The best keto flour for ketosis is coconut flour. But, there are many types of keto flours that can help you if you are trying to cut back on carbs or follow a ketogenic diet.
In this post, find out what kind of keto flour is best for various recipes, the health benefits of each, and the best keto flour brands to buy.
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Table of Contents
Best Keto Flour Types
When it comes to flour alternatives, low-carb options are growing.
From common types to completely uncommon, here are 9 keto flour types that you can find on the market today.
All of them are gluten-free too.
Keep in mind, that some are definitely more affordable than others.
And some work easily into your typical bread recipes and baked items, while others are best mixed into keto flour blends. Still, others are the best for frying.
Here are the main types of keto flours available today:
- Coconut flour
- Almond flour
- Pork panko
- Psyllium husk
- Ground flaxseed
- Chia seed
- Sunflower seed meal (good for nut allergy)
- Vital wheat gluten
- Oat fiber and oat bran
- Lupin flour from lupin beans
Each of these flour varieties is going to have some unique nutritional content and characteristics when using them in recipes.
Related post: Best Keto Brownie Mix + Surprising Health Benefits (thehealthyrd.com)
Keto Flour Carb Comparisons
If you are looking at keto flour versus all-purpose flour, keto ones are much healthier than all-purpose wheat flour.
Most vitamins and minerals are much higher in keto flour than in wheat flour too.
These keto options are all low carb flours if you look at the net carb amounts. Net carbs are simply the total carb minus the fiber content.
Here is the breakdown of nutrients for a typical 2 tablespoon serving for each of the types of flour in comparison to all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour.
| Flour | Calories | Protein | Fat | Total carb | Net Carb | Fiber |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coconut flour | 50 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 6 |
| Almond flour | 45 | 1.5 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Oat bran | 28 | 2 | <1 | 8 | 6 | 2 |
| Flaxseed | 112 | 4 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Psyllium | 35 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 7 |
| Oat fiber | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.5 | 0.5 | 3 |
| Chia seed | 37 | 6 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 14 |
| Lupin | 37 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 0.5 | 5.5 |
| Pork panko | 90 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cricket flour | 50 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| All-purpose wheat flour | 59 | <1 | <1 | 12 | 12 | <1 |
| Whole wheat flour | 54 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 9.5 | 1.5 |
All of the keto flour types have much fewer carb amounts than regular wheat flour and whole wheat flour. Â
The low-carb flour substitutes all have a lot more gut-friendly fibers than wheat flour too.
Best Keto Flour Overall: Coconut Flour
When it comes to keto flour substitutes, coconut flour is one of my go-to flours because it is nutritious, high in fiber, and tasty.
And a little bit goes a long way.
When you use coconut flour, you will need less overall flour. This means that your coconut flour baked goods will have less carbs. For example, if you make pancakes, you use about a fourth of the total flour than you would if you used all-purpose flour or almond flour.
Coconut flour is more ketogenic than others. This is because the caprylic acid in it helps the body make ketones. For this reason, I consider it the best flour for keto diets.
These fats are also a healthy fuel source for intestinal cells and the brain.
Coconut flour is also by far the cheapest keto flour.
Recipes to try with coconut flour
Top pick for coconut flour
- Healthworks Coconut Flour, which is USDA-certified organic and tastes great, making it the best coconut flour for keto.
Coconut also happens to be a sustainable crop, so lands aren’t deforested when growing coconut.Â
Best Keto Flour for Cakes and Cookies: Almond Flour
If you are looking for the best flour for keto, almond flour is a great choice. Almond flour carbs and coconut flour carbs are about identical at only 2 grams net carb per 2-tablespoon serving. Â
So the difference between almond flour and coconut flour is going to be taste and baking characteristics.
Almond flour provides a softer texture, so it’s great for cakes, quick bread, and cookies.
Unlike coconut flour, you will need more almond flour than all-purpose flour in recipes. For example, if your recipe calls for 1 cup of all-purpose flour, you may need 1.5 cups of almond flour in the recipe.
