Many baked and fried foods are usually made with potato starch. This powder makes baked goods delicate, and fried dishes crispy. Whenever you run out of it, you can always replace it with one of the potato starch substitutes from this guide.
Usually potato starch is used instead of flour, as it’s gluten-free. It’s made by crushed potatoes which are turned into a powdery substance. It’s a flavorless product, which means its major function doesn’t deal with the taste of the end dish. Potato starch serves as a “technical substance” and improves the quality or the texture of the dish.
Many stews, soups, sauces and gravy recipes call for this ingredient when they need some thickness. You can also make tasty baked goods with potato starch. They will become light and fluffy.
The best substitutes for potato starch are potato flour, arrowroot powder, cornstarch, kuzu starch, sweet rice flour, ground flaxseeds, mochi flour, tapioca starch, coconut flour and oat flour.
Best Potato Starch Substitutes To Try
Potato Flour
Many people think that potato starch and potato flour are the same. They are both made of potato but they are actually different. Potato starch is made of peeled potatoes while potato flour includes the skin too. The flour is heavier than potato starch, and it comes with a strong potato flavor.
Another difference between these two products is that potato flour includes fiber, protein, and flavor, while potato starch is lighter in its texture and doesn’t smell “potato-y”. This is the reason why you need to avoid overusing potato flour. When substituting, try to use less potato flour.
Arrowroot Powder
Looking for a perfect gluten and grain-free substitute? Choose arrowroot powder. It’s made of beaten arrowroots, which become the pulp.
You can equally substitute it with potato starch in baking and frying. It is often used for bread dough. It is also used as a thickener, but since it’s strong you may use less, not to end up with too much heavy dish. On the other hand, avoid using it with dairy meals as the result won’t be what you need. Coming with a neutral taste, arrowroot powder will also provide your dish with some gloss.
Cornstarch
Cornstarch goes well with a number of dishes, meals and baked goods. Like potato starch, it doesn’t have taste and flavor too and you can easily use one instead of the other in a 1:1 ratio.
Cornstarch made of 100% pure corn is gluten-free.
Choose it when frying to achieve a crunchy taste. It will perfectly absorb any moisture from the substance. You can use it for soups, puddings and sauces as well as for pies and other bakeries.
Kuzu Starch
The Japanese version of arrowroot is kuzu. Its starch is made from the roots of the kudzu vine. It is widely used in China and Japan and can be a good alternative to potato starch.
Dried kuzu starch has a kind of lumpy texture that’s why it’s better not to use it in baking and frying. It makes liquids cloudy but stays clear in cooked dishes. Kuzu starch is often used as a great thickener. This is a kind of unique alternative to potato starch and it is mostly used in Asia.
Sweet Rice Flour
Next comes sweet rice flour which is made of sweet rice. This is a lighter type of flour with little sweetness in it. You can choose it instead of potato starch, especially in baked goods that require some sweet taste.
This flour contains a higher amount of starch than regular rice. It’s a perfect thickener for stews and soups and you may use it at the beginning of cooking. Sweet rice flour provides a light and crispy texture to fried dishes. You can use it as a gluten-free flour alternative in baked goods.
Ground Flaxseeds
There are some cases when you can use ground flaxseeds instead of potato starch. They can serve as excellent thickeners in puddings and smoothies.
If you want to use ground flax seeds in a bakery, then you should first grind them into a powder and blend with water. Then let it sit for 10 minutes and it will absorb the water. As a result, you’ll get a gelatinous texture which can be added to batter or dough before baking. This is how ground flaxseeds substitute for potato starch.
They taste nutty and somehow sweet. However,ground flaxseeds are not good for cakes and bread that call for gluten-free batters.
Mochi Flour
Mochi flour, mostly used in bakery and cooking, is naturally gluten-free flour. It belongs to the rice family and is made of short grain rice. It comes with a sweet-milky taste.
Mochi flour is best known as Mochiko or Japanese Sweet Rice Flour. Traditional Japanese sweets and pastries are made of mochi flour. You can use it in many recipes of sweets such as cakes, muffins, waffles, and bar substituting for potato flour.
Tapioca Starch
Tapioca starch is similar to arrowroot starch. It comes from Central and South America and is also called cassava or yucca. Like arrowroot, tapioca starch is made of the dried and ground pulp of the plant root. It has a kind of gritty texture and mild flavor.
Tapioca starch serves as a thickener instead of potato starch in several recipes. You can use it both in sweet and savory sauces or stews. Bread doughs become more elastic when you mix some tapioca flour with wheat flour. Use twice the required amount for better results.
Coconut Flour
Perhaps one of the most popular alternatives for potato starch is coconut flour. While it comes with a different texture, it still can be used in many low carb recipes. You can’t use it as a thickener but it will provide an amazing result in sweet baked goods.
Besides being a good alternative, coconut flour also comes with a pleasant flavor which will be reflected in your pastry. Avoid using too much coconut flour in doughs as it can make them too hard.
Oat Flour
The well-blended version of oat flakes is oat flour. This highly-nutritious and healthy powder replaces potato starch in case you want to make sweet bakery or bread and not only. It goes well with cream soups, pasta sauces and serves as a good thickener.
Use oat flour in a 1:1 ratio when replacing with potato starch. It offers a nutty flavor and is considered to be gluten-free flour.
FAQs on Potato Starch
Is Potato Starch Gluten-Free?
Yes, potato starch is gluten-free which means you can use it in your diet. It is also good for people suffering from gluten intolerance or celiac disease, that’s why many like to use it instead of wheat flour.
Potato Starch vs Potato Flour? Are they the same?
No, they are not the same. Although both are made of potato, the process of making them doesn’t allow them to come with the same texture, flavor, taste and substance. Potato starch includes only peeled potatoes. Potato flour includes the skin of the vegetable as well and smells like potato.
Which are gluten-free substitutes for potato starch?
In case you have allergies from potato starch, you can use arrowroot and sweet rice flour instead. There are other gluten-free substitutes for potato starch such as coconut flour, out flour, cornstarch, tapioca flour etc.
Conclusion
Regardless of what you choose as a potato starch substitute for your recipe, always make sure you use the required amount in the right ratio. Different flours and starches come with different substance and texture, that’s why they also act differently in dishes. If you use more or less according to your taste, the result won’t be what you need. So, it’s important to know how to substitute each alternative in a specific recipie.