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Even if you are a very experienced housewife, you probably sometimes have such a nuisance as over-salted dishes, in particular soups or borscht. As a rule, this happens if you use fine salt; it is quite difficult to calculate, since it has a richer taste. While under-salted soup can be salted to your own taste at any time, fixing an over-salted dish is much more difficult. Nevertheless, both at the stage of preparing soup or borscht, and immediately before serving, the dish can still be adjusted. We will tell you what to do in the article.
What products can help if you accidentally oversalt your soup?
Many will offer the option of simply adding water to the over-salted soup, but this will change the taste of the dish and make it less rich. If you have unsalted broth left, it will help get out of the situation. And if you don’t want to lose the richness of taste, use our tips.
If the soup is too salty and you don’t want to dilute it, simply add some product to the pan that absorbs excess salt from the broth
If you are just preparing soup or borscht, you can add some products to the pan that will absorb excess salt. These include:
1. Rice. If you are making regular soup, you can add rice to it. And if such an ingredient is not provided or you do not want the soup to be too thick, wrap the rice in a special cooking bag, gauze or a clean white cloth made of natural material. Tie a knot tightly and place the rice in the pan.
The amount of rice should be calculated according to the degree of salting, or taste the dish while it is cooking. If rice is included in the list of soup ingredients, add another 2-3 tablespoons of cereal in addition to those indicated in the recipe. This is enough to prevent the soup from becoming too thick. If you use a bag, then take more rice - 5–7 tablespoons.
2. Flour. The principle of operation here will be the same, but the flour will need to be wrapped tightly in cloth or many layers of gauze.
Without a bag, flour can be safely added to thick stews or puree soups, after mixing with a small amount of broth in a separate bowl. Only when the mixture becomes homogeneous should it be added to the pan.
3. Potato. Take a few raw potatoes (depending on the volume of the pan and the degree of salting) and, after cutting them, put them in the soup. If you are making potato soup, then this remedy will be ideal. If this ingredient is clearly superfluous in the finished dish, then you can also use a gauze bag. In this case, the potatoes may not be fully cooked; 10 minutes of boiling will suffice.
Keep in mind that potatoes not only absorb salt, but also change the flavor of the broth.
4. A raw egg. If such an ingredient is appropriate in your soup, crack the chicken egg directly into the boiling pan. But if you don't like the appearance of the egg in the soup, then take a small sieve, crack the egg into it and wait until it cooks. Then remove the sieve.
5.Rye bread. If your soup is too salty, brown bread can help. Take the slices and lower them into the pan, using a sieve if possible. We wait until they get wet and take them out. Repeat the procedure until the soup acquires the desired taste.
6. Sugar. A rather strange ingredient for soups, but it can save the situation. It is best to take lump sugar. It should be placed in a ladle and carefully lowered into the pan. As soon as the sugar begins to dissolve, immediately remove the ladle. Taste the soup; if there is still too much salt, repeat the procedure.
If you are cooking borscht, one piece of sugar can be left in the pan; it will only give the borscht an even richer taste.
Photo gallery: products that absorb excess salt
Rice
Flour
Potato
Chicken eggs
Rye bread
Sugar
Pasta
Important! When using flour, remember that the broth will become cloudy or white.
What to do if the dish is already ready
It happens that you discover oversalting only before serving the dish. There are also a number of practical tips for this case:
1. Depending on the type of dish, try adding a little acid, you can use lemon juice or fruit vinegar.
If the recipe allows, add a tablespoon of tomato paste to the soup to add sourness.
2. When serving, the soup can be flavored with sour cream; we guarantee that no one will notice that it is too salty.
When sour cream is not available, you can add cream, especially if it is pickle soup or vegetable puree soup.
3. Fry pieces of rye or rye-wheat bread in a dry frying pan or in a toaster without adding salt. When serving, add the resulting croutons to each serving.
