How to flavor foods without salt

Salt is a very popular condiment in our daily diet, as it helps us flavor foods very easily. However, it’s excessive use, both in the food industry and in our own homes, can cause very delicate diseases such as hypertension, kidney problems or osteoporosis, among others. For this reason, the WHO advises consuming a maximum of 2 g of salt per day, equivalent to a little less than ½ tsp., an amount that the majority of the population far exceeds.

But does following a low-sodium diet force us to eat bland, unfunny foods? Well no, since in the culinary world there have always been different alternatives to flavor food without salt.  For this reason, we want to share with you how to season foods without salt and everything on this subject: tricks for cooking without salt, the right seasonings for each food plus some recommendations for eating without salt (or at least reducing it).

How to cook without salt?

Cooking without salt may seem like a very difficult task to achieve, but it is not. On the contrary, it is rather about re-educating our palate, which is accustomed to excess sodium in food, largely due to its strong presence in the food industry.

In fact, many foods contain natural salts of their own. For example, vegetables and, especially, animal proteins. In this sense, highlighting the authentic flavors of food is a fundamental mission in the recovery of a healthier diet. Therefore, below we will give you a few tricks to flavor foods without salt:

• Use aromatic oils. They are used to flavor salads, fish and steamed vegetables. You will be surprised by the wide variety of flavors that exist, for example: chili oil, oregano, saffron, thyme, rosemary and basil. Of course, although they are healthy, do not consume them excessively.
• Prepare vegetable-based sauces. If you prepare your own sauces at home, you can avoid the salt, since these foods contain natural salts. Although if you want to enhance the flavor, it will be enough to season them with spices and aromatic herbs. Homemade sauces are used to spice up red or white meat stews, as well as to accompany grilled meats, so you don’t need to add salt to these dishes either.
• Use low – salt, low – fat grated cheese. According to some culinary experts, cheese provides us with a fifth flavor, which they call umami or kokum, which enriches recipes.  For example, if you prepare pasta with vegetable sauce, to give it more grace you can add cheese.
• Add seeds to salads. For example, flax, sunflower, chia, sesame, poppy, pumpkin, etc.  Thus, the salads will have another level!
• Use high-cooking methods for meats. Among these techniques we can mention: searing in a pan or iron, cooking on a barbecue and cooking in an oven. They all serve for any type of meat, whether red or white. Its mission is to intensify or concentrate the flavor of the food, so you can spice and season without adding salt.
• Grill or grill vegetables. This way they acquire a very tasty sweet and smoky flavor. If you like this idea, before baking the vegetables, spray them with a little oil, just enough to prevent them from drying out. Also, sprinkle them with aromatic foods (garlic, oregano, thyme, etc.).
• Sauté the vegetables. Just add a splash of olive oil to a frying pan and then add the finely chopped vegetables. Additionally, you can brown some onions or garlic before adding them. At the end, season everything to taste, but without salt. Remember that you can cook these foods without salt using aromatic spices that we have already mentioned.
• Season meats and vegetables with spices or seasonings. If you add these natural flavor enhancers or enhancers to your meals, you not only get a more authentic flavor, but also a healthier dish. Of course, use the right ingredients, that is, those that combine best with a certain food.
• Use acidic ingredients. These ingredients help enhance and balance the flavor of foods without salt. For this reason, if you add a few drops of lemon, vinegar or zest of some citrus fruit to your meals, you will give them a very tasty touch. When it comes to vinegar, red wine vinegar has a very strong flavor, which is why it cannot be used in all cases, on the other hand, rice vinegar has a more neutral flavor, and therefore, it is more versatile, perfect! For almost any meal!
• Marinate the meats. This technique is mainly used to improve the texture of the meat (it is more tender and juicy), although it also serves to enhance its flavor without using salt. The standard marinade formula consists of three parts oil to one part acid, plus seasonings (depending on the type of meat). If you want to know more about this topic, we recommend you review the article how to marinate meat for roasting.
• Cook meat and fish with wine. Wines serve to season this type of food, as well as to macerate them. If you want to season red meat, use 1 splash of red wine, instead, if it is fish, use 1 splash of white wine. You can leave the meat/fish marinating or use the wine during cooking.
• Use vinaigrette. As we already mentioned, acidic ingredients generally enhance the flavor of foods without modifying it (but in a suitable proportion, of course). Vinaigrettes are used to spice up salads without salt, but depending on the type of salad you should choose one vinaigrette or another. For example, salads with fish or shellfish are better served by a vinaigrette based on a dry vinegar such as sherry, mixed with pieces of fruit, thus achieving a counterpoint between the dry and the sweet. Do you want recipes for vinaigrettes or salad dressings without salt? Then we suggest you consult this article on 20 vinaigrettes and salad dressings.
• Caramelize the onion. Onions caramelize with their own natural sugars and are used to flavor a large number of foods, for example: salads, meats, sauces, purees, stews, etc.  Their taste is highly appreciated, especially in gourmet food (hamburgers, meats, cakes, etc.). If you are interested in this option, the recipe is very easy, so we invite you to consult: caramelized onion without sugar with white wine.
• Combine ingredients. If you boil vegetables without salt and they seem bland, give them a masterful twist by combining them with other ingredients: eggs, maracas, legumes, etc. You’ll see how they gain flavor!
• Make a sauce. This type of preparation gives an incredible twist to the food, giving it personality. Even something as simple as frying garlic in olive oil will already make a big difference in flavor. There is a wide variety of soffits that you can use for your dishes, if it is about variety, do not worry.
• If you boil any food, add condiments or seasonings to the water. Of course, choose it according to the type of food, as we mentioned before. Also, if you feel like it, you can additionally add a splash of oil, either olive, canola or soy.

