What makes ham and bean soup thicken (2024)

FAQs

What makes ham and bean soup thicken? ›

Add a thickening agent.

Whisking beurre manié (butter-flour paste) into simmering soup is the best way to thicken an otherwise too-watery soup. Add bits of the paste gradually and simmer to cook out any raw flour taste. The broth will be velvety smooth, rich, and thick.

Excessive cooking or stirring may damage cornstarch integrity and cause your ham and beans to thin out.

If your beans are still too watery after prolonged cooking and mashing, consider adding a thickener like cornstarch, all-purpose flour, or arrowroot. To do this, first, make a slurry of equal parts thickener and water, then slowly add it to your refried beans. They should thicken considerably.

Not Adding Acid

If a soup is tasting bland in the bowl, consider adding acid rather than salt. A squeeze of lemon or lime, or a dash of yogurt or sour cream can add brightness to the bowl.

To start, your soup is relatively watery, and your noodles go in dry. The broth may have a little bit of body provided by the gelatin created by simmering bones and meat, but for the most part, your soup is thin. As the noodles begin to cook, the liquid in the soup will start to thicken slightly.

Add Flour Or Cornstarch

You can thicken soup by adding flour, cornstarch, or another starchy substitute.

It's important to note that cornstarch has twice the thickening power of flour. If you need to substitute cornstarch to thicken liquid in a recipe that calls for ¼ cup (four tablespoons) flour, you only need two tablespoons cornstarch.

All-purpose flour: You can thicken sauces with all-purpose wheat flour. For every tablespoon of cornstarch, use three tablespoons of flour. Combine raw flour with cold water in a small bowl to form a paste, then add it into the sauce as it's simmering. Cooking the flour in the sauce will remove the flour taste.

How to thicken pinto beans and ham? ›

I like my juices thick with my beans, therefore in a separate bowl I added 1/4 cup of cornstarch or flour and 1/4 cup of water to make a thickening paste. Then, slowly add your thickening paste to the boiling beans and ham. Be sure to stir as you add it in.

If your pea and ham soup is looking a bit watery, don't despair: just keep cooking until you get closer to your desired texture. While some recipes say to thicken with cornflour, this is not necessary. Just be patient and keep simmering. Remember the soup will thicken as it cools.

In a separate bowl, dissolve a teaspoon or two of cornstarch or all-purpose flour in a small amount of cold water. Add the slurry to the bubbling soup. The soup should thicken up.

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.

Ok, this may be a little obvious, but just adding water is going to make your soup go a little further. If you stick to a 50/50 ratio between water and whatever flavoured liquid you're using in your soup (be it tomatoes, a stock type, or a cream), you're unlikely to dilute it to the point of making it unpalatable.

Another reason lies in the cooking process itself. The longer you simmer and reduce the beans, the more the sauce will thicken. If you don't cook the beans long enough, the sauce will stay loose and runny, according to Home Cook World.

How do you make a sauce thicker? The easiest way to thicken a sauce is by reducing the amount of liquid. This can be done by simmering your sauce or bringing it to a full boil—do this uncovered, so the steam can escape.

How do I cook thick creamy soupy pinto beans? I'd take a portion of the beans and put them into a blender, along with some of the broth, blend and return to the soup. Alternatively, you could thicken with potato in the same kind of way. You could also thicken with rice or another grain, if it was cooked really well.

Use starches to thicken beans

A cornstarch slurry is used to thicken almost any kind of sauce and it only takes a few seconds to make, per Baking Kneads. Simply add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch to 1 cup of water or to the liquid from the baked beans (scoop it out into a separate bowl and let it cool first) and mix.

I like my juices thick with my beans, therefore in a separate bowl I added 1/4 cup of cornstarch or flour and 1/4 cup of water to make a thickening paste. Then, slowly add your thickening paste to the boiling beans and ham. Be sure to stir as you add it in.

What is the thickener in vegetable based pureed soups? ›

Potatoes naturally thicken this pureed vegetable soup and give it an ultra creamy texture. If you accidentally added too much water to your soup, you can thicken it back up with a cornstarch slurry.