Salt Is a Skill: Why Most Home Cooks Get It Wrong (and How to Fix It)
If you're not seasoning your food well, you're missing out on one of the simplest and most effective ways to become a better cook. In my experience, the majority of people under-season their food — and the results are dishes that fall flat, taste bland, or just never quite hit the mark. And the biggest culprit behind all that mediocrity? Salt. Or more accurately, a lack of confidence in how to use it.
Salt is the single most important ingredient in your kitchen, and understanding how and when to use it can be the difference between “meh” and “wow.” But it’s not just about dumping it on after the fact — it’s about layering it in, knowing your sources, and using it to amplify flavours rather than overpower them.
Let’s dig into why salt gets such a bad rap, how to use it better, and why it’s not just about being a better cook — it’s about actually enjoying the food you make.
Why So Many People Undersalt Their Food
There are two main reasons people are afraid of salt:
Fear of health risks, particularly high blood pressure
Lack of confidence in their ability to season properly
Let’s talk about the second one first. A lot of people simply don’t trust themselves to get the seasoning “right,” so they go too light. They might salt something once at the beginning of cooking, and then never adjust again. Or they wait until the food is on the plate and then add a quick sprinkle — which usually does very little.
But salt isn’t just there to make food salty. It’s a flavour enhancer. It brings out the natural taste of the ingredients. A properly seasoned tomato doesn’t taste salty — it tastes more tomatoey. A well-salted loaf of bread doesn’t taste briny — it just tastes better.
Of course, there are times when we want that punch of saltiness — like a few coarse grains of fleur de sel on top of a slice of focaccia — but that’s a finishing touch, not the foundation.
Which brings us to the foundation.
Layering Flavour: How to Actually Salt While You Cook
Here’s the secret most home cooks miss: salt works best when it’s layered throughout the cooking process.
It starts with your protein. I recommend pre-salting meat in advance — the timing depends on what you're cooking:
Beef, lamb, or pork: at least 30 minutes before, ideally an hour or more
Poultry: up to 30 minutes before cooking
Seafood: just ahead of cooking
I use Windsor Salt’s “La Baleine” fine sea salt as my everyday go-to. It’s iodized, but still a sea salt — consistent, affordable, and superior in flavour to regular iodized salt. When I want an actual salty pop For finishing, I’ll go with coarse fleur de sel when I want to be fancy, or the coarse version of La Baleine when I’m being a little more budget-conscious.
As for how much?
About 1 tsp per pound of beef, lamb, or pork
About 3/4 tsp per pound for poultry
About 1/2 to 3/4 tsp per pound for seafood
But seasoning doesn’t end there. When I’m cooking a stew or a layered dish, I salt as I go:
Lightly salt the onions and aromatics as they sweat.
Add a pinch with each new round of vegetables.
Remember that your pre-salted meat doesn’t need more.
Add salt to the liquid base if it’s not already salted (like canned tomatoes or broth).
Taste and adjust near the end — not the beginning.
When salting, don’t use a shaker or sprinkle straight from the box. Use a container you can easily reach into and take a generous pinch between your thumb and first two fingers. Sprinkle from about 8–10 inches above the food so the salt spreads evenly — not in clumps or lines.
When you’re starting out, use a smaller pinch than you think you need. You can always add more later, but fixing an over-salted dish is tricky. As you get better, you’ll develop a feel for it — and your pinches will get more consistent.
Just remember: if the dish contains raw meat, don’t taste it until it’s cooked.
For what it's worth, I measured how much I "pinch" when seasoning, and it was about 1/4 teaspoon. In an entire recipe that makes 8-12 servings or more, presuming a pound and a half of pre-salted meat plus layering in several pinches of salt as I cook and when adjusting the seasoning at the end, I figure I probably use 3-4 teaspoons, tops. That would mean from 1/4 to 1/2 of a teaspoon of salt per serving.
Other Ways to Add Salt — Without Salt
Salt doesn’t always come from the shaker. You can boost saltiness (and umami) using ingredients like:
Soy sauce or tamari
Aged hard cheeses like Grana Padano, Parmesan, or Pecorino Romano
Cured meats like pancetta or prosciutto
Anchovy paste, miso, or fish sauce
These ingredients can bring depth, complexity, and that elusive “something” to your food — all while reducing the need for added salt.
What to Do If You've Over-Salted a Dish
Even experienced cooks slip up sometimes — and yes, over-salting can happen.
The good news? You’ve got options.
1. Add Unsalted Bulk:
If your dish can handle more volume, add more of the main ingredients without additional salt. More veggies, more rice, more beans — whatever fits. This helps dilute the salt concentration.
2. Dilute With Liquid:
Adding more unsalted liquid — like water, unsalted broth, or even a splash of cream or coconut milk — can help spread out the saltiness. This works well in soups, stews, sauces, and braises.
3. Add Acid:
A squeeze of lemon juice or a splash of vinegar can help balance overly salty flavours. It doesn’t reduce the actual salt content, but it can shift the perception of saltiness and restore balance.
