Sweet rice flour is a staple in most Asian dishes. Sweet rice flour is a great ingredient, but sometimes hard to get by. If your recipe calls for sweet rice flour and you can’t find one, you’re in luck!
Here are some of the 15 Rice flour substitutes to fulfil your immediate baking needs
- Coconut flour
- Almond flour
- Tapioca flour
- Sorghum flour
- Potato Starch
- Millet Flour
- Cassava Flour
- Oat Flour
- Buckwheat Flour
Read on and check out our list of 15 sweet rice flour substitutes. You might have one or two of them already in your home!
Top 5 Sweet Rice Flour Substitutes For Mochi
Made from glutinous short-grain rice, sweet rice flour is starchy and sticky. It’s called glutinous not because it contains gluten but because of its glue-like consistency.
It is perfect for making those soft and chewy Japanese mochis. If you haven’t tried one, you’re missing a lot! Sweet rice flour is also not sweet per se. Its name is derived from the name of the rice that’s used to process it.
These are the five most commonly used sweet rice flour substitutes. They are easy to find and always available in your local baking goods shop.
Coconut flour
Coconut flour is light and sweet. It has a distinct but not too strong flavor. It is also a healthy option since it’s gluten-free. It is not surprising that coconut flour makes it an excellent substitute for sweet rice flour to the top of this list.
Coconut flour has the highest fiber content out of all the flours available. One cup of sweet rice flour in your recipe will call for one and a half cups of coconut flour.
You will need to add more water if you’re making dough. If you need it to be sticky, you will need another ingredient and eggs to keep it moist.
Almond Flour
Almond flour isn’t sticky. You will need to add a binding agent if your recipe calls for extra stickiness. The main reason why almond flour is one of our top listers is that it is a flour that packs a bunch of good stuff for the health-conscious.
Almond flour has magnesium, Vitamin E, protein, minimal carbs, saturated fatty acids, and more fiber than wheat flour. You can substitute 1 cup of sweet rice flour with 1 ½ cup of almond flour.
Sweet rice flour is mildly sweet, while almond flour has some nutty flavor. You’d probably need some sweetener if you’re making a dessert.
Tapioca Flour
Tapioca flour is made from cassava root extract. It is sticky, starchy, and chewy. Its many similarities make it the best substitute for sweet rice flour. It is also healthy as it contains calcium and iron. It is suitable for the heart as well as the digestive system.
You can substitute the same ratio of 1 cup tapioca starch for every 1 cup of sweet rice flour in your recipe. You might need to add sweetener as it is not that sweet.
And because of its sticky texture, it can also function as a thickener and binding agent for flatbreads and puddings.
Sorghum Flour
Sorghum grain is an ancient cereal cultivated in several parts of the world. It is grounded to make sorghum flour, which is getting a lot of attention lately because it is healthy and versatile.
Sorghum or milo is used in biofuel and alcoholic beverages. It is an essential ingredient for human and livestock consumption. It is gluten-free, making it a very healthy choice.
Sorghum flour is sweet and mild, but not too sticky. You can use 1 cup of sorghum flour to replace 1 cup of sweet rice flour in your recipe. If you need it to be sticky, you’ll need to adjust more per tablespoon until you get the desired texture.
Potato Starch
Extracted from potatoes, potato starch doesn’t have flavor and can work well as a substitute in plenty of recipes calling for sweet rice flour.
You can replace 1 cup of sweet rice flour with the same 1 cup of potato starch. Add a little sugar to get that sweetness your recipe needs.
Potato starch is also versatile as it can keep the moisture of your baked goods intact. It also acts as a binding or thickening agent and can be used with oats, smoothies, and yogurts.
Potato starch is a significant resistance starch with many health benefits. It’s been used in weight loss programs and even prevents colon cancer.
10 Other Sweet Rice Flour Alternatives In Your Kitchen
If you don’t have any of the top five sweet rice flour substitutes available, check out the list below. These are ten sweet rice flour substitutes that you might already have on your kitchen counter!
Millet Flour
Millet flour is mainly known in the US. In most parts of the world, it is utilized as a whole grain in many recipes. It is gluten-free and less expensive compared to quinoa.
Take note that millet flour tastes like corn, a sweet dominant flavor if you use it in recipes.
Cassava Flour
Reasonably resembling potatoes, cassava flour is also from a unique root crop. It is filling, sound, and packed with protein. It is a decent substitute if you’re looking for a gluten-free substitute for sweet rice flour.
