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I made a mistake with my lastest batch of chicken soup, and it's too salty to eat. Is there any way to save it?

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4  
The old rule with salt is: Always err on the low side.. you can put in more later, but you cannot take it out :) – txwikinger Jul 10 '10 at 4:14

7 Answers

up vote 11 down vote accepted

Peter Martin at Chef Talk suggests adding sugar or cider vinegar. He also mentions the old potato trick but says it's not effective for him unless it's only slightly too salty.

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Interesting! What is the cider vinegar supposed to do? – Elizabeth Schechter Jul 10 '10 at 2:35
cider vinegar is acidic, salt is a base. Maybe the chemical reaction is supposed to bind some of the salt and therefore neutralize its taste? – txwikinger Jul 10 '10 at 4:13
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@Elizabeth -- it's a matter of balance; something that's both salty and sour (or salty and sweet) doesn't seem as overly salty. I've had reasonable luck with the potato trick, though. I used slices of a waxy potato to lots of surface area, but that I could still fish out. – Joe Jul 10 '10 at 11:59
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@txwikinger: actually salt is not a base, salt is a salt. Salts are what are formed when an acid reacts with a base. – Joel in Gö Jul 14 '10 at 8:45
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The reason this works is that acid tricks the tongue into perceiving less salt (or, indeed, sugar; this is why a lemon pie mixture would be unbearably sweet before you add the lemon). – daniel Aug 1 '10 at 22:50
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up vote 1 down vote

Make another batch with no salt added to it, then mix the two batches together. It's the only way to save soup that's two salted. Nothing else works.

If you need to thicken it up after mixing, use smash powder packet, and add accordingly.

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Smash powder? I'm not familiar with that. Can you give some information on what that is or provide a link? – Jay May 20 '12 at 22:28
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Do you mean Smash potato powder? That's the only thing I can find a reference to online, and it would definitely help thicken soup. – Laura Sep 26 '12 at 19:51
up vote 2 down vote

Add water and/or unsalted chicken or vegetable stock...though depending upon how over-salted your soup is, you may not be able to rescue it without a significant amount of added liquid.

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Yes, or just build on it. For a chicken soup you could add almost anything: slices of (unsalted) chicken, canned tomatoes, cream, some vegetables you like, etc. – citizen Sep 27 '12 at 0:17
up vote 7 down vote

Make a second batch of Soup and under salt it, then mix them.

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up vote 1 down vote

Adding a bunch of parsley to the soup and cooking it for another hour or so will usually work. Parsley tends to soak up the salt somehow, at least flavour wise. I'm not sure how it works, but it works for me. Especially if I've been using fake chicken stock powder (it's we use instead of chicken stock in my vegetarian household).

Anyway, a proper Jewish chicken soup should have parsley in it, so why not add more? That's what my granny taught me.

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up vote 4 down vote

A trick that works sometimes is to put a potato in it and cook it a bit. It'll tend to absorb some salt and not give flavor out.

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3  
Honestly I have tried this trick and it has never ever worked for me. I believe it is a kitchen myth. – daniel Aug 1 '10 at 19:17
Do you mean boiled or raw potatoes for this? – Mugen Oct 19 '11 at 6:52
up vote 1 down vote

Perhaps just more water, more chicken stock?

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3  
chicken stock is usually salty, so probably just water. – Bryant Jul 10 '10 at 1:55
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Canned chicken stock is usually salty. – Richard Hoskins Jul 10 '10 at 4:27

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