How to thicken a stew (2024)

FAQs

How to thicken a stew? ›

Use cornflour or cornstarch.

Whisk a teaspoon of flour in a little cold water to make a slurry, then stir into the stew as it's cooking. Don't add dry flour directly to the stew as it may clump. After adding the slurry, bring the stew to boil. This will cook out the flour taste and allow the starch to swell.

Cornstarch has twice the thickening power of flour. When a gravy, sauce, soup or stew recipe calls for flour, use half as much cornstarch to thicken. To thicken hot liquids, first mix cornstarch with a little cold water until smooth. Gradually stir into hot liquid until blended.

Let it simmer and concentrate down to your desired thickness. If you added too much water, a flour and water slurry, a cornstarch and water slurry, or instant mashed potatoes are all ways to thicken it up quicker.

Try a packet of beef gravy mix.

Combine the contents of the packet with a little water until smooth. Stir it in a bowl. A typical packet will thicken two cups of liquid to a gravy consistency and add a little more beefy flavor.

Simply knead equal parts softened butter and flour together in a bowl with your fingers until well-combined (beurre manié literally means “kneaded butter”) and then roll into small bits. Add the bits gradually to your stew, whisking until it noticeably thickens.

A slurry is a mixture of flour and water, whisked together until smooth and added towards the end of cooking; it's a super-simple way to thicken any soup. For slow cooker soups, add your slurry with at least 30 minutes of cook time left so that the raw flour can cook and thicken the soup. Need a gluten-free option?

So if you added too much cornstarch, you can always dilute it. with a little bit more chicken stock or water. If you're thinking it too much, it looks like pudding.

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. slurry to 4 cups of soup.

What makes stew thicker than soup? ›

The popular distinction between these two foods is how “liquidy” or how thick they are: a dish called soup typically has more liquid in it than a stew does. Stews are generally thicker than soups, being made up primarily of larger, solid chunks of ingredients.

Use one tablespoon cornstarch mixed with one tablespoon cold water (aka a cornstarch slurry) for each cup of medium-thick sauce. Thoroughly mix the cornstarch and water together, then pour into your sauce. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly.

Thicken Gravy with a Roux

To make your roux, use an equal amount of flour and fat, like butter or oil, and follow these steps: Melt the butter or heat the oil in a skillet or saucepan on medium heat. Add the flour and whisk into the fat until all lumps are gone.

There are two ways to thicken a stew using flour: The first is to make a slurry, which is a mixture made up of equal parts flour and cold water whisked together until smooth. (Ree uses this trick to thicken her beef stew with mushrooms.)

Use cornflour or cornstarch.

Stir them together to make a paste, then add the paste to the stew. Stir the stew until the paste is fully mixed. Cook for 2 minutes over medium heat to allow the cornstarch to mix into the soup. Check the consistency of the stew and add more paste if necessary.

So, how do I make my stew less watery? Start by cooking your stew without the lid on for a bit longer—this will allow for more of the liquid to evaporate and let the stew reduce. (Cooking with a lid on traps the moisture inside instead of letting it cook off.)

Cornstarch, or corn flour, can be used to thicken soup through its high starch content. Cornstarch is a great thickener for soup because only a little bit is needed to significantly thicken a soup, and it will not affect the flavor profile of the soup.