6 Salt Alternatives In Cooking

August 5, 2023

Cutting back on salt doesn’t mean you need to sacrifice flavour. In fact, healthy, home-cooked meals can not only be made with quality ingredients but packed with flavours as well. No matter if you’re an experienced chef or new to cooking, you have many different alternatives to using salt.

How To Flavour Food Without Salt

In case you are wondering how to flavour without salt, you have many different options.

#1: Add acids:

When you are looking for healthy cooking, vinegars and citrus fruits such as limes and lemons play a huge role. After all, they don’t only act like salt but they can also help bring out the flavours of the ingredients you are using. You can add them to sauces, dressings, vegetable side dishes, salads, dips, and even chilies.

#2: Dried spices and dried herbs:

When most people think about what is the best seasoning to replace salt, they immediately think of spices and herbs. And they are completely right.

When you are looking to add real flavour to curries, stews, and sauces, you may want to use some warm spices like coriander, cumin , or even smoked paprika. In the case of dried herbs, keep in mind that they are usually more intense than fresh herbs. Some great additions to seasoning meat include tarragon or sage.

One of the things that you should keep in mind when you are using dried spices and dried herbs is that they taste better when they are cooked. This means that you should add them either at the beginning or during cooking to get the best flavour.

#3: Fresh herbs:

If you prefer to use fresh herbs instead of dried ones, you have pretty good options as well. But in this case, you should wait to add them just at the end of cooking so that they don’t lose their fresh flavour. Some great alternatives to using salt include coriander, mint, basil, and parsley.

#4: Stock:

When you are looking on how to flavour rice without salt, you can use a 50:50 blend of salt-reduced chicken or vegetarian stock and water, for example. Notice that if you’re using powdered stock, you should add more water than what the instruction says.

#5: Be careful with sauces:

There’s no question that sauces like sweet soy, hoisin, black bean, fish sauce, and soy are packed with a lot of flavour. However, they are usually very high in salt. But this doesn’t mean that you can’t use them at all. You may look for salt-reduced alternatives and dilute these sauces with water. You will still get great flavour.

#6: Onions and garlic:

Onions and garlic have been used for seasoning food for thousands of years. And there are plenty of reasons. They aren’t only extremely healthy as they can add great flavour to your dishes. When you are looking for depth and savour, you can try to cook them slowly at the beginning of a dish. On the other hand, spring onions and chives are perfect to add fresh flavour at the end of cooking.

How To Make Flavourful Food Without Salt – Extra Tips

For dry meat, you can mix brown sugar with savoury spices.

Use marinades made of different kinds of vinegar such as balsamic, flavoured, cider, rice, or even wine vinegar.

Tender meat by using a marinade made of plain yogurt mixed with seasonings.

Herb-infused oils or season oil can be drizzled on bread, veggies, meat, pasta, and rice.

Add a glaze to your meat or roasted vegetables with maple syrup, preserves, honey, or jams.

Here are 4 FREE, salt alternative delicious recipe blends. To help flavour your food without using salt. Click here 4 FREE recipe blend ideas.