Can You Replace Rice Flour With Ground Rice?

If you're prepping a recipe that calls for rice flour, but you can't find it at the store, you may eye the rice in your pantry and ask, "How different can it be?" The good news here is that you're on the right track: Rice flour is really just ground rice, so at least, in theory, you can grind regular rice through a blender or food processor as a substitute. However, by grinding rice yourself at home, you're unlikely to get the same texture as commercial rice flour, meaning that replacing rice flour with ground rice is not always feasible. 

Rice flour is milled industrially into a powder as soft as wheat flour with very fine and consistent particles (there's some variation between different rice flours, though). On the other hand, ground rice, if made with a blender, spice grinder, or similar, is usually coarser, more like fine sand or semolina. This difference in particle size affects things like how the rice absorbs liquid, binds ingredients, and the texture of the final product. Think of using ground rice as like trying to build a sandcastle with chunky gravel instead of fine sand. In recipes where a silky-smooth texture is the goal, that grittiness could be a problem.

Generally speaking, recipes that require a smooth texture will fail with homemade ground rice, but it may work elsewhere. First up, if you're doing gluten-free baking (cakes and muffins), you need a non-gritty crumb. Substituting the coarse grind will result in a dense, sandy, and structurally weak product. While not strictly baking, the same holds for things like crepes, pancakes, and tempura batters, which also need a smooth consistency.

Ground rice is also not so great as a thickener for sauces or gravies, as it could remain granular, although it might work in soups and stews if the coarse particles end up cooked. There are a few baked goods where you might get away with a coarse grind, such as lemon shortbread cookies, where the sandier texture could work, but it's not a guarantee. To some extent, it may also depend on how finely you grind your rice. A high-powered blender or food processor may get the rice powdery enough that you won't have so many problems.

Overall, you might be better off looking for alternatives. When thickening sauces or soups, a pure starch such as cornstarch, potato starch, or tapioca starch is a superior substitute that works better than flour. For gluten-free baking, pea protein powder or a commercial gluten-free all-purpose flour is your safest and most reliable bet.