4. Finely chop fresh herbs - dill, cilantro, parsley, basil. Add to plates before serving; this measure will also help to slightly remove the effect of over-salting.
Photo gallery: products that will help correct oversalting when serving a dish
Rye crackers or toast
Cream
Sour cream
Apple or grape vinegar
Lemon juice or lemon slice
Any fresh herbs
Tomato paste
Important! Salt also comes in different varieties, and by choosing it correctly, you will avoid oversalting in the future. Rock salt is the most common and is beneficial to the body in moderation. Evaporated salt has a saltier taste, but is devoid of beneficial substances, like “Extra” salt. Sea salt is the healthiest, and its consumption in the kitchen is minimal, since it is more evenly distributed in dishes.
Pea or borscht - a lot depends on the soup
You need to choose a method for saving soup in accordance with common sense and the recipe, depending on what kind of soup you are cooking.
- The easiest way to add noodle soup is to add pasta or finely grate fresh potatoes.
- Add a little lemon juice or unsweetened tomato paste to the cabbage soup and borscht.
- You should beat an egg into chicken, pea, bean, mushroom soups, and especially into green cabbage soup.
- Adding sour cream when serving will be optimal for cabbage soup, mushroom soup, solyanka, and borscht.
- Cream is best suited for pureed soups.
- Tomato soups, solyankas, pickles or fresh cold summer soups such as Spanish gazpacho should be acidified with lemon juice or vinegar.
Video: how to fix oversalting
Video: saving over-salted dishes
Remember that any problem can be solved, but it is better to avoid over-salting your dishes. Salt the soup or borscht only a little at the beginning of cooking, and at the end - only after carefully tasting it. We hope that our tips will help you avoid problems in the culinary field!
There is only half an hour left before the guests arrive, and having dressed up, you quickly try the salad prepared according to a long-proven recipe, but suddenly you realize that the dish is too salty... Tragedy? Catastrophe? Nothing like this! In no case should you panic, because food that seemed hopelessly spoiled can easily become not only edible again, but also surprisingly tasty. To fix everything, you just need to enlist the support of experienced chefs who will offer you simple tips, some of which are presented below.
What to do if you over-salted the soup?
It is known that even the most aromatic and richly flavored soup can lose its invaluable qualities if it is over-salted. However, in the case of this particular dish, there are three ways to cope with the problem.
1. Sugar is the best enemy of salt.
The simplest thing you can do is add a pinch of sugar to over-salted soup. No matter how strange it may look, it is sugar that can most quickly cope with the problem that has arisen, being a contrasting flavoring substance that can not only eliminate excess salt, but also enhance your taste sensations when eating the saved soup.
2. More liquid!
Another method, also widely used by cooks, is no less simple: you need to add unsalted broth or just boiled water to the soup. The best option, of course, would be broth, and not because adding it may just seem more natural, but for the reason that it is the broth that will mix with the other ingredients in a matter of minutes and you will immediately understand whether you need to continue adding to the soup liquid, or it no longer seems over-salted. Water, unlike broth, will take some time to mix properly with the soup, and it is possible that after adding water and tasting the soup again, you will not notice any difference and decide to keep adding more. But in fact, you should just wait and only then take the sample. It is possible that much water will not be required.
Of course, this option is unlikely to suit those of us who like to fill the pot with soup to the very brim.
3. Potatoes, but not as an ingredient.
This third option, no less effective and simple, will suit everyone. The method is to peel a raw potato and place it in the soup. Keep the potatoes in the soup for as long as possible, until the time comes to pour it into plates. Potatoes will perfectly absorb excess salt.
What to do if you over-salt your mashed potatoes?
Of course, the simplest solution to this problem would be to add some more unsalted boiled potatoes, mashed into a puree, but if you don’t have the opportunity to increase the amount of the prepared dish, then unsalted butter will help you.
Most of us prefer to eat mashed potatoes with a piece of butter added to it, but few people know that this product not only makes the mashed potatoes more tender and thick in consistency, but also muffles the feeling of salty taste in it.
