10 tips to cooking from scratch gluten free. I wish I would have known these 10 tips years ago when I got started.
It would have saved me a ton of frustration when cooking items that were hard to work with or just didn’t turn out!
I was diagnosed with celiac disease over 30 years ago and was put on a gluten-free diet. But it wasn’t until about 6 years ago did I start cooking from scratch.
As an adult I got to see how gluten free became a fad that everyone was doing and store-bought products became widely available. Unfortunately no one talks about how unhealthy those products are. A lot of people think because it is gluten free the foods are healthier.
Once my eyes were opened to what’s in our foods, I started this health journey.
Over the last 6 years I have made it my mission to cook all of our meals from scratch using whole foods that are healthy and delicious. The challenge was not learning to cook from scratch, it was learning to cook from scratch gluten free.
It seemed every time I would try new recipes, it either would be too hard to work with, the dough wouldn’t come together like the recipe showed, or in the end it just didn’t taste right. I would end up defeated and frustrated thinking, cooking from scratch gluten free just wasn’t an option.
Let me tell you… I was wrong in thinking it wasn’t possible to cook from scratch gluten free and have it actually taste good.
Today I am going to share with you my top 10 tips to cooking from scratch gluten free. A compilation of tips I have learned over the years on my own gluten free journey.
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Tip 1: Get a good gluten free all purpose flour
This is probably one of the most important tips of the top 10 tips to cooking from scratch gluten free.
When you are looking at gluten-free recipes, the all purpose flour blend you use matters. If you don’t have a good one, your products won’t turn out right.
There are so many different flours out there but every brand of gluten-free flour is not the same. The reason they are called blends is because they are made up of a variety of grain flours and starches, along with a binding agent, to get an all purpose flour.
Depending on what flours you use in the blend will determine if your product is grainy or dense in texture. It will also effect the taste of your products because different grains have different flavors.
Store-bought blends vs homemade blend
My top 3 favorite store-bought all purpose flour blends are Cup 4 Cup, Better Batter, or Bob’s Redmill 1:1 baking mix. You can find them all on Amazon or some may be able to find them at their local grocery store.
For years I bought Cup 4 Cup in bulk on Amazon. It was apart of my monthly grocery budget and I stored it in a large 5 gallon bucket with a gamma seal lid. All of my recipes in the beginning were based on using that flour blend.
One day I was looking at the ingredients on the back of the packaging and I decided, how hard would it be to make it myself? I was already buying all my gf flour in bulk from Azure Standard for my breads and the ingredients showed most of the same flours.
That’s when I created my own all purpose flour blend that I now use in all my recipes. I created it to work the most like Cup 4 Cup, which means there is dry milk powder in it. If you have to be dairy free along with gluten free this wouldn’t be the right blend for you.
I share my all purpose flour blend recipe in my digital cookbook and also in Gluten Free Homestead Pantry e-book.
For best results get a good gluten free all purpose flour on your pantry shelf to use in your regular recipes you are trying to convert. It is essential to the success of getting good gluten-free food.
Tip 2: Always have cornstarch on hand
This one is a money saving tip! It is a good idea to always have cornstarch on your shelf.
Cornstarch is way cheaper than a gluten free all purpose flour blend and it is wildly available. You can get cornstarch anywhere.
Why is it essential in gluten free cooking? It is the cheapest ingredient to use as a thickening agent.
When you need to thicken a gravy, soup, or sauce use cornstarch. You can use a gluten free all purpose flour but save your hard earned dollars on your flour blend and use cornstarch instead.
The good part is no one can tell! I use it to thicken all kinds of things and no one even knows its not regular flour. I buy my cornstarch in bulk on Azure Standard, but like I said the good thing about cornstarch is you can find it virtually anywhere!
So make sure to always have cornstarch on your shelf for all your thickening needs.
Tip 3: Use less liquid in any recipe where you want to make a dough ball
This tip took me years to figure out. Man if I would have known this from the beginning it would have saved me years of frustration.
Always start with less liquid than what a recipe calls for, when you are trying to make a dough that comes together. This includes gluten free recipes. The reason is gluten free flours tend to not absorb liquid as well so you usually end up with a dough that is sticky and not easy to work with.
By starting with less liquid, you can get your flour ratios right and than add in splashes of milk or water, a TBSP at a time, until you have a dough that can be worked with.
I use this method when I am making gluten free whole grain bread dough, pie crust, biscuits, and pizza dough.
If you end up adding too much water in the beginning it is really hard to add more flour and still get the right consistency. It’s much easier to add splashes of liquid.
Tip 4: Never use an all purpose gluten free flour in a bread product with yeast
While it is true to get a good gluten free all purpose flour blend on your shelf to use, you don’t want to use a gluten-free flour blend in bread products.
Any product you are making with yeast you don’t want to use an all purpose flour blend in. The texture and taste will never turn out right.
If you find a recipe on Pinterest or online somewhere that calls for all purpose gluten free flour, it will likely not turn out. Trust me I have tried a lot.
The best way to get a good bread in both texture and taste is building your flour for each loaf of bread. Without using a gluten flour, like in traditional breads, you need to create a blend that will give you a good product. In order to do this you will need a grain flour and starch plus a binding agent.
