Chicken can be a healthy versatile protein option for meals. However, many recipes call for liberal amounts of salt to enhance the flavor. If you’re looking to cut back on sodium or follow a low-salt diet, you may be wondering how to make chicken taste great without relying on salt. Not to worry – with a few simple tricks and flavorful ingredients you can make succulent, full-flavored chicken dishes without adding salt.
Why Limit Salt Intake?
Before jumping into salt-free seasoning ideas, let’s review why you may want to limit salt in the first place. Consuming excessive sodium can lead to high blood pressure heart disease, stroke, and other health issues. The American Heart Association recommends limiting sodium to 1500 mg per day which equals about 3/4 teaspoon of salt. The average American adult consumes over 3400 mg per day – more than double the recommended amount! Cutting back on salt provides big benefits for your health.
Herbs and Spices Are Your Friends
When you take salt out of a recipe, the flavor is lost. The good news is that herbs, spices, and other seasoning blends can fill that space. Get creative with the spices you have on hand. Chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, oregano, basil, cumin, and paprika can all be used to add tasty flavors to chicken. To coat the chicken before cooking, try making your own spice rubs without salt. Putting chicken in an oil-based mixture of herbs and spices for a while also makes it taste great.
Brighten Flavor with Citrus
Citrus juices, zests, and vinegars from fresh fruits give chicken a bright flavor that goes well with it. Lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil marinaded in chicken makes it tender and gives it a tangy kick. Orange zest also adds vibrant citrus notes. Adding acidic things like citrus takes away some of the flavor that salt usually gives.
Umami Boosters Are Your Secret Weapon
Umami is the word for the delicious, savory taste of things like mushrooms, soy sauce, and Parmesan cheese. Foods that are high in umami add depth to flavors and make them taste more meaty and satisfying. You can boost the umami of chicken by adding tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, anchovies, miso paste, or dried mushrooms. A little goes a long way in amplifying the flavors!.
Cooking Methods Matter
How you cook the chicken also impacts its final flavor. Methods like roasting, grilling, sautéing, and smoking inherently add flavor as the chicken browns and caramelizes. Brining chicken before cooking keeps it ultra moist and tender too. While boiling chicken will leave it bland and flavorless, other cooking techniques lend lots of flavor you can build on.
Sauce and Serve
A lot of sauces and condiments in bottles have extra salt in them, but some low-sodium ones are still very strong. Choose soy sauce, mustard, ketchup, or hot sauce with less salt and use it in small amounts. You can also mix herbs, vinegar, oil, garlic, and spices to make simple seasoning sauces. Drizzle sauce over cooked chicken or use as a marinade. Homemade sauces often taste better than store-bought ones anyway!.
Don’t Discount Vegetable Power
Cooking chicken with aromatics like onion, garlic, and carrots infuses it with savory flavor. Try sautéing chicken with mushrooms or roasting it on a bed of vegetables. The vegetables will impart their taste while also keeping the chicken extra moist. Taking advantage of plant flavors balances out the need for excessive salt.
A Touch of Sweetness Helps
While we often think of savory flavors for main dishes, a small amount of sweetness can balance out a chicken recipe when you reduce salt. A grilled chicken breast served with a drizzle of honey, maple syrup glazed chicken wings, or coconut milk chicken curry all benefit from natural sweetness. Fruits like pineapple, apple, and citrus also complement chicken’s flavor.
Sample Recipes to Try
Now that you know how to amp up flavor without salt, let’s look at some tasty recipes:
- Jerk Chicken – jamaican jerk spices, citrus, garlic, onion, brown sugar
- Chicken Fajitas – cumin, chili powder, paprika, garlic, onion, bell peppers
- Balsamic Chicken – balsamic vinegar, garlic, rosemary, black pepper
- Thai Chicken Curry – coconut milk, ginger, lemongrass, chili peppers
- Tandoori Chicken – yogurt, smoked paprika, cumin, cinnamon
- Mediterranean Chicken – olives, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, oregano
- Jambalaya – cajun spices, onion, celery, peppers, tomato
With the right combination of ingredients and cooking techniques, you can create incredibly flavorful chicken dishes without adding any salt at all. Be bold with spices, fresh herbs, citrus, and umami flavors. Allow cooking methods like grilling and roasting to work their magic. Finally, don’t be afraid to incorporate sauces, glazes, and fruits to add sweet, savory depth. Get creative in the kitchen and soon you’ll discover just how delicious low-sodium cooking can be! Your taste buds and your health will thank you.
