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Grains, flours & pasta

Corn starch

Zea maysAlso called cornstarch and maize starch

Corn starch is a starch extracted from dried maize kernels. Cooks use it to thicken and pair it with powdered sugar.

  • Plant-based
  • Gluten-free
  • No listed allergens

About the plain ingredient, not packaged products; general information, not medical advice. Details

Made from
Maize
Part used
Kernel
Family
Poaceae
Cooked most in
Asia
Top country
Indonesia
Corn starch, whole

Photo: Miansari66 · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

In the kitchen

How to use corn starch

Typical ways to cook or use it

  • Thicken

Preparing it

Mix cornstarch with a cooler liquid to make a slurry before adding it as a thickener.

Cooking with it

Cornstarch thickens liquid as it heats above 95 °C. Prolonged boiling can thin a cornstarch-thickened liquid.

Goes well with

Nutrition

What 100 g of corn starch holds

Per 100 g. Averages from USDA; real values vary by variety, season and growing conditions.

Protein 0%Fat 0%Carbohydrate 100%of the macronutrients by weight

Nutrition per 100 g of corn starch
Energy381 kcal · 1,594 kJ
Protein0.26 g
Fat0.05 g
of which saturated0.01 g
Carbohydrate91 g
of which sugars0 g
Fibre0.9 g
Sodium9 mg
Cholesterol0 mg
Nutrition per 100 g of corn starch: minerals and vitamins
Potassium3 mg
Calcium2 mg
Iron0.47 mg
Magnesium3 mg
Zinc0.06 mg

Source: USDA FoodData Central (food 169698), public domain. Minerals and vitamins are listed only where USDA measured a non-zero amount.

Around the world

Where corn starch is cooked

10 dishes in the catalogue use corn starch. Here is where they come from.

Dishes by continent

Countries whose dishes use it most

Counts are catalogued dishes from each country that list corn starch among their ingredients.

On the table

Dishes made with corn starch

8 of the 10 catalogued dishes that use it, spread across the countries they come from.

  • Bakpia

    China, Indonesia

  • Es Pisang Ijo

    Indonesia

  • Bici bici

    Türkiye

  • Molen banana

    Indonesia

  • Güllaç

    Türkiye

  • Putri mandi

    Indonesia

  • Lontar cake

    Indonesia

  • Boiled jengkol

    Indonesia

Dish lists come from Wikidata; a dish counts when its recorded ingredients include corn starch.

Good to know

Diet and allergens: corn starch in detail

These notes describe the plain ingredient. Packaged and prepared products vary, so read the label; for allergies and medical diets ask a doctor or dietitian.
Allergens
None of the 15 listed allergens foundChecked and not found: soy, eggs, fish, milk, lupin, wheat, celery, sesame, mustard, peanuts, molluscs, sulphites, tree nuts, crustaceans, gluten cereals.
Animal origin
No animal ingredients foundChecked and not found: egg, fish, meat, dairy, honey, insect, gelatin, poultry, bone char, shellfish, other animal, animal fining, animal rennet.
Gluten
None
Alcohol
None
Caffeine
None
Pork
None

Family

Related forms

Made from
maize (dried, extracted)

Cooked together

Ingredients that go into the same catalogued dishes.
Photo credits for this page (12)

Around the world

What corn starch is called

Names in 53 languages, from Wikidata.

  • Spanish

    maicena

  • French

    amidon de maïs · Maïzena · fécule de maïs

  • Italian

    amido di mais · maizena

  • Portuguese

    amido de milho

  • German

    Maisstärke · Speisestärke

  • Dutch

    maiszetmeel · maïszetmeel · Maïzena

  • Greek

    άμυλο αραβοσίτου

  • Turkish

    mısır nişastası

  • Russian

    кукурузный крахмал · крахмал кукурузный

  • Polish

    skrobia kukurydziana

  • Arabic

    نشا الذرة · دقيق الذرة

  • Persian

    نشاسته ذرت

Show all 53 languages

  • Albanian

    Niseshteja e misrit

  • Bangla

    ভূট্টার মাড়

  • Basque

    maizena

  • Belarusian (Taraskievica orthography)

    кукурузны крухмал

  • Bulgarian

    Царевично брашно

  • Cantonese

    粟粉

  • Catalan

    midó de dacsa · maicena · maizena · midó de blat de moro

  • Chinese

    玉米澱粉 · 玉米淀粉

  • Croatian

    kukuruzni škrob

  • Czech

    kukuřičný škrob

  • Danish

    majsstivelse

  • Esperanto

    maizamelo · maizoamelo · maiza amelo

  • Estonian

    maisitärklis

  • Finnish

    maissitärkkelys

  • Galician

    amidón de millo

  • Hebrew

    עמילן תירס · קורנפלור

  • Hindi

    मकई का आटा

  • Hungarian

    kukoricakeményítő

  • Indonesian

    Tepung jagung

  • Japanese

    コーンスターチ

  • Javanese

    Pathi jagung

  • kge

    Pati jagung

  • Korean

    옥수수 녹말

  • Latvian

    kukurūzas ciete

  • Lithuanian

    Kukurūzų krakmolas

  • Malay

    Tepung jagung

  • Malayalam

    ചോള അന്നജം

  • Norwegian Bokmål

    maisenna

  • Norwegian Nynorsk

    maisstive

  • Odia

    ମକା ଅଟା

  • Punjabi

    ਮੱਕੀ ਦਾ ਆਟਾ

  • Romanian

    amidon de porumb

  • Serbian

    Кукурузни скроб

  • Slovak

    kukuričný škrob

  • Slovenian

    koruzni škrob

  • Swedish

    majsstärkelse · stärkelse av majs

  • Thai

    แป้งข้าวโพด

  • Traditional Chinese

    玉米澱粉

  • Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong SAR China)

    粟粉 · 粟米粉

  • Ukrainian

    кукурудзяний крохмаль · крохмаль кукурудзяний

  • Vietnamese

    Tinh bột ngô

  • Waray

    Gawgaw

  • Wu Chinese

    玉米淀粉

Sources and credits

Data

Wikidata item: Q3393961

Photos

Photo: Miansari66 · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons