One of the biggest challenges in keto baking is finding low-carb flour alternatives for our recipes, but thankfully, there are many. We list them below.
Finding a low-carb flour substitute that gives bread, cookies, cakes, and even keto pancakes a great consistency is essential if you want to get creative in the kitchen.
We know that wheat flour and its highly processed white flour version is a complex carb and a no go zone for the ketogenic diet. The complex carbs in wheat flour are so high that just one-quarter of a cup contains 22 grams of carbohydrates.
This is why Keto diet practitioners and cooks have had to come up with some ingenious ways to replicate their favorite recipes using, next to, no-carb flour alternatives.
To help you out, we thought we’d share the lowest-carb flours that we use in our keto kitchen to recreate some of our all-time favorite recipes and make them much healthier.
List of Low Carb Flour in Our Keto Kitchen
- Coconut Flour
- Almond Flour
- Low Carb Almond Meal or Ground Almonds
- Ground Flax (aka Flax Meal)
- Psyllium Husk
We always keep plenty of the above low-carb flour substitutes for our keto cooking. Be sure to store all of your low-carb flours as per the directions on the packing in airtight containers, making a note of the used by date.
Coconut Flour
You’ve seen and heard all of the ketogenic benefits of coconut oil; it’s everywhere, and many of us eat it every day. But there’s another part of the coconut we are most interested in today, and that’s coconut flour.
Coconut flour is an ideal low-carb substitute for cakes, brownies, and muffin recipes when you want a moist consistency.`
We use coconut flour extensively in our keto baking recipes due to its low “net” carb count.
While coconut flour isn’t a no-carb flour, it’s as close as you’ll get for the recipes you’ll use it for.
Coconut flour isn’t moist; it draws moisture in from other ingredients and then takes on the consistency of things such as eggs and water.
The ability of coconut flour to absorb moisture makes foods such as our Keto Muffin recipes soft and moist without them drying out, unlike some other low-carb flours we use that are better suited to cookies and crusts.
Most people can’t tell that our muffins are keto unless we tell them.
Low-Carb Coconut Flour Keto Recipes
Coconut Flour Nutrition
Two Tablespoons of Coconut Flour contains 45 calories, only 3grams of “net” carbohydrates, and 8grams of fiber carbs with 4grams of protein.
Almond Flour
Almond Flour is another notable ingredient in a good portion of our LCHF baking and dessert recipes.
About Almond Flour
One-quarter cup of Almond Flour has 14g of fat, 6g of protein, and only 3g of net carbs.
- Almond flour is just ground almonds, blanched with the skin removed.
- Almond flour is a very versatile ingredient in the kitchen; we use it in various keto recipes baking.
- Almond flour is a primary keto ingredient in our Low Carb Ketogenic Soft Pretzels.
In many of our keto cookies, almond flour is the main recipe ingredient.
Almond flour worked well for baking our Keto Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Almond Flour is in many health food stores, and we have even seen it at our local supermarkets. (though the markup seems a little steep in many specialty health food stores, so we usually get almond meals online.
Almond flour will keep for seven months if you store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Remember, it isn’t flour and needs to be treated differently.
Almond Flour Keto Recipes
- Low Carb Cherry Cream Chocolate Cookie Bars
- Savory Low Carb Parmesan Pie Crust
- Keto Southern Fried Chicken
- Dairy-Free Vanilla Coconut Friands
- Keto Bread
Almond Meal vs. Almond Flour
Almond Meal is somewhat courser than Almond Flour. The almonds are ground down whole without the skins removed or blanched. One-quarter of a cup of Almond Meal has 14grams of fat, 6grams of protein, 3grams of fiber, and only 3grams of net carbs.
We often use almond meals in our low-carb keto cookies and when baking some pie bases.
You can make your almond meal with raw unsalted almonds and a heavy-duty blender.
Keto Almond Meal Recipes
Ground Flaxseed (Flax Meal)
Ground flaxseed, or flax meal as it’s also known, can be used as a keto flour substitute in many low-carb baking recipes.
Flax meal can also be used as a substitute for eggs in certain situations, and it is particularly handy for vegans who don’t eat animal products or those with allergies to eggs.
Flaxseeds are one of the most nutritious seeds nature has on offer. They contain essential Omega 3s and are a great source of vitamin B.
Two tablespoons of flax meal have only one net carb equal to 70 calories.
Store flaxseed and flax meal in an airtight container and follow the expiry date as it becomes unusable reasonably quickly if stored poorly.
Ground Flaxseed Recipes
We make these handy little flaxseed crackers for our guacamole dip.
Ground Flaxseed Nutrition
Two Tablespoons of flax meal contains 72 calories, 4 grams of fiber, and only 1gram of net carbs with 3grams of protein.
Flaxseed is loaded with essential fatty acids and is high in mineral and B group vitamins.
Psyllium Husk
Psyllium husk is not flour and is mostly used as a cereal topper or a source of dietary fiber, but it has some handy applications in low-carb cooking due to its low net carbohydrates.
The benefits of psyllium husk are many. Not only is it an excellent source of fiber, but it is also a prebiotic, helping with continued gut health.
We use psyllium husk as a virtually no-carb flour and a substitute for eggs where moistness is required in things such as keto bread recipes.
Is Psyllium Husk Keto Friendly?
Psyllium husk is an excellent source of fiber. Its net carb count is only 1.5g per tablespoon, and it is keto-friendly.
