If you’re wondering what the best tigernut flour substitute is, we’re going to take a deep look at that today. It’s not exactly a cut and dry answer because tigernut flour is both a gluten free and grain free flour with unique properties. It’s important to know upfront that I’m an egg free baker for numerous reasons.
What that means I’m giving you this information from a gluten free, grain free, egg free perspective. For those who can have eggs, you have a lot more wiggle room to experiment with the best tigernut flour substitute. So, let’s take a look at tiger nut flour, then we’ll dive into what a good substitute would be.
Better Understanding Tigernut Flour
To better understand why some flours will work whilst others won’t work, we need to analyze tiger nut flour. Tiger nut flour is made from small tubers (they’re small root vegetables) with a bit of a sweet flavor, but also a nutty flavor. Despite the name, these aren’t actual tree nuts, and tiger nuts are safe for those with peanut and tree nut allergies.
Tiger nut flour is a gluten free flour and grain free flour. That means if you have Celiac Disease, a gluten intolerance, or wheat allergy, it’s a safe choice for you. However, the grain free element of tiger nut flour is the one to focus on when it comes to choosing at tigernut flour substitute.
Grain free flours can sometimes have a fine texture, but other times, they’re more gritty and “grainy”. The best way to understand the graininess of tigernut flour is to eat tiger nut butter straight from the jar. It’s probably the only butter/spread on the market that’s made from a flour, and when you eat it straight, it’s like eating light sand. Not sandy, but like when sand and water come together on the beach, but finer than that. Hopefully you get the idea.
All of that to say this: when you’re choosing a tigernut flour substitute, it’s better to stay within the realm of grain free flours if you can since they’ll provide the closest weight and texture match. Now let’s look at the different flours that will, won’t, and might work as a tigernut flour substitute.
Flours That are Not an Ideal Tigernut Flour Substitute
Each of these flours won’t give you the best results as a tigernut flour substitute for one reason or another. For example, arrowroot, potato, and tapioca are all light fluffy starches, and tiger nut flour is not a light fluffy starch. If you were to make that swap, you’d throw off the balance of your recipe. On the other hand, flours such as amaranth and quinoa simple have the wrong flavors for them to be a good tigernut flour substitute.
- Amaranth Flour
- Arrowroot (also called arrowroot flour, arrowroot powder, and arrowroot starch)
- Banana Flour
- Brown Rice Flour
- Chickpea Flour (also called garbanzo bean flour)
- Coconut Flour
- Lupin Flour
- Potato Starch
- Quinoa Flour
- Sorghum Flour
- Sweet Potato Flour
- Tapioca Flour (also called tapioca starch)
- Teff Flour
- Traditional Wheat Flour (and other traditional flours such as cake flour, all purpose flour, etc.)
- White Rice Flour
Coconut flour absorbs liquids at a much different rate, and also brings a texture to the table that tiger nut flour doesn’t offer, rendering it not the best choice as a substitute. Sweet potato flour and teff flour both have pretty unique flavours, like tiger nut flour, but absolutely not the same taste. That also rules these out for substituting.
The rest of the flours are the wrong weight, texture, and body to be the best choice when you’re looking for a tigernut flour substitute. Remember, when you’re looking for a good tigernut flour substitute, you want to analyze all of the characteristics of a possible choice. Look at the flavor, consistency and texture it will bring to your recipe, and so on.
Flours That are a Good Tigernut Flour Substitute
- Buckwheat flour (despite the name, this is one of many awesome gluten-free flours)
- Gluten Free Purity Protocol Oat Flour
You’ll notice this list is pretty short, and that’s for good reason. Remember, I’ve been doing this for well over a decade, and in that time, I’ve done a lot of experiments with alternative flours within the realm of gluten-free baking. What I can tell you is that tigernut flour has a unique flavor and texture, and buckwheat and oat are two great substitutes that will keep you very close to the original recipe.