You also will want to cook almond flour at a lower temperature, about 25 degrees Fahrenheit cooler, than regular flour because it can easily burn. This is why I prefer coconut flour in a recipe like a pancake instead of almond flour.
Also, this flour needs to be refrigerated after opening.
You will also need an extra egg or extra baking powder to get a fluffy product.
Almond flour or almond meal is a great low-carb flour for a keto diet that is a good substitute for wheat flour. It is also nutritious and fits into Paleo and ketogenic meal plans quite easily. It also is a good flour to use if you are going gluten-free.
It is also one of the best keto flours for frying.
Keto baking recipes to try with almond flour
- Low carb chia almond bread best almond flour bread recipe
- 3 ingredient almond cookies
- Chocolate chip cookies
Top Pick for Almond Flour
- Food to Live organic almond flour, 4 lbs of tasty organic and kosher almond flour. This is the best almond flour for keto because of its good price and it is also USDA organic.
Best Keto Flour for Frying: Pork Panko
Pork Panko is simply chopped-up pork rinds. They work great for breading on meat and fish for frying. You can substitute pork panko for regular panko in any recipe, essentially.
For people who are following a carnivore diet or anyone trying to limit carb intake, this is a good option.
If you want a super crispy result, pork panko is the best way to go.
The only drawback is that they are fairly salty, so use caution if you are on a low-sodium diet.
Recipes with pork panko
Top Pick Pork Panko Brands
Best Keto Flour for Fiber Content: Ground Flaxseed Flour
Flaxseed flour is one of the most ideal keto flour out there because it has a ratio of fat to carb of 9:0 for net carbs.
Fats, by the way, help the body to get into a state of ketosis, which is the whole goal of a ketogenic diet.
Flax seed flour, or flax meal, is the lowest-carb flour type. However, it usually needs to be used along with other keto flour because of its texture.
You can make your own ground flaxseed in a coffee grinder or if you want to make a lot of it, you can add it to a good blender, such as a Vitamix. Â
The flax seeds have low allergy potential so can be used in many autoimmune protocol diets.
Ranking as the best flour for keto because it is carb-free and contains plenty of fats, a flaxseed meal will help encourage ketosis.
These nutritious seeds have a high omega-3 content as alpha-linolenic acid: over 4 grams per 2 tablespoons. It also contains 0.4 mg of thiamine or about 20% of your daily recommended thiamin intake for the day.
Due to its very high fiber content, a little bit goes a very long way.
Make sure to hydrate with plenty of water when you eat flax seeds because of the fiber content: these little seeds otherwise can soak up water in your gut and cause binding problems that you don’t want.
Recipes to try with flaxseed flour
Typically, flax seed flour is used in recipes like homemade crackers or wrap recipes like this:
Tip: ferment your flaxseeds or flaxseed flour first by soaking them in water and vinegar overnight to help improve the gut tolerance of these seeds.Â
Top Pick flaxseed flour brand
- Viva Naturals organic ground flax seed flour- make sure to store it in the freezer or refrigerator
Best Keto Flour for Moist Baked Goods: Psyllium Husk Flour
Psyllium seed is a very high-fiber seed that can be incorporated into low-carb flour mixtures and keto recipes.
Using psyllium in recipes isn’t new, but hasn’t become popular until recently. In the past, psyllium has mostly been used as a fiber supplement for bowel regularity.
Psyllium flour adds some good variety and improves moisture content in recipes.
The perks of using psyllium husk are that it is a natural way to fill up without added sugar or carbs. With only 1 net carb per 2 tablespoons, this flour substitute is very keto-friendly.
Just make sure that you eat small amounts of recipes with psyllium, especially if your body isn’t used to fiber.
Make sure to also drink plenty of fluids when you start adding in more fiber foods like psyllium.
That said, psyllium flour is a great addition to just about any baked recipe. You will want to add hot water to hydrate the psyllium in these recipes as advised by the PCOS Kitchen.
