Why would you want to thicken beans?
Beans seem to be an inexpensive ingredient but as many other kinds of vegetables, they are really healthy with varieties of vitamins and nutrition provided. Also, the way to prepare or cook doesn’t require much technique so that’s why beans usually appear on many kitchens.
It can be cooked easily, but how to make the cooked beans perfectly and tasty in both flavor and texture is not that simple.
Sometimes, you end up with watery beans or sometimes, they are be far thick like a stew, and both are unexpected situations.
Thickening the beans at a proper level can hold beans together and improve the outcome of your dish.
Can you thicken beans?
Obviously, it’s necessary to thicken beans to serve them with other dishes or just to make themselves great.
Although there are plenty of ways to thicken beans but in this article, we will show you a few easy steps with simple and common tools and ingredients so that you can follow and accomplish a perfect dish with beans at your own home.
Let’s check it out.
Tips to thicken beans
- A low and slow simmer uncovered, and the occasional stir will help to make beans nice and creamy
- Always check the heat because it’s the secret ingredient to make the sauce thicken too. Without heat, the starch will become clumping and little thickening takes place. Also, if the temperature is too high, the liquid might dry out fast so the heat needs to be appropriate
- Cornstarch may not work well as a thickener in meals which are very fatty, sugary and acidic. Excessive cooking or stirring may damage cornstarch integrity and cause your beans to thin out
- If you want to add more flavors to your dish, you can season the pot of beans after the excess liquid simmers off
Things you’ll need
- A stove top
- A medium pot or simmer, a bowl
- A potato masher or ladle
- Thickener such as cornstarch or tapioca starch
- Other favorite seasonings
How to thicken beans
- Simmer a pot of liquid in which you cook the beans over very low heat (just a bare bubble)
- Use a potato masher or ladle to mash the beans (starting a little by little with a quarter cup)
- Add a bit of cornstarch to a bowl of water or butter to make a slurry (usually one part of cornstarch goes with two parts of water or an equal part of butter)
- Gradually pour the slurry in the bowl in to the liquid surrounding the beans
- Keep whisking the mixture over the low heat until it reaches the desired thickness
- Turn off the heat and serve your sauce