What to do if you over-salt the rice?
In this case, the best thing you can do is to rinse the rice with as much cold water as possible. The colder the water, the more effective this rinsing will be. Washed rice will become more attractive in appearance and fluffy, and at the same time will lose excess salt.
What to do if you over-salted porridge, buckwheat and other cereals?
If the porridge was cooked in milk, you can get rid of the problem very simply: just add a little more milk - and the problem is solved! But if we are talking about non-dairy porridges, or any other cooked cereal, such as buckwheat, then the best solution would be to use potatoes.
Unlike the measures taken in the case of over-salted soup, to eradicate this problem, you should cut the raw potatoes into large cubes. Only then will she be able to properly absorb the excess salt from the cooked cereal, which differs from the soup in being much thicker. When, after tasting the porridge, you are convinced that it is edible, simply remove the potato pieces from it and throw them away as unnecessary.
What to do if you over-salted meat, chicken or fish?
Undoubtedly, the case of over-salted meat is one of the most difficult, and most likely we will have no choice but to sacrifice the taste of the dish in order to save it from the trash can. You should remove the pieces of meat from the vessel in which they were stewed, remove them from the frying pan or from the baking sheet, and then rinse them with cold water and keep them on the fire for some more time. This is the only way to get rid of the feeling that the dish is too salty.
In the case of slightly over-salted fish that has been grilled, lemon can often help a lot. Pour lemon juice over the fish and enjoy its rich taste, forgetting about excess salt.
What to do if you over-salted the cutlets?
In such a situation, you can advise adding some kind of sauce to the cutlets, which would somehow brighten up their eating, and you can also use various herbs and spices, such as oregano, celery, dill, pepper, basil, cumin.
What to do if the salad is too salty?
The simplest solution is to double the amount of ingredients used. If for some reason this is not possible, then it makes sense to add onions and celery to the salad. It is these products, thanks to their texture and taste, that can overcome excess salt in any salad. A little lemon juice will also help, as will spicy ingredients like cayenne or mustard.
Did you oversalt? Don't be upset, this is a good omen
Over-salted food is one of the most unpleasant culinary blunders. It’s especially disappointing if you had to work hard on a dish for a long time, and only one awkward movement ruined all your efforts. If this happens, we will tell you how to fix an over-salted dish later, don’t rush to give up, almost any treat can be revived and saved from an unfortunate incident.
How to fix an over-salted dish or over-salted soup
If you accidentally oversalted the soup, do not rush to dilute it with water: this will completely ruin the taste, and the broth may become cloudy. The easiest and most affordable ways to fix over-salted soup and save the situation:
- Place a bag of rice in the pan and cook for a few minutes. The cereal will not affect the taste or color of the soup, but it will quickly absorb excess salt, and you will get a tasty first course and a ready-made side dish.
- If there is no rice in bags, you can put a few potatoes in the soup and cook a little too.
- A good way to improve the situation is to add 250 ml to the soup. cream or milk, of course, if the recipe allows it. With dishes that contain tomatoes, lemon juice or vinegar, this trick will not work, since the dairy products will curdle under the influence of acid, but in all other recipes the taste of the soup will become even better than before.
How to fix an over-salted second course - meat, poultry or fish
If the second dish turns out to be too salty, you will have to tinker a little longer.
- To neutralize excess salt in meat, poultry or fish, you can put them in a saucepan, add vegetables, mushrooms, a little water and sour cream, and then simmer under the lid until cooked. The result is a magnificent stew with a delicate and balanced taste, moderately salty and appetizing.
- Another way To fix the situation is to use over-salted meat as a filling for pies: grind it in a meat grinder, add a little rice or vegetables, prepare unleavened dough and bake in the oven. It turns out very tasty!
