Paleo Flour Guide: Almond, Coconut, Cassava & Tapioca

By Paleo Life Coach Editorial Team · Last updated September 25, 2026 · Nutrient data from USDA FoodData Central

You found a paleo muffin recipe that calls for coconut flour, you only have almond flour, and the internet says “never swap them one for one.” That warning is right, and the reason is in the numbers. This paleo flour guide compares the six grain-free flours paleo cooks actually use, using USDA laboratory data, explains why each behaves the way it does in a bowl, and gives you a decision table and a blend you can keep in the pantry.

The quick version: The main paleo flours are almond, coconut, cassava, tapioca, arrowroot and chestnut. Almond flour is high-fat and low-carb (16 g carbs per 100 g). Coconut flour is about one-third fiber and very absorbent. Cassava, tapioca and arrowroot are starchy (87–89 g carbs per 100 g), more than wheat flour. Most paleo baking blends a nut flour with a starch.

Which flours count as paleo?

A paleo flour is ground from a nut, seed, root or tuber instead of a cereal grain or legume. Paleo excludes wheat, oats, rice, corn and bean flours because it excludes grains and legumes; the core rules are summarized by Harvard’s Nutrition Source. The six that show up in most paleo recipes:

Almond flour: finely ground blanched almonds. Rich, moist, low in carbs.
Coconut flour: dried, defatted coconut meat ground fine. Very high in fiber and very thirsty.
Cassava flour: the whole cassava (yuca) root, dried and ground. The closest paleo flour to wheat in handling.
Tapioca flour or starch: the extracted starch of the cassava root. Adds chew and stretch.
Arrowroot flour: starch from arrowroot rhizomes. A neutral thickener and binder.
Chestnut flour: ground dried chestnuts. Sweet, nutty and starchier than other nut flours.

Not sure about a specific ingredient? The site’s Is It Paleo? food checker covers common foods.

How do paleo flours compare nutritionally?

The differences are large enough to change how a recipe turns out and how filling it is. All values come from USDA FoodData Central; almond, coconut, cassava and chestnut flours come from USDA’s newer Foundation Foods laboratory analyses.

How do paleo flours compare nutritionally?
Flour	FDC ID	Calories	Protein (g)	Fat (g)	Carbs (g)	Fiber (g)	Net carbs (g)
Almond flour	2261420	622	26.2	50.2	16.2	9.3	6.9
Coconut flour	2515382	438	16.1	15.3	58.9	34.2	24.7
Chestnut flour	2515377	385	5.3	4.6	80.5	8.7	71.8
Cassava flour	2512377	357	0.9	0.5	87.3	4.8	82.5
Arrowroot flour	170684	357	0.3	0.1	88.2	3.4	84.8
Tapioca (pearl, dry)	169717	358	0.2	0.0	88.7	0.9	87.8
Wheat flour, all-purpose (not paleo; reference)	790018	362	12.0	1.7	74.6	3.0	71.6

Per 100 g. Net carbs = total carbohydrate minus fiber, calculated here. Tapioca uses USDA’s dry pearl tapioca entry, the closest SR Legacy match for tapioca flour. Calories for Foundation entries use USDA’s Atwater general factors.

Three findings stand out:

“Paleo” doesn’t mean low-carb. Cassava, arrowroot and tapioca carry 87–89 g of carbohydrate per 100 g, more than wheat flour’s 74.6 g. Use them for texture, not to cut carbs. If carbs matter to you, see how many carbs to eat on paleo.
Almond flour is mostly fat. At 622 calories per 100 g, it is about 70% more calorie-dense than wheat flour. Harvard notes almonds are a source of vitamin E, monounsaturated fat, fiber and magnesium (Harvard T.H. Chan, Almonds), so the calories come with nutrients, but portions still matter.
Coconut flour is a third fiber. Its 34.2 g of fiber per 100 g is more than the entire 28 g Daily Value (FDA). That fiber helps explain why coconut flour soaks up so much liquid.

What does a typical baking portion look like?

Per-100-gram numbers are useful for comparing, but a recipe serving uses far less. Here is the same data for 30 g, roughly the flour in one muffin or a couple of pancakes.

What does a typical baking portion look like?
Flour (30 g)	Calories	Carbs (g)	Fiber (g)	Protein (g)
Almond flour	187	4.9	2.8	7.9
Coconut flour	131	17.7	10.3	4.8
Chestnut flour	116	24.1	2.6	1.6
Cassava flour	107	26.2	1.4	0.3
Arrowroot flour	107	26.4	1.0	0.1
Tapioca	107	26.6	0.3	0.1
Wheat flour, all-purpose (reference)	109	22.4	0.9	3.6

Calculated from the USDA per-100 g values above × 0.3.

Can you substitute almond flour for coconut flour?

Not one for one. Almond flour is about half fat with modest fiber; coconut flour is lower in fat and extremely high in fiber, so it absorbs far more liquid. A recipe written for coconut flour uses much less flour and more eggs or liquid. Swapping in the same weight of almond flour gives a wet, flat result; swapping the other way gives a dry, crumbly one.

If you must swap, change the whole recipe rather than one ingredient: find a tested recipe written for the flour you have. When you experiment, change one variable at a time and write down what you did.

Which paleo flour should you use for which job?

Match the flour to the job its composition suits. Protein and fat give structure and moisture; starch gives chew, crispness and binding; fiber gives absorbency.

