Butter as thickener (2024)

FAQs

Butter as thickener? ›

While adding a knob of butter to a sauce won't thicken it dramatically, it can be just the thing to add extra richness and a glossy texture.

The fat keeps the starch granules separate while the starch is cooking. Finally, unlike roux, beurre manie involves combining raw flour with whole butter to form a paste, then gradually stirring bits of this paste into a liquid, usually a soup, to thicken it.

As we mentioned, flour and cornstarch are the most popular ingredients used to thicken butter sauce for pasta. After you've heated your butter and water combo in your skillet, turn your heat down so nothing scorches as you work in the dry ingredients. Then slowly whisk in your flour or cornstarch.

Use a butter and flour paste

You can also use a flour and butter paste called a beurre manié to thicken a soup. Just mix 2 tsp flour with 2 tsp soft butter, and while the soup is simmering, stir the paste into the pan. The butter will help disperse the flour throughout the liquid.

-Press together equal quantities of butter and flour in a small bowl, using your hands. -Add a little of the beurre manié to the pan and whisk well. -Continue to whisk until the sauce has the desired consistency, adding more beurre manié if necessary.

Beurre manié (French "kneaded butter") is a paste, consisting of equal parts by volume of soft butter and flour, used to thicken soups and sauces. By kneading the flour and butter together, the flour particles are coated in butter.

Beurre Manié (French for “kneaded butter”) is made by mixing equals parts of softened butter and flour. This dough or paste is used to thicken sauces, soups and stews. Note that plant-based butter can also be used to make beurre manié—you may just have to use a bit more flour (3:2).

Easy-to-access alternatives are wheat flour, arrowroot flour, and rice flour. These are good alternatives to cornstarch because they are more nutritious and contain fewer carbohydrates and calories. Xanthan and guar gum are much stronger thickeners than cornstarch, but they can be harder to obtain and use.

The addition of butter helps to loosen and emulsify the sauce, making it smooth and creamy.

Can you liquify butter? ›

If your only objective is to simplify melt solid butter to add to baked goods, you can heat a stick of butter that's frozen, cooled, or room temperature over medium heat until it has just liquified.

Use Flour and Water

Combine 2 tablespoons flour with every 1/4 cup cold water and whisk until smooth. Add the mixture to your sauce over medium heat, and continue to stir and cook until you've reached your desired consistency. Test with a spoon.

Butter is an emulsion in itself, swirled into sauces at the end of the cooking process, known as Monter au Beurre. Butter will thicken slightly, but it also adds richness.

To be clear, butter won't thicken up sauces quite like cornstarch or something similar would, but it's great for adding extra richness and glossy texture to pasta and pan sauces.

Another way to thicken gravy with flour is by making a roux. A roux is a mixture of fat and flour, and it's an easy way to thicken a sauce. If you make a roux, it should also be added incrementally. A final option is making a beurre manié, which is made by rubbing flour into butter to create a dough or paste.

How to Fix Greasy Gravy. If your gravy is greasy, it likely had too much fat and not enough starch. Shannon suggests adding a cornstarch slurry to the gravy to fix it. The excess fat will bind with the cornstarch, reducing the grease factor.

Whisking in pats of cold butter is one of the classic ways to thicken a pan sauce. This method works though emulsifying the liquid with the butter, increasing thickness slightly and adding heft and clinginess so your sauce coats food better.

Simply knead equal parts softened butter and flour together in a bowl with your fingers until well-combined (beurre manié literally means “kneaded butter”) and then roll into small bits. Add the bits gradually to your stew, whisking until it noticeably thickens.

A roux is flour and butter cooked together to create a thick sauce. It is whisked over heat until smooth to your desired darkness. It only takes a few easy steps to reach your optimal stage of roux!

What is a mixture of butter and flour called? ›

A roux (pronounced 'roo') is the name given to the cooked mixture of butter and plain flour that thickens and forms the base of various sauces, particularly the white sauce (béchamel).

The typical approach for thickening gravy is to make a roux, which is a mixture of equal parts flour and fat, cooked for a minute or two until toasty. One way to make a roux is to leave a few tablespoons of fat (about 1 tablespoon per 2 servings) in the roasting pan and add an equal amount of flour.

Milk and butter

Combine 1/4 cup (57 grams) of melted butter with 3/4 cup (178 mL) of milk and mix thoroughly to make 1 cup (237 ml) of heavy cream. You can also add a tablespoon (8 grams) of flour to thicken the liquid, especially if you're using low fat milk.

You can make a cream sauce thicker by reducing it on the stovetop. If reducing the sauce doesn't work, or if you're in a rush, you can use a thickener to bulk up your sauce. Flour, butter, eggs, and cornstarch are simple ingredients that can make your cream sauce thicker.