How to fix over-salted minced meat
To correct the taste of over-salted minced meat, it can be diluted with another portion of the same minced meat. How else can you correct over-salted minced meat - add grated zucchini, cabbage or potatoes, cooked rice until half cooked and prepare wonderful meatballs.
Over-salted stew can be saved with tomatoes and other vegetables: carrots and onions. How to fix an over-salted dish - peel the tomatoes and grate them, also grate the carrots, and cut the onions into small cubes. Add this to the stew and simmer for about ten minutes. Vegetables will absorb excess salt and restore the correct taste balance, and the dish will become more interesting and healthy. You can also add a little sour cream or prepare an additional portion of unleavened flour sauce - the stew will only benefit from this!
What to do if you oversalt a dish, video
If the soup is too salty
First of all, there are a few rules that should be followed to prevent over-salting:
- Cool the soup taken for testing, and in a wooden, not a metal spoon, which heats up and remains hot even when the soup in it has cooled.
- Never taste soup from the top layer of fat, but always scoop the sample liquid from the middle of the pan.
- Fat floating on the surface, upon contact with the mucous membrane, immediately solidifies and protects the taste organs from salt getting on them.
Did you over-salt the soup? Let's try to fix this...
Often, not too scrupulous housewives simply add a little water to the broth. Yes, this will save the soup from oversalting, but it will not have a very favorable effect on its taste.
However, as a last resort, you can simply pour the broth into a larger container and add boiled or carefully filtered water to the soup.
Chicken broth should not be diluted with water at all - it is better to add a little cereal or vegetables, they will draw in excess salt. Such ingredients will “pull out” excess salt from the broth and at the same time make the dish more rich.
And to prevent the dish from turning out too thick, experienced people use this trick: pour rice into a gauze bag and drop it into the broth. As a result, you will not only save the soup, but at the same time prepare a side dish for the second course.
If you don't want to put cheesecloth-wrapped cereal in your dish, another option is to use instant rice porridge packets. You just need to put them in the soup, and after a while, catch them with a ladle and throw them away. This option is suitable even if you have over-salted the dish and don’t know how to quickly correct the situation.
Don't like rice? You can replace it with potato. Place several whole tubers in the pan - removing them and turning them into a separate dish will be just as easy.
There is another solution to the problem. It is perfect if guests are already on the doorstep, and it seems that only a miracle can save you. Here is the recipe for this “miracle”: you need pour the egg white into the broth, and when it curls, catch the lumps with a spoon. Highest score for efficiency!
If you don’t have any eggs, potatoes, or rice at hand, it will help your troubles a crust of black bread: you need to keep it in the broth for about ten minutes, and then take it out. The bread can be pre-wrapped in gauze,
Be careful: if the bread gets soggy, some of the crumbs will remain in the broth. However, in some cases this may not only not harm the soup, but even significantly improve it, making it more rich, satisfying and tasty.
Replace bread with bag of flour- we get the same result. A side effect of this method is that the soup will become slightly cloudy. But if for some reason you cannot use the other methods listed above, this one will do.
The most desperate cooks struggle with excess salt... sugar. Place a piece of refined sugar in a ladle and carefully lower it into the broth. When the cube becomes loose and begins to fall apart, take it out. In a slightly sweetened broth, the oversalting will not be so noticeable - but the main thing here is not to oversweet, otherwise the soup will be completely spoiled. Therefore, it is necessary to extract the refined sugar in time, before it completely dissolves.
It’s that simple – there’s absolutely no point in getting upset. Now run to the stove to save the long-suffering soup!
If vegetables and mushrooms are too salty
There is only one way to correct over-salted vegetables (root vegetables): Mash them into a puree and add the same amount of puree from completely unsalted vegetables. Light oversalting can be corrected by adding flour, fat, sour cream, and beaten egg white to the puree.
Fill with water over-salted vegetables - boiled whole beets, carrots and potatoes - bring to a boil and keep in water for several minutes, excess salt should go away.