Buckwheat has a deep, rich, earthy flavour that leans towards nutty. Whilst it’s not exactly the same as tiger nut flour, it keeps you in the same ballpark, plus, they have similar weights.
Purity Protocol Gluten Free Oat Flour is a similar weight and texture to tiger nut flour. The taste is much more mellow in comparison, but the function is on point, making it one of the best substitutes for tigernut flour, even in large amounts. Keep in mind though, recipes with oat flour need to be moved on quickly. You shouldn’t let them mill about because of how oat flour absorbs water over time (think oatmeal), unless the recipe developer calls for it.
Flours That Could Work as a Tigernut Flour Substitute
Here’s where things start to get a little gray. Each of these flours has the potential to be a good tigernut flour substitute, but only in specific scenarios, and within certain amounts. Anything over 100g of tiger nut flour that you’re substituting would be the first hurdle for each of these flours.
- Almond Flour (also called almond meal)
- Cassava Flour (sometimes called cassava root flour)
- Hazelnut Flour
- Millet Flour, superfine
- Pistachio Flour
- Spelt Flour (an ancient wheat flour)
- Walnut Flour
Pistachio and hazelnut flour are each an excellent choice because they’re nut flours. They’re going to have that nutty flavour that tiger nut flour brings the table. Additionally, they perform similarly to tiger nut flour in baked goods, pancakes, waffles, etc. The same is true of walnut flour.
Almond flour, both blanched and natural could be a good choice. Between the two, natural (with the skin present) would be my personal preference since it behaves closer to tiger nut flour when compared to blanched almond flour.
Cassava flour is a popular choice for those following a grain-free diet to use in their baking. However, it’s a double edged sword. Cassava absorbs liquid differently when compared to the other flours on this list, and the recipe would need some tweaking to behave properly. Over 100g, no way is cassava flour a 1:1 substitute for tiger nut flour. Honestly, you’re probably pushing the limits at 85g.
Spelt flour, under 100g, could also be another good choice, though, for those with wheat and/or gluten sensitivities, this is not a suitable flour. It’s also not suitable for anyone with a wheat allergy, that’s grain free, or has Celiac Disease.
Millet flour (seed based) under 100g isn’t the worst substitute to pick because of its weight and performance. However, it absolutely will NOT deliver the same taste as tiger nut flour.
Remember, if you can have eggs, you have more room to experiment with these tigernut flour substitute options.
How to Achieve a Fluffy Texture When Baking with Tiger Nut Flour
We know that tiger nut flour is an awesome gluten-free alternative that can make some pretty rad baked goods. However, how does one go about creating a super pleasant texture and mouthfeel?
That is where flour blending comes into play. In gluten-free baking, it’s critical that you use a blend of different flours to achieve balance and good texture. The only people who shouldn’t use a blend of different flours are those who are allergic to so much, and tiger nut flour is their only option. In a case like that, I always say manage your expectations, but go bake until your heart is content.
For everyone else, there’s a basic formula you can work with: light weight fluffy starch + medium weight flour + heavy weight flour. The other formula you can use is lightweight fluffy starch + 2 medium weight flours.
This is a super loose formula that is there to guide your ideas, trust me, it’s not the law. I’ve made some of the most amazing baked goods with only tiger nut flour and arrowroot. The key to focus on is the light fluffy starch. Without it, a lot of gluten free and grain free baked goods read as flat, dense, and generally off.
Tiger Nuts: An Amazing Nut-Free Alternative
If you have a nut allergy and need a nut-free alternative that delivers a truly nutty taste, tiger nuts are your new best friend. Nut flours are pretty popular in high-end pastry, specialty recipes, and even some Italian desserts.
Tiger nut flour is a great alternative in these recipes as it offers a similar function, texture, and has a nutty taste that will make you lowkey think of tree nuts. One recipe I want to share with you is for a Faux Nutella. I created this recipe to be not only tree nut free, but also seed free since commercial spreads generally contain one or the other.
