The Ultimate Guide To Rice Flour

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Rice Flour is a delicate neutral tasting gluten-free flour and is a common ingredient in gluten-free baking. It is also excellent when used as a crisp coating to pan-fried dishes or in pancakes. Here's all the information you need to use rice flour as part of your gluten-free diet.

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Jump to:

• Is rice flour gluten-free?
• What is rice flour?
• Types of rice flour
• Can I substitute rice flour for regular flour?
• Advantages of rice flour
• Disadvantages of rice flour
• How to make rice flour at home
• Rice flour uses
• Easy gluten-free flour blend
• Thickening agent
• Where to buy rice flour
• How to store it

Is rice flour gluten-free?

Yes it is and often one of the main flours included in gluten-free all-purpose flour blends. Rice flour is a popular choice because it is a fine flour with a light colour, relatively neutral flavour, accessibility and reasonable price point (compared to other gluten-free flours). It is suitable for people with coeliac disease and a gluten intolerance.

What is rice flour?

Rice Flour is the easiest alternative flour to get hold of (in the UK at least) besides the catch-all gluten-free plain flour blends. You can find it at most large supermarkets in their gluten-free section.

It is also the flour that, if you are a keen cook, you might already have stashed away in your larder, irrespective of its gluten-free properties. Rice flour is used in traditional non-gluten free shortbread recipes alongside plain wheat flour to give a bit of crunch to the proceedings, which tells you a little bit about the texture profile of this flour.

Types of rice flour

There are 3 types of rice flour:

• White rice flour
• Brown rice flour
• Sweet rice flour (aka glutinous rice flour)

Brown rice flour vs. white rice flour

White rice flour and brown rice flour are both types of whole-grain flour ground from rice, but they differ because of how they are processed and their nutritional content.

• White rice flour is milled from grinding raw long or medium polished rice grains where the outer bran and germ layers have been removed, leaving only the starchy endosperm. This flour is white in colour and is light and fine.
• Brown rice flour has a higher nutritional value since the bran is not removed in the milling process. It is often not as finely ground as white rice flour meaning it is slightly denser with a nuttier taste. The bran and germ in brown rice contain valuable nutrients, including B vitamins, magnesium, and dietary fibre, which are lost during the processing of white rice flour. Due to its courser nature baked goods using brown rice flour have a more noticeable texture and taste. For certain recipes though I find this an endearing quality. Brown flour can be interchangeable with white rice flour in recipes if you want a bolder earthier flavour.

Sweet Rice Flour (aka glutinous rice flour)

This is a different beast entirely as it is a starchy flour milled from glutinous rice. It has a unique texture and flavour and is most common in Asian cuisine. Since it has a sticky and more cohesive texture than regular rice flour it is not a suitable substitute as they will achieve totally different results in your recipe.

The rest of this article won't cover sweet rice flour. Instead you can read more here >>> The Ultimate Guide to Sweet Rice Flour

Can I substitute rice flour for regular flour?

You cannot use rice flour as a 1:1 substitution for regular flour in your baked goods. If you swap rice flour 1:1 in your cooking or baking then the results can be gritty, perhaps a little greasy and often with a gummy mouthfeel. 

Rice flour contains no gluten and absorbs liquid differently to wheat flour. Recipes using rice flour often need adjustments in the amount of liquid used or additional moisture to achieve the desired consistency.

The gritty results of rice flour is due to the milling of the rice grain and this can vary depending on which brand you buy. You want to buy rice flour which has been ground to a very fine consistency. This gritty texture can also be improved by resting the batter of your recipe before it is baked to allow the rice flour more time to soften the grains for a smooth texture.

Xanthan gum

It is generally thought that rice flour gives better final results in baked goods if xanthan gum is added to the recipe. However, this is unnecesary as you can achieve delicious gluten free cakes, cookies and bread if you use the right type of flour blended with the rice flour. Using gluten-free starchy flours or flours high in protein can improve the texture, binding, and moisture retention properties of the final baked goods. READ MORE >>> Why I don't bake with xanthan gum

Rice flour is a wonderful flour with many versatile uses, you just have to know how and when to use it.

Advantages of rice flour

• It is a very economical flour since it is made from one of the world’s greatest staple cereal grains. No-one said that gluten-free baking was cheap but since rice flour is easily available and plentiful then if you choose this flour for your main ingredient in your flour blend then you certainly won’t be breaking the bank. Which leads me to one of the best qualities about rice flour and the reason it is so often used.

• It has an incredibly subtle taste. So if you want a neutral flavour for your savoury recipes or if you want lemon, vanilla, spices or other delicate flavourings to shine in your baked goods then rice flour is an excellent choice.

