You can use common pantry items to thicken a watery stew.
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It's unfortunately far too easy to end up with a thin, watery beef stew. This usually happens when you've added too much liquid to your mix, essentially turning your stew into a soup.
Luckily, it's easy to use flour, starch, vegetables and grains to thicken beef stews.
Using Flour vs. Roux to Thicken Stew
Watery stews occur when you have a lot of liquid in your stew but not enough time to let the mixture reduce. You can also end up with a watery beef stew when you've added a lot of vegetables. Zucchini, celery, peppers and tomatoes all have a high water content that can increase the total volume of liquid in your stew.
Thin, watery stews are easily thickened by adding flour. You can use any flour, from regular white flour to more nutritious flours like cassava or chickpea flour.
If you want to add flour to thicken your stew, you'll need to first make a roux — a mixture of flour and fat. It's possible to add flour directly to your stew, but this is likely to produce unpleasant lumps. Using a roux prevents these lumps from forming. To make a roux to thicken your watery beef stew, you'll only need those two ingredients, mixed at a 1-1 ratio.
Preparing Healthy Homemade Roux
Most people use animal-based fats like ghee or butter when making the roux. However, if you're keeping an eye on your saturated fat intake, you can use plant-based fat. The American Heart Association says that peanut, soybean and olive oils are all low in saturated fat.
- Heat Your Fat: Heat 1/2 cup of ghee or your chosen fat in a saucepan at medium heat.
- Whisk in Flour: Whisk your chosen flour into the fat
—
slowly. You'll need 1/2 cup of the flour in total. Make sure you don't add it all in at once!
- Stir Constantly: Stir the mixture for about 10 to 15 minutes. Roux made with vegetable oil can take twice as long to cook. The flour should form a thick paste as it's combined with the fat. Make sure you cook it at medium heat and that your mixture doesn't get too hot. If you cook your roux for longer, it will turn darker. This is fine, as long as it doesn't burn.
- Add Roux to Your Stew: Separate out 1/4 cup of your roux (a quarter of the total mixture) after it's cooked. Add a ladle or two of stew liquid to the roux and mix thoroughly. Once it's mixed, you can add the roux and liquid back into your stew. This last step prevents the flour from forming lumps when added to the stew.
You'll need at least 3 ounces (88 milliliters) of roux for every quart (950 milliliters) of beef stew that you've made. If your stew still isn't thick enough, keep adding more of the roux you prepared. If need be, you can just repeat this last step until you've obtained the thickness you want from your stew.
How to Thicken Stews With Natural Starches
If you don't want to take the time to make a roux, you can use a few spoonfuls of starch, instead. Starch is a component of flour. It can be made from a variety of different plant-based products, including grains and vegetables. Common starches include:
- wheat starch
- cornstarch
- potato starch
- rice starch
- tapioca (cassava starch)
Alternatively, you could incorporate foods with high starch content into the stew. The Mayo Clinic says that starch is naturally found in vegetables, grains and legumes.
Although you can incorporate just about any starchy vegetable into your beef stew, keep in mind that certain ingredients will affect your stew's total cooking time. For instance, adding in shredded cassava or cooked potatoes will thicken your beef stew quickly. However, dried lentils will take a while to cook and can affect your stew's flavor.
If you need to thicken your stew but don't have any vegetables on hand, you can use certain grains. Harvard Health Publishing recommends eating whole grains, because these are a valuable source of dietary fiber. Fine bulgur, couscous and quinoa all cook rapidly, making them easy to incorporate if you need to thicken your stew at the last minute.
FAQs
Add Roux to Your Stew: Separate out 1/4 cup of your roux (a quarter of the total mixture) after it's cooked. Add a ladle or two of stew liquid to the roux and mix thoroughly. Once it's mixed, you can add the roux and liquid back into your stew.
How do you thicken watery beef stew? ›
Whisk a teaspoon of flour in a little cold water to make a slurry, then stir into the stew as it's cooking. Don't add dry flour directly to the stew as it may clump. After adding the slurry, bring the stew to boil. This will cook out the flour taste and allow the starch to swell.
