6 Cornstarch Substitutes for All Your Cooking and Baking Needs

If you locate by yourself in require of a cornstarch substitute, whether due to a corn allergy, utilizing up your stash to make non-Newtonian fluid for a science venture, or merely forgetting to restock, do not fret. Cornstarch is a workhorse of a pantry staple—it’s a stabilizer for whips and emulsions a thickener for stir-fries, soups, jams, and jellies a crisp-ifying miracle dredge for fried, baked, and sautéed foods—and it’s very worth maintaining a tub of it all around. But these 6 swaps can get all those employment accomplished just as effectively. Which one particular you use is dependent on the recipe, your requires, and what pantry staples you have on hand.

Potato Starch

Potato starch is the cornstarch substitute favourite of affiliate food items editor Kendra Vaculin. A light white powder extracted from crushed potatoes, it is an virtually flawless a person-to-one particular swap for cornstarch in all programs. You can use it to make a thickening slurry for clean, creamy Home made Queso or toss it with tofu to give it a gentle, ethereal, crispy shell, like in this Saucy Tofu With Garam Masala. Kendra, who’s allergic to corn, often keeps a bag of her go-to model, Bob’s Pink Mill, in her kitchen. “It’s even sweet enough to use in desserts like marshmallow recipes,” Kendra claims.

Rice Flour

When it will come to crispy, craggy, shatteringly crunchy dredges for fried proteins, rice flour is a superior substitute for cornstarch, with a single exception: It’s a minimal pricier. If you need to use a large volume, you may possibly maximize the value of your cooking job considerably. Nonetheless, you can swap in an equivalent quantity of rice flour in location of cornstarch in recipes like Rooster Karaage or Harissa Honey Popcorn Rooster, and you will uncover the effects just as satisfyingly crunchy. Be cautious employing rice flour as a thickening agent, even so. Some brands might outcome in a grittier—or gummier—texture. For the very best benefits, search for out good-milled white rice flour.

All-Objective Flour

If you have at any time designed a roux, you know how very well great ol’ all-intent flour thickens sauces, gravies, and stews. It’s not a ideal substitute for cornstarch: A sauce thickened with cornstarch will be extra translucent, whilst just one thickened with all-function flour will be opaque and have a thicker texture. It also won’t give the identical slender, shatteringly crisp crust cornstarch provides to some fried meals, but it can do the job for either predicament in a pinch. Some suggestions: Use two tablespoons of flour for each and every tablespoon of cornstarch. If producing a pan sauce, cook the flour in a little bit of excess fat first—you can make this as toasty and caramelized as you want—or boil the sauce for a couple minutes to get rid of the “raw flour” taste and texture.

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Tapioca Flour

Extracted from the root of cassava, tapioca flour (or tapioca starch) is a person of the finest cornstarch substitutes for puddings and sweet sauces. Really do not confuse this with cassava flour, which is much more fibrous and made utilizing the whole root. Tapioca flour is a stellar thickening agent, but be cautious about overdoing it. Tapioca flour doesn’t quite mimic the texture of cornstarch just and can veer into gummy territory if you use as well a great deal (if you appreciate bubble tea and boba, you are common with tapioca’s probable chew variable). Use two times the total of tapioca flour to change the cornstarch in your recipe and never overheat or boil for an excessive total of time. Use it in jammy fruit pie filling or desserts like this Plum-Cardamom Crumble With Pistachios or an eggy, jiggly Custard Tart With Product and Clean Fruit.

Arrowroot Powder

Arrowroot powder (also known as arrowroot starch or arrowroot flour) could be extracted from the roots of many tropical plants, which include cassava. Frequently employed to incorporate airiness to gluten-totally free and vegan desserts, it can also do the job as a thickening agent, just like cornstarch—but be knowledgeable that it’s a contact additional finicky. Arrowroot does not behave very well when heated and tends to thin out as shortly as it’s cooked, so use it in recipes that you really don’t have to have to stress about immediate warmth or a extended simmer—desserts are a great area for this. Get started by dissolving it in chilly water (a a single-to-a single ratio of arrowroot powder to cornstarch really should do the trick) ahead of slowly but surely introducing to home-temperature sauces.

Xanthan Gum

Realistically talking, if you don’t have cornstarch in your pantry, you are most most likely not stocked up on xanthan gum. Often derived from cornstarch via a fermentation approach (if you have received a corn allergy, beware!), it’s a prevalent thickening agent and is generally utilised in gluten-free of charge baking recipes to mimic the stretchiness of wheat flour. As a substitute for cornstarch, you will need just a minor little bit for sauces and gravies. It’s bought significant thickening power—think half a teaspoon or less for an entire pan of gravy. Get started really slow and insert extra as important.

Thickening some thing sweet? Might we propose instant pudding?

Fast pudding combine is the vital to no-prepare dinner pastry product and no-weep whipped product.

At first Appeared on Bon Appétit