What this recipe really features is how tiger nuts can easily replace tree nuts in some types of recipes and you still get awesome results.
When You Don’t Want to Use Tiger Nut Flour
Tiger nut flour, an awesome grain-free flour, isn’t suitable for all types of recipes like say, cassava flour. Whilst both flours are great for a grain or gluten-free diet, cassava flour has a much more mellow taste. I like to say it gets along well with others whilst tiger nut flour can sometimes be a little bit of a diva. But not the crappy diva that’s mean to her friends, just the type with a little drama, but lifts those up around her.
Since tiger nuts, and therefore tiger nut flour, have a naturally sweet taste, it’s not going to make a great addition to many savory dishes. Now, that doesn’t mean it can’t work in savory dishes, but you’ll have to use your chef’s brain to determine which type of recipes would work.
For example, a BBQ chicken dish would be a good fit for tiger nut flour. I’ve also used it in AIP homemade fish sticks and it’s worked out well. On the flip side, if you were to make a volute, you’d be greatly disappointed (been there, done that, tossed it out). If you want to use tiger nut flour in savory dishes, make sure it’s one where a sweet nutty taste won’t clash with the other ingredients.
When baking, tiger nut flour won’t be the best type of flour to use in cookies and cakes with light, delicate, or subtle flavours (think: honey lavender cookies). I’d also suggest choosing a different primary flour if you’re making something with lemon, or something super fruity. Whilst you may be thinking lemon + nutty is an OK combination, tiger nut may let you down in that scenario. As part of a flour blend though, it would be a good choice.
A Bit More About Tiger Nuts
Tiger nuts are not only great for baking, but they come with some health benefits as well. For example, tiger nuts are a great source of Vitamin E, and they also contain resistant starch. Resistant starch helps promotes gut health and growth of beneficial bacteria to improve your gut microbiome.
One can even argue that tiger nut flour has a high fiber content because when you make say muffins or pancakes, the serving size of tiger nut flour you’d be consuming (whilst more than one proper serving) does contain a good amount of dietary fiber.
Whilst tiger nut flour is a nutritious flour alternative, other parts of the tiger nut are also incredible. Tiger nut oil is another nutritional powerhouse that’s great for cooking and baking. There aren’t any trans fasts, and tiger nuts provide you with both monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats.
You can use all parts of tiger nuts in a wide variety of recipes, and for those with very limited ingredients due to food allergies and restricted diets, to me, this is nothing short of a miracle. If you’d like to dive deeper on tiger nuts, check out this article where I can’t say enough good things about them.
Explore the World of Tiger Nuts
I know you came here looking for a tigernut flour substitute. I’m going to assume you’re fresh out, not that you can’t have that. With that mindset, I want to encourage you to look into all of the different ways tiger nuts can serve you well. I’ve been using a wide range of tiger nut products for a long time and have zero regrets. In fact some of my kids favorite recipes are made with tiger nut flour and/or tiger nut oil.
In recent years more people have become aware tigernuts, which are an incredibly versatile ingredient. These little tubers have been transformed into:
- Chopped Tiger Nuts
- Peeled Tiger Nuts
- Sliced Tiger Nuts
- Tiger Nut Butter
- Tiger Nut Flour
- Tiger Nut Milk
- Tiger Nut Oil
- Whole Tiger Nuts
Each one of these products has so much potential, and I’ve written more about it in this article on tiger nut recipes. Also, note that here in the United States, you’ll need to make tiger nut milk at home, as it’s not a super popular product you can purchase in stores.
Answering Your Questions About Tigernut Flour
Would tiger nut flour be a good flour for plant-based burgers and meatballs?
I don’t suggest it as my top pick, and that’s because of the unique flavor that’s nutty but also because of the natural sweetness of the flour. Plus, in that application, the flour may read as a “powdery texture” and may distract from your meatballs. A better choice would be cassava flour, assuming you’re grain free. If you can use any gluten-free flour alternative, sorghum flour and rice flour would be excellent options.