How do you fix a stew with too much water? ›
If your stew looks too watery, have no fear! You can thicken it by adding common starches, adding flour, pureeing part of the stew, or boiling away excess liquid. Soon, you'll be enjoying a delicious, hearty stew!
How to make beef stew thicker without flour? ›
Originally Answered: How can you thicken your stew without flour? Starch- Cornstarch, potato, tapioca, rice, etc, all of these provide starch which, mixed with liquid and heated, gel and thicken. Fiber- Beans, onions, etc. Cooked and then mashed or blended will thicken a stew considerably.
What causes watery stew? ›
This is the effect that you want to happen when you've added the right amount of water. However, sometimes too much water is accidentally added or the slow cooker fails to evaporate enough water during the cooking process, leaving the sauce or soup a little runnier than you'd like.
What is the best thickener for beef stew? ›
Five Thickening Agents for Stew
- Make a Roux. Roux is a classic French technique that consists of cooking equal parts flour and fat (usually butter) over a low flame until smooth. ...
- Incorporate a Purée. Another option for thickening your stew is to incorporate a purée. ...
- Add a Starch. ...
- Create a Slurry. ...
- Whip Up a Beurre Manié
Cornstarch has twice the thickening power of flour. When a gravy, sauce, soup or stew recipe calls for flour, use half as much cornstarch to thicken. To thicken hot liquids, first mix cornstarch with a little cold water until smooth. Gradually stir into hot liquid until blended.
How do you thicken slow cooked stew? ›
A slurry is a mixture of flour and water, whisked together until smooth and added towards the end of cooking; it's a super-simple way to thicken any soup. For slow cooker soups, add your slurry with at least 30 minutes of cook time left so that the raw flour can cook and thicken the soup. Need a gluten-free option?
How much cornstarch and water to thicken beef stew? ›
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.
Will boiling stew thicken it? ›
Yes, beef stew will thicken as it cooks. The thickening is a result of reduction. As the stew cooks, water is evaporated. The starches from the veggies and gelatin in the stock work together to increase the viscosity of the broth.
The three main thickening agents for gravies are flour, cornflour and arrowroot. The first two are normally used in savoury dishes while arrowroot tends to be used in sweet dishes – that said, arrowroot will work in a savoury dish as it has no flavour.
What is the best thickener for stews? ›
For 1 cup of liquid soup use a slurry of 2 tablespoons of COLD water with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch to thicken it; to make it a gravy like consistency double the amount of the slurry; 4tbsp water with 2tbsp of cornstarch.
Why is my beef stew not thickening? ›
This usually happens when you've added too much liquid to your mix, essentially turning your stew into a soup. Luckily, it's easy to use flour, starch, vegetables and grains to thicken beef stews.
How to make something less liquidy? ›
Ways To Thicken Sauce
- Tomato Paste. If your soup or stew is watery, adding tomato paste may help! ...
- Arrowroot. You might prefer to avoid gluten in your recipes. ...
- Flour. ...
- Reduce Your Liquid. ...
- Puréed Vegetables. ...
- Egg Yolk. ...
- Yogurt. ...
- Rice.
Slow cookers can be useful for cooking stews, but generally the combination of low heat and a tightly fitting lid will mean that the auce doesn't get a chace to thicken (by reduction) and consequently the sauce can be a little thin.
Why put vinegar in stews? ›
Vinegar can add depth of flavour to soups, sauces, and stews. Especially great for tomato-based recipes, you can add a couple of tablespoons of vinegar towards the end of the cooking process to amplify the flavours of your other ingredients.
How do you thicken slow cooked beef stew? ›
Cornstarch, potato starch, and chickpea flour are a couple of pantry-friendly ways to thicken soups, stews, and sauces in the slow cooker. Just a tablespoon or two of any — added towards the end of cooking — will thicken sauces especially well.
Why is my stew not thickening up? ›
This usually happens when you've added too much liquid to your mix, essentially turning your stew into a soup. Luckily, it's easy to use flour, starch, vegetables and grains to thicken beef stews.