Cassava flour is dense and does not rise. If you’re going to use it to make bread, you’ll have to blend it with another type of flour.
Oat Flour
Oats are considered a staple food with many uses, whether baking, soups or cereal. If you consider using oat flour as a substitute for sweet rice flour recipes, note that they don’t have a long shelf life.
Purchase only what you need as it isn’t advisable to stock up on this type of flour.
Buckwheat Flour
Buckwheat flour is a great gluten-free substitute for sweet rice flour. Its low glycemic index makes it suitable for people with diabetes and hypertension. It is also used to make gluten-free hotcakes, noodles, and crepes.
Amaranth Flour
Granulated from the amaranth plant seeds, this flour is rich in protein, has calcium, magnesium and yes, it’s gluten-free.
It’s a great way to incorporate these nutrients in your recipes if you’re using this as a sweet rice flour substitute. Its nutty flavor makes it suitable to produce kinds of pasta. It can also be a thickener for stews, white sauces, and roux.
Whole Spelt Flour
Stoneground from a tasty old grain, whole spelt flour is a relative of the present-day wheat. Whole spelt flour isn’t well known; it is mainly used because of its unique taste and fragrance.
It has lesser carbs than most flour. Use 1 ½ cups of spelled flour for every 1 cup of sweet rice flour in your recipe.
Whole Wheat Flour
The most flexible of all flours, whole wheat flour is the mother of all flours. You can utilize it on almost anything, from bread to kinds of pasta and desserts.
Its lovely fragrance and nutty taste make it great for making the most delectable pieces of bread. Use the same whole wheat flour to substitute your sweet rice flour recipe.
Seitan Flour
For vegetarians, seitan flour is used as a meat substitute. Seitan is essentially wheat dough that’s rinsed to take away the starch. It is more concentrated than sweet rice flour.
It will be great for recipes calling for stretchy and sticky substitutes. If you’re going to make bread, you will have to blend seitan with another flour to make it less dense.
Quinoa Flour
In South America, quinoa is a staple grain for cooking. It is very nutritious, gluten-free, has anti-oxidants, and is packed with protein. The only downside is that quinoa is more expensive than most flours.
Corn Flour
Corn flour has high carb content, has minerals and nutrients, and is low in fat and protein. This starchy flour comes from a cereal grain developed in various parts of the globe.
Pastry Flour
If you’re looking for a lighter sweet rice flour substitute, pastry flour is perfect. Use one and ½ cake flour for every 1 cup of sweet rice flour in your recipe. Pastry flour is widely used for pie coverings and chewy treats.
Bread Flour
Bread flour is high in gluten, giving bread extra coarse nibble to its batter. It is best in making yeasted bread. It is comparable to sweet rice flour, so you can use the same bread flour when substituting in your recipes.
Sweet Rice Flour Substitute Related FAQs
What is the difference between sweet rice flour and white rice flour?
White rice flour is made from regular medium-grain white rice, the one that we cook and eat.
Sweet rice flour is from what is commonly called ‘sushi rice,’ from short-grain rice that’s starchy and sticky..
Can you make sweet rice flour?
You can purchase sticky rice (Oryza sativa glutinosa) and then grind it to a fine powder in a minute using a high-powered blender!
One cup of sticky rice makes 1 ½ cup sweet rice flour. You can then stock it and use it for three months.
Can I use regular flour for mochi?
The short answer is no. Mochi is stretchy, bouncy, and chewy. You won’t be able to get that consistency from regular flour.
Although the pillowy Japanese desert mochi derived its name from mochiko, the best mochis are made from shiratamako. Mochiko is more doughy and less elastic. However, it is what’s widely used to make mochis because of the price difference. Mochiko costs half the price of shiratakamo.
Is sweet rice flour the same as mochiko?
The answer is a yes and a no. Sweet rice flour, also called shiratamako and mochiko, came from the same short-grain rice called Oryza sativa glutinosa.
The process to make each of them is different. Mochiko is ground rice, while to make sweet rice flour, the rice is washed and dehydrated before grinding into powder. That’s what makes their flavor and texture distinctive from each other.
Is sweet rice flour the same as glutinous rice flour?
As long as the grain used to make the flour is short-grain Oryza sativa glutinosa, it can be called sweet rice flour, sticky rice flour, or glutinous rice flour (although it’s gluten-free).
The term sweet white rice is common in Japan, Northern China, and South Korea. In Southern China and Southeast Asia, it is called glutinous rice.