How to fix salty soup: Classic tricks from grandmas' kitchens

One could say that our mums and grandmas had their culinary tricks for everything. Is soup too salty? No problem: a successful intervention requires a peek into the vegetable container. Can't find what you're looking for there? Don't worry — grandma had other tricks up their sleeves...

The fact that oversalting soup can happen to anyone doesn't make us feel better when it happens to us. No, it is what it is. And with a whole pot of overly salty soup, you either bid it farewell or react quickly and decisively. We recommend the latter approach. Simple chemistry can bring the dish back to optimal flavour levels. Grandmas knew their stuff!

Before you serve oversalted soup to your loved ones and hear the usual comment, "Someone must be in love," don't take the pot off the flame; instead, reach into one of the kitchen cabinets. What should you take out? One large, properly sized... potato. Don’t worry; we’re not talking about making potato pancakes and replacing the soup with them. What should you do instead? Peel the vegetable, wash it, cut it in half, and throw it into the soup. That’s all.

Now, the boiling potato should start absorbing the excess salt from the soup. Boil it until it begins to change consistency and becomes soft. If you overdo it with time, the vegetable will again release the collected flavour, which will return to the soup. So when you think, "That’s it," remove the potato and taste the liquid. Is it better? Good. Isn't it? Let’s move on to other tricks.

You can also use an apple in the same way as the potato. However, you must be very careful about the aforementioned change in consistency. The fruit's sweet taste might make the soup less salty, but it won’t taste as we would like it to.

What else works? Bread crusts or rice (in a bag, so there’s no trouble fishing it from the soup later). Grandmas sometimes used egg white to "desalt" the soup. This ingredient excellently absorbs the salty flavour. Just remember to remove it before serving the soup. Otherwise, household members might be shocked!