Now, can this be done? Yes. In fact, I often encourage people to use meatballs as a way to trial flours when introducing new ingredients. It’s just really important to remember that tiger nut flour isn’t a shining star in every application. Should you proceed, manage your expectations, and make sure your plant-based burgers and meatballs have a robust flavour and that you’re using other toppings to really create balance.
Also know that tiger nut flour won’t create the same kind of bind that a more traditional flours would. You may need to use extra flour, or also use something like a flax meal bind.
Can I eat tiger nut flour on the Keto diet?
Those on low carb and ketogenic diets may need to avoid tiger nut flour, generally speaking. 16g of tiger nut flour (one official serving) contains 6g of carbs. Whilst that seems low at first glance, the reality is, a basic pancake recipe may call for up to 200g of tiger nut flour. That’s 75g of carb for the recipe, and that much flour won’t be making 20 pancakes. You’re looking at maybe 5 pancakes, so when you look at how much flour is required to make something, the final result is a delicious item with quite a few carbs.
Now, if you were to strictly plan your day and monitor your portion size, there’s no reason why tiger nut flour couldn’t be part of that plan. Just know that you’d need to really do the math to stay within your personal daily limit of carbohydrates/net carbs.
Would tiger nut flour work well in pizza crusts?
If the tiger nut flour were part of a blend, I think it could be a good choice. Depending on your pizza toppings, it could be a really great overall flavor combination. However, if we’re talking tiger nut flour standalone, I don’t think that’s a good option.
Standalone, tiger nut flour is a great choice for sweet leaning baked goods, pancakes, and waffles. Without a balancing flour, the texture of your pizza crusts would be all wrong. Now, if tiger nut flour is your only option due to food allergies, I say this: try it, but seriously manage your expectations.
I’ve tried creating yeasted baked goods with tiger nut flour and it’s never turned out well. I’ll also say though, I’m also an egg free baker. I can’t say what would happen if you had the power of an egg or two to back you up.
If you do try this, I’d make sure to use a red sauce, not white, and make sure the toppings are a flavour bomb. I’m thinking caramelized onions and spicy maple ground bison. Those two toppings with the red sauce can really help mask the unique flavor of tiger nut flour to deliver a more balanced taste. If you make a pizza, let me know. I’d love to see your results!
Where can I purchase high quality tiger nut flour?
Some health food stores in your area may be a great option for you. Depending on where you live though, the best choice will actually be online. I’ve had good luck with Tiger Nuts USA.
Are tiger nuts considered a good source of healthy fats?
I think it’s safe to say that tiger nuts can be considered a good source of healthy fats. There aren’t any trans fats in tiger nuts, and they do contain both monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats. As part of a well rounded diet, I think tiger nuts can contribute an array of nutrients to your diet.
What other AIP flours can I use with tiger nut flour?
On the AIP Paleo diet, you could use any of the following:
- Arrowroot Flour (also called arrowroot, arrowroot powder, and arrowroot starch)
- Cassava Flour
- Coconut Flour
- Plantain Flour
- Sweet Potato Flour
- Tapioca Starch (also called tapioca flour)
When combining any of these AIP flours with tiger nut flour, you’ll want to make sure you create a balanced flour blend that will both function well and taste good.
Can tiger nut flour be stored at room temperature?
In most cases, yes, your tiger nut flour can be stored at room temperature with other dry ingredients for baking in your pantry. However, there have been some people reporting that their tiger nut flour grows mold. Personally, I suspect that they’re either purchasing low quality tiger nut flour, or the flour is close to (or passed) the expiration date. Additionally, if you live in a super humid climate, that could be problematic. Plus, dry ingredients need to be stored in airtight containers. If this isn’t the case, you can also have mold growth.
If you have concerns about your tiger nut flour growing mold, you can store it in an airtight container in your fridge. Personally though, in over a decade of using tiger nut flour, I’ve not had any flour I purchased grow mold, and it’s always been stored at room temperature.
