What is Potato Starch {Food Facts}

Gluten free cooking is full of strange and unusual ingredients that can often be overwhelming.

Before gluten free I had a container of flour and a container of whole wheat flour. Those two containers have now been replaced by many containers full on ingredients like tapioca flour, rice flour, xanthan gum, and more.

Navigating all these ingredients can be challenging, but it is important to understand what these ingredients are and what they do in gluten free baking.

Today we are going to cover potato starch, which should not be confused with potato flour. There is a difference between potato flour and potato starch and they cannot be interchanged in recipes.

Next time we will talk about potato flour, but for today we are talking about just potato starch.

So, what is potato starch?

Potato starch is the starch the comes from potatoes that has been dried. It can be used as a thickener and also in gluten free baked goods.

Potato starch can be used in gravy, sauces, and soup as a thickener. In some things it does change the texture, so I am carefully what I use it in. I do love it for gluten free sausage gravy though.

Potato starch is also used in gluten free baking. It lightens the texture of gluten free baked goods and tends to give them more of an airy texture. It works great in things like gluten free biscuits and gluten free rolls.

Is also has a tendency to absorb more liquid than other gluten free, so it works well in items like crackers that need to be crispy.

Potato starch has to be combined with other gluten free flours in baking. Like most gluten free flours and starches, you cannot replace flour with only potato starch. It needs the structure and characteristics of other flours and starches to produce the right results.

Interested in learning more gluten free food facts? So far we have covered:

Rice

Quinoa

White Rice and Brown Rice Flour

Sweet Rice Flour

Where to buy gluten free ingredients 

What is Tapioca Flour and Tapioca Starch