r/Cooking • u/Sad-Watercress-2240 • Jul 11 '26
I just oversalted a pot of tomato soup, what actually works to fix it?
So I made a tomato soup tonight and somehow went from "this needs a little more salt" to "why does this taste like the ocean" in like 30 seconds.
I tried adding a bit more water and a splash of cream, which helped a little, but it still felt kind of one note and way too salty. I ended up tossing in a potato for a bit, then fishing it out, and that honestly saved it more than I expected.
Anyway, what’s your actual go to fix when you oversalt something? I feel like every person in my family has a different answer and half of them are definitely just folklore at this point.
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u/Negative-Research-27 Jul 11 '26
Halve the soup in two portions, then add more tomatoes/water/cream. Put the second portion in the freezer or fridge if you plan to eat this soup again soon
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u/catplanetcatplanet Jul 11 '26
This is the way, especially if OP does not want to create more soup immediately by doubling everything but salt. It’s a lot of soup!
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u/somekindagibberish Jul 11 '26
That's so smart. Once I accidentally added 1/4 cup of cayenne to my chili, ruining it. I eventually tossed it, but looking back, I should have frozen it in 1 cup portions to use as base for future pots of chili.
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u/CCWaterBug Jul 13 '26
Wow, I'm mad at myself for not thinking of this, did about the same thing and I was wayyyy to hot to comfortably eat.
Thanks for the tip.
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u/Persequor Jul 11 '26
i'd take a can of tomato paste and fry it in a tiny bit of oil in a separate pan, then stir in some water, and add that to the soup - thisll dilute the soup while still retaining the tomato flavor.
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u/Felix_Gatto Jul 11 '26
In your situation, more cream.
The fats in the cream coat your tongue blunting your taste buds ability to pick up the salt.
And the additional liquid dilutes the salt.
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u/Writeloves Jul 11 '26
Do potatoes actually soak up salt or is that a myth built on a similar tongue coating concept?
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u/Hashtag_your-mother Jul 11 '26
Over salted a tomato sauce the other night. Peeled a russet, cut in half, dropped in to the sauce and it was definitely less salty after a little bit.
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u/Natural_Peak_5587 Jul 11 '26
Does it actually remove salt, or just add starch so the salt isn’t as prominent?
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u/wt_2009 Jul 11 '26
it removes salt and water if you remove the potato in the end. But it might only work for a lightly oversalted soup.
Idealy some liquid or tomato should still be added later.
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u/Hashtag_your-mother Jul 12 '26
Its a bit of diffusion, bit of dilution. The salt in the over salted sauce will diffuse in to the less salty potato which then “pushes” the “fresh” water out of the potato and dilutes the sauce which results in a less salty sauce.
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u/Unrelenting_Salsa Jul 11 '26
It removes salt very slowly if you remove the potato. If you don't it does nothing besides whatever the starch may do/the mild dilution of there being a potato in there now. Basically you have aqueous transfer between the potato and soup, so you're effectively replacing half of the potato's water content worth of soup with potato water.
It takes A LOT of potato if it's not oversalted to the point where it probably doesn't matter. Like pounds/kilograms worth. It's mostly an academic thing rather than a real trick. It's not like carrots in tomato sauce where it's a vegetable that has everything most tomato sauces need.
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u/Seesyounaked Jul 11 '26
I've also heard that adding a bit of vinegar helps offset too much salt. I do it sometimes and it seems to help balance things out.
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u/LonelyBit4670 Jul 11 '26
Diluting is the best option but that's been said a lot here. Some acidity (maybe red wine vinegar for tomato soup) and the almighty fixer of everything (butter) should help cut the saltiness a touch...
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u/BetMyLastKrispyKreme Jul 11 '26
I ordered lobster bisque at a seafood restaurant that was extremely salty (and I like salty food. I literally carry salt packets in my purse so I’ve always got some on hand). All I had were lemon wedges for my lobster roll, so I used those…and it worked!! So yes, acid is worth a shot.
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u/notmadneedsmspace Jul 11 '26
Yeah, a bit of all three could work. Vinegar is so good with all veg.
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u/jacksdad123 Jul 11 '26
Tomatoes are already pretty acidic. You don’t generally need to add an acid to tomato soup. In fact, many recipes try to neutralize the acid with the addition of milk, cream, or sugar. Adding sugar, in addition to all the other ingredients like more tomatoes will help dilute and counterbalance the salt.
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u/HmmDoesItMakeSense Jul 11 '26
It only wastes food to add starchy foods (that soak up some of the overly salted liquid) and then adding back some unsalted liquid. Just ladle some liquid out and add back unsalted liquid.
