Thickeners · 4 substitutes

Cornstarch Substitutes

Pure starch from corn, used as a thickener for sauces, gravies, and pie fillings.

4
Substitutes
4.0/5
Avg quality
1
Top-rated (5★)
5
Use contexts

Best swap

The closest stand-in for Cornstarch is Arrowroot Powder, used at 1:1 ratio and rated 5/5 across 5 cooking contexts.

5/5
Arrowroot Powder - top pick
4
tested substitutes
4.0/5
average quality across all swaps
4
dietary options covered

Across the 135 ingredients we track, the typical ingredient has about 3.6 documented substitutes.

Common uses for Cornstarch: pie filling, gravy, stir-fry sauces, custards, coating. The best substitute usually depends on which of these functions, flavor, moisture, fat, binding, or leavening, you most need to preserve.

Every documented substitute for Cornstarch

Ranked by quality score (1–5, where 5 is virtually identical). Check the ratio and context tags before swapping, not every substitution is 1:1.

Arrowroot Powder
Excellent
Ratio: 1:1 ratio

Freezes better than cornstarch. Results in clearer gel. Do not use in dairy-based sauces.

Best for: gravies, sauces, pie filling, stir-fries
vegan gluten-free paleo
Tapioca Starch
Good
Ratio: 2 tbsp tapioca = 1 tbsp cornstarch

Use twice the amount. Creates very clear, glossy gel. Excellent for fruit pies.

Best for: sauces, pie filling, baking
vegan gluten-free paleo
Potato Starch
Good
Ratio: 1:1 ratio

Very similar to cornstarch. Slightly chewier gel. Do not boil - breaks down.

Best for: gravies, sauces, baking
gluten-free vegan paleo
All-Purpose Flour
Fair
Ratio: 2 tbsp flour = 1 tbsp cornstarch

Requires cooking longer. Creates cloudy, less glossy sauces. Use double the amount.

Best for: gravies, sauces, baking
vegetarian

How the Cornstarch substitutes score

Quality rating (1–5) for each documented stand-in

/5

What this shows Arrowroot Powder leads at 5/5; bars fall off as the trade-offs in flavour or texture grow.

Source PlainSubstitute editorial quality scores As of July 2026

Where Cornstarch ranks for swap options

Number of documented substitutes per ingredient, across the whole database

4 Bottom 48% higher than 48% of 135 ingredients we track

0–1: 0 ingredients we track (0%). Below this entry. 1–2: 0 ingredients we track (0%). Below this entry. 2–3: 11 ingredients we track (8%). Below this entry. 3–4: 54 ingredients we track (40%). Below this entry. 4–5: 59 ingredients we track (44%). This entry sits in this band. 5–6: 7 ingredients we track (5%). Above this entry. 6–7: 0 ingredients we track (0%). Above this entry. 7–8: 1 ingredients we track (1%). Above this entry. 8–9: 3 ingredients we track (2%). Above this entry. Cornstarch 0 9 every tracked ingredient, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more ingredients we track. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source PlainSubstitute editorial database · July 2026

Quick comparison

# Substitute RatioQuality
1 Arrowroot Powder 1:1 ratio 5/5
2 Tapioca Starch 2 tbsp tapioca = 1 tbsp cornstarch 4/5
3 Potato Starch 1:1 ratio 4/5
4 All-Purpose Flour 2 tbsp flour = 1 tbsp cornstarch 3/5

Choosing the right swap

Start with Arrowroot Powder, then adjust for what your recipe needs.

  • Match the substitute’s context tag to your recipe, a swap that shines in baking can fall flat in a sauce.
  • Respect the listed ratio. Many swaps are not 1:1, and over- or under-dosing is the most common reason a substitution disappoints.
  • Working around a diet? 4 of these options carry dietary tags, filter by your need. Browse by diet
  • Need the opposite lookup? Browse other Thickeners ingredients with overlapping swaps. More Thickeners

Quality scores reflect overall similarity to the original; expect small differences in texture or colour even with top-rated swaps.

Other Thickeners ingredients

Agar-Agar Arrowroot Gelatin Pectin Tapioca Starch

Substitution ratios and quality scores for Cornstarch are compiled from established culinary references, food-science literature on ingredient functionality, and documented professional kitchen practice. See our methodology.

According to PlainSubstitute's curated database (last reviewed July 2026), this ingredient is one of 135 base ingredients covered, with 486 documented substitute pairings across the site.