What is kosher salt, and why do so many recipes call for it? Here’s what you need to know: how it’s different from table salt and sea salt, the brands to buy, and more.
Ever wonder why many recipes call for kosher salt instead of table salt? When I first started cooking, I assumed these ingredients were interchangeable. But as I started to learn more, I realized that kosher salt is generally preferred by cooks and chefs for bringing out the flavor of ingredients.
What is kosher salt, and why use it? Here’s what I’ve learned as a cookbook author and professional recipe developer.
What Is Kosher Salt?
Kosher salt is a coarse, flat grained edible salt. It consists mainly of sodium chloride with no added iodine. It has large, irregular crystals that are easy to pinch and salt food gently.
This type of salt, like all others, comes from rock salt deposits or sea water. The brine is evaporated and the crystals are shaped into big flakes.
Why is it called kosher salt? It is simply the type of salt that’s used in the meat koshering process. Many brands are also kosher certified, but that’s not what gives it the name: it’s because of large grain size.
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 I always use kosher salt in my 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 already get enough natural iodine: see this article on What Is Iodized Salt.
Conclusion: The shape of kosher salt gently salts foods and enhances their flavor, and has no iodine which can taste bitter. I only use kosher salt in my cooking because I find it flavor is far superior to table salt.
What About Kosher Salt Vs Sea Salt?
Since sea salt is harvested from the ocean, it has trace minerals 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 in the saltiness of the same measurement of kosher salt vs flaky sea salt. However, I recommend cooking with kosher salt because it is more consistent in recipes. A rough, chunky sea salt tastes crunchy and is best used as a finishing salt, like sprinkling over a salad or vegetables.
Fine sea salt can be used as a kosher salt substitute. However, you’ll need to consult the conversion chart below for the amount to use.
Read more: Kosher Salt vs Sea Salt
Conversion Chart: 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 teaspoon | ¼ teaspoon |
| 1 teaspoon | 1 ¼ teaspoon |
| 1 tablespoon | 1 tablespoon + 3⁄4 teaspoon |
What Brand Kosher Salt Do You Use?
The kosher salt I 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!
How To Store It
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 I use:
- Large Bamboo Salt Box for cooking
- Mini Salt Pig with Spoon for the table
Tips For Salting Food
- 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!).
- All of the recipes on this A Couple Cooks website use kosher salt (Morton brand)! Use kosher salt if you can. If you do use table salt, convert the chart above.
- When salting food to taste, remember this rule: you can always add more. I try to add about half the salt I think is needed before adding the remaining half (just in case).
- A pinch or two of salt can work wonders in a recipe. Even desserts usually taste best with a small amount of salt.
- 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!
- Herb Salt Recipe: Adding fresh herbs to salt adds a unique flavor to fish, vegetables, olive oil for dipping bread, and more.
- Seasoned Salt Recipe: Store bought seasoned salt often has MSG, so why not make your own? It’s perfect for seasoning fish, meat and veggies.
- How to Make Garlic Salt: Making your own garlic salt is a fun DIY and adds big flavor to any dish.
- Best Margarita Salt Recipe: Love to drink cocktails? Here’s a vibrant citrus salt for your margarita glass rim.
Kosher Salt Seasoning
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.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 6 tablespoons 1x
- Category: Spices
- Method: Stirred
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 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
- Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to combine! Keeps for up to 6 months.
THE NEXT TIME I MAKE THIS I WILL DRY THE GARLIC FIRST
This experiment was very good to me
“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.
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!
Hi! The name comes from the historical use of this style of salt to create kosher meats, not the salt itself.
i’ll try this at home ! Thanks for sharing ;)