Soup thickeners Y'all!

(lynnae oxley-loupe) #1

Friend or foe?

Arrow root
Corn starch
Tapioca starch
Kudzu
Potato starch

Whatcha think? … I’ll take my answers off the air :slight_smile:

(betsy.rome) #2
  • A pinch of xanthan gum
  • put some of the soup in a blender then add it back to the rest
  • reduce the water volume by cooking longer
  • add cream
#3

Cream cheese. You’re welcome. :smile:

(Laurie) #4

Foe I think. Better:

Cauliflower
Squash
Tomato paste
and of course Cream cheese

Another idea: Add no thickener. Take out about 1/4 or 1/3 of the soup (liquid and solids). Blend the smaller portion and add it back in to the larger portion.

And my favorite: Just use way less water.

Maybe we need to rethink what a soup is supposed to be like. My boyfriend (not keto) likes those terrible “chunky” soups that are full of corn starch. I wish he’d try making some simple soups thickened some other way.

(KCKO, KCFO 🥥) #5

In addition to doing the blending and liquid reductions mentioned above I have used all of these, different ones for different foods.

Konjac, a little goes a long way add in small pinches
Almond flour
Coconut flour
Psylium husk powder
eggs

#6

Regarding arrowroot powder, found this online:
I cup of arrowroot powder = 16g carbs (1g for every Tbsp in a cup)
There are 16Tbsp in 1 cup, so typically you would use 1 tsp or 1 Tbsp of arrowroot. Used to use it a lot when I baked gluten-free bread & stuff for my mom.
I would think that using 1 Tbsp would be OK.

#7

We’ve been using crème fraiche in soups and gravy. So rich and luscious. Way tastier than when we used flour.

#8

I’ve had good results with xanthan gum. I use it when making gumbo which traditionaly is thickened by a wheat based roux.

If you decide to try xanthan gum, it’s WAY easier to first mix the powder into an oil then add that suspension to your soup. It tends to be pretty hydrophobic.

(Candy Lind) #9

… which brings to mind the soup I made this week, which thickened up nicely as the okra in it fell apart. I think I’m going to put the okra in cheesecloth next time, then take it to another dish, pulverize it with my stick blender, then pour it back in.

(She had one feck to give and that feck is gone.) #10

I used xanthan gum to thicken my gravy last Thanksgiving. Ended up with a ball of gummy gravy :woman_facepalming:. I was so sad!

If you are good at using this stuff could you give a few tips?

(She had one feck to give and that feck is gone.) #11

I just used psyllium to thicken beef stew last week! Worked great. I think add 1/2tsp at a time and then wait 10mins before adding more. I added 1.5tsp and thought it was just a touch too much. Did NOT want DH and DS to know I’d put that in there! The bowls were super clean due to the…uh…cohesiveness of the stew :joy:

Have you made a roux with almond or coconut flour? It would be good for making cheese sauce!

(KCKO, KCFO 🥥) #12

I do a sludge with the two flours, add it to some liquid and mix it up well then add to dish.

For cheese sauce, I found cream cheese does a great job.

(She had one feck to give and that feck is gone.) #13

So do you melt the cream cheese and then mix in grated cheese or just use melted cream cheese?

(KCKO, KCFO 🥥) #14

Soften up the cream cheese, then let it melt together with the other(s).

(Candy Lind) #15

Sodium citrate makes keto cheese sauce a snap. You dissolve it in boiling water (or whatever liquid you want to add to your cheese), then add shredded cheese. Search the recipes forum here or google it. Once you buy a small amount, you’ll have cheese sauce running out your ears. :smiling_imp:

(She had one feck to give and that feck is gone.) #16

Oooh! YAY :smiley:. I will get some.

(Sophie) #17

I recently purchased some Premium Cheddar Cheese Powder for some experiments…I think this might be one of those applications that it would work really well, especially considering I use Cream Cheese all the time. :thinking:

#18
  1. Don’t try to add the xanthan gum directly to the main dish. I made that mistake the first time I tried to use it. Use a separate bowl to dissolve the xanthan gum then mix that into the main dish.
  2. Use a fat / oil as the base. I find xanthan gum will mix into liquid fat with less effort and clumping than it will into water. I’ve mostly used oil but any warm (not hot) liquid fat should work; not sure about heavy cream… :thinking:
  3. Mix the powder into a liquid a little at a time. Pour some into the bowl with the fat, whisk until dissolved, repeat.
  4. Experiment in small batches on yourself rather than dinner guests :grinning: