cooking lesson: How to thicken Soup

[AmandaRuth]

OK, I am not that great of a cook, so i am asking for your help. I am making a bean soup straight from the cheap eats thread below. It is coming along nicely, it tastes really good, but it is thin. Basically, it is an assortment of beans cooked in stock, with spices. How would i go about making this a little bit thicker? I don't think i want to use my hand blender with this?.... Thanks,

ps i may not be Julia child, but you should see my garden!:9 :9

[Nicole]

1. easiest way

is to dip out a big spoon of those beans, with the liquid.

Smash them up really well to make a bean paste, they look like refried beans.

Then stir the bean paste back into the pot.

Or you can make cornstarch paste by mixing equal parts cornstarch and water. Start with 2-3 tablespoons cornstarch. If that is not thick enough, do it again.

[bearfan454]

2. Cornstarch and water mixed together.

Arrowroot works good too.

[AmandaRuth]

3. thanks

by the time i got back to the soup, hte lentils and split peas had cooked down enough to thicken it, it was pretty good! Next time I will try the corn starch. Mucho mucho thanks again.

[opiate69]

4. also remember...

if you use cornstarch or flour, it won't reach it's full thickness until it comes to a boil, so if it isn't thickening enough but hasn't yet boiled, don't just keep adding more starch.

[SouthPasadenaDem]

5. Cornstarch.

Cornstarch has double the thickening power of flour, so use it sparingly. Mix it with a little water in a glass, then stir that into the boiling liquid.

If you use flour, be sure to make a roux first - cook equal amounts of butter and flour (2 TBSP each per cup of liquid for an average sauce, so for soup try only half as much per cup of liquid). If you don't cook the butter and flour together for several minutes before thickening the soup, you get that nasty raw flour taste

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

6. Okra is a natural thickener too and is great in soups and beans

cut into 1/2 inch thick pieces about 8 for a pot of stew or beans..the longer they steep in it the thicker they make it.

[NMDemDist2]

7. beans should thicken on their own unless you completely drowned

them

[giant_robot]

8. It's okay to briefly use your hand blender

as long as you turn off the heat first.

[TreasonousBastard]

9. By now the soup is long ago eaten, but...

for thickening, I use instant potatoes and/or sour cream. Neither one thickens as much as cornstarch or flour, but they often do a nicer job of it.

Just cooking it down, of course, will end up with less, and thicker, broth.