Culinario › Fix this dish

Too salty? Here's how to fix it

You over-salted, and you can taste it.

Then taste again

Do not try to hide salt with sugar; increase the unsalted portion instead.

Why this works

You cannot remove salt, but you can lower its concentration with unsalted volume.

It depends what you're cooking

The move above works anywhere. These are the versions worth knowing when the dish is specific — the ratio you can change differs by what's in the pan.

Soup or sauce

Stir in a small splash of unsalted stock or water, then taste again.

Pasta or grains

Fold in more unsalted pasta, rice, or sauce to spread the salt across more food.

Vegetables

Add more unseasoned vegetables, or pair each bite with a plain grain.

Meat or fish

Slice it and serve each bite with an unsalted sauce, grain, or vegetables.

Do not add sugar or rinse the cooked protein; change the ratio on the plate instead.

Baked dish

Balance each serving with an unsalted component; salt cannot be removed once baked in.

You can't remove salt — only change the ratio

This is the fix people get wrong most often. The instinct is to simmer it down and concentrate the flavour, but reducing removes water, not salt, so an over-salted pot gets saltier. Every move that works does the same thing: adds unsalted volume.