You May Be Salting Your Pasta Water Wrong. Here’s How Professional Chefs Do It

It's pretty common knowledge that you should add salt to your pasta water because salt enhances the flavor of the pasta and slightly raises the boiling point of water. Most people use 1-2 tablespoons of salt per gallon of water, but if you're one of those people, you may not be salting your pasta properly.

Several celebrity chefs took to Food Network's TikTok to share how they salt their pasta water, and it's eye-opening.

Up first was Chef Jet Tila , who poured what appeared to be a half cup of salt into two gallons of water. Then, Chef Alex Guarnaschelli does the same for her pasta water.

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"You're not going to eat all of this," she says, adding that the water should taste "like sea water" before you add your pasta.

Chef Michael Symon uses just a few pinches for a large pot of water, and Chef Claudette Zepeda uses a palm-sized "pinch" of salt for her water.

"Don't at me. I am not Italian," Zepeda says.

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Ree Drummond, on the other hand, uses just an actual pinch of salt and Chef Tiffany Derry contradicts Chef Guarnaschelli by saying that the water should taste salty, but not really as salty as the sea. Instead, she added four or five large pinches of salt to her water.

In all, Food Network had nine chefs show how much salt should go in pasta water, and the general consensus was that you need more than a pinch of salt, but maybe not a half cup. A good handful should do the trick.

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Should You Rinse Your Pasta?

All this extra salt may have you thinking that you need to rinse your pasta after you drain it, but you shouldn't if you plan to serve it right away. Rinsing removes starch from the pasta and that starch helps sauces cling better to the pasta, giving you a better dining experience. Rinsing can also wash away the salt from the pasta water, which can also dull its flavor.

Of course, there are some exceptions to the rinsing rule. For example, if you’re making a pasta salad or a cold pasta dish, rinsing after draining will help cool the pasta quickly and stop the cooking process, which will prevent your pasta from becoming mushy. Rinsing can also prevent pasta from sticking together, which is good if you plan to save it it for later use.

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