A guide to cornstarch, tapioca, potato starch and other thickeners (2024)

FAQs

What is the healthiest thickening agent? ›

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.

Today, the main commercial refined starches are cornstarch, tapioca, arrowroot, and wheat, rice, and potato starches.

Tapioca starch is better if you want to thicken pie filling, sauces, pudding, or soups. Tapioca can handle high temperatures and a large variety of pH levels, unlike potato starch which tends to be less effective in high temperatures or more acidic foods.

You don't need to use commercial thickeners for foods, since soup and other foods can be easily thickened with powdered potatoes (used for instant mashed potatoes), rice cereal, tapioca, or Jell-O, for example.

No. Cornstarch is a starch used for thickening, while cream of tartar is an acid used for leavening, stabilizing, and preventing crystallization. They play totally different roles in baking and are not considered substitutes for one another.

The nutritional benefits of these starches are almost mediocre, with none of them being nutrition packed. However, among the three starches Tapioca starch contains more calcium and vitamin B-12 making it a better option. It is also low in calories and easy to digest, preferable to use in cereals.

Glucomannan

It's a far more powerful thickening agent by amount, so use about half the amount of glucomannan as you would cornstarch. About one teaspoon to every cup of liquid is a common suggestion. Since glucomannan tends to clump in high heat, mix it with cold water before adding it to your dish.

If you intend to cook your dish at high temperatures, organic potato starch may be the more appropriate choice. Nutritional Value: Organic potato starch is generally deemed to be more nutritious than organic corn starch because of its high fibre content.

It's best to use arrowroot at the end of cooking, like in a pan sauce, because extended heat or high heat breaks down its starch and prevents it from thickening. Cornstarch can withstand higher temperatures than arrowroot—but you shouldn't cook it for long periods of time or it, too, will break down.

Is arrowroot the same as potato starch? ›

Arrowroot powder is also a bit drier than potato starch, so you may need to use a smaller amount. The general recommendation is to use 2 teaspoons (5 grams) of arrowroot powder for each tablespoon (10 grams) of potato starch.

Tapioca starch or cassava flour.

Cassava flour is more nutritious and has more fiber than tapioca starch. This gluten-free option is mostly used for thickening foods. Similar to arrowroot, you'll use twice the amount of tapioca starch (or cassava flour) as cornstarch in a recipe.

Potato starch is the most potent of the bunch, with long starch molecules that quickly tangle with each other and thicken a liquid.

Cornstarch is a good alternative for tapioca flour when it comes to thickening sauces. Cornstarch actually has a greater thickening capacity than tapioca flour. This means that a person should use half the amount of cornstarch than they would tapioca flour.

Cornstarch, tapioca, and arrowroot are common starches used in a slurry mixture. Flour is sometimes used in a slurry mixture, but the effect is not as palatable as a roux.

Among them, natural thickeners can be further divided into animal thickeners (gelatin, sodium caseinate, etc.), vegetable thickeners (guar gum, acacia, pectin, agar, carrageenan, etc.), There are four categories of microbial thickeners (xanthan gum, gellan gum, etc.)