Slow cooker meals are delicious. They cook all day, and fill the house with wonderful smells. After all that cooking, the taste is, well, awesome, but, it’s a little, soupy. Or, even a soup is a little, well, too soupy, it’s good soup, just needs to be a little thicker. You know what I mean, it tastes delicious, but, you really want a little body to it. There are times that you just want to thicken things up. Well, in this post we’ll discuss thickeners, the cure for soupy stews and thin soups
I have a post about making a roux, and that’s great. But, that’s not the only tool at our disposal. There are more ingredients that can be used as thickeners. But, before we move forward, let’s talk about what we’re looking to do here. We’re not making a sauce. What we’re doing is taking a soup or a stew, or any other dish, and adding some body too it.
Options
Back to options. There’s a roux, which I had mentioned, there’s also corn starch or arrowroot. These are the most common, but there is more. If there’s beans or a starchy ingredient, well, we could take some of that with the liquid, blend it and return it. If the recipe allows we could add rice or pasta. We could cook up some potatoes and add those. There’s always the reduction method, leave it cook for a while without a lid. Although this doesn’t work as well with a slow cooker. The list of thickeners is long, let’s look at those ideas a little closer
When we look at using a roux or cornstarch the ratios are usually 1:1:1. Where the last 1 in the ratio is 1 cup. So, it will thicken 1 cup. But, how do you know how much excess liquid you have. Well, realistically you don’t. So let’s do some guessing.
For a medium to large slow cooker or stock pot we’ll use a 2:2 ratio and mix it into 1 cup of liquid removed from the pot. Yes, the ratio is off by 1 cup, but it’ll find that other cup of liquid in the pot. Just pour in, mix well and let cook 1/2 hr . The other thing to take into consideration, you can make it thicker, but not thinner. So don’t make too much thickener, you can always add more
Roux
If you read my post on making a roux, you’ll know that constant whisking or mixing is the key. With that being said. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter over a low heat and add 2 tablespoons of flour while whisking well.
Keep whisking and cook for about 10 mins to allow the flour to cook. Slowly add a cup of liquid drawn from the pot, continuing to whisk to prevent clumping. Raise the heat to medium and bring to a boil while still whisking. There, now the roux is ready, but it still needs to cook in the stew. Raise the heat under the pot, and add the roux stirring well, then simmer for half an hour to allow to thicken. In a slow cooker, raise the temp to high 1/2 hr. before adding the roux
Corn starch and Arrowroot
Roux will add a little cloudiness to the dish, if that’s a problem, well, there’s a solution. Cornstarch or Arrowroot. We’ll use the same 2:2 ratio, which is 2 tablespoons of cornstarch to 2 tablespoons of water, mix well, till a smooth slurry. This will thicken 2 cups of liquid. Raise the heat under the pot and add the slurry, stir well and then let simmer for 1/2 hr. If you’re adding to a slow cooker, raise the temp to high 1/2 hour before adding the slurry. Arrowroot works the same way, it just doesn’t require the heat that roux and cornstarch needs. So if adding to a pot or slow cooker you don’t have to raise the temp. Just give it the same amount of time to cook. That may help in certain situations
Blending
If whatever you’re cooking has beans or any starchy vegetable in it, there’s another option. An example would be potatoes. Take out a cup of the vegetable or bean and some of the liquid put it in the blender. Return back to pot and give it 1/2 hr. This is not as an effective thickener as a roux or cornstarch, but it works. If the recipe allows you could cook a couple of potatoes, overcook them a bit. Add them to the stew. This option may change the flavor a bit and will change the look of the stew. Be aware of this, but it’s still a good option.
Rice and pasta
Let’s move on to another option. Adding rice or pasta, these are effective thickeners. Well, they don’t really thicken, more, they absorb some of the liquid. Be aware, they add carbs, but also make the dish more filling and hearty. Well, theoretically you can add rice or pasta to anything. Although most recipes for beef stew don’t include rice or pasta. Who says you can’t add a cup of macaroni. That brings up a good question. If you’re going to add a pasta product to a beef stew, what would it be? Pasta always goes on sale, so I have a broad selection on my shelf, just for times like these. Anyway, to add rice to a soup or stew, add 1 cup of rinsed rice an hour before you eat. To add pasta to a soup or stew, add one cup of pasta 1/2 before you eat.
The reduction
Another option is the reduction method. Basically just remove the lid, all that steam coming out is reducing the soup or stew. It’s the simplest way, works great in a pot, however not so well in a slow cooker. The design of the slow cooker uses the lid to keep in the heat and raise the temperature, so removing the lid isn’t a great help. The downside to this method is you lose some of the soup or stew, that can affect serving size. Just bear that in mind
Well, there you have it. Some options for thickeners. I’m sure there’s more, because there’s always more. But this is my offering. Thank you for reading and I hope it was helpful