Love sauces but hate flour? Maybe you’re gluten intolerant or watching your calories. Of course, even in these cases, you don’t have to give up your favorite foods. Flour can be substituted in many ways. It just depends on what you are cooking and choosing the right ingredient accordingly. There are several options.
Try starches and vegetables
Mix corn or potato starch with a little water. This will prevent the formation of lumps in the sauce. Gently stir it into the hot liquid and let it boil. This variant is particularly suitable for vegetable or mushroom dishes, it is also suitable for sauces that you prepare for pasta.
It will do the same service for you mashed boiled potato or grated raw, which you can cook in food. It goes well with all sauces that include potatoes or vegetables. You can also thicken soups. Just remember that you will add a dose of calories to your lunch. In general, vegetable dishes can be thickened with a portion of the vegetables from which they are prepared and which you blend. Carrots, zucchini or pumpkins are ideal for this purpose. You can proceed in the same way in the case legumes.
Try yeast, cheese and horseradish
Yeast flakes go well with meat, cream sauces and various dark sauces. They have a slightly spicy taste and it is simply enough to pour them into the hot sauce, let them melt and cook.
Thicken the light sauce well with cream cheese. But this time, let it cool down a bit before adding the cheese. It would start to flake when hot. You will probably end up needing to use more spices to add more flavor to the food.
Horseradish goes well with fish or beef. But only use it fresh to thicken it and never add it directly to the sauce. First, fry it briefly with a little fat in a pan, mix it with breadcrumbs, and only then mix it into the pot.
Crumbs from dark or wholemeal bread are also excellent.
It thickens and binds the oatmeal
We mustn’t forget the oatmeal. It goes well with light sauces, vegetable dishes and soups. You can use them instead of flour even in meatloaf or meatballs. There, it can replace not only flour, but also eggs thanks to its stickiness. Your meatloaf will never crack again, and it will also be healthier.
Further you can use rice flour. If you don’t have it at home, grind the rice into a powder in a blender and use that to thicken it. Just be aware that it will take a little longer for the sauce to thicken.
As a general rule, you should count on about 2 teaspoons of thickener per serving.
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