How to Use Flour or Cornstarch to Thicken Sauce, Gravy, and Soup (2024)

FAQs

How to Use Flour or Cornstarch to Thicken Sauce, Gravy, and Soup? ›

Use two tablespoons flour mixed with ¼ cup cold water for each cup of medium-thick sauce. Thoroughly mix in the water to prevent lumps. After stirring the combined flour and water into the sauce, cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly.

If your gravy is on the skimpy side, you can thicken it quickly with flour or cornstarch. But don't add your thickener directly to the gravy, which will create lumps. Instead, try stirring in three or four tablespoons of flour or cornstarch into a small amount of cold water until you have a smooth paste.

Both are cereal starches, but cornstarch is pure starch while flour contains gluten. The gluten reduces the thickening power of flour. One tablespoon of cornstarch thickens one cup (250 mL) of liquid to a medium consistency. It takes two tablespoons of flour—twice as much—to thicken the same amount of liquid.

The most classic and surefire way to thicken a broth-based soup is with a cornstarch slurry. Whisk together equal parts cornstarch (or arrowroot) and water or broth, then whisk it into the pot of soup. A good ratio to get to a pleasant thickness without your soup tasting goopy or heavy is one tablespoon.

This means it's possible to swap your cornstarch for flour, but you will need more of it to get the same effect. In general, it's recommended that you use twice as much white flour as cornstarch for thickening purposes. So if you need 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, use 2 tablespoons of white flour.

To make a good cheese sauce or gravy, you need a thickening agent. Cornstarch and flour are two common thickening agents in the home kitchen. Both are cereal starches and when they're mixed with a liquid and then heated, they gelatinize.

For the best results, never add flour or cornstarch directly to your soup. If you do, it will clump up on top. Instead, ladle a small amount of broth into a separate bowl and let it cool.

If you're cooking hot liquids like sauces, stock or broth, 1 tablespoon of corn starch per cup of liquid will give you a thin to medium consistency that's appropriate for soups or very thin sauces. 2 tablespoons per cup will give you a thicker, more gravy-like consistency.

What is used to thicken and give more richness to soups? ›

When to Keep the Lid Off. Cooking a soup, stew, or sauce uncovered allows water to evaporate, so if your goal is to reduce a sauce or thicken a soup, skip the lid. The longer you cook your dish, the more water that will evaporate and the thicker the liquid becomes—that means the flavors become more concentrated, too.

Reducing a sauce helps to evaporate the water content so that the sauce becomes thicker and the flavour more concentrated. Reducing a sauce is as simple as cooking it over a medium heat until the volume has reduced and the sauce is at the consistency you want.

Make a Slurry

If you want to use flour, mix 2 tablespoons of flour per 1 cup of cool liquid. Whisk the slurry until it is smooth and lump-free, then add about 1 tablespoon at a time to your hot pan drippings and liquid mixture, using a whisk to thoroughly combine.

Easy-to-access alternatives are wheat flour, arrowroot flour, and rice flour. These are good alternatives to cornstarch because they are more nutritious and contain fewer carbohydrates and calories. Xanthan and guar gum are much stronger thickeners than cornstarch, but they can be harder to obtain and use.

All-Purpose Flour

It also won't provide the same thin, shatteringly crisp crust cornstarch gives to some fried foods, but it can work for either situation in a pinch. Some tips: Use two tablespoons of flour for every tablespoon of cornstarch.

To make a slurry, start with 1 to 2 ratio of cornstarch to water. For example, prepare 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of water. Then whisk together really well. When you add more water, it just takes more time to thicken the sauce or soup.