What is potato flour and how to use it

Potato flour is made from potatoes and it’s naturally gluten free, suitable for vegan, vegetarian and Low FODMAP diet.

I like to try different types of flour when I’m baking my bread and cakes, so when I found potato flour at our recent farmers market visit, I couldn’t wait to get home and test a few recipes.

I’ve since experimented with making my own potato flour at home and it’s much easier than I thought and rather an enjoyable process.

I’m used to adding boiled potatoes to my bread or cakes, because it makes them softer, but I’ve not really used shop bought potato flour before (unless it was in a mix).

How is potato flour made

The process of turning potatoes into flour is quite simple and you can even try to make your own potato flour at home.

In commercial settings, the potatoes are first boiled, then crushed and dried until all the moisture evaporates. Finally, the dried potatoes are milled and packed into sealed bags for distribution.

What does potato flour taste like?

Not surprisingly, potato flour taste like potatoes, but it’s not unpleasant in any way. In most cases you would be adding your potato flour to a dish, flour mix or cake mix, where other flavours will overpower it anyway.

How to use potato flour

Potato flour absorbs water a lot, so using 100% potato flour is usually not recommended unless the recipe doesn’t include a lot of flour in the first place (for example brownie recipes).

For cake baking you would normally mix potato flour with other types of flours, depending on whether you want to make gluten free bake or non-gluten free bake.

Potato flour can be mixed with any type of flour and it will typically make your final bake amazingly light and soft.

For example if baking a traditional white sandwich bread, swap no more than 50-100 grams (of 500 grams in total) of regular strong bread flour for potato flour to make your soft.

The difference between potato flour and potato starch

Although both the flour and starch are made from potatoes, they are very different in how they are made and what you’d use them for.

Potato starch is made from the protein particles of dried potatoes and it’s very fine in texture. It’s used mainly for thickening soups, sauces, adding to flours, used in confectionery or making puddings. On it’s own it’s not a suitable replacement for potato flour.

What can be used instead of potato flour?

If you don’t have potato flour in your kitchen cupboard, but you need it for your recipe, here are few flour alternatives for you to try.

Potato starch/flour replacement

If your recipe uses the potato flour or starch to thicken the dish (e.g. soup, sauce, pudding, milk), then use corn starch, arrowroot powder, rice flour or even regular plain (all purpose flour). There is usually only about 1-2 tablespoons as a quantity and pretty much any flour will do the job of thickening the recipe.

Replacement for bread flour in baking

Depending on how much potato flour is in the recipe, you can get away with using other gluten-free flours such as rice or tapioca flour. You can also boil your own potatoes, mash them dry and then add them to the recipe. If you are using this shift made potato flour, you’d need to adjust the amount of liquid in your recipe.

For example regular white bread would have 500 grams of white bread flour and about 320 ml of water. I’d adjust the recipe by adding say 100 grams in boiled and mashed potatoes, using only the 400 grams of white bread flour and adding only 280 ml water. Once you mix everything together, you’d know if you need to add more water or not. If the dough feels a little too tight, add more water.

Is potato flour the same as corn flour?

No, not quite! Potato flour (if made directly from the whole potatoes) is not the same as corn flour. But potato starch, which is made only from the protein starch derived from potatoes is interchangeable with corn flour or corn starch. You can use it instead of corn flour and it will thicken your recipe in exactly the same way.

What does potato flour do in baking?

I’ve always loved using potato flour or even just mashed potatoes in my baking, because it softens the crust and makes your bread or cake much softer and lighter in texture. The trick is to swap only about 10-20% of the overall amount of flour otherwise you might end up with a gooey mess.

Where can I buy potato flour?

You can usually buy potato flour in your local health shop or specialist online shops.

How do I store my potato flour?

In the same way as any other flour – in air tight container and somewhere out of a direct sunlight. Cooler environment is probably better as you don’t want the flour to dry out too much.