--- title: "Cornstarch: what it means in cooking — Tiny Plates" description: "Cornstarch is the pure starch of corn, a fine white powder for thickening sauces and crisping coatings. In the UK, Ireland and Australia it is cornflour." url: "https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/cornstarch" --- # Cornstarch Cornstarch is the pure starch of corn, a fine white powder for thickening sauces and crisping coatings. In the UK, Ireland and Australia it is cornflour. Also called Cornflour, Corn starch, Maize starch, Majsstärkelse. Cornstarch is the starch from the inside of corn kernels, a fine, white, squeaky powder with almost no taste. It thickens sauces, gravies, pie fillings and puddings, makes coatings for fried food crisp, and softens cakes and shortbread. It is gluten free, and it thickens with about twice the power of flour. ## How to do it To thicken a sauce: 1. Mix the cornstarch with an equal or double amount of cold water until smooth. This is a [slurry](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/slurry). 2. Bring the sauce to a simmer. 3. Stir the slurry again, then pour it in while stirring. 4. Keep it at a gentle boil for about 1 minute, until the sauce turns glossy and clear and thickens. As a guide, 1 tablespoon (8 g) thickens about 240 ml (1 cup) of liquid to a medium sauce. ## Why it works Starch granules swell and soak up water as they heat, a process called [gelatinization](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/gelatinization). In cornstarch this happens close to boiling, which is why the sauce only thickens once it bubbles. The swollen granules make the liquid thick and glossy. Stirring hard for a long time, long boiling, or strong acid can break them apart again, and the sauce thins. ## How to use it The same powder has different names: * Cornstarch in the US and Canada. * Cornflour in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. In the US, corn flour means finely ground cornmeal, which is not the same. * Maize starch on some ingredient labels. * _Majsstärkelse_ in Sweden. In Chinese cooking it coats meat before stir-frying to keep it tender, a method called [velveting](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/velvet). ## Substitutes * Potato starch, _[potatismjöl](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/potatismjol)_ in Swedish, thickens at a lower temperature and gives a clearer, stretchier result. Use the same amount, and do not let it boil long. * Arrowroot and tapioca starch work one for one and freeze better. * All-purpose flour works with twice the amount, cooked a few minutes longer. ## How to store it Keep it in a closed container in a dry cupboard. It keeps for years. ## Common mistakes * Adding the powder straight to hot liquid. It forms lumps at once. * Not boiling it. The sauce stays cloudy, thin and tastes starchy. * Freezing sauces thickened with it. They turn spongy and weep when thawed, a result of [retrogradation](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/retrogradation). ## In recipes You will see "1 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp water", "2 tbsp cornflour" and "cornstarch, for dusting". ## Recipes that use it 154 recipes from the sites we collect. * [![](https://www.skinnytaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Blueberry-Peach-Crisp-9.jpg)Blueberry Peach Crispwww.skinnytaste.com · 55 min](https://www.skinnytaste.com/blueberry-peach-crisp/) * [![](https://www.skinnytaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Strawberry-Kiwi-Pavlova_17.jpg)Pavlovawww.skinnytaste.com · 75 min](https://www.skinnytaste.com/strawberry-kiwi-pavlovas/) * [![](https://www.skinnytaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Thai-Chicken-and-Pineapple-Stir-Fry-14.jpg)Pineapple Chicken Stir Frywww.skinnytaste.com · 20 min](https://www.skinnytaste.com/thai-chicken-and-pineapple-stir-fry/) * [![](https://www.skinnytaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Strawberry-Rhubarb-Crisp-20-1.jpg)Strawberry Rhubarb Crispwww.skinnytaste.com · 50 min](https://www.skinnytaste.com/strawberry-rhubarb-crisp/) * [![](https://www.skinnytaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Spring-Stir-Fried-Chicken-with-Sugar-10-scaled.jpg)Chicken and Vegetable Stir Frywww.skinnytaste.com · 30 min](https://www.skinnytaste.com/spring-stir-fried-chicken-with-sugar/) * [![](https://www.skinnytaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Chickpea-Milanese-6.jpg)Chickpea Milanesewww.skinnytaste.com · 25 min](https://www.skinnytaste.com/chickpea-milanese/) * [![](https://www.skinnytaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Shrimp-StirFry-12-1.jpg)Shrimp Stir Frywww.skinnytaste.com · 15 min](https://www.skinnytaste.com/shrimp-stir-fry/) * [![](https://www.skinnytaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Tofu-Poke-Bowl-8.jpg)Tofu Poke Bowlwww.skinnytaste.com · 50 min](https://www.skinnytaste.com/tofu-poke-bowl/) * [![](https://www.skinnytaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Chicken-and-Asparagus-Lemon-Stir-Fry-5.jpg)Chicken and Asparagus Lemon Stir Frywww.skinnytaste.com · 30 min](https://www.skinnytaste.com/chicken-and-asparagus-lemon-stir-fry/) * [![](https://www.skinnytaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/Pepper-Steak-4-5.jpg)Pepper Steakwww.skinnytaste.com · 20 min](https://www.skinnytaste.com/pepper-steak/) * [![](https://www.skinnytaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Apple-Turnovers-11.jpg)Apple Turnover Recipewww.skinnytaste.com · 70 min](https://www.skinnytaste.com/apple-turnover/) * [![](https://www.onceuponachef.com/images/2013/06/banana-pudding-parfaits-1-1.jpg)Banana Parfaitswww.onceuponachef.com · 240 min](https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/banana-parfaits.html) ## Related terms * [SlurryA slurry is starch, such as cornstarch, mixed with cold water and stirred into a hot liquid to thicken it fast. It gives a glossy sauce in about a minute.](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/slurry) * [GelatinizationGelatinization is when starch grains soak up water and swell in heat, thickening sauces, setting puddings and softening rice and pasta. Here is why.](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/gelatinization) * [PotatismjölPotatismjöl is potato starch, the Swedish thickener for berry soups, sauces and light cakes. How to use it and what to use instead outside Sweden.](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/potatismjol) * [VelvetVelveting coats sliced meat in egg white and cornstarch, then cooks it briefly in water or oil before stir-frying. It keeps the meat soft and silky.](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/velvet) * [RetrogradationRetrogradation is when cooked starch cools and firms up again. It is why bread goes stale and cold rice hardens, and why day-old rice fries better.](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/retrogradation) * [CornmealCornmeal is dried corn ground into a gritty meal, for cornbread, polenta and coatings. The UK often sells it as polenta, South Africa as maize meal.](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/cornmeal) [More in regional names](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/category/regional-names)[Every term from A to Z](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary)