Alternative thickener for soups and stews What thickener will add least calories to soups and stews, producing effects similar to "regular" thickeners? All the ones I know are either pretty high-calorie, or produce results that are quite off "regular".


roux - lots of fat and carbs
flour + sour cream - same.
potato starch / mashed potatoes / instant potato puree - lots of carbs.
mashed beans - high protein content
xanthan gum - weird texture (shear-thinning liquid).
gelatin - very temperature dependent, almost no thickening effect on hot meals.


What are my other options?
Take one or two scoops of your soup (prefer the solid parts), put it into a blender, blitz until smooth and put it back into your soup.

You'll get zero additional calories and zero awful stuff your grandma wouldn't identify as food.

This obviously only works if we're not talking about a broth.