Disadvantages of rice flour

• Overuse - Not only is rice flour one of the most widely available alternative flours but it is also the flour which most commercial brands use as their main ingredient in their gluten-free flour blends. In fact our tendency to rely on rice flour for gluten-free baking is one of the reasons why Alanna Taylor-Tobin in her excellent gluten-free baking book called Alternative Baker chooses not to include any recipes with rice flour as she feels that its tendency to dominate the gluten-free field can lead to a mono diet.
• Absorbs liquid differently to wheat flour - as discussed above rice flour needs more liquid or moisture added to recipes otherwise results can be dry with a weak structure.
• Can produce gritty results. Resting the batter for at least 20 minutes can reduce this problem.

For this reason rice flour should always be used judiciously as this flour is probably the reason why most people judge gluten-free baking as gritty but with a gummy mouthfeel. It works very well blended with other flours in baked goods to round out the texture and result in bakes that taste authentically good not just ‘good for gluten-free’.

How to make rice flour at home

If you really want full control over the grind of your rice flour then a great option is to make your own rice flour. For everyday home cooks it is possible to make an okay homemade rice flour with a coffee grinder or a high powered blender. However, if you require a very finely ground rice flour (and I recommend you do for less gritty results) then a better choice is to invest in a grain mill.

Processing rice through a grain mill is pretty straightforward and you should follow the instructions of your particular machine. For a top tip though you should run the rice through your grain mill twice for a truly fine rice flour.

The grain mill will also come in particularly useful if you want to grind your own oat flour.

Rice flour uses

Baking

The best qualities of white rice flour can be exploited if blended with other wholegrain flours, starchy flours or protein packed flours with better binding properties.

Try using rice flour blends like these in bakes like:

• Salted Caramel Chocolate Espresso Cake - rice flour, oat flour and tapioca starch
• Golden Beetroot Carrot Cake - rice flour and oat flour
• Courgette Oatmeal Cake - rice flour and oat flour
• Vegan Chocolate Coconut Banana Bread - rice flour, oat flour and tapioca flour
• Gluten-Free Carrot Cake - brown rice flour and sorghum flour

Read here to learn more about blending flours >>> The Ultimate Guide to Alternative & Gluten-Free Flours

Easy gluten-free flour blend

However, a very successful result is if you blend 1 cup of white rice flour with 1 cup almond flour. This is a very easy flour blend. It gives a lovely light texture and gives similar results to wheat flour. This is because the high protein content in the almond flour gives the flour blend more stability and will counteract any dry or gritty results.

READ MORE >>> Rice Flour Madeira Cake

✨Rice Flour Baking Tip✨

Allow your cake batter to rest for at least 10-20 minutes before placing in the oven. The rice flour will soften slightly which will help with any potential grittiness.

Frying

The granular texture of rice flour which can be a hindrance in your baking can be a real boon in your everyday cooking. Using rice flour as a coating for frying adds more crunch than regular wheat flour and is a lot lighter.

Pancakes

As rice flour is so delicate and light it creates the most beautifully lacy crisp pancakes.

Try using it in these recipes:

• Gluten-Free English Pancakes
• Banh Xeo (Vietnamese Savoury Pancakes)

Batters

Rice flour gives an excellent crunch, so as you can imagine it is a great flour when you are making a batter. Since it is also neutral in flavour it doesn't overpower the main ingredients of a recipe. Try using it in the gluten-free versions of these classic recipes and the crust of your batter will be light and crisp:

• Toad in the Hole
• Yorkshire Puddings

Thickening agent

You can use rice flour as a thickening agent since it inhibits liquid separation but it in all honesty sweet rice flour (glutinous rice flour) is much more adept at this and the better choice. It gives a fuller, smoother and more well-rounded result. And actually you can use sweet rice flour on a 1:1 swap with wheat flour if you are using it in this way. Have a look at this Gluten-Free Gravy recipe for an example on how to use it.

Where to buy rice flour

There are various brands of rice flour and the texture can be quite different across the board. Make sure you are using a very finely ground rice flour which won’t impede your recipe and will allow for better incorporation with the other ingredients. Courser rice flours will mean the liquid in your recipe is not absorbed as well which can lead to flatter and greasy bakes. I recommend Doves Farm Gluten Free Rice Flour which is ground beautifully. For US based readers then Bob’s Red Mill is also brilliant but more difficult to get hold of for us UK based bakers.

How to store it

Rice flour keeps very well if stored in an airtight container in a cool dark place like a larder or pantry. Once opened, if tightly sealed, it can keep for up to a year. You can recognise rancid rice flours very quickly from the odour if you are concerned.