How to thicken a sauce/stew with no flour?

[2hounddogs]

I'm getting ready to start W30 and was thinking about things I normally enjoy cooking and how to convert them so they'll be compliant. I have a green chile recipe and a gumbo recipe that are both really good. Only problem is that the green chile is thickened with flour and of course the gumbo uses a roux (vegetable oil & flour). So what can I use in place of the flour in these recipes. It's bad enough that I have to give up the rice they're usually served with, so I'd at least like to keep the familiar consistency of the dishes themselves. Thanks!

[Susan W]

I actually thicken by reducing and like it much better. The taste is cleaner. You can use arrowroot, coconut or almond flour. I think arrowroot would work the best for you.

You will discover the goodness of cauliflower rice.

[2hounddogs]

Thanks for the info! Hopefully I can find a small package of arrowroot at my local Whole Foods. I've read about the cauliflower rice. I'm sure I'll give it a try at some point. Right now I'm just trying to think of things that will make my transition easier. :-)

[AmyS]

One thing that I found made my transition easier was to not try to replicate my favorite non-Whole30-compliant meals with Whole30 ingredients at first. I found new recipes and ate different foods for a while. This may or may not help you, but there are a lot of great Whole30 recipes out there (starting here on the forums in the Cooking and Recipes sections), so there is a lot of variety to start with.

Whichever way you go, have fun and happy eating!