Which paleo flour should you use for which job?
Job	Best choice	Why (from the composition)	Watch out for
Cookies, muffins, quick breads	Almond flour, often with a little tapioca	High fat keeps crumb tender; starch adds hold	Browns fast; lower the oven or tent with foil
Pancakes and waffles	Cassava, or almond plus tapioca	Starch gives a familiar, fluffy bite	Cassava batters thicken as they rest
Very high-fiber bakes	Coconut flour	34 g fiber per 100 g absorbs liquid	Needs extra eggs or liquid; tested recipes only
Tortillas and flatbreads	Cassava flour	Most wheat-like dough handling	High carb; not a low-carb swap
Chewy, stretchy texture (cheese-free “bread” bites)	Tapioca	Nearly pure starch	Gummy if overused
Thickening stews and gravies	Arrowroot or tapioca	Neutral starch thickens without flavor	Add as a cold-water slurry near the end
Breading for meat or fish	Almond flour or almond plus tapioca	Fat helps browning; starch helps crisping	Burns at very high heat
Crepes, sweeter bakes	Chestnut flour	Naturally sweet, starchy	Strong flavor; blend with almond

For thickening in long-cooked dishes, see the arrowroot tip in our paleo slow cooker recipes. For bakes that put these flours to work, try the paleo bread recipes or paleo brownie recipes.

A grain-free all-purpose blend (with its real nutrition)

Store-bought paleo blends vary, so here is a simple one you can make by weight and adjust.

Everyday paleo flour blend (360 g)
– 200 g blanched almond flour
– 100 g tapioca flour (or arrowroot)
– 60 g coconut flour

Whisk thoroughly and store airtight. Use it in recipes written for a nut-starch blend, such as drop biscuits, muffins and breading. It is not a cup-for-cup replacement for wheat flour in yeast breads or cakes.

A grain-free all-purpose blend (with its real nutrition)
Per 30 g	Calories	Protein (g)	Fat (g)	Carbs (g)	Fiber (g)
Everyday paleo blend	155	5.2	9.1	13.0	3.3
Wheat flour, all-purpose	109	3.6	0.5	22.4	0.9

Calculated from USDA FoodData Central values for FDC IDs 2261420, 169717, 2515382 and 790018, weighted by the blend’s gram amounts.

Compared with wheat flour, the blend has about 40% fewer carbohydrates, over three times the fiber and more protein, but about 40% more calories because of the almond fat. That trade-off is the honest summary of paleo baking: better fiber and fewer refined carbs, not fewer calories.

How should you store paleo flours?

Store nut and coconut flours cold; store starches in the pantry. Almond and coconut flours contain fat that can turn rancid, so keep opened bags airtight in the fridge or freezer and let them come to room temperature before baking. Cassava, tapioca and arrowroot are low in fat and keep well in a cool, dry cupboard. Smell before using: a bitter or paint-like odor in nut flour means it has gone off.

Common paleo flour mistakes

Swapping almond and coconut flour one for one. Their absorbency is completely different.
Assuming cassava is low-carb. At 87 g of carbs per 100 g, it is higher than wheat.
Measuring by cup instead of weight. Paleo flours vary in density; a kitchen scale gives consistent results.
Using only starch. Tapioca or arrowroot alone turns gummy. Pair with a nut or coconut flour.
Baking at wheat-flour temperatures without watching. High-fat almond flour browns quickly.
Ignoring allergies. Almond flour is a tree-nut product; check before serving guests.

Frequently asked questions about paleo flour

What flour is paleo-friendly?

Paleo-friendly flours come from nuts, seeds, roots or tubers rather than grains or legumes. The most common are almond, coconut, cassava, tapioca, arrowroot and chestnut flour. Wheat, oat, rice, corn and chickpea flours are not paleo because they come from grains or legumes, which the diet excludes.

Is almond flour or coconut flour better?

It depends on the job. Almond flour, with 50 g fat and 16 g carbs per 100 g, gives tender, moist bakes and is lower in carbs. Coconut flour, with 34 g fiber per 100 g, is lower in calories per gram and very high in fiber, but it absorbs so much liquid that it needs recipes written specifically for it.

Which paleo flour has the fewest carbs?

Almond flour, at 16.2 g carbohydrate and 6.9 g net carbs per 100 g in USDA data. Coconut flour is next at 24.7 g net carbs. Cassava, arrowroot and tapioca are the highest, at roughly 82–88 g net carbs per 100 g, which is more than all-purpose wheat flour.

Is cassava flour the same as tapioca flour?

No. Cassava flour is the whole dried root, ground, so it keeps a little fiber (4.8 g per 100 g) and behaves more like wheat flour. Tapioca is the extracted starch from the same root, with under 1 g of fiber, and it mainly adds chew and binding rather than structure.

Can I use paleo flour to thicken sauces?

Yes. Arrowroot and tapioca are the best paleo thickeners because they are nearly pure starch with a neutral flavor. Mix a tablespoon with two tablespoons of cold water, stir it into the simmering liquid near the end of cooking, and heat briefly until it thickens.

Your next step: buy two flours, not six

Start with almond flour and one starch (tapioca or arrowroot). Those two cover most paleo baking, breading and thickening. Add coconut or cassava flour when a recipe you want to make specifically calls for it. For recipes across every meal, browse the paleo recipes hub.

Paleo Flour Guide: Almond vs Coconut vs Cassava vs Tapioca, by the Numbers