It is always best to weigh your flours as well when baking bread.
If you have never had success making a good gluten free bread from scratch try one of mine! I have 3 different gluten free bread recipes to choose from. Two are a yeast bread and one using an active sourdough starter to leaven.
Tip 5: Buy all your gluten-free flours in bulk if you can
If you have been around for a while, you know I love to buy in bulk!
You will find large white buckets all around my house and kitchen filled with all kinds of ingredients. You can bet if it is a dry ingredient, that will keep for a long period of time, I have it in bulk on my shelf.
Not only does this save money, it also takes a lot of guess work out of your cooking. Having ingredients in bulk opens up a wide variety of things you can cook and eliminates you running to the store every time you want to make something and don’t have the right ingredients.
I love buying all my dry ingredients on Azure Standard because they have so many gluten free flour options. I have not came across a gluten free flour that I wanted to get yet, that I can’t get on Azure. Sometimes they are out of stock on things but they always get it back and I am able to get it the next month.
If you are unsure of what Azure Standard is, check out my post on how I buy my groceries for a month at a time.
Tip 6: Make a cream of anything soup powder to have on your shelf
There are so many recipes out there that call for cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup. When you are new to cooking from scratch gluten free you think, “I guess I have to throw all those recipes out the window.”
Wrong!
Don’t throw those recipes out. You can still make your favorite foods, you just need to make your own cream of anything soup mix! Not only is this mix gluten free and tastes delicious, it is way healthier for you too.
I always have a jar of cream of anything soup mix on my shelf that way I can whip up a batch any time I need it in no time at all.
When making cream of mushroom you can add some finely chopped mushrooms. If you are making cream of celery, add some finely chopped celery pieces or celery seed if desired.
However, I don’t typically add anything and just add chicken broth or beef broth to the pot with the powder. The taste is delicious and it works perfectly in all recipes.
Tip 7: You don’t just need to use strictly gluten free cookbooks
I’m sure this top 10 tips to cooking from scratch gluten free goes without saying…. but just in case!
One big misunderstanding when you are first starting out is you need to throw out all your cookbooks and get strictly gluten free cookbooks. That is false!
I think I have ONE cookbook that is specifically a gluten free cookbook.
Every cookbook I have is a regular cookbook and I have just learned to adapt them all. When you start looking at simple recipes in cookbooks you will see that most of the recipes just need one ingredient changed in order to make them gluten free.
That’s where buying in bulk, getting a good all purpose flour blend, and having cream of anything soup comes into play.
Now you can take your favorite recipes from any cookbook you have and just change out what isn’t gluten free. Most of the time they convert beautifully! There are so many gluten-free alternatives.
So don’t throw out all your cookbooks now that you have to eat gluten free. I bet with little to no additional work, you can convert every recipe to a gluten free one easily.
Tip 8: Know the different binding agents to have on your shelf
When you are using gluten free flours you have to understand the binding agents. Since we are not dealing with gluten, there has to be a binding agent in your flours to hold it all together.
The 3 different binding agents are guar gum, xanthan gum, and psyllium husk powder. I tend to use xanthan gum and psyllium husk powder the most.
I buy xanthan gum at Walmart. You can pretty much get it at any grocery store in the baking aisle.
Psyllium husk powder I get on Amazon. It is important to note that not all brands of psyllium husk powder are the same. If you are trying to make a bread product using psyllium husk powder and it turns out grey and dense, it is likely the psyllium husk brand you are using.
I like to use the NOW brand and the Anthony’s brand and I get both on Amazon.
Tip 9: Grain flours vs Starches, whats the difference?
I touch more in depth on this topic in my Introduction to Whole Grains Course that I did with my friend Andrea over on Dearmark23, but it is important to understand this as you get started cooking from scratch gluten free.
A general rule in having success making any form of gluten free bread product, you will need to have a grain flour, starch, and binding agent.
The reason is because you are trying to create a traditional flour that acts like a wheat flour with gluten.
There are a number of different gluten-free grains like millet flour, sorghum flour, rice flour, and oat flour. There are heavier grain flours and lighter ones.
Then you have your starches like tapioca starch, cornstarch, potato starch, or arrowroot powder. I tend to use tapioca starch for everything and I get it in bulk on Azure Standard but you can find it at health food stores as well. Don’t be confused by the packaging, tapioca flour and tapioca starch are the same thing.
Tip 10: Know what sides are naturally gluten free so you can have them always in your pantry.
Let’s make life simpler with gluten-free cooking shall we? Know the sides you can quickly throw together that are naturally gluten free.
These are things like potatoes, rice, and beans. Have these items in bulk in your pantry and you can have a naturally gluten free side ready in no time!
If you have these items ready at your fingertips you can make almost anything and it doesn’t have to be complicated. Throwing in some baked potatoes, roasted potatoes, or a quick rice a roni recipe will give you a delicious side to pair with any protein.
And you didn’t have to worry about converting recipes because they are naturally gluten free.
With these tips you are well on your way to getting delicious results when gluten-free cooking. I hope these 10 tips to cooking from scratch gluten free helped you get started on your own journey in the kitchen!
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