How To Make Food Less Salty: 6 Easy Ways

Here's what to do if you oversalted your dish.

There might not be anything more disappointing than spending an entire day preparing a meal, only to sit down and realize that it has been oversalted. Perhaps you added too much salt unknowingly, or worse—the lid to the salt fell off mid-pour and dumped half the container directly into your meal.

However it happened, figuring out ways to quickly neutralize salt and salvage your meal is now a top priority, particularly if you're getting ready to serve a crowd. Here are six quick fixes for making something less salty, as well as tips from a registered dietitian for cooking with salt.

Meet The Expert

Chelsea Edwards is a registered dietitian and the owner of Huntsville Nutrition Collective in Huntsville, Alabama

Tips To Avoid Using Too Much Salt

Yes, it's happened to us all. Even the biggest fans of seasoning can oversalt a meal, especially when recipes aren't specific about how much salt to use.

“When you add salt at the beginning of cooking, the salt penetrates the food and makes it taste salty throughout,” says Chelsea Edwards, a registered dietitian and owner of Huntsville Nutrition Collective. “When you salt food at the end, the food will have a more concentrated salt flavor that is sensed immediately.”

Edwards says that the best way to make food less salty is to add the salt at the end as a finishing touch rather than early in the cooking process. "This increases the perception and sensation of salt when you eat the food, rather than having salt absorbed throughout all the food you're eating," she says. Here are some other tips for reducing the saltiness of your meal:

• Drain and rinse canned goods to reduce some of the sodium content.

• Umami substances such as glutamate, inosinate, and guanylate can be used in place of salt to add a savory flavor, which often reduces the need for salt in foods to make them palatable.

• Make sure to use the correct salt (table, Kosher, sea salt, etc) while cooking.
  

Six Easy Ways To Make Your Meal Less Salty

If it's too late and you've been overly enthusiastic with the salt shaker, read on the best methods for making your food less salty:

1. Scoop Out The Salt

If over salting is a result of an accidental dump thanks to a loose cap, try scooping away the salt to salvage the recipe. If it’s a soup or liquid dish, use a spoon to gently remove excess salt. If it’s a piece of meat, wipe away excess salt and pat the meat dry using a paper towel.

2. Add An Acid

Adding an acid like lemon juice can balance an abundance of salty flavor in food, but be careful of adding too much and destroying flavors. “You can add something acidic, such as lemon juice, lime juice, apple cider vinegar, or processed tomato products to foods to reduce the salty flavor,” says Edwards. “This doesn't reduce the sodium intake, but it does reduce the perception of the salty flavor.”

3. Use Dairy

The fat found in dairy can create a barrier by coating your tongue’s taste buds, which helps to neutralize the salt. Dairy products to consider for use in recipes include: heavy cream, cream cheese, milk, sour cream, mayonnaise, and soft cheeses.

4. Increase The Recipe

This tactic might be a reach if you have purchased just enough ingredients to create your meal, but if there are extra ingredients, use them to increase the recipe and balance the salty flavor.

5. Toss In Potatoes

Raw potatoes can absorb liquid and the salt in the liquid, reducing the immediate perception on the tongue of salt.  “It helps by reducing the immediate salt flavor you would get by redistributing it through the potato,” explains Edwards.

6. Sprinkle In Sugar

Believe it or not, a spoonful of sugar helps the recipe get balanced. Adding a pinch of sugar can help to balance and neutralize an over salted dish. When adding sugar to any recipe, be sure to add just a small amount at a time, stirring thoroughly, and doing a taste test before adding more.

Related: How To Fix Salty Soup, According To The Professionals

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