Reader Success Stories
- Azzam Ejjeh: “My goal was to keep the taste without the salt because of health reasons.” This article hit a spot. ” .
Seasoning With Flavorful Ingredients
- 1 Use a squirt of lemon. Food tastes just as good with lemons instead of salt because they have the same sour and salty taste. If you grate the zest, you can put it in baked goods. If you squeeze the lemon, you can splash some on your food. [16] Lemon tastes great in: pasta, salad dressings, chicken or seafood dishes, breadcrumbs
- 2 Cook with fresh herbs. Keep a variety of fresh herbs on hand so you’ll be more likely to use them in your cooking. [17] To make them even easier to use, chop them very small and put them in the fridge. That way, you can quickly season or decorate your food. Here are some fresh herbs that go well with many different kinds of food: [18] Basil Dill Parsley Rosemary Thyme Chives
- 3 Season the food with a little wine. A great way to make food taste better is to cook it with red or white wine. Put in about half a cup of red or white wine and let the food cook down so the wine evaporates. Do not use cooking wine or sherry because they usually have salt added to them and are high in sodium. For instance, to make a pasta sauce taste better, add red wine and let it cook for an hour. You can also add a little white wine to a seafood pasta sauce and let it cook down.
- 4 Use chicken, vegetable or beef stock. Lots of water can be swapped out for chicken, vegetable, or beef stock when cooking something that needs it. Make sure there is no salt in the stock. If you’re making it at home, this is easy to do. It won’t need salt because the stock will taste better than the water. For instance, if you’re making vegetable soup, use a stock instead of water to make it taste better.
- 5 Grill your food. Warm up your grill and make a quick marinade that doesn’t have any salt. Food will taste great smoky after grilling, and you won’t even need to add salt. Grilling on a cedar wood plank or adding hickory or mesquite chips can make your food taste better. Try using a citrus-based marinade for even more seasoning. To get a bit of a smoky taste, you could marinate chicken in a lime vinaigrette and then grill it.
- 6 Add a little vinegar. You can use different kinds of vinegar instead of salt. To make your food taste better, add a splash of red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, or apple cider vinegar. Studies have shown that vinegar can make foods taste more salty. You can use vinegar in:[19] Stews Salads Marinades Braised vegetables .
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Let’s talk about some of my favorite salt free seasonings!
FAQ
How to make chicken taste better without salt?
Fresh herbs, citrus juice and zest, a splash of balsamic vinegar and other vinegars, and dried spices will all provide flavor.
What can I use instead of seasoning salt for chicken?
18 Flavorful Salt AlternativesGarlic. Garlic is a pungent spice that boosts flavor without increasing sodium content. Lemon juice or zest. Ground black pepper. Dill. Dried onion or onion powder. Nutritional yeast. Balsamic vinegar. Smoked paprika.
How to enhance flavor without salt?
There are other things you can use besides salt to make food taste better: lime juice, red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar, different kinds of pepper (like white or red pepper), aromatics (like garlic and ginger), and green onions (scallions, shallots, or leeks.
What seasoning can I use with no salt?
Things like cinnamon, turmeric, curry powders, fresh ground peppercorns, sage, tarragon and dill can all pick up where you left the salt out. Allow yourself some discovery. Without the added sodium, herbs and spices can offer a different depth of flavor especially if you grind them up yourself.
How do you add flavor to chicken without salt?
You could also use ingredients like lemon, vinegar, wine, and stock to add flavor to your food without turning to the salt. Mix a no-salt poultry seasoning. Add a rich flavor to your turkey or chicken by using a no-salt poultry seasoning. Drizzle the meat with some olive oil and one or two teaspoons of your seasoning.
How do I make my own salt-free chicken seasoning?
To make your own salt-free chicken seasoning you need a few simple spices that can easily be found at your local grocery store. To make this easy no-salt recipe simply combine all the ingredients in a small dish and mix well. There is no magic secret to making your own spice blends. It really is that easy.
What can I use instead of salt in cooking?
Use a squirt of lemon. Lemons are great for replacing salt since they give the same zip and depth of flavor to food. You can grate the zest and include it in baked foods or squeeze the lemon and add a squirt to your food. Cook with fresh herbs. Try to keep several types of fresh herbs on hand so you’re more likely to cook with them.
How do you use chicken spice mix?
To a small bowl, or a mason jar, add in all the spice ingredients. Mix (or shake) well to combine. Put a tablespoon of the spice mix on chicken breasts, thighs, or chicken that is about to go on the grill. Coat both sides of the chicken. Store leftover spice mix in a jar with a tight-fitting lid for future use.