Keto Flour Recipes with Psyllium:
- Low carb keto buns with psyllium husk (contains almond flour too)
- Low carb crepes
Top Pick Psyllium Husk
Best Zero Net Carb Flour: Chia Seed Flour
Chia seed flour, also known as chia seed powder, is an ancient food with new uses as a no-carb flour.
You can buy chia seed flour or make your own by simply blending some whole chia seeds in a coffee grinder or Vitamix blender.
This healthy seed is good to use in baked goods, smoothies, soups, and more. Chia seeds are good for people who have nut or wheat allergies too and need to avoid allergens.
Chia seed nutrition is quite high too:Â it contains almost 5 grams of omega-3 per serving and 178 mg calcium or 18% of the Daily Value.Â
How to use chia seed powder: use about 1-2 tablespoons in gluten-free low-carb baked goods as part of the total low-carb flour.
So for example, if your recipe calls for ½ cup all-purpose flour, you can add in 2 tablespoons of chia flour and 6 tablespoons of coconut flour or almond flour for a total of ½ cup keto flour.Â
The best part about chia seed flour is that you can substitute the amount exactly as it calls for in a recipe. That said, it is going to definitely have a different texture than all-purpose flour, so a blend of chia seed flour with oat fiber flour may be a good mix.
I suggest using 1 part chia for every 2-3 parts of gluten-free all-purpose baking mix.
A good all-purpose gluten-free Paleo flour is King Arthur Paleo flour.
Recipes with chia seed flour to try
Top Pick Chia Flour
Whole chia seed brands
Best Keto Flour for People with Allergies: Sunflower Seed Meal
Sunflower seed flour is less expensive than chia flour or flaxseed flour. You can also easily make your own sunflower using hulled whole sunflower seeds. This will get you the freshest sunflower flour of all.
Using sunflower flour is especially good for people with nut allergies who can’t use almond flour or coconut flour. You can also grind hulled pumpkin seeds and use them just like you would sunflower flour.
Recipes with sunflower seeds to try
Top Pick Sunflower Seed Flour
Most Versatile Keto Flour: Oat Fiber
With only 0.5 grams of carb per 2-tablespoon serving, oat fiber is a great choice for wholesome-tasting baked goods. For this reason, oat fiber flour ranks as one of the best keto flour types out there. Oat fiber is very filling and satisfying to use in recipes.
If you get gluten-free oat fiber, it is also good for people with gluten intolerance too. Oat fiber is rich in a type of fiber called beta-glucan, which may benefit the immune system and reduce cancer risk.
If you want just a bit of carb, you can also try oat bran, which is super nutritious. Check out low carb oatmeal facts here.
Recipes to try with oat fiber and oat bran
Top Pick Oat Fiber Flour
- Anthony’s Organic Oat Fiber is gluten-free
Best Keto Flour Legume Option: Lupin Flour
Lupin flour is made from lupin beans and is used to make great lupin flour keto biscuits. If you are sensitive to legumes, you may need to pass on this flour. Otherwise, lupin flour is super low in carbs and nutritious.
Be aware that when you mix this flour, it has a strong smell, but the smell disappears as you cook it. Most people like it as well or better than coconut flour in terms of how it tastes and it has a nice texture.
Tip: lupin is related to peanuts and is a legume, so if you are sensitive to legumes like peanuts, it may be best to avoid lupin flour.
Like flaxseeds, it is best to soak this flour in water and vinegar to help reduce its anti-nutrient content.
Recipes with lupin flour to try
Top Pick Lupin Brand
Best Keto Flour Texture: Xanthan Gum
Xanthan gum is a thickener that helps improve the texture of many gluten-free flour recipes and is made from a fermentation process of wood pulp.
This baking tool is definitely optional when making a keto recipe or gluten-free recipe, as you can use flaxseed flour as a substitute for xanthan gum in any recipe.
