10 of the Best Low Carb Flours (and How To Use Them)

Many people enjoy baking foods like bread, cakes, and cookies.

However, the main ingredient in the vast majority of these recipes is wheat flour.

For those who are on low-carb eating plans, this can make traditional baking recipes difficult.

This article looks at the best types of low carb flour, their nutritional breakdowns, how to use them, and some recipe ideas.

1) Almond Meal

Almond meal tastes delicious, and it is one of the best and most popular low carb flour options.

It is possible to find two very similar products; almond flour and almond meal.

While there are no significant differences between the two, almond flour is almost always blanched (meaning the skins are removed).

Almond meal may be either blanched or unblanched.

The table below shows the basic nutrition profile for almond meal per 100 grams (3.5 oz) serving (1).

“Net carbs” refers to the amount of digestible carbohydrate after subtracting the fiber content.

How Much To Use

It is possible to use almond flour/meal as a 1 for 1 replacement for regular wheat flour.

In other words; if a recipe calls for one cup of wheat flour, you can replace it with one cup of almond flour.

Taste Profile

Almond flour has a nutty taste, which makes sense considering it is 100% almonds.

It also works well in baking just about anything, giving food a soft, moist, and chewy texture.

Recipe Ideas

There are thousands of almond flour bread recipes all over the Internet.

Additionally, it is a popular flour for making cakes and cookies.

Here is an almond-flour pizza base that tastes delicious.

Where To Get It

Firstly, almond flour is so easy to make at home that it doesn’t really justify the extra expense of buying a ready-made product.

To make almond meal, all you have to do is add some almonds into a blender and blend until you have a powder with a fine consistency.

However, it is possible to buy almond flour here.

For more information, see this article on the benefits and downsides of almond flour.

2) Coconut Flour

It seems that people either love or hate the taste of coconut, and the same thing applies to coconut flour.

The first thing to note is that coconut flour is much drier than other low carb flours. Additionally, it absorbs large amounts of liquid from things like eggs and milk.

In other words; you only need to use small amounts.

Here are the main nutrition facts per 100 grams (3.5 oz) of coconut flour (2).

For a more in-depth look, see this guide to the nutrition benefits of coconut flour.

How Much To Use

Coconut flour is very dry, and it absorbs large amounts of moisture from food, so it cannot replace wheat flour at a 1:1 ratio.

For every cup of wheat flour a recipe requires, use ¼ cup of coconut flour and one egg.

As an example, if a recipe calls for two cups of wheat flour, you will need to use ½ cup of coconut flour and two eggs.

Taste Profile

Coconut flour has a dry texture, a distinct coconutty flavor, and slight hints of sweetness.

Recipe Ideas

Coconut flour is suitable for making things like low-carb bread, brownies, cookies, and many more.

For a delicious recipe idea, here is a keto brownie made with coconut flour.

Where To Get It

You can buy coconut flour from most large grocery stores and supermarkets.

It is also available online.

3) Walnut Flour

Walnut flour isn’t as common as other nut flours, but it tastes good and can work well in a wide range of recipes.

Like nut flours, walnut flour is just 100% ground walnuts.

However, the flavor of walnuts is quite strong, so this may be a benefit or a drawback depending on how much you like the taste.

Here are the nutritional values per 100 grams (3.5 oz) of walnut flour (3).

How Much To Use

We can use walnut flour on a like-for-like basis with regular wheat flour.

Therefore, if a recipe needs one cup of wheat flour, replace it with one cup of walnut flour.

For those who find the taste of walnuts a little too strong, it is also possible to combine it with almond flour at a 1:1 ratio.

Taste Profile

Walnut flour has a high fat content, so it is very moist, and it gives a soft and chewy texture to food.

While other nut flours (like almond) are mildly nutty, walnut flour has a strong nutty flavor.

Whether this is good or bad will depend on personal taste!

Recipe Ideas

There are an assortment of walnut bread recipes on the Internet.

For a tasty snack, here are some walnut snowball cookies.

