Substituting Unsalted Butter For Salted: How To Swap Them In Recipes (2024)

FAQs

Substituting Unsalted Butter For Salted: How To Swap Them In Recipes? ›

The same holds true if substituting unsalted butter for salted: for every 1/2 cup of salted butter, you can substitute 1/2 cup of unsalted and add an additional 1/4 teaspoon to the amount of salt for which the recipe calls.

Adjust Salt

Next, if you're swapping unsalted for salted butter, reduce the amount of salt listed in the recipe to adjust for the salt in the butter. Take ¼ teaspoon of salt away for every stick of butter used*.

If you're cooking something savory and using salted butter, taste as you go to avoid over-salting your dish. If you're baking with salted butter, and the recipe calls for unsalted, some cooks recommend halving the amount of salt in the recipe.

Use salted butter when composing sauces, sauteeing veggies, topping your morning toast or even making the perfect Thanksgiving turkey. The touch of salt in the butter will really help accentuate all of these flavors. Unsalted butter would provide the fat you'd need in these cases but not that extra flavor.

The flavor of different brands of butter will vary somewhat, but a good rule of thumb is to start with the addition of ¼ teaspoon of salt per ½ cup of butter — that's a standard stick of butter in the United States.

But here's a general rule: reduce or add 1/4 teaspoon of salt per 1/2 cup (1/4 lb; 115g; 1 stick) of butter. Explained: If you come across a recipe that calls for salted butter and all you have is unsalted butter, use unsalted butter and increase the salt in the recipe by 1/4 teaspoon for every 1/2 cup of butter.

1 teaspoon/6 grams of per 454 grams/1 pound of butter. 1/4 teaspoon/1.5 grams of per 113 grams/8 Tablespoons/ 1 stick of butter. For our recipes, our weight for fine sea salt is 6 grams/1 teaspoon.

Short of asking cooks and bakers to rely on a specific salted butter, which might not be available to them, the only other way to level the playing field in a recipe that does need both solidified fat and sodium is to break each down into component parts — unsalted butter, and later, a dash of salt, often "to taste." ...

Unsalted butter gives you complete control of the overall flavor of your recipe. This is especially important in certain baked goods where the pure, sweet cream flavor of butter is key (butter cookies or pound cakes). As it pertains to cooking, unsalted butter lets the real, natural flavor of your foods come through.

Does it really matter if you use salted or unsalted butter? ›

It all comes down to what you're cooking. If you're sauteing vegetables, toasting bread, basting pork chops, scrambling eggs, or making a sauce, chances are you can use salted butter and that added sodium will also add some flavor enhancement to whatever you're making.

Substitutes for Salted Butter

Salted butter differs from unsalted because it's preseasoned with (you guessed it) salt. So for 1 cup of salted butter, trade 1 cup margarine or 1 cup shortening plus ½ teaspoon salt; ⅞ cup vegetable oil plus ½ teaspoon salt; or ⅞ cup lard plus ½ teaspoon salt.

This helps create more consistent results for home bakers replicating a recipe. In general, salted butter is preferred for cooking (or simply spreading) as it adds more flavour and has a longer shelf life, while unsalted butter is the go-to for baking.

European-style butter

European butters have a higher butterfat percentage than American butters, and have become the butters of choice for many chefs, bakers, and passionate home cooks.

Unsalted butter – Use unsalted butter for gruyere mac n cheese so that you can control the level of salt in teh dish more closely. All-purpose flour – Whisking flour into melted butter forms a roux, providing the essential thickening base for the velvety cheese sauce in macaroni and cheese.

You can use salted or unsalted butter and opinions are divided on which is best. Many recipes for this icing suggest unsalted. However a little salt brings out the flavour so they then often add salt.

The National Dairy Council (NDC) states that “generally, salted butter contains 1.6–1.7 percent” salt. This equates to a little over 7 grams, which is a tiny bit over 1 teaspoon.

Also, I use salted butter so I do not add salt to my recipe for pie crust. If you use unsalted butter, a pinch of salt would be good, half a teaspoon or so. Don't over mix or over roll your dough.