10 advantages of legume flours and how to incorporate them into your dishes

Grinding the legumes, gluten-free flours rich in protein, minerals and fiber are obtained. We tell you its benefits and how to incorporate them into your recipes.

Benefits of legume flours

1. More assimilable

These flours are a very versatile resource if you want to benefit from the nutritional properties of chickpeas, lentils, soybeans, peas or even lupins, since grinding them preserves their valuable nutritional power and even improves the absorption of some nutrients.

2. A complete food

Dried legumes, and therefore their flours, are recognized as a first-order food due to their richness in protein, their fiber and a healthy fat profile, which also helps to reduce cholesterol. They are also a good source of minerals (such as magnesium or iron) and B vitamins.

3. Allies against being overweight

Legume flours are richer in protein (20-36%) than those of any cereal (10-13%). On the other hand, with the exception of soy flour, they hardly have any fat. This not only dismantles the idea that legumes are fattening, but also enables them to be a very useful ingredient when it comes to lightening recipes.

4. No glucose spikes

Its main component, carbohydrates, are made up of starch, which together with its fiber gives it a low glycemic index. This not only keeps glucose levels stable but makes it good fuel for the brain.

5. Without gluten

The absence of gluten is one of its best assets, since it makes life much easier for celiac people and the increasing number of people who suffer from sensitivity to this glycoprotein.

6. very versatile

Ground legumes offer a delicious way to enrich dishes. Not only do they provide their nutrients and their delicate flavor, but most of them also have binding, thickening or emulsifying properties that are very useful in cooking. The food industry takes advantage of them to obtain pasta with a firmer texture, stabilize emulsions or increase the volume of some breakfast cereals or snack products.

7. fluffy texture

One of the most versatile is chickpea flour (also called “besan”). With it you can make a magnificent potato omelette without using a single egg: it gives it texture and a slightly yellow color. You can also make the seitan much fluffier by adding it to gluten.

8. healthy batters

Chickpea flour can be used for coating. In India, for example, batters called pakoras.

9. Croquettes and burgers

Legume flours are useful to bind croquettes, meatballs or vegetable burgers. The one with peas, for example, gives them an incomparable color and flavor.

10. Give body to sauces and broths

Containing starch, these flours are excellent thickeners and a healthy alternative if you need to add body to a sauce, broth, or any other recipe that typically uses corn or wheat.