You are expecting visitors in the evening. You decide to cook mash potatoes and a turkey. Of course, you require some gravy. When adding salt in a hurry to your gravy, the lid of your salt shaker accidentally falls. Your gravy gets excess salt. The salt has already dampened the aroma, not to mention overpowered the taste. You stand there stranded wondering whether to pour your sauce. Maybe you don’t have ingredients to make some more and no time to get others. Do you call your guests and inform them to postpone the visit you have an urgent matter to attend to? Lying won’t help. The good news is that, you can fix the salty gravy and make it perfect. You can dilute the soup or add un-salted ingredients. Check the tips below.
Dilute The Soup
Add Liquid
One way of removing the excess salt off your gravy is by adding water or stock. Unfortunately, water will make your soup thinner though you can still fix it by adding a roux. To make a roux, you require butter and flour one teaspoon each. Melt the butter first then mix it with the flour. In that mix, add two cups of either water or stock and stir. Boil it for five minutes, then add to your gravy and let it boil for a few minutes. You can serve it.
Unsalted Gravy
Since you don’t want to interfere with your soup’s flavor, you can make extra gravy that is unsalted. Add it to the one with excess salt. It will neutralize the salt concentration. You can freeze the excess sauce and use it whenever you require it.
Dairy
Is dairy product among the ingredients you used to make your gravy? Whether cream, yogurt, or milk can help you reduce the salt concentration in your sauce. Unlike water, dairy products don’t interfere with the flavor or richness of your sauce. If you want more taste after diluting with the milk, add more seasoning.
Ingredients That Helps to Remove Excess Salt from Food
Acid
Adding an acidic ingredient is an excellent option in fixing the salty gravy. You can add ingredients such as apple cider vinegar, citrus, or even lemon juice to your gravy. Too much of it can mess up your gravy. Add the ingredient slowly as you keep on tasting.
Sugar
When you put too much sugar in your caramel ice cream, the salt will reduce that high concentration. Sugar will also come to your aid once you add too much salt to your gravy. You can use brown/white sugar, maple syrup, or even honey. Add a little and taste before adding more. Too much sugar will ruin the flavor of your gravy.
Beans
Are you a gluten-free gravy lover? Pureed beans act as a salt neutralizer, and it’s also a thickening agent. You can puree a cup of white beans or chickpeas. You can smoothen it with one or two spoon full of water. Stir the mix then add it slowly to your gravy.
Starch
This method may not bring so much difference. You can add rice, pasta, or a raw/boiled potato in your gravy. It helps to absorb salt though the salty taste may remain. To make it more effective, you can combine it with one of the other methods.
Under Salting Accompanying Dishes
If among the accompanying dishes includes mash potatoes, you should under season it. It will not make your gravy less salty, but as you eat it with some gravy, it will bend the taste.
Semi-Dry Wine
You can consider serving your visitors with French white wine. The idea is not to fix the salty gravy but to distract the taste in the right way. It’s a balancing agent to the flavor in your tongue.
Having fixed your gravy, you can’t afford to have such an experience in the future. Below are a few things you can do to prevent a repeat of the same.
Preventing Salty Gravy
Stop Adding High-Sodium Ingredients
Excess sodium is harmful to your body. If you don’t want your soup to end up salty, avoid adding salt and other high-sodium ingredients such as stoke cubes. With time, your salt taste buds will adjust, and you will be okay taking your gravy without salt.
Secure Salt Shaker’s Lid
The other option is to secure the lid of your salt shaker tightly. In the future, you will minimize the accidents to putting excess salt.
Add The Salt Later
You can wait until your sauce is ready before adding the salt. Before that, the liquid will evaporate, leaving your gravy more salty.
Fixing Gravy Potential Problems
Apart from the excess salt, other problems may develop other issues. So how can you fix them? Check the tips below.
The Gravy That's Too Runny
Simmer it
If your gravy is too thin and you want to thicken it one way is to simmer it. Simmer it for an hour using medium-low heat. Stir it regularly to ensure that it doesn’t become too thick or lumpy once excess water evaporates.
Add Slurry
What if you have no time to simmer your grave? Adding Slurry will be the next best option. Slurry is a combination of water and cornstarch, one tablespoon each. Add to your Slurry in the gravy slowly as you whisk and let it boil for a few minutes.
Lumpy or thick gravy
If your gravy becomes lumpy or even too thick, you can whisk it to make it less lumpy. Alternatively, you can sieve the lumps and remain with the gravy. You can also add some hot water to your hot gravy.
Conclusion
Your salty gravy should not go down the drain. There are various ways of fixing it. Among them includes diluting the gravy with liquid, dairy products or unsalted gravy. You can also add ingredients such as acid, sugar, beans, and starch, among others. You can also take precautionary measures to ensure that you will never put excess salt in your dish again. If your gravy becomes too thick, you can simmer it or add Slurry. If it becomes lumpy, whisk, sieve, or add water. You have no reason not to take perfect gravy.
John DiBella is a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, a cooking enthuthiast and a writer. When he’s not writing blogs about home kitchenware, he enjoys hiking, camping, sailing and cooking.