Where to Shop for Super Cheap Gluten Free Flours

One of the challenges of going gluten free is finding flour substitutes especially for baking. Even before we went gluten free, I bake mostly from scratch.  For me, that method is way affordable and I exactly know what’s in it.Since baking food allergy friendly can be a hit or miss, I realized that it is way more practical to create my own mix.  Though I still try boxed baking mixes for product reviews, I always have my flour collection accessible.

If you think I spent a month’s supply of grocery shopping to build my collection, you’re absolutely wrong.  Today, I’m sharing with you where to find most gluten free flours at tremendously low prices. No shipping costs as well.

 1. The Asian Stores
Some of you may have already known, I am of Filipino descent and is a frequent Asian store shopper. Can you just imagine how my face cringed after reading the ingredient list of most GF flour mixes?  Even before I was introduced to the word gluten, I have known most of the flours mentioned below as my grandmother use them all the time.  The weird thing though is that I have known them more by their brand name as that is what my grandma used to call them.Most of these gluten free flour costs around $2.00 a bag which is almost half the price of those bought from organic food stores.  They even go on sale every month or two. Would you believe I can get 2 16 oz. bags of white rice flour for $1.00?
There are even some ready made flour mixes for rice cakes, buns and steamed muffins or bread.  Here’s a list of what you’ll see there:

     – Rice flour

     – Glutenous Rice Flour (also known as Sweet Rice Flour)

     – Corn Flour

     – Potato Flour

     – Potato Starch (yes, it’s different from the flour)

     – Cornstarch

     – Tapioca Starch

     – Mung Bean Flour

     – Chestnut Flour

     – Soybean Flour (Though our household can’t use it. Soy free remember?)

     – Sesame Flour (Also out for us because of Child#2’s allergy)
– Purple Yam flour (Ube)

 

2. Indian Food Stores
Often called “Cash and Carry”, these stores not only carry assorted spices and beans in bulk, they also sell protein rich flours.  As a culture, India has the most number of vegetarians and vegans. This means that grains and beans are their primary source of nutrients. My finds here include:       – Sorghum flour
– Millet flour
– Amaranth flour
– Chickpea flour
– Lentil flour
– Bean flour mix
– Coconut flour
– Almond flour

      So if you’re looking for some wheat flour substitute, I suggest check out your local Ethnic stores first.  Don’t worry, most of the labels have English translations.  Also, feel free to ask for help from other shoppers.  More often than not, they are more than happy to give you the English translation or which brands are better.

That’s it! My secret is out of the bag. Enjoy shopping.