Cornstarch Substitutes for Sauces and Soups

All-purpose flour: a useful gravy option

Start with 2 tablespoons flour for each tablespoon of cornstarch. Expect a less translucent finish. Mix it smoothly with cool liquid before stirring it into the sauce, or follow a recipe that cooks flour in fat first.

Cook the sauce as directed to remove raw flour flavor. This substitute contains wheat and is not a gluten-free option.

Arrowroot: add it toward the end

Start with the same amount as the cornstarch. Blend with cool water before adding. Use gentle heat and stop cooking when the sauce thickens; long cooking can spoil the texture.

Arrowroot is not the preferred choice for milk-based cream sauces. Do not use this ratio to reformulate a cake or cookie.

Potato starch: check the package name

Start with the same amount as the cornstarch. Stir into cool water, add near the end of cooking, and remove the sauce from the heat once it thickens.

Potato flour is a different product. It is not interchangeable with potato starch in this method.

How to mix a smooth slurry

1. Measure the chosen starch into a small bowl.
2. Stir in an equal amount of cool water until smooth.
3. Add gradually to the warm sauce while stirring.
4. Use the heating method for that particular thickener, then judge the texture before adding more.

A slurry is simply starch mixed with cool liquid. Dumping dry starch into a hot sauce can leave lumps. Keep any extra liquid small and account for it when a recipe is sensitive to dilution.

When these ratios do not apply

Cornstarch may set a dessert, soften a cookie or bind a patty. Those jobs need different formulas. A sauce substitution does not establish that shortbread, crema catalana or a pie filling will turn out correctly.

If using cornstarch itself, follow the recipe’s heating instructions. Suitable cornstarch sauces commonly need a brief boil; that is not an instruction to boil every substitute or an egg custard.

Read the answer without leaving your recipe

Type cornstarch in the recipe’s “Need a substitute?” search. The result shows the starting amounts; open it for the method and limits, then close the panel to continue cooking.

For soups thickened with their own ingredients, try white bean soup or potato-based caldo verde.