis. It also depends on how many carbohydrates you consumed earlier in the day and what your physical activity looks like. Personally I’ve tested out consuming upwards of 100g of carbohydrates (most of them being in the evening) and then hopping in my infrared sauna afterwards for 30 minutes. And then the next morning I tested my blood ketone levels and I was still in ketosis! It’s super individualized. I hope this helps 🙂
how about red teff seed? Can use it as it is a seed very low carb?
Hi Anderson,
I haven’t heard of that before. I will look into it. Thank you!
Teff Flour has 27g carbs per 1/4 cup so it would not be a viable Keto flour option.
What is the best flour to use for pastry?
We normally like to use a blend of coconut and almond flour
What’s the usual ratio, when using both coconut and almond flours in baking?
We don’t really have a ratio that we follow – it varies recipe to recipe
Hi. Is oat fibre same as oat flour? Thanks
Nope, not at all. Oat fiber is just the fiber and has 0g net carbs, whereas the flour is just ground up oats and has a bunch of carbs.
Hello ladies,
I am from a Hispanic / Jewish household….we LOVE LOVE LOVE our tortillas and Challah…..I can’t seem to find ANYTHING that really seems to create that stretchy feel for a flour tortillas and as for the Challah, I can’t seem to find anything that creates, also, that stretchy chewy oh so gooooood “feel”, taste, etc….any ideas????
Rev, We are thrilled to tell you that we have a bread book coming out in September that has a ton of great keto bread recipes! Here are the links if you want to take a look: Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Keto-Bread-Muffins-Low-Carb-Keto-Friendly/dp/1507210906/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1549287717&sr=8-1&keywords=9781507210901 and Barnes and Noble link is now available here: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1130507963?ean=9781507210901
As a former pastry chef I can say it will be hard or next to impossible to create that exact mouthfeel, texture, and consistency of any original bread recipe without using gluten. It’s culinary science, However, you can find substitute ingredients such as these listed and combine them to recreate something very close to what you are looking for. As a daughter of a dad who is going through diabetes complications and after much research into this keto diet it seems to be the way to go… Good luck
I’m very new to this diet and I have a question. If the amount of flour is less than a few tablespoons to coat beef in a stir fry, wil this hurt this diet?
Rod, With a ketogenic lifestyle, the point is to stay within your macros, so if you’re not gluten-intolerant and the flour fits into your macros, you should be fine. Have you calculated what your macros should be? We have a post talking about which macro calculators we like best, if you’re interested: https://theketoqueens.com/macro-calculator-review/ Additionally, a doctor can help you figure out the macros that will work best for your health and fitness goals. Best of luck and welcome to the keto family!
i just heard about cassava flour and tiger nut flour can you recommend a flour ans recipe for bread ive tried keto connect ijust do not like it, it reminds me of quiche and i hate quiches
Hi Monica,
Here’s our keto bread recipe, it’s our favorite! https://theketoqueens.com/keto-bread/
I am looking for a gluten free, low carb flour to make Naan. I have tried it with the almond flour and as you know, almond flour has a sweet taste so it tasted more like a pancake. Any recommendations? Thanks, and thank you for this – I am going to try to make some of my own flours…
Ana, We love naan! We’re developing a recipe for a special project we’ve been working on for the past couple months. We can’t wait to announce it! Check back because we’re hoping to be able to share more information on the project very soon!
Yes would love to have a naan recipe:)
Check back soon 🙂
I use veggie flour works great, I am not on a keto diet, but I love juicing and hated throwing away the pulp, started making dog treats with the pulp, then started making flour. Pumpkin, carrot and beet flours are awesome to cook with.
Dear Cseib, how do you make veggie flour out of pulp? I am intrigued
Can you share your process for making veggie flour from pulp?
Any root vegetable is going to be high in sugar and carbs. To the comment about making a flour you would have to dry out the pulp thoroughly then pulse with a food processor into a flour.
What about water chestnut flour? Is it keto compliant?
Kavitha, 1 ounce of chestnut flour has 3.1g net carbs so it’s a little on the high side and it’s our top choice for keto-friendly flours. However, if you can fit it into your macros, then we say go for it!
Can you use almond or coconut flour as a dusting on chicken if you want to bake it so it can have the “fried chicken” resemblance? Also, is casava flour on the Keto diet?
Yes! You can coat with coconut flour, then dip in egg and then dip in almond flour to have a “fried chicken” breading.” I would use cassava flour in very small amounts since it is higher in carbohydrates.