Cornstarch 1kg. Farola Brand

Not to be confused with corn flour, which is made from whole kernels, cornstarch is made from the endosperm found at the center of the corn kernel. The starches inside the endosperm are removed, rinsed, dried, and milled into a fine powder. This leaves us with cornstarch — a white, chalky powder that has a variety of uses in the kitchen. It is most commonly used as a thickener for sauces and stews.

What Is Cornstarch Used For?

Cornstarch is primarily used as a thickening agent. It's made up of a long chain of starch molecules that will unravel and swell when heated in the presence of moisture. This swelling, or gelatinization, is what causes thickening.

While thickening soups, stews, sauces, or custards, is what cornstarch is famous for, there's a lot more you can do with this kitchen pantry staple.

What Can I Use Instead of Cornstarch?

If you ran out of cornstarch (it happens), don't worry about your sauces and stews. You can still thicken them by substituting a few other pantry staples:

All-Purpose Flour: This flour contains about half the thickening power of cornstarch, so for every tablespoon of cornstarch required, you'll need to use two tablespoons all-purpose flour.

Rice Flour: Like all-purpose flour, rice flour also has half the thickening power of cornstarch, so you're going to want to measure accordingly.

Arrowroot Powder: If you happen to have this starch on hand, you're in luck: it has the same thickening power as cornstarch. But one caveat about arrowroot — it doesn't hold or reheat well.

Potato Starch: Like arrowroot, this starch has strong thickening powder, but it doesn't last long after cooking.