16 Must-Try Tapioca Flour Recipes for Gluten-Free Cooking (2024)

FAQs

What does tapioca flour do in gluten-free baking? ›

When added to baked goods, tapioca starch helps the ingredients properly bind together. A function that gluten is often used for. Tapioca starch's binding abilities help bakers achieve baked goods that are fluffy, light and spongy in texture.

Tapioca starch (aka tapioca flour) binds baked goods together and acts like cornstarch as a thickener in soups and sauces. It's a must-have in the gluten-free cook's arsenal, but you can easily use it alongside wheat flour in place of cornstarch.

Tapioca flour is one of the most popular flours in the world. It is highly prized as a South America and Caribbean baking staple for quick cheese bread. In addition, it can be used to thicken pie fillings, gravies, soups, and sauces. It's not quite as expected in the United States, but it is gaining popularity quickly.

Cassava flour is a great gluten-free substitute for tapioca flour and contains more fiber, making it a more nutrient-dense option ( 2 , 3 ). Both products are made from cassava root, but cassava flour incorporates the whole root, whereas tapioca flour is made up of only the starchy part of the plant.

There are a number of effective substitutes for tapioca flour. Alternative thickeners include cornstarch, potato starch, cassava flour, and arrowroot. Good substitutes for frying include cornstarch, potato starch, and rice flour.

Tapioca starch is gluten-free, so it's a good choice if you have celiac disease. It's also easy to digest because it's low in FODMAPs (fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols), a type of carbohydrate that's hard for your gut to process. It's a heart-healthy choice.

When frying foods, you can dredge your meats or vegetables in a light coating of tapioca flour to give them a crisp exterior. You can also make a tapioca starch paste to make a super crunchy coating.

Most cooks recommend substituting 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of tapioca flour. Tapioca is a processed starch flour made from the root vegetable cassava. You should substitute around 2 tablespoons of tapioca flour for each tablespoon of cornstarch.

Tapioca and other root starches have a high percentage of amylopectin, which thicken well without boiling. Different starches also start to lose their thickening ability depending on the amounts of heat, agitation, and acids, such as lemon juice, wine, and vinegar, which are added to the recipe.

In addition to their use in puddings and beverages, tapioca pearls may be used in cakes. The pearls are known as sābudānā in the Indian subcontinent; they are used for sweet and savory dishes, such as sabudana khichri. In Brazil, the pearls are cooked with wine or other liquid to add flavor and are called sagu.

Can tapioca flour replace all-purpose flour? ›

If you're in a pinch, you can swap all-purpose flour evenly for tapioca flour in most recipes, but keep in mind that all-purpose flour contains gluten. The swap may affect the texture of baked goods slightly—they'll have a little less chew and be slightly more dense.

Unopened, this fine-grained flour has a lengthy shelf life and can stay fresh for about 2 years when stored in a cool, dry place. Interestingly enough, the printed date on the package is often a conservative 'Best By' date that does not mark the actual expiry.

Brown rice flour contains one single ingredient—brown rice. And while all brown rice flours are naturally gluten free, it's essential to check that the one you're using was made in a gluten free facility. In recipes, brown rice flour works best in bread, muffins and cookies.

To use tapioca flour as a thickener, you can mix it with a small amount of cold water to create a slurry, and then add the slurry to the dish you are cooking. Tapioca flour has a higher thickening power than regular flour, so you will need to use less of it to achieve the desired thickness.

Gluten-free baked goods often benefit from extra liquid to hydrate the flour blends, eliminate grittiness, and achieve a less dense or dry texture. However, it's very important to drive off this extra moisture during baking, or you'll wind up with a gummy texture. The best way to do this? Longer baking times.

2 teaspoons of baking powder per cup of gluten-free flour is necessary to ensure proper leavening. Baking soda and buttermilk can be used to leaven instead of baking powder, but 1-1/8 teaspoon of cream of tartar should be added for each 1/2 teaspoon baking soda used.

Gluten-free flours often contain fine starches, so they absorb more liquid than conventional flour. To address this, gluten-free recipes usually call for more liquid and produce looser batters. They may also call for a larger quantity of leavening, like baking powder, to help add volume and lighten the texture.