10 Ways to Remove a Bitter Taste from Food & Balance Your Flavors

If your soup, stew, or other dish is on the bitter side, you have more options than you think. Sweet, fatty, and acidic ingredients are all great ways to tone down the bitterness in your food—but that’s not all. Read on to learn all the essential strategies to adjusting bitter recipes or naturally bitter foods, so you can have a more enjoyable eating experience.

How to Reduce Bitterness in Food

Culinary & fitness expert Ian Heydecke says you can make food less bitter by adding something sweet, like sugar, or something fatty, like cream, cheese, or oil. Other options include adding a pinch of salt or baking soda, acidic flavors like lemon juice or vinegar, or spicy ingredients like cayenne or red pepper.

1

Fatty Ingredients

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Fat naturally masks bitter tastes and makes them more palatable. This is why adding some milk or cream to coffee makes it taste better. Try using a cream sauce, milk, fatty cheese, olive oil, or similar fatty ingredients to help cover bitter tastes. If you’re aiming to keep your dish healthy, look for low-fat alternatives.^{[1]
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- This is a great trick to get kids to eat more bitter vegetables like broccoli, brussels sprouts, or cabbage. Add some cheese or cheese sauce to their veggies, and they won’t notice the bitterness.

2

Sugar

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Cover the flavor with sweetness. Think about coffee—there’s a reason we like sweetening it a bit. The sweetness naturally covers bitter tastes. Throw a pinch of sugar or some honey into bitter foods and drinks to enhance the flavor a bit.
- Pairing bitter tastes with sugar or chocolate also makes a unique dessert flavor.
- Don’t overdo it with the sugar! The American Heart Association recommends having no more than 25-36 g of sugar per day for good health, so watch how much you’re using and try not to exceed that limit.^{[2]
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3

Salt

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A pinch of salt makes everything better, including bitter foods. The saltiness naturally counteracts the bitterness, so don’t be shy about using a bit of salt in meals that are too bitter.
- This is an especially good trick if you’re cooking bitter vegetables, like with roasted broccoli or brussels sprouts. Toss them in some olive oil and salt before cooking to introduce new flavors.^{[3]
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- Just like with sugar, you have to watch your salt intake to maintain good health. The recommended salt intake per day is 2,300 mg, or just about 1/2 tsp.^{[4]
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4

Baking Soda

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Some home cooks find that baking soda improves bitterness. Sprinkle just a pinch into your food and mix it in well to see if that helps.^{[5]
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- This is a good trick for if you’re cooking and realize that you added too much of a bitter ingredient. Just mix in a pinch of baking soda before the dish is done to fix that!
- Be very careful not to add more than a pinch or two. Any more than that and your food likely won’t taste very good!

5

Lemon Juice or Vinegar

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Sour, acidic tastes like these naturally counteract bitterness. Try squeezing some fresh Make-Lemon-Juice|lemon juice]] or adding a spoonful of vinegar to bitter dishes to neutralize the flavor a bit.^{[6]
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- Using acidic or sour dressings is a great way to enhance the taste of bitter vegetables in your salads like kale, radishes, or arugula.^{[7]
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- If you make a mistake and add too much vinegar or lemon juice to a dish, some baking soda can help fix that flavor too by eliminating the acid.^{[8]
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6

Spicy Ingredients

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Spices mask bitter flavors, so don’t be shy. Add some spicy peppers or powders to your cooking, or sprinkle some onto your dishes for a little bit of extra heat.^{[9]
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- Black pepper can be a great option, along with cayenne, red pepper, paprika, and chili powder.
- Want to turn up the heat even more? Turn up the spice with jalapeño peppers, serrano peppers, habanero peppers, or even ghost peppers.^{[10]
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7

Herbs

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Herbs distract you from bitterness by activating other taste receptors. Mix some basil, coriander, sage, and rosemary into your cooking for great, bitter-free flavors.^{[11]
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- Mixing fresh herbs into a stir-fry or roasted dish adds a whole new flavor element to your cooking.
- You can also get dried herbs like basil, ginger, and oregano to sprinkle onto your meals. These last a lot longer than fresh varieties.
- Best of all? Herb seasonings are a great way to amp up the flavor in your food without cranking up your sodium intake.^{[12]
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8

Coldness

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If you don’t mind eating cold food, this is the choice for you. Some research points to bitter drinks like coffee tasting sweeter chilled rather than hot.^{[13]
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Research source} Try applying this logic to your own food by leaving bitter meals in the fridge before eating them to see if that improves the flavor.^{[14]
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- This is a good trick for bitter vegetables. Leave them in the fridge for a few hours to cool off before eating them.
- You could also combine this with other tricks, like adding some salt or fat to the meal.

9

Using Non-Bitter Ingredients

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Incorporate more non-bitter ingredients into your recipes than bitter ones. This should mask the bitter flavors while still allowing you to get all the health benefits from bitter foods.
- Some non-bitter ingredients include beans, carrots, corn, eggplant, lettuce, and potatoes. Try hiding some bitter foods in a dish with these ingredients.^{[15]
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- This trick works well with salads. You could mix bitter ingredients like arugula with more neutral tastes like romaine. Top the salad with a lemon vinaigrette to mask the bitterness even more.

10

Gaining Exposure

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You might be able to teach your body what kinds of foods to like. If you just keep eating bitter foods, you may be able to desensitize yourself to bitter tastes. It might not seem fun right now, but it can make a big difference in the long term!^{[16]
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- This is a good strategy because some other tricks to make bitter food taste better, like adding sugar or fat, can be unhealthy if they aren’t practiced in moderation. This strategy instead can help you eat bitter foods without adding other ingredients.

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Don't be afraid to experiment with flavors! You might have to try out a few different spices and herbs to find that perfect combination to mask bitterness.

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