Green Banana Flour substitute

Best substitute

Cassava Flour

Use the same amount by weight, plus 1 tablespoon extra liquid per cup as the green banana flour you are replacing

Best for paleo baking

Close match

Cassava flour is the closest swap at 1:1, since it is the same kind of neutral, mildly earthy grain-free starch flour and behaves almost identically in paleo and AIP baking; it runs a touch drier, so add a tablespoon of extra liquid per cup. Tigernut flour also swaps at 1:1 but is sweeter and grainier. If the recipe is using green banana flour as a thickener rather than as a flour, cornstarch or arrowroot does that job better at about half the amount. Green banana flour is a starch flour, not a protein flour. It absorbs a lot of water, holds moisture so a cake stays soft, thickens sauces, and carries plenty of resistant starch, which is why paleo and gut-health recipes reach for it. What it does not do is build structure, because there is no gluten in it, so it is never a straight one-for-one replacement for wheat flour on its own. And it does not taste of banana; if you are expecting banana bread flavour from it, you will be disappointed.

Other green banana flour substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Tigernut Flour
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight
Flour from tigernuts, which are small tubers rather than nuts, popular in paleo and AIP baking.
What changes
Best for
cookies, muffins, crusts, pancakes, nut-free grain-free baking
Naturally sweet and slightly nutty, so a cookie made with it tastes richer and more like shortbread while a savoury flatbread tastes oddly dessert-like. The grind is coarser, giving a sandier crumb, so it works better in cookies than in bread.
3Arrowroot Flour or Tapioca Flour
Taste and texture differ
About ¾ the amount, by weight
Pure starches that give stretch and bind, useful when you need the starch function rather than the flour function.
What changes
Best for
pancakes, crepes, thickening, binding grain-free doughs, crisp coatings
Much starchier and stretchier, so the crumb comes out chewier and can go gummy in a thick cake. There is no fibre and no flavour, so the result tastes cleaner and blander. Fine in a pancake, poor as the main flour in a loaf.
4Plantain Flour
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
Effectively the same ingredient under a different name when it is made from green plantains.
What changes
Best for
paleo baking, West African and Caribbean dishes, porridge, flatbreads, thickening
Green plantain flour and green banana flour swap with no adjustment at all. Just check the packet: flour made from ripe plantains is noticeably sweeter and darker and will change the flavour of a savoury recipe.
5Oat Flour
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by volume
The supermarket answer if grains are allowed, mild and soft.
What changes
Best for
muffins, pancakes, quick breads, cookies, gluten-free blends
Softer and mildly sweet, and it absorbs less water, so the batter will look looser than you expect; hold back a couple of tablespoons of liquid. It is not paleo or grain-free, and it needs to be certified gluten-free if that matters to you.
6Almond Flour and Tapioca Starch, Half and Half
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount total, mixed half and half by volume
A workable grain-free improvisation from ingredients many people already have.
What changes
Best for
grain-free cakes, muffins, cookies, crusts
The almond adds fat and a clear nutty flavour and the tapioca supplies the bind, which together get you a good cake. It browns faster and comes out richer and moister than a green banana flour version, and it is no good for anyone avoiding nuts.

What is Green Banana Flour?

Green Banana Flour is a pale, fine flour milled from unripe bananas or plantains, also sold as plantain flour, whose job in a recipe is bulk, moisture retention and thickening rather than structure, because it is almost entirely starch and fibre with no gluten in it, and because the fruit is picked before its starch turns to sugar it tastes faintly earthy rather than sweet or banana-like.

Cooking tips

Green banana flour drinks far more water than wheat flour. When adapting a wheat recipe, start with about 25 to 30 percent less flour by volume than the recipe says, then adjust; used cup for cup it makes a dense, dry, slightly rubbery bake.
Do not taste the raw batter and judge it. Uncooked green banana flour is chalky and distinctly green-tasting; that flavour largely cooks out, so trust the baked result instead.
It is sensitive to heat on the outside of a bake and browns quickly. Drop the oven by 15F to 25F compared with a wheat recipe, and check for doneness by skewer rather than by colour.
If you are using it specifically for resistant starch, keep it raw. Heat converts much of that resistant starch, so stir it into a cold smoothie or yogurt rather than baking it. Raw potato starch does the same job at 1:1 and tastes of even less.
As a thickener it is stronger and cloudier than cornstarch, and it carries a slight earthiness, so use it in brown sauces, stews and gravies rather than in a clear glaze.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just leave green banana flour out?

Only if it is a minor part of a blend, in which case replace its weight with whatever else is in the blend. If it is the main flour, leaving it out leaves nothing to build the bake from, so use cassava flour at 1:1 instead, which is the nearest thing to a drop-in replacement.

Does green banana flour taste like banana?

No, and this surprises most people. The bananas are harvested green, before their starch converts to sugar, so the flour tastes mildly earthy and slightly vegetal, a bit like raw plantain. Once baked it is close to neutral. If you want banana flavour, you need actual ripe banana.

Is green banana flour the same as plantain flour?

In practice, yes, when the plantain flour is made from green plantains, and the two swap one for one. Plantains and green bananas are close relatives with nearly identical starch, so the flours behave the same. Only flour milled from ripe fruit differs, being sweeter and darker.

Can I use green banana flour cup for cup instead of wheat flour?

No. It has no gluten and absorbs much more water, so a cup-for-cup swap gives a heavy, dry, crumbly result. Use about two-thirds to three-quarters as much, add extra liquid or an extra egg, and expect a denser crumb than the wheat original.

Is green banana flour gluten-free, paleo and grain-free?

Yes to all three: it is milled fruit, with no grain and no gluten, which is exactly why it has become popular in paleo and AIP baking. As always, look for a certified packet if you are coeliac, since milling facilities vary.

Related substitutes

More grains & starches substitutes

Green Banana Flour substitute

Other green banana flour substitutes

2Tigernut Flour

3Arrowroot Flour or Tapioca Flour

4Plantain Flour

5Oat Flour

6Almond Flour and Tapioca Starch, Half and Half