Food Allergy Resources

Basic Recipe Substitutions for Wheat Allergy

February 2009

Substituting Wheat Ingredients

In this article: Substituting Wheat Ingredients Single Ingredient Substitutions Multiple Ingredient Substitutions Rice Flours General Tips for Wheat-Free Baking Wheat-Free Recipes

Related KFA resources: Wheat Allergy Avoidance List Food Allergy Cookbooks with Wheat-Free Recipes

Overview: Basic Ingredient Substitutions for Food Allergies Many common allergens are also common ingredients in your favorite recipes. There are some ingredients for which you can easily and successfully use non-allergenic substitutes, and there are others for which satisfactory substitutes do not exist. Whether or not a "safe" version of a recipe can be successfully made often depends on two important factors. First: what is the role of the allergen in the recipe? Second: how many of the recipe's ingredients require substitutions? If the recipe only has 5 ingredients and you need to swap out 4 of them, the end result might bear little resemblance to the original dish. The bottom line: sometimes you can create a "safe" version of a recipe, and sometimes you are better off finding a different recipe altogether.

The following is a general guide to using ingredient substitutions for wheat allergy. Please verify the ingredients and safety of any products named to ensure that it is safe for your child's unique allergy issues.

If you need additional assistance in finding product suggestions or where to find ingredients for substituting, post a message in the KFA Food and Cooking forum (registration is free) to obtain suggestions from other parents of food allergic children who are also managing the same food allergies.

Wheat Substitutes for Baked Goods

There are a variety of "formulas" for substituting other flours for wheat flour in baked goods recipes. You may want to experiment to see what works best for you, given all of your child's allergies. You should be forewarned, though, that alternative flours generally do not produce the same texture and consistency as wheat flour.  Keep in mind also that these suggestions are for wheat allergy; if you are avoiding gluten, you will need to avoid barley, rye and other gluten-containing grains. Oats can be contaminated with wheat due to cultivation practices. There are wheat-free oats available as an alternative.

Single-Ingredient Substitutes for Wheat Flour

Generally speaking, you will achieve better results by using multi-ingredient wheat substitutes rather than one-ingredient wheat substitutes. These one-ingredient substitutes are provided for your convenience:

Possible single-ingredient substitutes for 1 cup of wheat flour include:

• 7/8 cup rice flour
• 7/8 cup garbanzo bean (chick pea) flour
• 3/4 cup potato starch
• 1-1/3 cups ground rolled oats
• 1 cup tapioca flour

Multi-Ingredient Substitutes for Wheat Flour

Some cooks feel they get better results when they mix together a few different flours.  Some multi-ingredient wheat flour substitution formulas are:

• 4 cups oat flour + 2 cups barley flour + 1 cup rice flour
• 1 cup rye flour + 1 cup potato flour
• 1 cup cornstarch + 2 cups rice flour + 2 cups soy flour + 3 cups potato starch flour
• 2 cups sweet rice flour + 2/3 cup potato flour + 1/3 cup tapioca flour (this combination often works very well)

Rice Flours

There are different types of rice flours available, and there are different suitable uses for each.  Rice flour, also known as rice powder or rice starch, may be used interchangeably in recipes although brown rice flour has a nuttier flavor. The texture of rice flour can vary and will affect the consistency of the finished product, ranging from very light and soft to somewhat gritty in texture.  You may need to make a few test recipes to determine what will give you the best results.

White Rice Flour

White rice flour is made from rice kernels with the hull and bran layers removed.  It is a refined flour with a mild flavor that works well in most recipes.  White rice flour can be used as a thickening agent for sauces and puddings as well as for making Asian noodles. It can be used in some baked goods, such as cakes, cookies, and dumplings, although it can be gritty in large quantities, so it's best used in combination with other flours.

Brown Rice Flour

Brown rice flour is made from whole grain rice.  It has a slightly more robust flavor than white rice flour, and when used in baked goods, such as cakes and cookies, brown rice flour provides a grainy texture with a fine, dry crumb.  Brown rice flour works well in bread recipes.

Sweet Rice Flour 

Sweet glutinous rice flour, also known as Mochiko flour or mochi flour, is milled from mochi rice, a short-grained, glutinous rice common in Asia.  Although called "glutinous flour" it does not contain gluten.  It is often used to thicken sauces and food mixes, providing a strong bonding that can withstand refrigerator and freezer temperatures without separating.  It is often used for breading foods prior to frying and for making traditional foods that require flour, such as desserts and baked goods, or rice dumplings referred to as Japanese mochi.  Sweet rice flour can also be used as a 1:1 replacement for cake flour.

General Tips for Wheat-Free Cooking

• One of the down sides of wheat-free baking is that the recipes don't rise as much.  Wheat-free flours often work best if the recipe is cooked for a longer period of time at a lower temperature than usual.  Reduce your oven temperature by about 25 degrees, and you will find the finished product will be a little less flat.  If you are not avoiding eggs, adding an extra egg to a gluten-free recipe will help the product rise a little more.
• If you are looking for a protein boost for your recipe, use equal portions of brown rice flour and chickpea flour to make a complete protein.
• Refrigerating dough for half an hour before baking may help improve the texture and flavor.
• Since many wheat-free foods will crumble, you may want to experiment with making foods with smaller surface areas, such as cupcakes instead of cakes.

Wheat Free Recipes from Safe Eats™

The following free recipes are available for you to preview the quality of wheat allergy safe recipes in our Safe Eats ™ recipe database. To access all of our great allergen-free recipes, sign up for a Family Membership.

All Purpose Rice Flour Mix Wacky Cake Oatmeal Breakfast Bars Baked Party Chicken Bites Chicken or Tuna Noodle Casserole

Gluten Free Berry Cake

Special thanks to KFA members Linda Coss, Kathy Pryzwara and Amy Hugon for their assistance in developing this article.

Approved by KFA Medical Advisory Team February 2008. Updated February 2009.