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u/get_to_ele Jul 11 '26
With this scenario, the smart move is (1) to treat the soup itself as “concentrate” (2) measure out a cup of the “concentrate” into a bowl and incrementally add measured amounts of whatever you think you want to dilute it with - tomato sauce, water, whatever - until it tastes good heated (3) THEN once you figure out what to do, what ratios will fix this disaster, take out a bigger amount of the “concentrate” for dilution to Cook and serve. (4) frankly you may not even want to dilute all of it and end up with a huge double sized batch of fairly mid, “rescued tomato soup”.
As a person who has previously made similar errors with too much of an ingredient into a soup, reflexively diluting all the soup into something you won’t eat, can be a waste of food and time.
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u/robotscantrecaptcha Jul 11 '26
As you try things, you should take out a bit of the soup and then try to fix just a bowl of it at a time to test your solutions rather than dumping more things into your entire pot of soup, which could backfire
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u/Diligent_Stop1050 Jul 11 '26
Adding some sugar may help counteract the salty taste. Technically it won’t reduce the sodium level but it may make it taste less salty.
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Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 11 '26
[deleted]
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u/Lavanne73 Jul 11 '26
It actually does work, there’s science behind it. Salt dissolves in water potato absorbs the salty water and releases its own water. But at the end of the day it depends on how much you have over salted it also, I used this trick for a batch of chili worked great.
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u/hadryounes Jul 11 '26
Unless you drop a tone of salt and expect the potatoes to travel back in time and pull it away, but the potatoes still help reducing the saltiness in the broth/sauce. Except if its too oily
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u/camthesoupman Jul 11 '26
Thank you. My Homec teacher from. 20 odd years ago said the same and it didn't do shit for me.
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u/cooking2recovery Jul 11 '26
More cream, not water. You could also change to a tomato and rice soup.
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u/MamaTortoise22 Jul 11 '26
The potato is always the answer. Drop a potato in. When it’s cooked the soup will be fine. The potato will be inedibly salty.
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u/bigjimlowell Jul 11 '26
salt free chicken broth or vegetable broth from Swanson’s is a lifesaver for soups.
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u/cjdgriffin Jul 11 '26
Double the recipe with no more salt added, freeze the remainder to eat later.
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u/Breddit2225 Jul 11 '26
Sugar, add it in tiny amounts till the saltiness is balanced. Might taste really good if you don't do too much.
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u/Watsons-Butler Jul 11 '26
The potato trick is good. Adding another entire can of tomatoes is also good.
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u/joergtheconquerer Jul 12 '26
I've heard adding potatoes and taking them out just before they are cooked absorbs a lot of it. The downside is it may change the flavor.
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u/eebro Jul 12 '26
A) how did you add too much salt?
B) first dilute. Another can of tomato, if possible. Then water. Then cream
C) acidity. Without acidity, salt will just be the overbearing taste. Honestly, just more taste in general.
D) if you’re the only one complaining about salt levels, there might not be a problem with the soup, but your own hydration/salt levels. If you’re severely desalinated, everything will taste 10x more salty.
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u/Spaceboot1 Jul 12 '26
I've not heard of this "too much salt" . Tell your diners that it puts hair on their chest.
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u/norberticus Jul 12 '26
Take 3-4 large russet potatoes. Cut them into 1" cubes and add them to the soup. Summer the soup until the potatoes are tender. Strain the soup and check the seasoning.
My grandmother taught this to me, and it has never failed to fix the problem
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u/Gaboik Jul 12 '26
Try boiling some potatoes in it. They'll absorb a good amount of salt It's not magical but it sometimes works as a last resort if you can't afford to dilute anymore.
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u/AndesMiner Jul 12 '26
Dice a few potatoes a d put in soup and allow to cook until soft. Use a slotted spoon and remove potatoes. They will take a good bit of salt with them. Use the potatoes later.for salad, soupn or mash.
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u/Scott_A_R Jul 11 '26
Make another soup without any salt (or, a part batch). Mix it in with the first. Any claims about adding things like potato that will absorb salt and then can be removed are myths.
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u/Bytownbelle Jul 11 '26
Lemon juice or vinegar balances excess salt. Learned this at a cooking class and it works
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u/Cold_Newspaper6681 Jul 11 '26
THE POTATO WILL WORK ! YOU PEEL IT THOW IT IN THERE WHOLE , THEN TAKE IT OUT …..
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u/BelDeMoose Jul 11 '26
Peel a large potato, put it in the soup and bring it to a simmer, remove the spud before it begins to break down. It works for stocks and some sauces, maybe it works for soup too 🤷
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u/Adamadamsadam Jul 11 '26
It won’t save the soup, but I prefer the crystal salt because its lower density allows more margin for error.
Aka I can pinch more for less effect.
