How much salt should I use in a recipe?

Many savory recipes fall near 0.8-2% salt by food weight, but the best range depends on meat, dough, soup, vegetables and salty ingredients already present.

How do I convert salt to sodium?

A common estimate is 1 g table salt contains about 393 mg sodium. Multiply salt grams by 393 to estimate sodium milligrams.

Is this a brine calculator?

No. This page estimates salt in a dish or recipe. Use the brine calculator for saltwater brines, fermentation and preserving workflows.

Recipe Salt Calculator

Estimate recipe salt by food weight and salt percentage, then convert salt to teaspoons, sodium milligrams and sodium per serving.

Food type

Meat

Fish

Dough

Vegetables and grains

Soups

Calculation basis: by ground-meat weight · 15 g salt per 1 kg

Food weight, g

by ground-meat weight

Salt percent (optional)

Target: 1.2–1.8%

Servings

For per-serving calculation

Total salt

grams

In teaspoons

2.5

at 6 g

Sodium

5,895

Sodium per serving

1,474

mg sodium · 3.75 g salt

In target range · 1.5% salt (target 1.2–1.8%)

Serving: 75% of the general adult reference (5 g salt / 2000 mg sodium)

This comparison is general adult guidance, not a personal medical limit. If a clinician gave you a salt or sodium target, use that target.

Recipe saltiness scale

1.2%

1.8%

1.5%

belowtarget 1.2–1.8%above

Serving vs sodium reference

5 g

serving · 3.8 g

below referenceabove reference

Teaspoon equivalent

≈ 2.5 level tsp

Measure conversion: 1 level tsp is about 6 g of fine table salt, and 1 level tbsp is about 18 g. Coarse sea salt or kosher salt may weigh less in the same spoon.

Reference: less than 5 g salt, or about 2000 mg sodium, per day is broad adult guidance. It includes sodium from all food sources and does not replace medical limits for children, pregnancy or health conditions.

Calculate salt, sodium and servings

This page is aimed at recipe salt math rather than brine safety. Enter food weight, choose a cooking preset or custom salt percent, and convert the result into teaspoons, sodium and per-serving sodium.

m_{s a l t} = \frac{m _{f oo d} \times p}{100}

msalt - salt grams, mfood - food weight, p - selected salt percentage.

N a_{m g} = m_{s a l t} \times 393

Na - sodium milligrams, using the common estimate that 1 g table salt contains about 393 mg sodium.

N a_{ser v in g} = \frac{N a _{m g}}{N}

Naserving - sodium per serving, N - servings.

Recipe use and limits

Meat, dough, vegetables and soups use different salt-per-weight ranges.
Kosher salt and coarse sea salt can weigh less per teaspoon than fine table salt.
Prepared ingredients such as cheese, soy sauce, broth and cured meat already add sodium.
For fermentation, pickling or wet brine safety, use the brine calculator instead.

Sodium references are general health context, not personal medical limits. Follow clinician guidance for hypertension, kidney disease, heart failure, pregnancy, children or prescribed diets.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources and References

Calculations are based on the listed reference sources. Links open in a new tab.

Updated: June 2, 2026

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