Potato Starch Substitutes
土豆淀粉 · 生粉 · potato flour (not the same — see below)
By The Chowmi Test Kitchen · Updated July 15, 2026
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Potato starch does the same three jobs as cornstarch in Chinese cooking — thickening sauces, velveting meat, and making shatter-crisp fried coatings — but fries up noticeably crispier, which is why it's prized for dishes like salt and pepper shrimp and crackly fried chicken. The best 1:1 substitute is cornstarch: it's the closest all-rounder, though the crust is a touch less crisp and it holds up better to hard boiling in sauces. Tapioca starch and sweet potato starch also swap 1:1 (sweet potato starch is the classic Taiwanese frying choice for an extra-craggy crust), and rice flour works well for coatings. For thickening a sauce, add any of these as a cold-water slurry near the end and don't boil hard, since potato starch and its swaps can thin out with prolonged heat. All of these are gluten-free. One caution: potato starch is not the same as potato flour — see below.
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Every potato starch substitute, ranked
| Substitute | Ratio | Match |
|---|---|---|
| Cornstarch Almost everything · vegan · gluten-free | 1:1 | 90% |
| Sweet potato starch Extra-crispy frying · vegan · gluten-free | 1:1 | 85% |
| Tapioca starch Frying & glossy sauces · vegan · gluten-free | 1:1 | 82% |
| Rice flour Crisp coatings that stay crisp · vegan · gluten-free | 1:1 (for coatings) | 78% |
- Cornstarch: The easiest all-round swap. Slightly less crisp when fried but more stable in a simmering sauce, so it's actually more forgiving for thickening.
- Sweet potato starch: The Taiwanese frying secret — coarse and craggy, it fries into a thick, rugged crunch. Great for popcorn chicken and salt-and-pepper dishes.
- Tapioca starch: Glossy and slightly chewy-crisp; excellent for coatings and for a shiny sauce. Add as a slurry near the end.
- Rice flour: Fries light and stays crackly even after saucing. Best for coatings rather than thickening delicate sauces.
What is Potato Starch?
Potato starch is a fine, bright-white powder extracted from the starchy part of potatoes. Like cornstarch it's flavorless and used purely for texture, but it has two edges cooks love: it fries into an exceptionally light, glassy, long-lasting crunch, and it thickens into a very clear, glossy sauce. In Chinese and wider East Asian cooking it's a go-to for crispy fried dishes and for velveting, and it's often what a Chinese recipe means by 生粉 (shēng fěn, "raw starch"), alongside cornstarch.
Flavor: Flavorless — used purely to crisp, velvet, and thicken.
Potato starch vs cornstarch
They're close cousins and swap 1:1, but each has an edge. Potato starch fries crispier and thickens into a slightly clearer, more brilliant gloss, and it thickens at a lower temperature. Cornstarch is more heat-stable, so it holds a thickened sauce better through a longer simmer without thinning, and it's in every supermarket. For the crunchiest fried coating, reach for potato starch (or sweet potato starch); for a sauce that sits on the heat a while, cornstarch is a touch more reliable. In most Chinese recipes the two are interchangeable.
Potato starch vs potato flour — not the same thing
This trips people up constantly. Potato starch is the pure, extracted starch — light, bright white, and flavorless. Potato flour is made from whole cooked, dried potatoes — heavier, cream-colored, with a real potato taste. They are not interchangeable: swapping potato flour in for potato starch will make a fried coating dense and a sauce gluey and starchy-tasting. If a Chinese recipe calls for potato starch (or 生粉), you want the starch, not the flour.
Where to buy potato starch
Stock real potato starch
Potato starch is common in the baking or kosher aisle of most supermarkets and stocked at every Asian market, Weee!, Yamibuy and Amazon. Its best swaps — cornstarch, tapioca and sweet potato starch — are just as easy to find. Look carefully at the label so you get potato starch, not potato flour.
Potato Starch FAQ
What is the best substitute for potato starch?
Cornstarch, used 1:1, is the best all-round swap — it thickens, velvets and fries much like potato starch, just with a slightly less crackly crust and a bit more heat-stability in sauces. For the crispiest fried coating, sweet potato starch or tapioca starch (both 1:1) are excellent, and rice flour makes a coating that stays crisp even after saucing.
Can I use cornstarch instead of potato starch for frying?
Yes. Cornstarch is the standard 1:1 substitute and fries up crisp — just slightly less shatter-crisp and long-lasting than potato starch. To close the gap, blend cornstarch with a little rice flour or sweet potato starch, or double-fry the food (fry once, rest, fry again) for a crunchier, more durable crust.
Is potato starch the same as potato flour?
No, and they're not interchangeable. Potato starch is the pure extracted starch — light, white and flavorless. Potato flour is ground from whole dried potatoes — heavier, off-white and potato-flavored. Using potato flour where a recipe wants potato starch makes coatings dense and sauces gluey. For Chinese recipes (and most others), you want potato starch.
Is potato starch gluten-free?
Yes. Potato starch is naturally gluten-free, as are its usual substitutes — cornstarch, tapioca starch, sweet potato starch, and rice flour. That makes any of them a safe thickener or frying coating for gluten-free Chinese cooking, as long as the rest of the dish (soy sauce especially) is also gluten-free.
What makes potato starch fry so crispy?
Its large, pure starch granules form a thin, glassy shell that dehydrates fast in hot oil and shatters when you bite it — crispier and longer-lasting than a flour coating. Sweet potato starch does the same with an even craggier texture. For the best results, coat the food lightly, fry at around 350°F, and double-fry for extra crunch.
Recipes that use potato starch
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