Is there less salt in homemade bread?

December 10, 2025 •

4 min read

According to Action on Salt, the average salt content of packaged pre-sliced bread is around 0.9g per 100g, with some products reaching much higher levels. The simple act of baking your own bread gives you complete control over every ingredient, including the sodium content, which offers a significant advantage over pre-packaged options.

Quick Summary

Homemade bread typically contains less sodium than commercially produced loaves because the baker controls the salt quantity. Adjusting the salt content impacts flavor, gluten structure, and fermentation, but it is possible to reduce sodium significantly without compromising quality. Learn how homemade bread can be a healthier, lower-sodium alternative for your diet.

Key Points

Full Control Over Sodium: Homemade bread allows you to dictate the exact amount of salt, whereas store-bought bread is often high in sodium for preservation and flavor.
Reduced Salt is Possible: You can often decrease the salt in a recipe by up to 50% without negatively affecting the texture, especially if you compensate with other flavor enhancers.
Adjusting Flavor: To offset the flavor loss from reduced salt, incorporate high-quality flours, herbs, spices, or seeds into your recipe.
Salt Affects Dough Structure: Salt is crucial for controlling fermentation and strengthening gluten, so be prepared for a slightly different, potentially stickier dough texture when using less.
Healthier Alternative: Baking your own lower-sodium bread is a great way to manage salt intake, especially for those with hypertension, kidney issues, or other health concerns.
Look for Specialized Recipes: For completely salt-free options, start with recipes specifically designed for it, like traditional Tuscan bread, which has no added salt.

Is There Less Salt in Homemade Bread Compared to Store-Bought?

Yes, homemade bread almost always has less salt than its store-bought counterparts, as you, the baker, have complete control over the ingredients. While commercial bakeries often use higher quantities of salt for flavor enhancement, preservation, and dough management, home bakers can significantly reduce or even eliminate salt. However, salt plays several critical roles beyond just flavor, and adjustments must be made carefully to maintain the bread's quality.

The Functions of Salt in Baking

To understand how to successfully bake with less salt, you must first appreciate its various functions in a standard recipe:

Yeast Control: Salt inhibits yeast activity, slowing down fermentation. This controlled fermentation process is essential for developing complex flavors and preventing the dough from over-proofing too quickly.
Gluten Strength: By tightening the gluten structure, salt strengthens the dough, making it more elastic and easier to handle. This strength allows the loaf to hold onto the carbon dioxide gas produced by the yeast, resulting in a better rise and a superior crumb structure.
Flavor Enhancement: As an undeniable flavor enhancer, salt makes the bread taste better by accentuating the subtle flavors of the flour and other ingredients.
Crust Color: By regulating yeast activity, salt ensures that enough residual sugar remains in the dough for the Maillard reaction to occur during baking, which creates a beautifully browned crust.

Can You Successfully Reduce Salt in Homemade Bread?

It is certainly possible to reduce the salt in your homemade bread. Many home bakers find they can lower the salt content by up to 50% without a major impact on the final product's texture or rise, though the flavor may be less pronounced. For those needing to restrict sodium even further, it's recommended to reduce it gradually to allow your palate to adjust. Compensating for the reduced salt can be done by enhancing flavor with herbs, spices, or seeds. For example, a recipe that calls for 2 teaspoons of salt could be cut down to 1 teaspoon, and you might add fresh rosemary or caraway seeds to boost the flavor profile.

Techniques for Baking with Less Salt

Baking with less salt requires a few adjustments to your technique to achieve a satisfying result:

Use High-Quality Flour: High-quality or organic flours often have more flavor naturally, which can help compensate for the reduction in salt.
Lengthen Fermentation: A slower, longer fermentation process allows more complex flavors to develop in the dough. To slow things down, you can use less yeast or do a cold fermentation in the refrigerator, which helps offset the yeast's accelerated activity caused by less salt.
Enhance with Other Flavors: Incorporating herbs (like rosemary or dill), spices (like garlic powder or paprika), or aromatic ingredients (like sourdough starter) can provide the savory, complex flavor notes lost with reduced salt.
Choose a Low-Salt Recipe: Some recipes, such as traditional Tuscan bread (Pane Toscano), are designed to be salt-free and specifically accommodate the necessary structural adjustments. For those new to low-sodium baking, this can be an excellent starting point.

Comparison: Homemade vs. Store-Bought Bread


Feature	Homemade Bread	Store-Bought Bread
Salt/Sodium Content	Fully controllable; can be made with significantly less salt or even salt-free.	High and often inconsistent; average salt content is around 0.9g per 100g, but varies greatly by brand and product type.
Ingredients	All ingredients are known and chosen by the baker; no hidden additives or preservatives.	May contain additives, preservatives, and other unlisted ingredients that extend shelf life.
Flavor	Can be customized with high-quality ingredients, herbs, and spices; flavor is often more robust and complex, even with reduced salt.	Standardized for mass appeal; often relies on higher salt levels to boost flavor.
Texture	Varies based on skill and recipe; can be customized to be dense, chewy, or soft.	Standardized and uniform; often softer and less dense due to the use of dough conditioners and other additives.
Nutritional Profile	Can be tailored to include whole grains, seeds, and specific flours for higher fiber and nutrients.	Can contain enriched flours and added sugars; nutritional content is fixed based on commercial formulation.

A Concluding Thought on Baking for Health

Making your own bread is not just a culinary activity; it's a way to take charge of your diet and reduce your sodium intake. While it's true that there's less salt in homemade bread by default, the real benefit lies in your ability to control exactly what goes into your food. With some simple adjustments and flavor experimentation, you can create a delicious, healthier loaf that perfectly suits your dietary needs without sacrificing enjoyment. For those with specific health conditions like hypertension or kidney disease, this level of control is invaluable. The key is to reduce salt gradually and incorporate other natural flavor enhancers to maintain a satisfying taste. The small extra effort in the kitchen provides a big return in health benefits.

King Arthur Baking offers comprehensive guides and recipes to help you reduce salt in your baking without sacrificing quality.

Frequently Asked Questions

Commercial bakeries add more salt to their bread for several reasons: to act as a preservative and extend shelf life, to enhance flavor for mass-market appeal, and to improve the dough's strength and texture during industrial-scale processing.

If you omit salt entirely, the bread's flavor will be bland, the yeast will ferment too quickly and uncontrollably, and the gluten structure will be weak. This results in a sticky, slack dough that yields a loaf with poor volume, a pale crust, and a dry, spongy texture that goes stale quickly.

To maintain flavor while reducing salt, consider a slower, longer fermentation, which naturally develops more complex flavors. You can also incorporate other flavorful ingredients like herbs (rosemary, dill), spices (garlic powder), nuts, or seeds.

Yes, some bakers successfully use salt substitutes, which are typically made with potassium chloride. However, these can impart a different flavor, and their effect on yeast and gluten may not be identical to regular salt, so it's wise to experiment cautiously.

In bread baking, the standard salt percentage is 1.8% to 2.2% of the total flour weight. You can decrease this amount, often to as low as 1%, but below that, the effects on the bread's texture and flavor become more pronounced.

Salt slows down yeast fermentation. When you reduce the amount of salt, the yeast becomes more active, and the dough will rise more quickly. This means you may need to adjust your rising times and keep a closer eye on the dough to prevent over-proofing.

Bread made without salt will have a very plain, almost insipid flavor, as salt plays a key role in enhancing other ingredients' tastes. It is often meant to be paired with other flavorful foods, like salty cheeses or cured meats, to provide the missing flavor element.