Many people think they can do nothing to deal with the saltiness of a canned soup. That is not true. There are still ways to correct things when you have over-salted your soup. To do that, you have to understand the right way to reduce, remove, or neutralize the salty liquid.

How to Make Soup Less Salty

You can find a number of ways to make your soup less salty, but some methods are relatively more effective. Here are a few recommendations:

1. Dilute the Solution

A simple way to reduce saltiness of broths and other liquid dishes is to add more water to the dish. Say you have prepared a mixed curry or a Vietnamese chicken noodle soup but have added too much salt. Do not worry; just add some cold water and bring your soup back to a simmer. You can add some other ingredients to help maintain their flavor.

2. Neutralize the Saltiness

Vinegar, lemon juice, and anything acidic will work just fine. All you need is a drizzle of vinegar or a squeeze of lemon to mask the saltiness of your dish. It is even better to use white wine vinegar, but use in moderation or you will have something that is a little too salty and sour.

Or, you can consider neutralizing the saltiness of the soup by adding a teaspoon of sugar. Keep stirring in sugar a little at a time to get a desired taste.

3. Soak in Water

Another simple way to make things less salty is to soak them in water. Say you have bought some salt pork that is a little too salty. Soak it in water and leave it covered for a couple of hours. The pork will become less salty as the excess salt goes into the water.

4. Use Some Starch

Starch is yet another option on how to make soup less salty. Suppose you have made a Thai chicken curry but it is very salty. Simply take a raw potato and place it in your liquid dish. It will soak up the extra salt and make your dish less salty than before. You can also use other starchy ingredients such as rice and noodles along with some water to dilute your soup and make it less salty.

5. Use Some Cream

Another way to reduce the excess salt is to add a creamy component to your dish. The flavors will become milder with the use of cream. You can always use avocado or sour cream to help make your chicken taco less salty.

6. Make Use of Eggplant

Using eggplant is another effective way to reduce the excess salt. It absorbs liquid and salt in no time. You just need to place a medium-sized peeled eggplant into a pot of 2-3 liters of stock or soup to make it work. Be sure to leave the eggplant there on top of your soup and simmer for about half an hour, depending on how salty it is. You can also add more liquid if you have added too much of salt.

How to Prevent Over-Salting

It is possible to learn how to make soup less salty, but those methods may not always prove effective. It is therefore a better idea to learn how to prevent over-salting in the first place. Just by paying attention to a few things, you will be able to save yourself from going through the hassle of neutralizing or reducing the saltiness of your dish. Here are a few tips:

• Use kosher salt. It is a better option because it has larger crystals. The tiny grains of table salt clump come out quickly and can over-salt your dish. You will have a better control when using kosher salt. Just be sure to use kosher salt in a larger volume to get a taste because it is loosely packed. You should continue to use table salt for baking though – your dough will not work if you do not use small crystals of salt that dissolve in it completely.
• Keep your hand high up when salting your food. It means you should keep your fingers about 10 inches above the food when adding salt. This allows the salt to spread evenly across the dish and keep you from having the taste of salty clumps.
• Use salt sparingly in the recipe. You should also add a little salt when adding a new ingredient. Keep tasting the dish to ensure you have not over-salted already. It is easier to adjust while you are still cooking than a few minutes before serving time.
• Know the soup becomes more salty when the water is boiled away for 30 minutes or so. Therefore, you need to keep this point in mind when salting the dish. It is better to go light at first and then add some salt if you really need it.