4. Add Fat or Richness:
Sometimes, introducing more fat — butter, cream, olive oil — can mellow the sharpness of too much salt. It rounds out the edges and softens the flavour.
5. Serve It Differently:
If the dish is salvageable but still a bit too salty, serve it with a bland starch or base. Over-salted stew? Serve it over unsalted rice or mashed potatoes to offset the salt.
Over-salting doesn’t mean your dish is ruined. It just means it needs a bit of balancing — and that, too, is part of building your seasoning skill.
Salt, Health, and Why the Fear Is Overblown
Before we go further, a quick disclaimer:
Always follow the advice of your medical professional. If you’ve been told to reduce your sodium intake for medical reasons, do so. If you’re considering changing your salt intake, speak to your doctor or a registered dietitian.
For decades, salt has been treated like public enemy number one in the nutrition world. And yes, there’s truth to the idea that excess sodium can contribute to high blood pressure and that high blood pressure can contribute to cardiovascular issues — but the real culprit isn’t the pinch of salt you add to your dinner.
Where Sodium Really Comes From
Most people get over 70% of their sodium intake from processed and packaged foods, not the salt they add while cooking or eating at home. That means the food industry — not your sea salt habit — is the real driver of excessive intake.
In contrast, adding salt to home-cooked meals typically accounts for just 6–20% of total sodium intake. Unless you’re duplicating the sodium levels of fast food or canned soup at home, you’re unlikely to push into dangerous territory just by seasoning your food properly.
The Bigger Picture: Processed Foods and Health
Diets high in ultra-processed foods — which are not only high in sodium, but also low in nutrient density — are strongly associated with higher blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, and increased mortality.
Public health agencies like the WHO, Health Canada, and the American Heart Association recommend limiting sodium, yes (their recommendations range from 1,500 mg to 2,300 mg daily) — but they focus on processed foods as the main issue. Home-cooked meals made from whole foods, even if seasoned moderately, aren’t the problem.
It's also worth noting that there is mounting evidence to suggest that the recommendations for very low sodium intakes may be a bit off-target when it comes to cardiovascular health and all-cause mortality.
First, the studies supporting reducing sodium to reduce blood pressure (to thereby reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease) are largely shorter-term in nature and only demonstrate an acute response that may NOT be long lasting. It is believed that the BP attenuating effect of sodium reduction would become weaker over time as the body adapts. On top of that, there's also doubt that it is feasible to consistently maintain dietary sodium intakes at those low levels in real life without compromising overall diet quality, and a higher-quality diet is highly correlated to better health outcomes.
Furthermore, some research points to a more moderate, 3 - 5 grams per day range of sodium intake as being correlated to the lowest risk of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality. In other words, both too much AND too little sodium in your diet can put you at greater risk.
That said, don't go crazy, chomping down spoonfuls of salt (LOL - who would really do that?). Each teaspoon of sea salt contains about 2 grams of sodium, so even if you're preparing all of your food from scratch, to be in that ideal 3-5 grams range for intake equates to 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 teaspoons TOTAL per day.
Salt and Active Individuals
If you’re highly active? The picture changes even more.
Sweat loss from exercise can dramatically increase your sodium needs — anywhere from 200 mg to over 2,000 mg of sodium per litre of sweat. In hot or humid conditions, or during long-duration workouts, your losses can far exceed the standard daily recommendations.
Replenishing sodium after training isn’t just about performance — it’s also about safety. Inadequate sodium replacement can lead to muscle cramps, fatigue, dizziness, and even hyponatremia in extreme cases.
In fact, for athletes and regular exercisers, adding a bit of salt to meals is often part of good recovery strategy, not something to avoid.
TL;DR?
Unless you’re combining heavily salted home cooking with a high intake of packaged, processed foods, your salt shaker is not your enemy. Seasoning your food well — using sea salt and other salty ingredients in thoughtful ways — enhances flavour, encourages satisfaction, and supports performance.
So yes, use your salt with intention — but don’t be afraid of it.
Building the Skill of Seasoning
So, where does this leave us?
Salt is a skill. It’s not about dumping more onto your food — it’s about learning how to use it well.
That means:
Choosing quality salt you like using (and having it easily accessible when you cook)
Layering as you go, not just seasoning at the end
Tasting often, and adjusting late in the cooking process
Getting comfortable with ingredients that bring salt to the table — not just added grains
And maybe most importantly, it means letting go of fear.
Fear of using too much. Fear of judgement. Fear of “messing it up.”
If you taste and adjust as you go — and stay mindful — you won’t mess it up. You’ll get better, more intuitive, and more confident every time.
Because the goal isn’t just to season better. It’s to enjoy your food more. And that’s something worth learning.
If you’d like to learn more about salt and a few other key components to making delicious food, I highly recommend Samin Nosrat’s excellent book, “Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat” which is one of the great treasures in my own personal library. There’s also a great 4-part series on Netflix based on the book that is worth watching, not only to experience Samin’s infectious enthusiasm for food and cooking, but also for a lively revisiting of (or intro to) the topics of the book!