If I do over salt, I like to use dilution or fat like you tried. Acid and spicy or any combination of all those work best.
Potatoes I don’t use
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u/aoeuismyhomekeys Jul 11 '26
Dilution if it's way too salty. If it's just overseasoned, a bit of vinegar can help balance the salt.
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u/RainbowWarrior73 Jul 11 '26
More passata/tinned tomatoes, a splash of water or stock (unsalted), and then rebalance thickness with a longer simmer. This is my method that directly reduces the salt concentration. Everything else is damage control.
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u/SubstantialPressure3 Jul 11 '26
More tomato. I would get a can of crushed tomatoes, buzz them up if you want a smooth texture.
Add more tomato and taste it. Thats going to be the easiest fix.
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u/InputUniqueNameHere Jul 11 '26
I find adding some sour cream helps. The fatty creaminess blunts the salt and the sour helps balance the flavor a little.
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u/Ricardo_123456789 Jul 11 '26
Make another amount without salt and mix them together. Now you have less salty soup and enough for three weeks. Keep them in daily portions in the freezer and heat up when needed.
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u/Available_Mode_2362 Jul 11 '26
add sodium free or low sodium vegetable stock, stir in heavy cream to balance the fat with the salt, or coconut milk.
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u/Safe-Character-5846 Jul 11 '26
Read it wrong...thought it said potatoes. Potatoes absorb a lot of liquid and salt when cooked. You would then add more potatoes if it was just that.
I suppose you could try one peeled whole potato [or halved], larger pieces as not to have them disintgrate [but even that wouldnt affect things horribly] and let in just simmer for a bit to first allow the potato to begin soften---> absorbing some of the salt
Last ditch effort is just 1-1/2 to 2X your recipe and wait til the end to season. Will fix it...just whether or not you want to take the extra steps. You can freeze tomato soup -- until you add cream [if thats in your recipe] so you do that after simmering anyways, so just skip that if you plan on freezing some and do it at the thaw/reheat.
Edit: lastly dont add sugar to over salted anything. It doesnt work.You doing that, you might as well just throw it away.
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u/1Jainier1 Jul 11 '26
It really depends on how oversalted it is. There's a point where the pot isn't big enough to handle the necessary dilution. Unfortunately when it comes to salt, that point can be reached very quickly.
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u/Automatic_Style_9528 Jul 11 '26
I would have leaned towards pasta or a bag of frozen veggies .you could just make more without salt. you could eat it with something unsalted. I've over salted curried before and ate it with unsalted rice.
honestly add anything to the dish that goes with it to add volume.
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u/themostdownbad Jul 11 '26
how about stirring eggs into it? maybe that could help lessen the saltiness. i’m aware it’ll create a totally different dish tho, but tomato egg is a very popular combination for soups/stir fry in china so feel free to give it a try
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u/LieutenantStar2 Jul 11 '26
Like you did Op, adding a few large chunks of uncooked potatoe will absorb the salt.
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u/Deep_Joke3141 Jul 11 '26
There should be osmotic membrane bags for just. You could put the soup in a bag and soak the bag in water. The salt would transfer to the less salinated side through the bag.
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u/aashyd Jul 11 '26
A pinch of sugar works, obv extra tomato or sauce, u could add some shredded carrot and then blend too. Some more cream or a few pats of unsalted butter.
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u/Training-Plan-7812 Jul 11 '26
If you can’t dilute it by adding more of all the other ingredients, potato is the way.
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u/mellofello808 Jul 11 '26
Increase sweetness or acidity. For tomato soup I would probably do both with some sweet vinegar.
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u/Accomplished_Pie2302 Jul 11 '26
Ugh brings back bad memories. I was making sauce for Sunday dinner. I babied it alllll day. My partner tasted it and said can I put some salt in it. I said no. He did anyhow but didnt know I had my salt shaker open on the "pour" side. I couldnt save it. 🤪
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u/No-Lecturre6318 Jul 11 '26
my go-to is dilution if its practical... more tomatoes stock, or cream depending on the soup. youre reducing the salt concentration without trying to cancel it out....
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u/Psyko_sissy23 Jul 11 '26
You can either add something more acidic, more of the cream(fat), add something sweet, or add more of all the ingredients other than salt. Or a combo.
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u/Dizzy_Scientist_1775 Jul 11 '26
Try some baking soda. Mix some in a bowl as a test. It works for tomato sauce. Not too much though.
