Cornstarch is a powdery ingredient made from the starch of corn. This ingredient is used in a lot of different cooking and baking applications for all sorts of reasons.
One of the jobs of cornstarch is to thicken dishes, but this and all the other jobs cornstarch has can be done better and just as easily with potato starch. Potato starch is also a little healthier for you, so let’s see how you can start using it.
Sauces and Soups
When you make a sauce, you need some way to thicken it. There are many ways to do it, but using potato starch is a great avenue. Since the starch also has some protein and fat from the potatoes, when you mix it into a sauce, it becomes thick but also glossy and smooth. All you have to do is to make a slurry, add 1 tablespoon of starch and whisk it with 1 cup of hot water and pour that into any soup or sauce.
Baking
Whether you’re making a custard, pudding, or pie filling — a lot of recipes use cornstarch to help thicken them. Even though it sounds strange to use potato starch in these recipes, the starch has actually a completely neutral taste, and won’t let the liquids separate if you need to refrigerate before baking with it.