Where To Get It

It is straightforward to make walnut flour at home; simply blend whole walnuts into a fine powder, and it is ready to use.

4) Psyllium Husk Powder

Psyllium husk powder comes from the seeds of the Plantago ovata plant, and it is almost 100% fiber.

As a result, it has a glue-like effect in recipes, helping to thicken and hold things together in a similar fashion to gluten.

Psyllium is not a typical flour, and it has no strong taste, but it works very well as a binding agent.

The table below provides the full nutrition profile for psyllium husk per 100 g (3.5 oz) serving (4).

How Much To Use

Unlike the other flours in this guide, psyllium husk is not suitable to use as a direct replacement for wheat flour.

Instead, psyllium adds bulk and thickness to a recipe for a more bread-like texture.

Adding one or two tablespoons of psyllium to a regular low-carb flour recipe can work well for this purpose.

Taste Profile

Psyllium does not have a strong flavor, and it has little influence on the taste of a recipe.

Recipe Ideas

For low-carb baking, people mainly use psyllium husk for creating bread with a thick texture.

If you want to give it a try, there is an excellent coconut flour and psyllium husk bread here.

Where To Get It

You may be able to find psyllium husk powder from local health food stores or big markets.

It is also available online.

5) Macadamia Nut Flour

Many people feel that macadamia nuts are the most delicious variety of nut.

That may also be true for macadamia nut flour as a baking ingredient.

While macadamia nut flour isn’t as common as other low carb flours, it tastes just as good if not better.

Here are the full nutrition facts for macadamia flour per 100 g (3.5 oz) serving (5).

How Much To Use

Using macadamia nut flour for baking is easy; one cup of macadamia flour equals one cup of wheat flour.

Taste Profile

Macadamia nut flour has a mild nutty taste, and it is slightly sweet.

Similar to almond flour, it gives baked recipes a chewy and moist texture.

Recipe Ideas

Various recipes use macadamia nut flour for everything from cakes and bread to smoothies.

However, one of the tastiest ways to use macadamia nut flour is for making low-carb cutlets.

To do this, follow these instructions;

• First, create a breading by mixing some macadamia flour with your favorite seasonings such as salt, pepper, garlic powder, and any other herbs or spices.

• After this, crack an egg into a bowl and dip your chicken/pork cutlet into it.

• Once the meat is covered in the egg mixture, drop it into the breading mix and coat all sides evenly.

• Fry the cutlets in a skillet on medium heat. It should take 3-4 minutes on each side.

Where To Get It

You can buy macadamia nut flour, but I wouldn’t recommend it due to the relatively high expense.

It is much easier to make this at home; again, all you need to do is blend 100% macadamia nuts into a fine powder.

6) Flaxseed Meal

Flaxseed meal has been around for a long time, and it enjoys wide use as a low carb flour.

You may also see flaxseed referred to as ground or milled flaxseed, but these different names all refer to the same thing.

Flaxseed meal is high in fiber, protein, and fat, and it contains very low amounts of digestible carbohydrate.

The following table provides the basic nutrition profile for 100 grams (3.5 oz) of flaxseed meal (6).

How Much To Use

It is possible to use flaxseed meal as a flour replacement, but this is more complicated than using one of the nut flours.

For every cup of wheat flour a recipe requires, use ⅓ cup of flaxseed meal and a tablespoon of water or milk.

Many people also use flaxseed meal as a thickener and combine it with one of the nut flours.

Taste Profile

Flaxseed meal has a light and mildly nutty taste, and it adds a lot of texture/thickness to recipes.

Recipe Ideas

Flaxseed meal is a frequent ingredient in low carb bread recipes.

Here is a very bread-like recipe to try.

Where To Get It

Flaxseed meal is widely available in health food stores.

You can also find it online.

7) Cricket Flour

Cricket flour isn’t for everyone (and it isn’t for me either).

However, if the idea of eating ground insects doesn’t repel you, then it is a protein-rich alternative to wheat flour.

