Hi!
Happy Tuesday to you. Guess what? School starts in a week! I know some of you will think I’m mean but I’m really excited for it to start!! I love a little silence in my home during the day.
I have gotten a few great questions in the last little bit so I thought I’d share one with you today.
I see you use quick cooking tapioca in many of your recipes. What is the purpose/flavor…..is there anything I can substitute that will not alter the intended flavor of the recipe?
Yes, I do use tapioca. It is a thickener. It has no flavor. I like to use it instead of cornstarch because it’s easier for me to add it in at the beginning with all the rest of the ingredients than it is for me to use cornstarch at the end. Slow cooking is awesome but everything tends to get really runny because there is no evaporation that occurs. Thickeners are necessary or your dishes will turn out really really liquid-y. If you don’t have tapioca you can
*dredge any meat in a little flour.
*Or you can reduce on the stove-top at the end.
*Or you can use a little cornstarch and water at the end.
*I also like to cook on HIGH for the last hour without the lid because it helps some liquid evaporate off.
I buy my tapioca in the jello aisle. It costs less than $3.00 a box most of the time.
How do I just make tapioca pudding in the insta pot?
here is a recipe from a friend: https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pressure-cooker-tapioca-pudding/
I am making peach butter that calls for 14 cups of peaches and 1/2 cup of tapioca. Also the sugar and spices. This seems like a large amount of tapioca to me. What do you think?
Well, it does sounds like a lot. But the consistency of the peach butter must be pretty thick. That’s probably why it calls for that much.
My husband has made quite a few recipes for the slow cooker calling for instant tapioca to thicken. We’re not sure it’s thickening at all. Last night we had chicken with what was supposed to be a mushroom sauce, or even a gravy. It was very runny. All have been like that. I think the recipe even said to add broth if it got too thick. It never began to thicken. What can he be doing wrong? He uses Minute Tapioca. Last recipe called for 2-3 TBS.
Hmmm, interesting. Things get really runny in the slow cooker. I’d cut down on liquids by half if I were you.
Beef stew recipe calls for surgery & clear gel. Why auger? What is clear gel ? ,And can I use minute tapioca instead ?
How much and do you cook it first? It’s no instant…..little balls not granules
I’m not sure what you are talking about? But I used the Instant Tapioca.
Karen you can delete that comment. Spammers use it to get links back to their own websites for certain key words. I don’t even think that old tactic works anymore! Lol
Recipe calls for quick cooking tapioca to thicken stew in slow cooker. I only have regular tapioca. Is there a conversion or should I just use
cornstarch?
You can just use a cornstarch slurry and it’ll work just fine 🙂
Is the measured amount of instant tapioca generally the same for most stew recipes……I have used tapioca in previous slow cooker recipes…(it IS easier at the beginning, and works great)….my previous recipes have called for one tablespoon. Tomorrow I want to use it in a recipe that calls for corn starch. One tablespoon? Or is there a ratio to stock?
I would say 1-2 Tbsp of tapioca is sufficient for most recipes I’ve come across!
I forgot the tapioca. Can I add it in towards the end of cooking?
you can thicken at the end with a cornstarch slurry. Just mix 2 tbsp of cornstarch with 2 Tbsp of water and then stir it in. turn the crock to high until the mixture is thickened.
When you use the instant tapioca, do you add liquid to it? The recipe just called for 2 tbs of instant tapioca. I assume it means ‘two tbs of the dry granules’, is that correct? Thanks!
Yes, that is right!
Having a hard time finding this at Walmart. I understand it is in the Jello/pudding section of the store.
I’m sorry you’re having a hard time finding it! Maybe you could order it online here: https://www.walmart.com/ip/13916853?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222227016696188&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=40889699312&wl4=pla-78819533792&wl5=9029688&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=13916853&wl13=&veh=sem
Hi – just read this string and was wondering if you could advise if I can use Jello cook-and-serve tapioca the same as the kraft minute tapioca? Thanks
I don’t think it can be used interchangeably. Since the minute tapioca is just the starch tapioca whereas the jello version is tapioca pudding mix with sugar/sweetener in it.
Taryn, I'm not familiar with xantham gum and how it would work in slow cooker recipes. If you try it out, let me know if it works!
Thanks,
Karen
Is it possible to use xanthan gum as a substitute for tapioca in your recipes? I don't know if you're familiar with using it, but I thought I'd ask anyway 🙂 Thanks!
i'm a fan of Arborio rice in soups and stews. i toss it in the crock pot when i have 45 minutes left of cooking. sops up the liquid and i just love the taste and texture. may bot work so wekk for sweet dishes.
thanks Laura!
Do you know that I had been meaning to ask you this question? I printed a few of your recipes that called for it, and I wasn't quite sure what the purpose was. Thank you for the tips, and GREAT BLOG!
I just read through all the kitchen tip Tuesday's that had a link under another tip that I could find. What a great idea! Although some I knew, I also learrned some new ones. It seems we are always looking for new ideas especially to make life easier, since there never seems to be enough hours in the day. Thank you for the tips and I will look forward to your future tips. Keep up the good work!!
I just used my first tapioca in one of your recipes last week. Don't know what I was scared of!