Over-salted fried potatoes reanimated in two ways. Adding sour cream and herbs, or frying a portion of unleavened potatoes and mixing with salted ones.
Finely chopped tomatoes help out an over-salted stew, which should be lightly sautéed, added to the stew and simmered again. Another way to save over-salted vegetables is to play with soft cheeses, such as mozzarella or ricotta. Well, you can always turn over-salted vegetables into puree, leveling out the overall taste by adding an unsalted portion of puree from the same vegetables.
Over-salted mushrooms can be corrected, adding flour, rice, mashed potatoes, sour cream, onions depending on the degree of oversalting. If there is no sour cream, you can add it to over-salted mushrooms a little water acidified with lemon.
Sometimes they add a new portion of mushrooms. Fresh mushrooms, of course, do not absorb excess salt, but, evenly mixed with salted ones, they create the illusion of a lightly salted dish.
Sauerkraut drain in a colander and rinse with cold water.
Salted cucumbers place in cold water and soak them for 15-20 minutes.
If meat or fish is over-salted
Simply mix the over-salted minced meat with boiled rice, unsalted mashed potatoes, grated zucchini, carrots and onions. This stuffing filling will make the taste of the dish softer and the cutlets more tender.
Over-salting of meat is relatively easy to eliminate when adding unleavened flour or butter sauce, which instantly draws the salt onto itself. Such a quick effect is due to the fact that the meat, due to its density, captures salt only at the periphery of the piece, especially if it is large.
In fish, salt penetrates the entire thickness of the fish body or fillet. This is usually due to its looser structure and more delicate consistency of fish meat. Therefore, it is much more difficult to correct over-salting of fish. Methods for correcting over-salting fish are similar to meat ones: unleavened flour sauce, unsalted mashed potatoes, sour cream with a lot of herbs (dill, parsley, onion). They are lightly stewed together with over-salted fish.
Did you over-salt the finished poultry dish? Don’t despair, removing excess salt is very easy, just remove all the meat from the bones, prepare the sauce without salt, put the meat in it and simmer for 5-10 minutes.
Chicken meat can be saved, additionally stewed with any vegetables.
If you over-salt raw poultry, removing the salt will help milk or water. Immerse the meat in the liquid for 15-20 minutes and it will neutralize the salt.
Over-salting meat or fish can also level out unleavened side dish of unsalted starchy foods or cereals, for example, from polenta, quinoa, mashed potatoes, rice. In this case, the overall feeling of saltiness of the dish will become more harmonious.
If herring turned out to be very salty, you should soak it in strong tea leaves for 1-2 hours.
If you have over-salted buckwheat, rice, millet, pilaf, pasta
Over-salted buckwheat or other grains drain in a colander and washed with cold water. Allow the water to drain completely, transfer to a bowl, add a little boiled water (so as not to burn), a little butter and set to simmer on low heat until the liquid evaporates and the dish is heated.
Is the rice too salty? No problem, rinse it several times in cold water.
Over-salted pilaf, can also be brought back to life. Add separately cooked rice and vegetables without salt to it, you can just add a little spices and mix with salt.
The essence of another method to get rid of over-salting in pilaf is to add soaked raisins. Stir and let the dish stand for 15 minutes, the raisins will absorb the salt.
If navy pasta turned out to be oversalted, don’t despair. There are three ways that can help remove excess salt:
- Add fresh tomato sauce.
- Boil a portion of unsalted pasta and combine with over-salted pasta, stirring thoroughly.
- Pour beaten eggs over the finished dish and fry; the eggs will remove excess salt.
If you have absolutely no time to prepare and boil something, simply serve sparkling wine or champagne with the over-salted dish - the bubbles perfectly cleanse the taste buds and “zero” the salty taste.
And most importantly, don’t be upset. With the proper skill and imagination, you can save even the most hopeless dish. In any case, the oversalting can be attributed to the fact that the cook fell in love.
