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What is kosher salt? Here are all the reasons that you should use kosher salt vs table salt in your home cooking.

What is kosher salt? | kosher salt vs sea salt | kosher salt substitute | kosher salt to table salt conversion | kosher salt vs table salt

Ever wonder why many recipes call for kosher salt instead of table salt? When we first started cooking, we assumed they were interchangeable. However as we started to learn more, we found kosher salt is generally preferred by cooks for bringing out the flavor of ingredients. What is kosher salt, and why use it?

What is kosher salt?

Kosher salt is a coarse, flat grained edible salt without additives. It consists mainly of sodium chloride. Is kosher salt idodized? No! This gives it a big advantage vs table salt — keep reading for why.

Kosher salt vs table salt

So, why use kosher salt in your cooking? Here are the main differences of kosher salt vs table salt, and why Alex and I always use kosher salt in our cooking.

  • Kosher salt has wider, coarser grains vs table salt. The wider grains salt food in a gentler way than table salt. Using kosher salt enhances the flavor of foods instead of making them taste salty.
  • Kosher salt has no iodine, which can lend a bitter taste to foods salted with table salt. If you eat a balanced diet with fruits and vegetables, you likely consume enough natural iodine and don’t need the additional iodine in table salt.

Conclusion: The shape of kosher salt gently salts foods and enhances their flavor, and has no iodine which can taste bitter. We only use kosher salt in our cooking because it’s far superior to table salt!

What is kosher salt? Kosher salt vs. sea salt | Kosher salt vs table salt | Is kosher salt iodized?

What about kosher salt vs sea salt?

OK, so we know about why kosher salt is better than table salt. But what about kosher salt vs sea salt? Since sea salt is harvested from the ocean, it has micro nutrients and other subtle flavors that aren’t present in kosher salt. Kosher salt is pure salt and has a clean flavor. For cooking purposes, there is no difference between kosher salt and flaky sea salt. We recommend cooking with kosher salt because it is more consistent. If you’re using a rough, chunky sea salt, it will taste crunchy. Rough sea salt is better used as a finishing salt, like sprinkling over a salad or vegetables.

Fine sea salt can be used as a kosher salt substitute, because it is not iodized. However, you’ll need to consult the conversion chart below for the amount to use.

Read more: Kosher Salt vs Sea Salt

Kosher salt to table salt (& fine sea salt)

Here is a conversion chart that shows the amount of salt to use if you’re converting kosher salt to table salt, and vice versa. (Source Morton Salt)

Table Salt (& Fine Sea Salt)Kosher salt
¼ teaspoon¼ teaspoon
1 teaspoon1 ¼ teaspoon
1 tablespoon1 tablespoon + 3⁄4 teaspoon

What brand kosher salt do you use?

The kosher salt we use is Morton Kosher Salt. All the recipes on this website have been developed with Morton Kosher Salt. This is important to note because there are differences between Morton Kosher Salt and the other leading brand, Diamond Crystal.

Per Food52, in each pinch of Diamond Crystal, there’s more space between the grains of salt—which makes it lighter and less salty than Morton’s (and fine sea salt or table salt). You’re less likely to over-salt if you use Diamond Crystal. Switch from Diamond Crystal to Morton’s without making adjustments and your food might burn a hole through your tongue.

Conclusion: Use Morton Kosher Salt when you cook the recipes on this website!

Need a salt cellar?

Due to the size of the kosher salt grains, if you switch to using kosher salt vs table salt you’ll have to ditch your typical salt shaker. Here are the salt cellars we use:

Final tips on salting food

  1. Try switching to kosher salt for a few weeks, then switch back to salting something with regular table salt. See whether you notice a difference (then let us know!).
  2. All of our recipes on A Couple Cooks use kosher salt! Use kosher salt if you can. If you do use table salt, convert the chart above.
  3. When salting food to taste, remember this rule: you can always add more. We try to add about half the salt we think is needed before adding the remaining half (just in case).
  4. A pinch or two of salt can work wonders in a recipe. Even desserts usually taste best with a small amount of salt.
  5. If you cook something and it tastes bland and flat, try adding a bit of kosher salt! It makes flavors pop in a way no other ingredient can (with a squeeze of lemon as a close second!).

Fancy salt recipes

Want to spice up your salts? You can add herbs, spices and other citrus to make salt into special blends for your cooking. Here are a few salt recipes to get your wheels turning — they’re also perfect as DIY gifts!

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How to make garlic salt

Kosher Salt Seasoning


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  • Author: Sonja Overhiser
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 0 minutes
  • Total Time: 5 minutes
  • Yield: 6 tablespoons 1x
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Description

This kosher salt recipe is a perfect all-purpose seasoning filled with our favorite herbs and spices. Try it on meat, fish, veggies, and more.


Ingredients

Scale
  • ¼ cup kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon mustard powder

Instructions

  1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to combine! Keeps for up to 6 months.
  • Category: Spices
  • Method: Stirred
  • Cuisine: American

About the authors

Sonja & Alex

Hi, we’re Alex and Sonja Overhiser, married cookbook authors, food bloggers, and recipe developers. We founded A Couple Cooks to share fresh, seasonal recipes and the joy of cooking! Our recipes are made by two real people and work every time.

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41 Comments

  1. David Fishlow says:

    “Kosher salt” is a misnomer, applied to virtually any kind of coarse salt, whether or not it is kosher; store it in a container which has previously contained other, non-kosher foods, or a stir it with a spoon that has previously been used to stir coffee with milk and soup made with beef broth, and it is thenceforth no longer kosher. Traditionally, the most commonly found coarse salt in US cities was a large box of Diamond Crystal brand, sold in a big yellow box with the brand name transliterated on one side into the Hebrew alphabet, and used by observant Jewish cooks, who before cooking covered and then washed off beef, mutton, poultry with a heavy layer of coarse “zaltz,” believed to draw out the last traces of forbidden blood (along with the juices and most of the flavor) from the meat. Any salt may be kosher or not, depending on how and by whom is prepared, stored, and handled. Morton’s, which markets one brand of kosher salt, is happy to see every ill-informed foodie prescribe it for cooking, but in fact what all these poseurs are really recommending is coarse salt for cooking. Distinguishing “pure” salt from sea salt, for example, is nonsense. Kosher salt is no more “pure sodium chloride” than any other salt on the market.






  2. Lori McGreal says:

    What makes it Kosher? Isn’t it, like, blessed by a Jewish priest or something? Isn’t that what Kosher is? I feel like it’d be helpful if you explained how it becomes “Kosher” for those of us who aren’t Jewish.

    Thank you. I just don’t know!

    1. Alex Overhiser says:

      Hi! The name comes from the historical use of this style of salt to create kosher meats, not the salt itself.

  3. Em C says:

    i’ll try this at home ! Thanks for sharing ;)

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