Cricket flour is made by milling dried crickets into fine ground powder.

Cricket flour provides the following nutrients per 100 g (3.5 oz) serving (7).

How Much To Use

You can’t use cricket flour as a direct replacement for wheat flour.

However, you can use it alongside a different low carb flour such as almond or macadamia meal.

For this purpose, use ½ cup of cricket flour per full cup of nut flour.

Taste Profile

I can’t personally comment on this, but cricket flour is said to have a somewhat nutty taste that many people enjoy.

Recipe Ideas

For something a bit different, there is a cricket flour “bread” here.

Where To Get It

Cricket flour is generally quite expensive, but you can find several options by searching online.

It is not a typical item in a general grocery store, but a quick search online should also bring up some local stockists.

8) Hazelnut Flour

Hazelnuts taste delicious, and anyone who enjoys the nuts should also like hazelnut flour.

Hazelnut flour has a rich, tasty flavor and it adds good texture to food.

While not so common in Western Europe and the United States, hazelnut flour is a common ingredient in Italian baking.

The table below shows the nutritional values for 100 grams (3.5 oz) of hazelnut flour (8).

How Much To Use

Hazelnut flour can be a like-for-like replacement for wheat flour.

One cup of hazelnut flour replaces one cup of wheat flour in a recipe.

Taste Profile

Hazelnut has a deep and flavorful nutty taste.

Similar to most nut flours, it gives food a moist and chewy texture.

Recipe Ideas

You can use hazelnut flour in anything that calls for almond flour or regular wheat flour.

Also, these hazelnut flour keto cookies might be worth a try.

Where To Get It

You can make hazelnut flour at home by grinding fresh hazelnuts into powder.

The price of buying ready-made hazelnut flour isn’t too bad either, and it is available online.

9) Pecan Meal

Pecan meal is another good low carb flour option.

Pecan flour tastes great, and it works well in a wide variety of dishes.

Here are the nutrition facts for pecan meal per 100 g (3.5 oz) serve (9).

How Much To Use

You can use pecan meal as a one to one replacement for wheat flour.

Taste Profile

Pecan meal adds a rich and nutty taste to food, and it has a moderately strong flavor.

If you like pecans, you should enjoy the taste.

Recipe Ideas

Pecan meal works in a broad range of recipes, and you can find all kinds of savory and sweet recipes online.

There is a tasty low carb pecan cookie recipe here.

Where To Get It

Once again, it is easy to make pecan meal at home – just finely grind whole pecans to do this.

If it is too much hassle, there are many pecan meal options online.

10) Lupin Flour

Last but not least, lupin flour is surprisingly protein-rich and high in fiber.

In fact, the vast majority of carbohydrates in lupin flour are fibrous carbs and there is very little net carbs.

Here are the nutritional values for lupin flour per 100 g (3.5 oz) serve (9):

Lupin flour is a little bit different to most of the other low carb flours on this list, and recipes that use it tend to look a little bit different.

The flour also has some interesting potential benefits – see this full guide to lupin flour for more information.

Which is the Best Low Carb Flour?

Overall, numerous low carb flours work well in recipes.

Among the different choices, the nut flours offer the most in the flavor department.

Different people will likely favor different flours depending on their personal taste.

However, choosing a nut flour based on your favorite nut is probably a good choice.

Extra Notes

Lastly, here are some things to be aware of.

Firstly, baking with low carb flours can be part of a healthy diet.

However, consuming these foods on a regular basis probably isn’t wise; they are all very high in calories and contain unrealistic amounts of nuts.

Secondly, anyone who has any adverse reactions or past allergic reactions to any nut should avoid using nut flours.

Lastly, nut flours don’t make baked goods rise like gluten in regular flours does.

Most recipes that require the product to rise will take this into account and use baking powder and/or eggs, but it is just something to be aware of.

For some more low carb alternatives, see this guide to pasta substitutes.

Or see this guide to low carb foods to eat and avoid.