Based on materials from setadra.ru, m.mirtesen.ru, kitchenmag.ru,
PS. To prevent a similar disaster from happening to you, you just need to remember that some ingredients already contain salt, for example, salted fish, mayonnaise, bacon or cheese. We must not forget about evaporation of liquid. A dish that is salted to taste will be over-salted after stewing. It is best to under-salt or under-pepper the dish at the very beginning of cooking, and finally season it with salt and seasonings at the very end to the desired taste, rather than shifting the salt and seasonings, thereby creating extra work for yourself.
By the way, it is believed that if you salt a cooked dish after it has already been cooked, the negative effects of salt on the body will be neutralized. That is, do not add salt to boiling liquid: salt the potatoes after they have already been cooked, but still in the water, salt the soup after you have turned it off and left it to steep. The same goes for sauces. With pasta in this regard it is a little more difficult, since here a sense of proportion comes with practice.
If you happen to over-salt your food, remember that any greens absorb salt well. You can add a large amount of dill, parsley, and remove excess greens after cooking.
You can also experiment with the acidity and sweetness of the dish. For example, you can add a little sugar or citric acid to an over-salted sauce and it will become sweet and sour and delicious.
As you can see, there is always a way out of the situation, the main thing is not to lose heart and show imagination.
Enjoy your cooking and delicious dishes!
Surely everyone made this small mistake. And every time I panicked, not knowing how to save the situation, or even threw out the spoiled dish in frustration.
Under-salted on the table, over-salted....
What to do if you oversalt a dish? Surely everyone made this small mistake. And every time I panicked, not knowing how to save the situation, or even threw out the spoiled dish in frustration.
Too salty food may not only not be the healthiest for people who care about their health or are on special diets, but also simply tasteless. But any situation can be fixed. Follow our simple tips and correct the taste of the dish.
A classic problem for which our grandmothers provided so many clues. We boil 150 grams of rice or any other cereal in a gauze bag or portioned bag in over-salted broth, and then serve the same cereal, like our farm grandmothers, as a side dish.
No rice? We use 2-3 raw potatoes or any noodles - all these ingredients are excellent at removing salt. We make sure that they are not overcooked, otherwise our clear broth risks becoming cloudy.
You can also add whipped egg whites to the soup and then remove it with a slotted spoon or experiment with adding sugar; unfortunately, too much salting cannot be saved with sugar.
If vegetables and mushrooms are too salty
Pour water over the salted vegetables - boiled whole beets, carrots and potatoes - bring to a boil and hold in the water for several minutes, the excess salt should go away. But mashed potatoes can be saved by adding an egg to it.
An over-salted stew is helped out by finely chopped tomatoes, which should be lightly sautéed, added to the stew and simmered again. Another way to save over-salted vegetables is to play with soft cheeses, such as mozzarella or ricotta. Well, you can always turn over-salted vegetables into puree, leveling out the overall taste by adding an unsalted portion of puree from the same vegetables.
But over-salted mushrooms will feel better with the addition of flour, rice, mashed potatoes, sour cream or onions. You can also prepare a portion of unsalted mushrooms and mix them with over-salted ones - mushrooms are excellent at absorbing salt. And one more trick - add a small amount of water with lemon juice to the mushrooms.
If meat or fish is over-salted
Simply mix the salted minced meat with boiled rice, unsalted mashed potatoes, grated zucchini, carrots and onions. This stuffing filling will make the taste of the dish softer and the cutlets more tender.
Sour cream sauce can be a savior for over-salted meat or fish. Just marinate the meat in it for a while and then heat it up - the sauce will absorb excess salt.
Over-salting meat or fish can also even out bland side dishes of unsalted starchy foods or grains, such as polenta, quinoa, mashed potatoes, and rice. In this case, the overall feeling of saltiness of the dish will become more harmonious.
If you have absolutely no time to prepare and boil something, just serve sparkling wine or champagne with the over-salted dish - the bubbles perfectly cleanse the taste buds and “zero” the salty taste.
