How do I Fix Chicken Salad That Is Too Salty?

Salt is a necesary ingredient in almost every dish we prepare, however, too much can make even the tastiest items inedible.

Over salting a dish is one of the most common kitchen mistakes out there. Whether you mistakenly salt twice, add a tablespoon rather than a teaspoon, or the lid pops off the shaker right into the bowl; over salting can be a dish-killing accident. However, there are a few tricks that can help resuscitate an over-salted dish, including chicken salad. Depending on the level of over saltiness in a chicken salad, the mistake can be remedied either by counterbalancing or diluting the saltiness.

Instructions

1. Sweeten the salad. In the simplest of solutions, add 1 tsp. of sugar at a time tasting after each addition until the saltiness is reduced.

2. Add more ingredients. Increase the recipe by 1/4 initially, meaning add 1/4 of the amount of all of the initial ingredients. Leave out any addition of salty items such as pickles or soy sauce. Stir well after each quarter addition to dilute the salt.

3. Sacrifice a portion and remix. As the extreme solution, if the chicken salad contains more salt than can be remedied with sweetness or reasonable amounts of added ingredients, sacrifice half of the salad and recreate half the recipe without adding any salt. Combine the remaining salty portion with the new salt-less salad.

Tips & Warnings

• Adding a sweetener helps to neutralize the saltiness. As an alternative to adding a lot of sugar, add 1 tsp. of honey, apple cider vinegar or 1 tbsp. of jelly or fruit sauce, such as cranberry sauce. Doing this will add both flavor and sweetness to counter balance the salt. Sweeten only a little at a time until the proper ratio is reached to avoid going too far in the opposite direction.

References

• Chef Talk: When Things Go Wrong in the Kitchen