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I am on a strict low salt diet. Have been looking for pumpkin custard recipes and all have salt. If it's for flavor only, which spice(s) could I add or increase to kick it up a bit?

Terry Heinrich
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    I expect that you are on a low sodium diet rather than specifically a low salt (sodium chloride) diet. If so you may be interested in various substitutes. A common one is potassium chloride. It does have a slightly different taste but this depends on what is being cooked. Other alternatives can be bought and some of these are discussed here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_substitute - If you search online for ***salt substitute*** you will get lots of results. – chasly - supports Monica Nov 21 '20 at 20:54
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    Welcome to SA! The classic pumpkin pie recipe has 1/2 tsp of salt in the custard, which means that if you're only having one slice, you're getting 1/16 tsp of salt, or 144mg of sodium, which isn't a big deal on a low-sodium diet; even less if you simply cut the amount in half. I'd be more worried about how much salt is in the crust. – FuzzyChef Nov 23 '20 at 06:38

1 Answers1

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You can certainly omit salt from a pumpkin custard recipe. It's there as a flavor enhancer, to provide contrast to the sweetness. The texture of the custard will be just fine without it. Desserts without salt can sometimes seem insipid, but the mixture of spices in pumpkin custard should prevent that issue. I wouldn't add any additional spices.

Sometimes I forget to add the salt to a pumpkin pie, and no one notices the omission. Pumpkin pie filling is basically the same as a pumpkin custard.

Some pumpkin custard recipes have a pecan topping, which would add some additional texture and flavor. The pecan topping is a mixture of pecans, brown sugar and melted butter, sprinkled on top of each custard before baking.

Or you could make candied pecans as an optional topping. As with the custard it will be fine to omit the salt. If you're serving guests and not all of them are on a low-salt diet, you could make two batches of candied pecans, one salted and one unsalted.

edit: as chasly mentioned, if you are on a low-sodium diet there are various salt substitutes that don't have sodium, such as potassium chloride. I can't specifically recommend them because I haven't tried them. Potassium chloride is often described as having a metallic taste. The benefit of having some saltiness might be outweighed by the metallic taste, but it might be worth experimenting. You could split a batch of unsalted custard and add salt substitute to one half.

csk
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