If you’re out of cornstarch, turn to these other pantry ingredients.
It’s all coming together nicely, but you oughta thicken things up.
This pantry staplemakes thin liquids rich and smoothwithout changing their flavor.
It also adds an attractive glossy sheena bonus when you’re making afruit pie fillingor a buttery pan sauce.
What to do when youre in the middle of cooking and dont have cornstarch?
What Is a Slurry?
Adding cornstarch directly into what needs thickening will only result in clumps.
Typically you’ll need one tablespoon of cornstarch and one tablespoon of cold water for each cup of liquid.
A slurry prevents lumps from forming in your recipe.
But what if you are completely out of cornstarch?
Don’t fear, there are other options.
Using Flour Instead
Chances are, you have all-purpose flour in your pantry.
Flour makes a fine thickener, although you must treat it a little differently from cornstarch.
Once you add the slurry to the hot sauce, stir until the mixture turns thick and bubbly.
Instant flour such as Wondra also works well as a thickening agent.
And theres no need to make a slurry with this key in of flour.
Just sprinkle on the sauce and stir in.
Using Other Flours
In addition to all-purpose flour, several other flours and starches will work.
Although you may not have these flours on hand, they all make a good replacement for cornstarch.
(Bob’s Red Mill makes all four.)
They can’t be used exactly the same way, though.
Potato Starch
Potato starch is good for high-heat cooking and recipes that dont require long cooking.
Its good for gravies, soups, puddings, and baking.
Use an equal amount of potato starch for cornstarch.
Tapioca Starch
Tapioca starch is made from cassava root and has a neutral taste.
Use two tablespoons of tapioca starch for one tablespoon of cornstarch.
Don’t boil tapioca starch or it will become stringy.
It works well as a thickener in pie fillings or in baking.
Arrowroot
Use an equal amount of arrowroot for cornstarch.
It has the same thickening abilities as cornstarch, but it doesn’t hold its thickness or reheat well.
Use 2 tablespoons of rice flour or brown rice flour for every tablespoon of cornstarch the recipe calls for.
Sprinkle the rice flour over the liquid.
The liquid thickens immediately.
For baking, substitute rice flour forcornstarchto retain a soft texture in cookies.
All-purpose flour can also be substituted, but the cookies may not be as tender.
Use rice flour as a stand-in for dredged and fried foods for a crispy, crunch exterior.
With this trick, you are simply drying out the sauce by removing moisture.
Egg yolks can be a magical thickener.
This method is called temperingit prevents the egg yolk from curdling when stirred into a sauce over heat.
Using instant potato flakes as a thickener is a convenient riff on adding pureed and mashed starches.
Potatoes need to complement the flavor profile.
Creamy sauces are a good betso just start small and stir away.
To start, use equal parts of flour and fat, such as oil or butter.
Melt the butter in a saucepan, whisk in the flour, and cook to a golden brown.
Add the roux to your gravy, and cook for a few minutes until thickened.
