“Okay, but my pot holds 8 cups of stock. How do I eyeball this?” Good question, friend. Get a liquid measuring cup. Measure your broth before you add the cornstarch. Don’t guess. Guessing leads to “Oops, I made soup-flavored wallpaper paste.”
For example: 6 cups of broth? You need 6 tablespoons of cornstarch. That’s a bit more than ⅓ cup. Make your slurry accordingly. It’s just math, but math that tastes delicious.
Pro tip: If your soup has a lot of chunky vegetables or meat, you might need a tiny bit less cornstarch. The solids already add body. Trust your gut—and your spoon’s coating ability.
What If You Don’t Have Cornstarch? (The Panic Moment)
Relax. You can use all-purpose flour instead. But flour is weaker, so use 2 tablespoons of flour per cup of liquid. Flour also needs to cook a few minutes longer to lose that raw taste. No one likes sawdust soup.
How to Thicken Soup with Cornstarch: Perfect Technique Guide
Another life hack: arrowroot powder works exactly like cornstarch, but it makes the soup clearer. Or you can mash up some of the cooked potatoes or beans in the soup itself. That’s the lazy-yet-brilliant method.
But honestly? Cornstarch is the queen of thickeners. It has twice the thickening power of flour. A little goes a long, long way. Use it wisely.