Including psyllium husk in your Keto diet is not only a great way to keep some of your favorite recipes moist, but it also helps those who tend to eat a lot of cheese. “If you know what we mean,” (it keeps you regular).
Psyllium husk is a natural laxative and can be used not only as an (almost) no-carb flour substitute but as a fiber supplement. Make sure it is always heavily diluted, don’t eat psyllium husk raw, or you may choke.
Psyllium Husk Keto Recipes
We use psyllium husk to bulk out specific recipes and to give them more volume while keeping carbs down in baking recipes.
Psyllium husk is used in our Keto Cheese and Bacon Rolls; the results were fantastic.
We added a teaspoon of Psyllium Husk Powder to our Almond Flour Bread (see the keto bread recipe here) to prevent dryness.
Psyllium Husks Nutritional Information
Psyllium Husk (18g) is almost entirely made up of fiber. It has 15grams of carbohydrates, but 13.5grams of fiber makes only 1.5grams of net carbs.
How To Store Almond Flour and Other Low Carb Flours
Store almond flour and other low-carb flour in an airtight container and refrigerate.
Most if not all of the Low Carb flour we use comes in either resealable or non-resalable bags on occasion, a brand might supply them in a plastic container, but most often, these are not good enough for storing in the longer term.
While this packaging is ok before being opened, once you have broken the seal, you should store them in airtight containers if you want to keep them for any time.
Beware: Keto flour substitutes can go off and still look ok. The last thing you want is salmonella poisoning or anything else due to poorly stored low-carb flour.
Avoid storing your Low-Carb Keto Flours in their original packaging.
Alternatively, portion out your low-carb flours into vacuum-sealed bags using a vacuum sealing machine, and then freeze or refrigerate until needed.
With keto baking low-carb flour substitutes being a necessary part of the pantry, try finding regular floured recipes and experiment by replacing them. Or look through our dessert recipes list for lots of other low-carb flour creations.
Instead of almond flour which is very expensive, we substitute roast peanuts and grind them to a meal consistency. The results are delicious for a fraction of the price. The value of peanuts (not a nut but a legume) is much the same as almonds.
My daughter is allergic to Coconut, and So MANY recipes call for almond flour And coconut flour, meaning she can’t eat it. What would you suggest replacing it with?
Hi Dayna,
It’s very hard to make recommendations without knowing what the recipe is. In some cases, the coconut flour can be replaced with almond flour, but often more is needed than what is written. Sorry, I can’t be of much help!
Hey there. I’d bookmarked this page a while back. I’ve been making coconut macaroons with almond flour and erythritol, which have been a big hit. But I want them to be even better. Better as in moister and with less of the cooling sensation that sometimes tags along with erythritol.
If my recipe calls for 1 cup of almond flour, would I only use 1/3 cup of coconut flour? Won’t that shrink the recipe?
For the erythritol replacement (1 cup), I’m going to substitute 1 tsp of powdered stevia extract (no filler type) for sweetness and 1 cup of oat fiber for bulk. Have you experimented with oat fiber? Does that absorb moisture like the coconut flour?
Thanks!
Hi William,
We’ve got a great recipe for Keto Coconut Macaroons that was posted just a few days back. They are moist and I didn’t notice much of the cooling sensation from the sweetener.
Swapping almond flour for coconut flour is not always easy. My general rule is to use 1/4 of the amount of almond flour, and sometimes an extra egg is needed – but I can’t really help you there as I would need to be making it myself to be able to see what needs to be adjusted.
I would not recommend putting a cup of oat fiber in a cookie recipe – oat fiber is pure fiber (imagine a mouthful of dried up lawn clippings). It is great for adding texture and bulk, but in small amounts. To reduce the cooling sensation, I recommend a blended sweetener that used both erythritol and stevia.
I hope that helps!
I see that coconut flour is used in a lot of recipes, but I hate the taste of coconut! Is there a formula for substituting almond flour, or any other kind of flour, for coconut flour in recipes?
Thank you.
Hi Shirley,
It really depends on the type of recipe that you are making. There are no real hard and fast rules, sometimes adding 3x in almond flour works perfectly, other times is 2x and remove an egg. Once you’ve done a bit of experimenting it gets easier to see what needs to happen 🙂
Thank you, Gerri!
What’s the best substitute for non-baked dishes? I’m eyeing a recipe for sautéed chicken with lemon, olive, and capers that calls for 1 to 2 tbs of either rice flour or all-purpose flour. What is an acceptable Keto substitution?
Hi Charlotte,
Xanthan Gum is ideal for dishes that use flour as a thickener, but you won’t need anywhere near as much. Start with 1/4 teaspoon sprinkled over the simmering sauce, whisk in and continue to simmer for about 5 minutes to check the thickness before adding more. It is unlikely that you will need more than 1 teaspoon for a recipe that feeds 4-6.
Hello! Thank you so much for this great information. I am new to Keto and not able to have almond flour due to allergy. Most of the breads ask for almond flour… would coconut flour be a fine substitute or will they not turn out as great?
Thank you for your help! =)
Hi Kari,
Coconut flour is not always a great substitute for almond flour, and it really depends on the recipe you are making. In most cases, you will only need 1/4-1/3 the amount of coconut flour when substituting for almond flour and you may need extra liquid – it takes a little experimentation to get right. Sorry I can’t be of much help!
Use roast peanuts which you will need to grind to a meal. With baking powder and egg recipes I respect the amounts but substitute or mix flours. I always works. Good luck! Peanut flour is delicious.
Lots of information to absorb, will be returning to this site often.