Every home chef has a few tricks up their sleeve! Here are a few ways to thicken your favorite slow-cooker sauces, soups, and stews.
A slow cooker is an incredible tool for any kitchen. In my kitchen, my slow cooker is used at least once a week! It’s perfect for Sunday supper or cooking a whole chicken or roast when I know I’m going to spend the day running errands.
One of the chief complaints against slow cookers, though, is the fact you can’t truly know how your food will taste or turn out. You can’t exactly taste it before you turn it on. Your spices haven’t had a chance to meld yet!
If you find you added too much water to your slow cooker and you need to thicken your recipe, here are my favorite ways to do just that.
How to Thicken Slow-Cooker Sauces, Soups, and Stews
There are so many ways to thicken your favorite slow-cooker recipe!
1. Reduce the Amount of Liquid in Your Recipe
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
If you know there is too much liquid in your slow cooker for your desired outcome, reduce the amount in the recipe before turning the slow cooker on!
A good rule of thumb would be to use about 25 percent less water than what your recipe recommends. Check your slow cooker after an hour or so of cooking (if you’re able). You can always add more water later!
2. Cornstarch Slurry
A cornstarch slurry is a great, gluten-free way to thicken your slow cooker recipes! It’s a very popular thickening agent.
Traditionally, you can create a cornstarch slurry by mixing water and cornstarch. However, I find that I like to make a cornstarch slurry that will resemble the thickness I’m looking for. So I like to play around with the ratio of my cornstarch and water.
Cornstarch does tend to cloud your recipe. So keep that in mind if you’re looking for a desired outcome.
A cornstarch slurry only requires a bowl, a fork, and water. Minimal dishes for a good culinary result!
3. Arrowroot Powder Slurry
Arrowroot powder is also a gluten-free thickener. However, it tends to be finer than cornstarch.
Because it is finer than cornstarch, arrowroot powder may perform better at lower temperatures for a shorter time. However, it won’t make a dish as cloudy as cornstarch.
4. A Roux with All-Purpose Flour
Creating a rue is a little more involved than a slurry. But if you’re not gluten intolerant, it’s a great way to control your overall recipe consistency.
Over medium-high heat, melt a few tablespoons of butter. Once melted, mix in an equal amount of flour. Once the paste sticks to itself, ladle in the excess liquid from your slow cooker, stirring constantly.
This will create a sort of gravy to return to your slow cooker to thicken the dish.
A roux can use any type of fat. It can also be cooked from blond to brown and has an overall nutty flavor. Remember these facts if you’re looking to add more flavor to your dish – you can do so by altering your fat and cooking your roux!
It’s also important to cook your roux because that’s the only way to cook out the raw flour taste.
Traditionally, a roux is added at the beginning of a dish.
5. Beurre Manie
Beurre manie is a butter-flour paste that is added directly to dishes instead of being cooked down first.
Beurre manie is also added at the end of a dish instead of the beginning. Because it isn’t cooked first, the final result makes the dish buttery.
Like a roux, a beurre manie requires equal parts butter and flour. You can sub in another fat, but you may need more flour.
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6. Add a little Corn Flour
Corn flour is made from the starchy part of the corn. When starch combines with liquid, it soaks up the water and swells as it’s heated. That’s what causes a sauce to thicken!
Cornflour will mimic a cornstarch or arrowroot powder slurry but will have a slightly more gelatinous texture.
Traditionally, cornflour is mixed in a 1 to 1 ratio with water before being added to a slow cooker. To prevent slumps, mix well before adding to your slow cooker.
For best results, consider stirring occasionally with your slow cooker on high until the dish reaches your desired consistency.
7. Increase your Cooking Time
You can always reduce the liquid in your slow cooker by increasing the cooking time.
8. Increase the Slow Cooker Temperature
If you think you need to increase your cooking time, consider increasing your slow cooker temperature to avoid adding additional time! As your soup, stew, or sauce heats up, more liquid will evaporate.
This is a great method to use during the last hour of your cooking time.
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9. Vent the Slow Cooker Lid
If you’re looking at a watery sauce in your slow cooker, turn the lid about 45 degrees so it settles just over your slow cooker. When you create a “vent,” the liquid is able to escape. Your sauce will thicken in no time!
10. Use an Immersion Blender
Did you know you can thicken a dish with the dish itself?
Ladle part of your slow cooker dish (if you’re doing something like slow cooker beef stew, avoid using your protein) into a bowl. Using an immersion blender, blend your sauce and vegetables until smooth. Return to your slow cooker and stir occasionally. Be sure to return the lid!
If you don’t have an immersion blender, use a regular blender! The result, and the steps, are the same.
What’s your Favorite Slow Cooker Recipe?
I’m always looking for slow cooker recipes to try! What’s your favorite slow cooker recipe? Comment on this blog post and let me know!
If you’re looking for other recipes to try, check out my recipes tab! Be sure to save them on Pinterest! While you’re there, check out my Pinterest page for even more homemaking inspiration.
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