Count me among the people who typically dump some indiscriminate amount in and move on. Count me also among the people who have at some point or another repeated the oft-cited benchmark that you should salt the water “until it’s as salty as the sea.”
“The sea is really salty,” says cookbook author Katie Parla. “You want to spit it out right away.”
“Spit it out right away” is not the flavor I’m going for when cooking.
Salt in pasta water should elevate the flavor of a dish, not overpower it, says chef Michael Friedman of Washington’s Red Hen restaurant, where the Bidens recently dined on two orders of the no-doubt-perfectly-seasoned rigatoni with fennel and sausage.
Consider the water one point of several along the way where you’ll be reaching for salt. To build flavor, “you salt throughout the process,” says Parla.
Parla, who just released “Food of the Italian Islands,” says she’s never actually measured salt for pasta water. Her “general rule of thumb” is that pasta water should taste as salty as well-seasoned soup. But you won’t know that unless you taste it, which I watched Friedman do with his fingertips when we cooked the rigatoni together in The Post’s Food Lab. If you’re worried about burning the tips of your fingers — we don’t all have Teflon chef hands! — scoop out a little bit of water with a spoon, blow on it until it’s cool and then taste.
If your pasta dish contains a particularly salty component, such as lots of cheese or cured meat (pancetta, bacon, etc.), Parla says you may want to dial back the salt in the water.
Avoiding overly salted water is also important because so often the water is used to bring together, or emulsify, a simple pasta sauce, as in Spaghetti Carbonara, or help heartier ones, as in the aforementioned Red Hen rigatoni, coat the noodles, since starches released from the pasta remain in the water. Add too-heavily-salted pasta water to your sauce and “you’re done,” Friedman says, and not in a good way.
Salt in pasta water is crucial to regulating that starchiness to keep it from getting out of hand. When pasta is cooked in water, its starch granules take on water, swell, soften and release some of the starches, Harold McGee writes in “On Food and Cooking.” “Salt in the cooking water not only flavors the noodles, but limits starch gelation and so reduces cooking losses and stickiness,” he says.
There is, in fact, an acceptable range of salt to add to pasta water, Daniel Gritzer says over at Serious Eats, which is good considering that needs may vary depending on the dish or personal preference. Gritzer’s experiments showed that water at 1/2 percent to 2 percent salinity (as measured by weight of the salt divided by the weight of the water) was acceptable, equating to 3/4 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon fine sea salt per liter of water (approximately 1 quart, or 4 cups).
For its part, America’s Test Kitchen recommends 1 tablespoon table salt per 4 quarts of water (a.k.a. 1 gallon) for well-seasoned pasta, which aligns with the low end of Gritzer’s range.
As you’re deciding on your ideal level and measuring, keep in mind that if you change the type of salt, you may need to change the amount. Here are the equivalencies to remember:
- 1 tablespoon fine sea or table salt
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Morton kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt
If you’re worried about salting pasta water with regard to your health, don’t forget that home cooking is not the biggest source of sodium for most people. More than 70 percent of sodium in American diets comes from restaurant and packaged food, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. America’s Test Kitchen had an independent lab evaluate how much salt was absorbed by six different pasta shapes. The result: “Give or take a few milligrams of sodium, all the shapes absorbed about the same amount of salt: 1/16 teaspoon per 4-ounce serving or a total of 1/4 teaspoon per pound of pasta.”
FAQs
For amounts, let's go beyond Nonna's Mediterranean Sea analogy: Most experts recommend a heaping tablespoon of salt per gallon of water (or per pound of dry pasta). Give the water a taste once the salt has dissolved; it should taste briny, but not knock-you-over salty.
How to salt pasta water the right way? ›
How To Salt Water For Pasta. It is possible to add too much salt to your pasta water, and we generally follow this water salt ratio for pasta: add 1 tablespoon kosher or sea salt to 4 quarts of water for every 1 pound of pasta. When boiling or blanching vegetables (like broccoli), add 1½ teaspoons per quart of water.
Is salting pasta water a myth? ›
When pasta is cooked in water, its starch granules take on water, swell, soften and release some of the starches, Harold McGee writes in “On Food and Cooking.” “Salt in the cooking water not only flavors the noodles, but limits starch gelation and so reduces cooking losses and stickiness,” he says.
Do Italians salt their pasta water? ›
Good thing I had a Sicilian zia (aunt) to teach me the do's and don'ts of Italian cooking. And if there's one thing that stuck with me, it's that salting pasta water is mandatory. In fact, I can still hear her saying it should be “as salty as the sea.”
