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Stop over-salting your pasta water, here's how I fixed it
I kept wondering why my sauces were always way too salty even though I followed recipes. Turns out I was using way too much salt in the pasta water, like a handful when you only need about a tablespoon per gallon. My buddy who runs a restaurant in Austin told me to measure it out and stick to a ratio of 1 tablespoon per 4 quarts of water. Has anyone else dealt with this issue of oversalting without realizing it?
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amy_martin1d ago
Oh man, I totally did this for years too! It's such an easy trap to fall into because every recipe just says "salt the water like the sea" but nobody explains what that actually means. I was basically making brine instead of pasta water lmao. Once I actually measured it out I was shocked at how little salt you really need. My sauces stopped being a salt bomb overnight and I could actually taste the other ingredients again.
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theajohnson1d ago
A buddy of mine was bragging about his "perfect pasta water" until he spilled some on the counter and it left a white crusty film everywhere. He actually tasted his pasta water straight and said it was like drinking from a salt shaker. Took him forever to unlearn that habit and now he just adds a pinch and adjusts at the end.
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fionafoster1d ago
@theajohnson's friend would have hated my early attempts because I was doing the exact same thing, just dumping salt without measuring. Did cutting back on the pasta water salt actually force you to adjust your sauce recipe too, or did it just balance everything out naturally?
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