What's Best for Thickening Thanksgiving Gravy—Flour or Cornstarch? (2024)

FAQs

What's Best for Thickening Thanksgiving Gravy—Flour or Cornstarch? ›

Turkey Gravy Ingredients

Browning adds more flavor to the gravy and gets rid of the raw flour taste. You're basically making a roux. We find that a flour-based gravy holds up better and reheats better later, which is why we tend to prefer using flour over cornstarch to make gravy unless we have a guest who is eating gluten-free.

If your gravy is on the skimpy side, you can thicken it quickly with flour or cornstarch. But don't add your thickener directly to the gravy, which will create lumps. Instead, try stirring in three or four tablespoons of flour or cornstarch into a small amount of cold water until you have a smooth paste.

Even a half of a tablespoon of cornstarch will thicken a sauce into a translucent, silky slurry in under a minute. Flour's thickening abilities are much weaker and you will need larger quantities of it to thicken liquids. It also works better with fat-based sauces.

Adding Cornstarch or Flour to Your Gravy

Flour or cornstarch will help to thicken any sauce, and gravy is no exception. As long as you can avoid making lumps this option is the fastest way to thicken your gravy.

Chefs and home cooks often use pan drippings and other cooking liquids, such as chicken broth, wine, or milk, to thicken and flavor the gravy. You can add different seasonings to enhance the flavor; common additions include salt, pepper, herbs, mustard, and balsamic vinegar.

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.

Onion paste, cashew paste, cream, butter, melon seed paste, cornflour slurry and roux (equal parts of cooked flour and butter) are some of the commercially used thickening agents.

The Not-Quite-as-Easy-but-Better-Way: Add Aromatics. If you're going the store-bought-stock route, try simmering it down with some roughly chopped mirepoix (onions, carrots, and celery), a couple of bay leaves, peppercorns, and some fresh herbs, like thyme or parsley stems.

Cornstarch should thicken gravy in less than a minute when at a simmer. If it doesn't thicken enough, it's a sign that you need more cornstarch. Whisk in more cornstarch slurry a little at a time, and let each addition come to a simmer before adding more.

What happens if you use cornstarch instead of flour? ›

Cornstarch has twice the thickening power of all-purpose flour, which means you'll want to use twice as much: For every 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, you'll want to use 2 tablespoons of flour.

Cornstarch is a common thickening agent in the culinary arts, but if you add it directly to the liquid you want to thicken, it will clump up. To thicken a sauce or soup with cornstarch, you first need to make a slurry, which is a mixture of equal parts cornstarch and liquid (usually water, stock or wine).

If you're cooking hot liquids like sauces, stock or broth, 1 tablespoon of corn starch per cup of liquid will give you a thin to medium consistency that's appropriate for soups or very thin sauces. 2 tablespoons per cup will give you a thicker, more gravy-like consistency.

Similar to flour, cornstarch is another ingredient that can be used to make gravy thicker. With cornstarch, making a slurry is also an option, but with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch whisked into cold water. Again, you'll want to add the slurry in increments so you don't over-thicken the gravy.

Making a roux with flour and butter “boosts flavor and gives the gravy a silky texture and rich flavor,” she says. Flour also gives the gravy a traditional opaque look, she adds, whereas cornstarch will make the gravy shiny and clear.

If your gravy seems too thin, you can first try to cook it a little longer to thicken it. If it's still too thin, try thickening the gravy with a slurry: In a small bowl, simply stir a few tablespoons of flour into an equal amount of cold water to create a smooth paste, then stir it into your gravy.

Cornstarch is a pure carbohydrate, but flour has more nutrients. Cornstarch is a common ingredient in a wide variety of foods and beverages. It's used by home cooks and in commercial settings.

Similar to flour, cornstarch is another ingredient that can be used to make gravy thicker. With cornstarch, making a slurry is also an option, but with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch whisked into cold water. Again, you'll want to add the slurry in increments so you don't over-thicken the gravy.

Roux is commonly made with flour, but you can also sub in cornstarch or arrowroot powder. Mix the cornstarch or arrowroot powder with water to form a slurry before adding it to the pan and cooking it with the fat.