Should you put olive oil in pasta water? ›
Contrary to popular myth, adding oil into the water does not stop pasta sticking together. It will only make the pasta slippery which means your delicious sauce will not stick. Instead, add salt to the pasta water when it comes to the boil and before you add the pasta.
Do you add salt before or after boiling water? ›
For the best results, you'll want to wait until after it comes to a boil; then once it returns to boiling, add the pasta. It may seem trivial, but salting too early can affect the end result — and your pot. Since salt does not dissolve well in cold liquids, it will fall to the bottom of the pot until the water boils.
How to make 1 cup of salt water? ›
Instructions
- Put one cup (250 mL) of tap water into a pot and boil for 15 minutes with the lid on.
- Remove from heat and cool until the water reaches room temperature.
- Add ½ teaspoon of salt into the pot and stir to dissolve. ...
- Carefully pour the salt-water solution from the pan into the jar or bottle and put the lid on.
Is it safe to boil pasta with tap water? Boiling pasta with tap water is common, but for optimal safety and taste, using filtered water is recommended if your tap water has known contaminants.
Should you rinse pasta? ›
Do Not Rinse. Pasta should never, ever be rinsed for a warm dish. The starch in the water is what helps the sauce adhere to your pasta. The only time you should ever rinse your pasta is when you are going to use it in a cold dish like a pasta salad or when you are not going to use it immediately.
How much salt should I put in my water? ›
If you'd like to try adding salt to your water, stick to one-sixteenth of a teaspoon and add it to a 8- to 12-ounce glass of water or bottle. Many people say they add a “pinch” of salt to a glass of water, but because this isn't a precise measurement, doing so may risk adding too much.
Should you add olive oil to pasta water? Put simply, no. It's often claimed that adding olive oil to your pasta water will stop the pasta sticking together, but this isn't true. All it'll do is make your pasta slippery, which means it'll be much harder for your sauce to coat the cooked pasta.
Can I make pasta without salt? ›
The difference you get is at most half a degree or so—nowhere near enough to make a difference, particularly because as we now know, you don't even have to use boiling water. But salt is necessary for another reason: It makes the pasta taste good.
Why not cook pasta in sauce? ›
You should not cook dried pasta in a pot of jarred sauce
Dried pasta absorbs water and releases starch, and a jarred sauce does not have enough moisture to keep up. Adding dried pasta to a prepared marina will thicken the already thick sauce, resulting in a mass of unevenly cooked, gummy pasta and tomato mush.
Why does Gordon Ramsay put olive oil in pasta water? ›
The olive oil in the sauce will stop the pasta from sticking together when it's cooked, and the starch will still be there to do its job. Pasta is best when it's not boiling in my opinion. It's best when it slightly bubbles.
Why should we not rinse pasta after it is drained? ›
To summarize, rinsing your cooked pasta would be detrimental to your final dish because that excess starch is instrumental in providing some structure and flavor to the pasta sauce that you're creating. In fact, that's the logic behind using pasta water instead of plain tap water in a pasta sauce.
Should you stir pasta while cooking? ›
Stir the pasta right after you add it to the water and then occasionally throughout the cooking time to prevent clumping. If you don't stir, any strands of touching pasta will cook together and become stuck together. Stirring also ensures that the pasta is cooked evenly.
Does putting salt in water make it boil faster? ›
Cooking with Salt Water
Adding this small amount of salt will “technically” make the water boil faster, however, it would only result in a difference no more than a few seconds. In order to trigger a substantial difference in boiling time, the pot would have to contain over a 20% salt concentration.
How much salt to add to water? ›
If you'd like to try adding salt to your water, stick to one-sixteenth of a teaspoon and add it to a 8- to 12-ounce glass of water or bottle. Many people say they add a “pinch” of salt to a glass of water, but because this isn't a precise measurement, doing so may risk adding too much.
How to season pasta while boiling? ›
It's necessary that you salt the water before adding the pasta so that the pasta can absorb the salted water while cooking and retain flavor. A little salt in the pasta water can go a long way, adding flavor to your final dish. Once the pasta is cooked, you have lost your chance to season the pasta.
How do you dilute salt in pasta? ›
Use an acidic ingredient, like vinegar, lemon juice, lime juice, fresh tomatoes, or unsalted tomato sauce, to cut the saltiness of soups, sauces, meat dishes, pasta, salads, and more.