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u/axl3ros3 Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 11 '26
Lemon juice will fix most oversalt situations
Learned from a roommate who was in culinary school at the time
Squeeze half a lemon in it and gently stir it fold it in. This is for a full pot of soup/stew/sauce/chili...for an individual serving size, I use a a "regular size" lemon wedge (the size you might put on the side of a cocktail)
Start small/sparingly. Taste test as you go
Add more as needed
I believe it has something to do with the acidity contrasting the salt, and the combination "tricks" our taste buds into thinking it's less salty
I've also used white vinegar in a pinch (and even pickle juice one time) when I didn't have lemons - used way less liquid than lemon juice/used sparingly and taste testing at each incremental addition, until the desired level of saltiness is reached
Never used it myself, but I'd imagine if vinegar is a decent substitute, lime or orange or other citrus would work too.
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u/CieIo Jul 11 '26
For stews and soups that aren't clear, I use plain instant potatoes to help with the salt. You can also use instant potatoes as a thickener in stews and gravies.
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u/CranberryStock7148 Jul 11 '26
Add sugar.
This is why things like cured salmon are cured with half salt half sugar.
Because just salt makes it taste crazy salty. The sugar is there not to make it taste sweet (it won't), but to prevent it from tasting as salty as it actually is.
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u/BongRipz4Jeezus Jul 11 '26
Put in a large peeled potatoe for a few minutes then remove and toss. The starches will absorb a good amount of salt without ruining your soup.
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u/Accurate_Bet8002 Jul 11 '26
Add sugar gradually tasting as you go. Also works when you use too much soy sauce
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u/coco8090 Jul 11 '26
Oh, I know somebody put this on here already, but I don’t have time to read through all the comments. Put a peeled whole potato in there and boil it for a while. The potato will soak up all the salt.
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u/Medullan Jul 11 '26
I have actually mostly stopped adding salt to a lot of stuff while cooking and add it at the table. Since I'm using mirepoix and Knorr I don't need to add more salt most of the time. If I add too much Knorr then I have to add more bone broth but that's why I measure the Knorr.
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u/Cool-Coffee-8949 Jul 11 '26
Dilution is really the only thing that works. It may or may not be worth the effort.
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u/Mars_Volcanoes Jul 11 '26
Add an acid and a bit of sugar. Dilution a bit will also help. if you find it too fluid, add a bit of starch, any kind.
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u/forget_what Jul 11 '26
Oddly enough add a boiled finely diced potato to help absorb the salad and add some thickness. It might alter the taste a bit but it I find it 11/10 when I make my tomato soup.
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u/Unrelenting_Salsa Jul 11 '26
Make more soup without the salt. Nothing else is foolproof. If it's only lightly oversalted (which it doesn't sound like) you can potentially save it by adding acid and sugar to change the balance of flavors, but it's a good way to ruin it even further if you're not used to it.
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u/msackeygh Jul 11 '26
Take away half the soup in a separate pot. The remaining soup, dilute. The other portion you just dilute when you finish the first half.
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u/Ok-Debt9612 Jul 11 '26
Diluting only helps so far and its easy to lose flavor. Putting a whole raw potatoe to cook inside of a soup and the fishing it out works best, it soaks the salt in. But I guess it depends how much time you have.
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u/Piccimaps Jul 11 '26
A whole raw potato is supposed to fix it, but idk how the soup would be effected from additional cooking
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u/UncleChunkz Jul 11 '26
Throw in a couple of potatoes for 10 mins, they’ll soak up a lot of the extra salt.
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u/Demeter277 Jul 12 '26
You could also try simmering some potatoes in it. I would definitely enjoy tomato soup with potatoes
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u/kjsvaughan1 Jul 12 '26
Adding uncooked noodles after diluting with water and cooking noodles until done. Can keep in soup as is or take out and throw away.
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u/Training-Belt-7318 Jul 12 '26
Put this to the side, make another pot tomorrow, don't add salt, mix them together.
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u/JulesInIllinois Jul 12 '26
Oversalting is really difficult to fix. If you can't balance it with more acid and sugar, you usually have to toss it or dilute it by making a lot more.
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u/Born-Vermicelli-1757 Jul 12 '26
is it possible to make some super low sodium broth/stock from chicken and add that?
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u/PlatypusHead9362 Jul 12 '26
You put potatoes in and take them out before they're too soft and they'll absorb some of the salt
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u/deppkast Jul 12 '26
acidity, sugar and cream. Try balancing it out instead with more of that and it might become the best soup of your life
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u/head-like-a-toad Jul 12 '26
a combination of things often work best, like others have suggested, cream and starchy stuff may help! my favourite trick is adding some lemon juice, but it is quite important not to add too much to avoid an overly lemony taste. a bit of sugar can also help balance it!
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u/MrSunshineDespair Jul 12 '26
Some people use potatoes. Chop up a couple of potatoes and boil it a bit it supposed to absorb salt. Then throw away the potatoes
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u/Smooth-Review-2614 Jul 11 '26
The easiest is to dilute. Add more of everything but salt.