José Andrés Says This Is the Best Substitute for Salt

José Andrés’ namesake podcast, Longer Tables with José Andrés, is at the top of my weekly queue for what to listen to while commuting to the office. The restaurateur and founder of World Central Kitchen uses the platform to chat with other innovators in food, art, and politics and, fortunately for any avid home cooks who want to learn from the Spanish chef, answer questions from his audience.

On the latest episode of Longer Tables, José Andrés accepted queries about what to do in the face of common holiday dinner dilemmas, but one of the tips he doled out is useful year-round. 

A caller dialed in to ask Andrés about the most common element in everyone’s cooking: salt. She explained to the chef, “I’ve watched many cooking competitions and find the most common critique of dishes is that simply it needs more salt. When I’m cooking, my concern is that I’m adding too much salt and creating a dish that tastes too salty,” then asking, “So my question is this: how do you know when enough salt is enough? And is there another seasoning that can substitute?”

The fan also noted, “I ask this question because, of course, I want my dishes to taste good, but also, as we get older, we are told to reduce our salt intake.” Whether you’re reducing the salt in your diet for health reasons, cooking for someone else who can’t consume a lot of sodium, or simply don’t like food with a lot of salt, Andrés’ answer is a piece of cooking knowledge everyone should have in their back pocket.

Salt is a beautiful thing, and it’s so often described as what makes food taste more like food. But if you need to go without it, José Andrés says to “Just add more spices. Play with the spices. The hundreds and hundreds of spices that you have at your fingertips. Just play until you find the one that your taste buds excite excites you every time you put it. I like black pepper, but you make sure it’s fresh and make sure it’s very fine. And this is a good substitute for salt.”

Of course, leveraging the power of spices is something that cultures within the United States and around the world have been doing for centuries. But Andrés’ advice is a helpful reminder that just because you’re using less salt doesn’t mean you have to use less of everything else. The absence of salt is an opportunity to explore your relationship with spices, and find one that you want to use as liberally as you would salt — the celebrity chef mentions black pepper, but my go-to spice for sprinkling on everything is ground coriander. Learn about how other cuisines employ spices, combine ingredients you might not have before, and, as Andrés eloquently puts it, find what excites your tastebuds.

Even more surprisingly, the podcast host also suggests using an ingredient that isn’t a spice to amp up the flavor in your cooking: sesame seeds. He notes that toasted sesame seeds are a great way to flavor a vegetable like simple green beans. Considering that they’re small enough to stick to the surface of something like a vegetable, and the rich, nutty flavor that they take on when toasted, this sounds like an excellent idea. Andrés doesn’t mention any other types of seeds, but I’ll be testing this out with poppy and sunflower seeds as well, which might be capable of playing a similar role.

As the caller also notes, nailing the right balance of salt can be difficult. When worried about under- or over-salting, the best strategy is to taste as you go. You should salt your food during every step of cooking and taste it at every point possible (as long as food safety guidelines dictate it’s safe — please don’t taste your raw chicken for salt).

For example, if you’re making pasta, salt the pasta water and taste it before you add in the noodles. Salt your sauce and taste it before you add in the cooked pasta. Then, taste the completed dish and finish with more salt if needed. Adding these pinches of seasoning along the way will ensure that each element is as flavorful as possible.

No matter how you choose to season your food — be it with salt, spices, sesame seeds, or all three — you need to make sure your ingredients are fresh. Quality ingredients that are fresh will have more powerful flavors, and the taste of spices can dull over time. So, if you want to take full advantage of these tips, make sure your black pepper is as fresh as José Andrés’.