What to Do If You Over-Salt Your Food

There is no going back when you've over-salted your food, you might think. But you'd be wrong.

With the holidays around the corner, cooking mishaps are inevitable. Many over-salted foods, however, can be saved from dried-out disaster. Read on for tips and tricks from chefs who've found ways to salvage their salty mistakes.

Meat

If you've over-salted a steak or chicken you've popped into a pan or placed on a grill, you can pull it back off the heat and give it a salt-cleansing bath, so to speak, says Raymond Southern, chef-owner of Kingfish at West Sound on Washington'a Orcas Island. Rinse the meat using hot water, "give it a really quick re-grill or sear, let it rest, and then serve," Southern says.

But if your rinsing rescue mission fails, you can still save the meat by slicing and tossing it into a hardy salad, suggests Massachusetts chef Jim Booth. Using frisée, cabbage, or romaine will help your salad stand up to the heavy meat, he says, while adding a mild cheese like mozzarella to the mix will balance the salad.

Vegetables

If you find you've over-salted any vegetables you've sautéed with butter or oil, bring them back from the brink of salty disaster by pureeing them. "Over-seasoned vegetables can get a new life as a puree that you can fold into pastas or stuff in raviolis, or as a base for a great dip," says Mike Friedman, chef of The Red Hen and All Purpose in Washington, D.C.

For example, "let's say your broccoli is over-seasoned," he says. "Throw it in the food processor with sour cream, mayonnaise, garlic powder, onion powder, and chives" to make an impromptu dip to save for your next get-together — or enjoy as a late-night snack.

Soups

There's nothing like too much salt to ruin chicken noodle soup. But there's an easy pantry-staple fix to this problem: Grab a potato, any potato, quarter it, and toss it into your pot. As Booth explains, the potato will absorb some of the salt in the broth. Just remove the potato as soon as it's cooked through. Or, grab a handful of cooked beans, puree them, and use them to thicken your soup, he advises.

If you're already cooking a pureed soup, like potato soup, it's time to double your recipe, says Southern. "Blend in more of whatever the soup is — potatoes, spinach, zucchini — and also add more stock," he instructs, until the taste returns to a salt level you can stand.

Pasta

You know you should add salt to your pasta cooking water, but too much of the salty liquid can destroy a dish, even after the pasta is drained. So, if you fear you've over-salted your pasta water, drain the farfalle or linguine, then rinse it under cold water, which will stop its cooking and cleanse it of excess salt, says Lorenzo Boni, executive chef of Barilla.

Already added your pasta to a sauce? Then add some sweetness with fresh or canned tomatoes, tomato juice or tomato paste, fresh basil, sautéed zucchini, bell peppers, or mushrooms, depending on what will most complement your pasta dish, Boni recommends.

Seafood

Once you've salted your fish — say, a nice salmon fillet or a cod — you have to cook it right away. If not, "you'll pull out a lot of moisture in the fish, making it dry and unpleasant," warns Booth. That means if you've over-salted your fish, you have to jump into action ASAP.

Poaching fish, such as salmon, in a flavorful but unseasoned broth is a super simple way to save your over-salted uncooked fillet, he says. But if you already baked, broiled, fried, or otherwise cooked your fish, you'll have to repurpose it. Think fish cakes, the less expensive version of crab cakes, made with a little mayo, breadcrumbs, and potatoes — all ingredients that will help absorb or reduce the saltiness of the fish, suggests Booth.