Adding too much salt to a dish is a common mistake we all have made at least once in our lives. But luckily, there are simple ways that you can use to fix too much salt in your food. Now you can save them instead of dumping them in the trash!
So, if you ever savored too much salt in meals during your taste check, use the following ways to fix them They are:
- Add acid-based ingredients
- Dilution
- Use cream-based ingredients
- Sometimes sugar works!
- Starchy absorption
- Integrate your salty dish with something mild
- Soaking
Each remedy could work differently depending on the dish. So, keep reading to learn more!
How To Fix Too Much Salt? 7 Simple Ways To Balance The Taste
Salt is the universal seasoning that most dishes cannot go without. But, usually we tend to worry thinking that it is a mistake which cannot be reversed, whenever we’ve oversalt something we cooked.
So, we are sure you haven’t tried these methods that will rescue your dishes from getting ruined completely! Just check these out and let us know how they worked for you.
01- Add Acid-Based Ingredients
Counterbalancing the flavors can be one of the most effective ways to fix too much salt. And this method can actually work well with many savory dishes.
Accordingly, acid-based ingredients like regular white vinegar, lime juice, or lemon juice can neutralize the excessive saltiness in your dish. Moreover, you can also use balsamic vinegar, particularly for beef-based recipes.
And if you oversalted your sauce or any liquid-based dish, you can throw in some extra tomatoes. Tomatoes are watery and have a balanced flavor. Thus, it will help you counteract the saltiness.
02- Dilution
Dilution or infusion is another fix that would work primarily with liquid-based dishes. Imagine that you mistakenly dropped a whole lot of salt into your soup or stew when trying to shake it from the container. In this situation, you can try to scoop out the salt using a large spoon if it is not diluted.
But, sometimes, you can be seconds late since salt can dissolve easily. At this point, dilution can come to your recovery! If you are working with a soup, you can add more stock or water to counterbalance the situation.
However, this will make your dish more watery and extend the time of simmering. Therefore, you can use a thickener like corn starch to eliminate this problem. Depending on the quantity of your dish, dissolve cornstarch with some cold water and dilute it gradually in the soup or stew.
03- Use Cream-Based Ingredients
Creamy elements can tone down extra saltiness and give more texture to certain food. You can simply use mashed avocado, coconut cream, half and half, whipped cream, heavy cream, sour cream, yogurt, etc.
This remedy works better with salad dressings, salads, certain fillings, and even cream sauces. In addition, you can add some more coconut milk, especially if you have oversalted curries like Thai chicken curry, Indian mixed vegetable curry, slow-cooked beef curry, etc.
Ricotta cheese is another possible ingredient that you can use if you need to fix too much salt in your ricotta gnocchi, ricotta salads, dips, etc. Unlike other cheese varieties, it has a low-sodium level and a rich texture that will function as a perfect strategy for fixing excessive saltiness.
04- Sometimes Sugar Works!
There are literally no homes without sugar! So, can sugar balance excessive salt in your dish? Well, you have to be extra cautious if you are using this element since too much sugar can end up with an odd sweet dish.
So, always go with pinches, and you can use both brown and white sugar. Make sure to do a taste test each time you add a pinch so that you can track the change of taste. In addition to regular sugar, you can also go with honey, maple syrup, or even sugar substitutes like stevia.
05- Starchy Absorption
Using slices of potatoes or small whole potatoes in an oversalted liquid-based dish is a remedy that hails from ancient times. In fact, the starch in potatoes absorbs the extra brininess and helps to balance the taste of your curry, soup, sauce, or stew.
In addition, you can also try this with other starchy food like rice or pasta. However, we could discard the potato used in an oversalted dish. But if we use pasta or rice, they usually become a part of that particular dish.
Therefore, go for rice or pasta only if you really need them to be an ingredient of that recipe or if you know that it could be discarded if not required.
Another possible starchy solution is to use dough balls. They also could work similarly to potatoes in liquid-based dishes, and you can always discard them later.
If you combine good flavors, food turns into an orchestra.
Joey Fatone
06- Integrate Your Salty Dish With Something Mild
This is actually more like a trick than a tip! And this method works best with the dishes that have not been entirely ruined by too much salt but with the ones that you feel like saltiness is a little too much.
So, if you mistakenly came up with something that tastes more salty, serve mildly flavored food with it. For example, whole wheat bread, plain rice, flatbread, and fresh salads are ideal.
But remember, this trick always depends on the dish that has been slightly oversalted. Mild servings are specifically good to go with saltier dishes like curries or stir-fries. You can serve some lemon-infused water since sometimes too much sodium can end up in an excessive urge to drink water.
07- Soaking
Soaking doesn’t actually work while you cook. But it could be a solution to neutralize the saltiness in some pre-packaged, processed food.
Assume that you need to remove the excess salt in bacon, ham, corned beef, or pork you bought from the store. In this instance, you can let it sit in clean water for about an hour or two. Consequently, this process will allow the additional salt to seep into the water.
Do Not Panic- Try These Methods To Fix Too Much Salt!
We can’t advise you on balancing life, but we can definitely teach you how to balance the taste of your food! So, whenever you drop some additional salt in your dish, use recovery methods like adding acid-based/cream-based ingredients, diluting, using sugar, etc. And make sure to let us know which one you tried!
