Kosher salt is a coarse-grained salt that has been used for centuries. It is popular among chefs and home cooks for its ability to add flavor to many types of dishes.
However, kosher salt does not have a high level of iodine, which is what gives table salt its distinctive taste. This means that kosher salt is often not the best option for people who are on low-sodium diets or those with thyroid conditions like hypothyroidism.
If you’re looking for an alternative to kosher salt, here are six substitutes that you can use instead:
- Table Salt
- Sea Salt
- Pickling Salt
- Himalayan pink salt
- Soy Sauce
- Fleur de sel
What Is Kosher Salt?
Large, flaky, and gritty grains are characteristic of Kosher salt, which is derived from natural salt sources. A rabbi has approved this particular salt for use in preparing kosher meals. As well as sodium chloride or potassium chloride, many additional minerals are sometimes added to improve the taste or texture.
You’ll find this salt in a wide variety of dishes from Jewish to Middle Eastern to Indian. In the United States, it is also widely used for cooking. Due to its robust taste and versatility, kosher salt has replaced conventional table salt as the favored seasoning in many households. It’s a great option for anyone watching their salt intake.
In most grocery stores, you can get Kosher salt. Many stores offer it for purchase online as well.
Some recipes call for kosher salt by name when it comes time to cook. Will you please explain the distinction, if any? Even while table salt and kosher salt seem similar to us, they are really made using distinct substances and methods.
Best Substitutes for Kosher Salt
1. Table Salt
Table salt is made by processing mined rock salt through a series of steps until it becomes a fine powder. It can be used in place of kosher salt when cooking or baking, but keep in mind that it contains additives that impart sodium chloride flavor to foods.
You may want to use less than the recipe calls for if you use table salt instead of kosher because it’s already salted and doesn’t need additional seasoning.
2. Sea Salt
Sea salts are another good substitute for kosher salt because they’re also coarse and pure with no additives or anti-caking agents.
They also have a similar taste to kosher salt and will add flavor to your dishes just as well as the real thing would have done.
The only downside is that they tend to be more expensive than kosher salt because they come from smaller deposits of rock salt rather than large mines like those used for table and other common types of sea salts.
3. Pickling Salt
Granulated sodium chloride is known as pickling salt, often known as canning salt or preserving salt. It’s a well-known method for producing and preserving pickles, which is how it got its moniker. It’s a great substitute for kosher salt since it doesn’t include any fillers like anti-caking agents or iodine like many other salts.
The tiny granular size makes it ideal for use in pickling brine. This salt lacks the huge granules of kosher salt and hence may not be the ideal choice when looking to garnish or finish a meal. Nonetheless, it may be substituted in dishes that normally need kosher salt.
Pickling salt may be used as a salt alternative in recipes where regular salt is not called for because of its ability to preserve a crisp texture. Equally, pickling salt is the best option if you need the salt to dissolve rapidly.
It is possible to use 1 ¼ or 1 ½ teaspoon of pickling salt in place of 1 teaspoon of kosher salt. In addition, this replacement may be used for koshering purposes. It is the relative weights of the salts that will dictate how much of each is used throughout the pickling fermentation process.
4. Himalayan pink salt
Himalayan pink salt may be just the thing to give your dish the last polish it needs. It is a big grain salt that may also add visual appeal to your food. It has the same crunch as kosher salt because to its big grains.
The pink hue of this particular salt comes from minute particles of rust. Like the other varieties of salt mentioned above, it contains iron oxide and small quantities of other minerals.
5. Soy Sauce
Unfortunately, not everyone appreciates the unique flavor of soy sauce. Those who aren’t so keen on soy sauce’s flavor might nonetheless use the liquid as a suitable replacement for kosher salt.
The high sodium content in soy sauce is responsible for its salty taste. It is important to use soy sauce sparingly since a single tablespoon contains around 920 milligrams of salt.
Nowadays, soy sauce is often used in place of salt in marinades for meat. Since soy sauce is liquid while salt is solid, you don’t have to dissolve the salt to have a uniform coating when using the soy sauce.
Take into account the proportion of soy sauce to kosher salt if you want to use it in place of kosher salt in a recipe.
6. Fleur de sel
Fleur de sel (French for “flower of salt”) is a type of cooking salt that is produced by hand-harvesting sea salt crystals from coastal marshes in France. The crystals are then dried in the sun for about three months before being packaged for sale.
Fleur de sel has a very low moisture content and contains less sodium chloride than common table salt or kosher salt; however, it has a distinctive flavor that makes it ideal for pasta dishes, vegetables and seafood dishes.
Fleur de sel also adds a delicate crunchiness to baked goods like cookies or cakes because it dissolves quickly while they’re in the oven.
Conclusion
Now that you know the best substitutes for kosher salt, it’s time to start stocking up on these alternatives.
The best substitute for kosher salt is the one that you like and can use in the same way as the kosher salt you’re used to using. Just remember that all of these alternatives should be measured by weight, not volume, so be sure to keep this in mind!
If you want to avoid having to measure out your salt every time you cook, consider looking into some of our favorite kitchen scales. They’ll make cooking and baking much easier for you!