People tend to mistake potato starch for potato flour and utilize the terms interchangeably. I’ve even seen some products named “potato starch flour”.
And since I care about you and your future recipes, I want to help you learn the differences between the two before you start cooking. First and foremost, potato starch is tougher than potato flour.
Therefore, if you make the mistake of using potato starch thinking it’s potato flour, your fluffy dish turns into a hard one that won’t be edible. Although both are made of potatoes, they’re quite different.
At first sight, it can seem that they aren’t that different. However, that’s not true. The only resemblance is their main ingredient which is potato. Potato flour comes from the whole potato, skin, and all.
Potato starch, on the other hand, comes from starch that derives from the potato. Have you ever grated a potato and let it sit in a pot for a while? If so, you likely saw the white residue at the bottom.
That’s potato starch. Both ingredients have different uses. Potato flour is often utilized for baked goods such as muffins, while potato starch is ideal for utilizing gravy thickeners. Also, if you’re making a gluten-free meal, your recipe probably asks for potato flour instead of potato starch.