Recipes with xanthan gum to try
- Keto bread using almond flour and xanthan gum
- Keto bagels with coconut flour
Top Pick Xanthan Gum
Not Recommended: Vital Wheat Gluten
I list this as an option, but I definitely DO NOT RECOMMEND this keto flour option for most people due to common gluten intolerances. My body knows that gluten additives will make my belly, skin, and health suffer.
Only use vital wheat gluten if you are sure you tolerate wheat. That said, I’m sure this is a tasty grain option for keto flour.
Most people reading my blog will want to avoid it too, due to autoimmune issues, and gut issues, and most people are interested in an autoimmune protocol diet.
Unusual Option: Cricket Flour
Yes, cricket flour is a thing as a low-carb flour alternative. You didn’t just imagine it. Although not ready for prime time yet, I had to list it because it’s definitely an option for people who are on low-carb keto diets.
Some experts argue that eating insects will be part of the solution to food shortages in the future. I hope that the public will warm up to this idea too.
Rich in protein, this type of flour works surprisingly well in recipes like the ones I am including for you here. Unlike all the other types of keto flour, cricket flour is very rich in vitamin B12.
When using cricket flour, I don’t recommend substituting it 1:1 for all-purpose flour. You can mix it with chia seeds or coconut flour, for example. Don’t buy the cricket flour baking mixes because they are primarily all-purpose wheat flour with a sprinkling of cricket in them.
Recipes to try
Benefits of Keto Flours
There are definite health perks of using keto flour instead of all-purpose flour.
I’m not saying you should jump on the keto bandwagon necessarily, but there are some big benefits to ditching some of the old stand-bys in cooking.
Keto-friendly flour substitutes are usually less processed, more nutritious, and more filling than wheat flour or all-purpose flour.
Because of this, the best low-carb flour types also reduce inflammation.
For that reason, they can be used on any type of reduced-carb diet, such as a keto diet, or diabetic meal plan, or for anyone wanting to reduce the risk of chronic diseases.
Simple Keto Diet Swaps That Don’t Need a Specialty Flour
Keto flour substitutes are a nice option for when you want fun bread recipes or baked goods without all the carbs.
Personally, I try to cut carbs by baking less and only using specialty flours when absolutely necessary.
Ask yourself if you really need a cookie at all.
Using a lot of any one product could increase your chances of getting a belly ache. For example, a cup of almond flour contains 90 almonds. You would never sit down and eat that many almonds, so why would you want to eat a dessert that does very often?
Ways to decrease intake of carbs naturally:
- Skip the bun at restaurants and at home
- Serve your burger on a salad
- Use cauliflower rice instead of grains
- Add zucchini zoodles or spaghetti squash instead of noodles in pasta dishes
- Serve pizza toppings over sauteed vegetables
Best Keto Flour Summary
The best low-carb flour for recipes varies on what you are trying to make, but you can find one that you like with a little experimentation. A blend of chia, coconut, and oat fiber, for example, could be a good place to start when making a muffin.
You can add variety to your diet and cut the carbs by using keto flour in many dishes. Make sure to eat small amounts, especially at first. This is because most low-carb flours have very high fiber content. Drink plenty of water when you increase the fiber content in your diet too.
Also, try to cut back on eating baked goods while eating more whole foods for the best health.Â
FAQS
Is chickpea flour keto-friendly?
No. Chickpea flour has a high total carbohydrate amount and total net carbohydrate amount.
Is oat flour keto-friendly?
No, but oat fiber is.
Is wheat flour keto-friendly?
No wheat flour is high in total and net carbs.
Is almond flour keto?
Yes. Almond flour has only 2 net grams of carbohydrates per serving.Â
Heidi Moretti, MS, RD is The Healthy RD. A registered dietitian for 23 years as well as a book author of the new book Gut Fix and The Whole Body Guide to Gut Health, Heidi has a passion for functional nutrition and natural medicine. She has researched supplements and natural medicine throughout her career. One of her biggest loves is helping people gain function and vitality by tackling the root causes of illness.
