Is Chickpea Flour Keto Friendly? No, chickpea flour is not keto friendly. Unfortunately, despite all of its wonderful health benefits, it is high in carbs and therefore, is not suitable for a keto diet. Instead of chickpea flour, we have lined up some of our favorite low carb keto flour alternatives for you to enjoy.
What Is Chickpea Flour?
Chickpea flour is an alternative flour that is made by grinding up chickpeas that are in their dry form. You might also hear chickpea flour referred to as garbanzo bean flour or besan.
Chickpeas are a versatile and delicious legume that is most famously used as the main component of hummus.
They have become a popular source of essential vitamins and minerals for many diets, considering they are super healthy, allergy-friendly, and are supremely versatile.
Chickpea flour might be hard to find in shops, but if you do see it, it is very affordable. It is also very easy to make at home, as dried chickpeas are easy to source and are inexpensive.
So let’s find out, is chickpea flour keto friendly?
A Keto-Cap (aka A Keto Recap!)
If you’re new to keto and want a bit more information, check out our keto beginners guide.
As a quick summary, if you need it, the keto (also known as the ketogenic diet) is a low-carb, high-fat diet.
The whole concept of the keto diet is that your body transitions from burning glucose, in simple terms, sugars or carbohydrates, to burning fat as its primary fuel source.
For a keto diet, people will restrict their macros to eating;
- 70% of their calories from fat
- 25% from protein
- 5% from carbohydrates
Sticking to these macros for a period of time will put your body into a state of ketosis. Ketosis is when your body has transitioned from burning carbohydrates as its primary fuel source to burning fat for fuel. It is at this point that you will start to see and feel the benefits of the keto diet.
There are a lot of new terms and abbreviations that you may come across, sometimes it can feel like a new language that you need to learn. In order to help you out and keep you on the right track, we have created a keto terms and keto abbreviations guide, bookmark these to make your keto journey easier.
Some people can be put off the keto diet because of the side effects, however, these are only short-lived and the health benefits of keto far outweigh the side effects.
One of the main benefits which attract people to the keto diet is that it can cause significant reductions in insulin levels (by up to 75%) and blood sugar levels, which can be attractive to those that struggle with diabetes, amongst other health complaints.
What Is The Nutritional Value Of Chickpea Flour?
Chickpea flour is quite a healthy ingredient, as it is suitable for many people with dietary restrictions.
For a serving of 0.25 cups of chickpea flour, the approximate nutritional value will be as follows:
- Carbs: 13.3 grams
- Protein: 5.2 grams
- Fat: 1.5 grams
- Fiber: 2.5 grams
- Sugar: 2.5 grams
- Calories:89 calories
How Many Net Carbs Are There In Chickpea Flour?
In a 1/4 cup serving of traditional chickpea flour, you will find approximately 10 to 11 net carbs. This is fairly high for alternative flour.
Is Chickpea Flour Keto Friendly?
Chickpea flour has fewer carbs than more traditional forms of flour, including wheat flour, cornflour, and other flours made from grains.
However, the carb content is still quite high compared to other alternative flours.
Therefore, it would not be considered a keto friendly flour alternative.
There are many other options you can use to replace regular flour that will not have you sacrificing your daily net carb limits.
What Are The Best Keto Alternatives To Chickpea Flour?
Being able to enjoy bread, baked goods, and snacks like crackers or pitas can be difficult on a keto diet, so often, it is useful to find recipes to make your own keto friendly alternatives. Thankfully, there are many keto friendly flours you can make or purchase in lieu of chickpea flour.
Check out our ultimate guide to keto flours for more info.
Almond and coconut flour are two accessible flours that are often used to create many types of keto friendly food options.
You can also try using chia or flaxseed as a replacement for flour that will also give a nutritional boost to your keto alternatives.
Almond Flour
Coconut Flour
Staying hydrated on the keto diet is really important, for more on how much water you should be drinking, check out our guide to staying hydrated on the keto diet.
If you’re planning on dehydrating yourself(!) and drinking alcohol on the keto diet, check out our ultimate guide to drinking alcohol on a keto diet. Also, you may be interested in, how to recover from a cheat day.
Summary: Is Chickpea Flour Keto Friendly?
Sorry, no, despite chickpea flour being really healthy, is it not keto friendly. Chickpea flour is relatively high in carbs and therefore is no good for a keto diet. You are better off sticking to coconut and almond flours as well as selected seed flours that are lower in carbs.
