How to Make Quinoa Flour

16 Recipe Ratings

Quinoa flour is gluten-free and high in protein. You can make your own at home, but you'll need to heat treat the quinoa to remove traces of bitter-tasting saponin before the flour can be used. Roasting the quinoa after turning it into flour should do the trick, but rinsing and pre-roasting the quinoa before milling it is a more thorough alternative.

Ingredients

Makes 2 cups (500 ml) quinoa flour

1-1/2 cups (375 ml) quinoa seeds

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Roasted Quinoa Flour

1
Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Fahrenheit (100 degrees Celsius). Meanwhile, grab a small, rimmed baking sheet and set it aside.
- You don't need to line the baking sheet with anything, but if you do choose to line it, use parchment paper. Cooking spray will negatively impact the toasting process, and aluminum foil could taint the flavor of the finished flour.
2
Place the quinoa into the grinder. Load an electric seed grinder with just enough quinoa to fill the basin. If the appliance has a lid, lock the lid in place.
- If you don't have an electric seed grinder, you could use a manual seed grinder, coffee grinder, or high-powered food processor.
- Load the appliance up to two-thirds full with quinoa seeds. For smaller grinders, you may need to grind the quinoa in several batches to avoid over-filling the appliance. Over-filling the grinder will prevent it from processing the quinoa properly and may result in coarse flour.
3
Grind the quinoa into flour. Pulse the grinder in short, on/off intervals. Continue for approximately 15 seconds, or until the appliance grinds the batch of seeds into an oven, fine powder.
- When using a small grinder, carefully shake the appliance in between pulses to help shift and spread the seeds. When using a larger grinder or food processor, you may need to pause and stir the contents after several pulses to help redistribute the remaining seeds.
- After grinding down the quinoa seeds, you've created quinoa flour that can technically be used as it is. Since raw quinoa flour has such a bitter taste, however, you should toast it before use to tone it down.
4
Spread the quinoa flour over the baking sheet. Empty the contents of the grinder onto the baking sheet. Spread the flour out into an even layer.
- Regardless of how much quinoa flour use plan to work with, the layer of flour should be no deeper than 1/4 inch (6 mm) on the baking sheet. Separate the flour onto separate baking sheets, if necessary.
5
Toast for 2 to 3 hours. Place the pan of quinoa flour into your preheated oven. Heat treat the flour for at least two hours.
- Toasting the quinoa flour for longer periods may further reduce the bitter flavor, but after two hours pass, you should check the flour every 15 minutes to verify that hasn't begun burning.
- You do not need to turn or sift the flour as it toasts.
- While the quinoa flour bakes, it will release a characteristic grassy scent. This scent should fade when the quinoa flour is ready to remove.
Remove the finished quinoa flour from the oven. Set the baking sheet out at room temperature and allow the flour to completely cool.
7
Chill or freeze the finished flour. Place the finished quinoa flour into an airtight container or freezer-safe plastic bag. Store the flour in your refrigerator or freezer until you're ready to use it.
- Quinoa can quickly become rancid, so if you don't plan on using it immediately, you need to store it in cool conditions. It should last in the refrigerator up to 6 months, but in your freezer, it should last for up to 1 year.
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Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Pre-Roasted Quinoa Flour

1
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius). Set aside a rimmed baking sheet for later use.^{[1]XResearch source}
- Lining the baking sheet is not strictly necessary, but if you'd prefer to do so, use parchment paper. Avoid aluminum foil, which may alter the taste of the quinoa, and cooking spray, which may disrupt the drying/roasting process.
Pour the quinoa seeds into a medium glass or plastic mixing bowl. Cover the seeds with cold water.^{[2]XResearch source}
3
Scrub the seeds gently. Using clean hands, briefly and gently rub the seeds together while keeping them submerged in the cold water.
- Scrubbing the quinoa can help loosen some of the saponin clinging to the outer surface of the seeds.
4
Strain and rinse. Pour the contents of the bowl through a fine mesh strainer or sieve, straining the soak water and retaining the seeds. Without emptying the strainer, rinse the quinoa seeds under cold, running water.
- Since quinoa seeds are so small, you need to use a fine mesh strainer to avoid accidentally losing any seeds through the gaps.
- Continue rinsing the quinoa under running water until the water draining from beneath the batch runs clear. Turn off the water and gently shake the strainer to rid the seeds of excess water.
5
Spread the quinoa over the baking sheet. Spread the rinsed quinoa over your prepared baking sheet, keeping it in a thin, even layer.
- The layer of quinoa seeds should be no greater than 1/4 inch (6 mm), but an even thinner layer would be ideal.
6
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Place the quinoa seeds in your preheated oven. Roast the seeds until they are completely dry.
- In addition to feeling dry, the quinoa should turn slightly golden and become notably more fragrant.
- Heat treating the seeds should remove even more saponin, which further reduces the bitter taste of the flour. Moreover, the heat also dries the seeds, which is important since grinding wet seeds will result in a paste instead of a dry, light flour.
Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Set it aside at room temperature and wait at least 15 minutes, or until the seeds cool to room temperature.
8
Place the quinoa into the grinder. Pour a portion of the quinoa seeds into the bowl of an electric seed grinder. If the grinder has a lid, secure the lid into place.
- Manual seed grinders and coffee grinders can also work well. In a pinch, you could also use a high-powered food processor, but it might be difficult to grind the quinoa past the "coarse meal" stage and into the "fine flour" stage.
- Only fill the bowl of the grinder up to two-thirds full with quinoa, if not less. If you over-fill the grinder, the blades will have difficulty accessing all of the seeds, and you may not be able to grind the seeds down into a fine enough powder.
9
Grind the quinoa into flour. Process the quinoa flour in short, on/off pulses. Continue for approximately 15 seconds, or until an evenly fine powder forms.
- Periodically shake the appliance in between pulses to help shift any remaining seeds closer to the blades. If the appliance is too large to shift, use a spatula to stir the seeds closer to the blades.
- If you were unable to process all of the seeds at once, empty the grinder when finished with the first batch and repeat the process with the remaining roasted quinoa. Continue until the entire portion of roasted quinoa has been turned into flour.
10
Chill or freeze until use. Pour the quinoa flour into an airtight container or freezer-safe plastic bag. Store the flour in your refrigerator for up to 6 months or in your freezer for up to 1 year.
- Quinoa flour can turn rancid at a rapid pace, but keeping it cold will slow the process down. While refrigeration should help, it's best to freeze the flour if you do not plan on using it soon.
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Tips

You can toast store-bought quinoa flour, as well, and doing so should improve the flavor. Simply follow the heat-treatment procedure outlined in the “Roasted Quinoa Flour” section, but omit the portion outlining how to grind raw seeds into fine powdered flour.
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