Tip: lemon mixed with herbs is more aromatic.

How to substitute salt according to food?

If it is a question of changing the salt for another seasoning, you must bear in mind that it cannot be random, since each food or preparation has seasonings that combine better than others. Also, if you want a more flavorful meal, the ideal would be to mix several tricks at the same time, for example, the way of cooking and the precise ingredients to season meals without salt. For this reason, below we tell you how to season foods without salt by choosing the right seasonings according to the type of food:

• Red meats: lemon juice, bay leaf, basil, nutmeg, oregano, cloves, cinnamon, mustard, onion, thyme, sage, cumin, tomato sauce, parsley, garlic, bell peppers (red, yellow or green bell peppers) , leek, pepper (black and red), among others.
• Game meats: garlic, parsley, rosemary, lemon juice, thyme and pepper. In the case of game birds, savory works very well.
• Lamb: mint, garlic, oregano, rosemary, thyme, sage, onion and parsley.
• Pork: marjoram, sage, thyme, orange juice and rosemary.
• Chicken: garlic, lemon juice, bay leaves, rosemary, cumin, basil, paprika, thyme and curry. It is interesting to mention that seasonings prepared with spices and butter work very well for birds in general. With this paste you can cover the piece of meat to let it rest for a few minutes before cooking it.
• Fish: red onion, garlic, parsley, rosemary, thyme, paprika (sweet paprika), dill, fennel, nutmeg, lemon juice, pepper and rosemary. For fatty fish (such as salmon), sage and dill is the best choice. On the other hand, if it is fish stews, use green pepper.
• Eggs: garlic, parsley, rosemary, thyme, lemon juice, tarragon, pepper and oregano. If you are trying to keep the egg whites stable, substitute cream of tartar or lemon (or another acidic ingredient) for the salt.
• Seafood: rosemary, thyme, garlic, oregano, parsley, paprika, pepper, lemon.
• Salads: oregano, basil (for pesto and red sauce), thyme, dill, tarragon, fennel, marjoram, white pepper, chervil, lemon juice (or other citrus), mustard, parsley, and savory (especially in tomato and leaf salads) green). Remember, everything will also depend on the vegetables you use, for example, in the capers salad basil is used for the tomato.
• Vegetables– There are many vegetables that are compatible with pepper, rosemary, oregano, basil, savory, nutmeg, mustard powder, or curry. But, the ideal is to choose the specific seasoning for each food. For example, potatoes are great: onion, parsley, rosemary, savory, paprika and pepper.
• Legumes: chili pepper, onion, leek, marjoram, paprika (sweet paprika), nutmeg, fennel, coriander, sage, thyme, pepper, bay leaf.
• Cereals and pasta: during cooking, you can add garlic, oil, bay leaf and a little cayenne or saffron to the water. Once cooked, then add the spices you prefer (fresh or dried basil, oregano, curry, cumin, turmeric…). Another very tasty alternative consists of preparing a sauce with lots of vegetables, which you can add to the rice water or use it to fry the rice before boiling it.
• Sauces: basil, oregano, dill, fennel, onion, chili, paprika, peppers, carrots, olives, curry, mustard, unsalted butter, leek, etc. For example, oregano is ideal for tomato-based sauces, but for pizza sauces, basil, marjoram, etc. are also suitable.
• Stews: it depends on the type of meat or vegetable; some very recurrent ingredients are thyme, tomato, onion, red pepper, bay leaf, among others. The laurel is also used for broths and marinades.

Tip: to substitute salt for thyme, use it dry, as it is less strong that way.

How to reduce salt in the daily diet?

Last but not least, there is the issue of how to reduce salt in the daily diet. Many times, little things that we do on a daily basis increase our consumption of this condiment without realizing it. For this reason, below we give you several tricks to eat without salt and that serve to complement everything we learned about how to flavor foods without salt:

1. Avoid or reduce the consumption of processed products. This includes cured meats (Serrano ham, cold cuts, etc.), cured foods (some cheeses), canned food, precooked broths, bouillon tablets, etc. Substitute these products for homemade preparations without salt.
2. Check the product labels. That way, you can check how much sodium they contain.
3. Increase your consumption of fresh foods. In this way, you replace processed foods in your diet without feeling it. In addition, you improve the quality of your diet.
4. If you can’t eliminate salt, reduce your intake. Something is something and somewhere you have to start. In this case, use less salt and also replace it with sea salt or Himalayan salt. If you use salt, always be low in sodium.
5. Season at the beginning of cooking. Thus, food is better impregnated with flavors. Then rectify flavors before finishing cooking.
6. Prepare sauces, dips and homemade appetizers. In this way you not only control the sodium in your meals, but also the fats.

Tip: Herbs have a more intense flavor when used fresh.

Salt-free food recipes

With the tricks to flavor foods without salt, you have already seen that any recipe can be adapted to eliminate this ingredient, replacing it mostly with spices, oil, onion, and garlic or lemon juice. For this reason, rather than giving you specific salt-free recipes, we recommend taking your usual recipes and eliminating salt, it’s that simple! Experiment and try different methods to find the one that best suits your tastes.