Truffle Salt Substitutes: Homemade, Porcini Salt, Parmigiano and Truffle Oil

Truffle salt is sea salt with a small amount of dried truffle and, usually, a truffle flavoring. On the labels that state it, the truffle is 1 to 5 percent of the jar, and three of the four products checked also list a flavoring or “aroma.”¹²³⁴ So a substitute has two jobs: salt, which any salt can do, and a truffle-like aroma, which is the hard part.

That aroma has a measurable center. A 2017 analysis of commercial truffles, sauces and oils found that 1-octen-3-ol made up 35 to 75 percent of the volatile compounds measured in the truffles.⁵ Keep that compound in mind; it explains why porcini is the best stand-in.

Quick answer

How the ratios on this page are labeled

Every ratio carries one of four labels.

• Computed: based on a measurable physical relationship, with the source named.
• Attributed: a named source publishes this ratio. We quote it as theirs.
• Disputed: named sources give different answers to the same swap. We show each one and do not average them.
• Method: we found no published ratio. We give a direction and a cautious starting point, and say so.

The only published figures we found are the truffle percentages on product labels. No one has published a ratio for any substitute.

The salt is the easy part

Ratio (Computed): Truffle salt is mostly sea salt, with truffle at 1 to 5 percent on the labels that state it.¹²³ The American Heart Association says table salt, kosher salt and most sea salts are about 40 percent sodium,⁶ so the same weight of plain salt seasons about the same. If you swap by the spoon and your plain salt is finer than your truffle salt, start with less.

If it is finishing fries, popcorn, eggs or pasta

1. Make your own

Sellers suggest truffle salt for fries, popcorn, filet mignon, pasta, roasted vegetables and eggs.¹ To make your own, you need sea salt and dried truffle. Here is what named products put in theirs:

Ratio (Attributed): Marini Tartufi’s label gives the most usable figure: 1.5 percent freeze-dried truffle, which it equates to 7.5 percent fresh.² That works out to about 1.5 g of freeze-dried truffle, finely ground, per 100 g of salt. It is that maker’s recipe, not a measured standard; other labels run from 1 to 5 percent.¹³

Expect less aroma than a store-bought jar. Three of the four products list a flavoring next to the truffle, and the seller of the Casina Rossa salt describes it as “a touch of truffle essence for balance and longevity.”¹ Dried truffle alone may be milder. That is our expectation; no source measures it.

2. Porcini salt

Porcini (Boletus edulis) is the most useful truffle stand-in for aroma, and the chemistry shows why. In an analysis of fresh Boletus edulis, 1-octen-3-ol was the dominant volatile compound, at 79.75 percent.⁷ The 2017 truffle study found the same compound high in truffles, at 35 to 75 percent of their volatiles.⁵ Those figures come from different studies and different samples (fresh porcini from Turkey; commercial truffle samples), so they show a shared compound, not equal strength.

Where porcini falls short: the 2017 study found that white truffle’s marker compound, bis(methylthio)methane, was absent or low in black truffles,⁵ and no porcini study we read reports it. If your recipe means white truffle salt, porcini will be further off. The porcini study also used fresh mushrooms; dried porcini were not tested.

Ratio (Method): No published ratio. Grind dried porcini to a fine powder and start with about 1 teaspoon of powder per 2 tablespoons of sea salt. Taste on a potato chip or a bit of buttered bread, and add more porcini if you want it stronger.

If it is giving savory depth to pasta, risotto or potatoes

Parmigiano Reggiano

Parmigiano does a different job. It does not share truffle’s aroma, but it brings salt and savory depth. Its official specification requires raw, partially skimmed cow’s milk, salting by immersing the wheels in brine, and at least 12 months of maturation, with no additives.⁸ It can only be made in the provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia and Modena, in Bologna west of the River Reno, and in Mantua south of the River Po.⁸ A white paper from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics lists Parmesan’s free glutamic acid, the compound behind savory umami taste, at 1,200 to 1,680 mg per 100 g.⁹

Ratio (Method): No published ratio. Grate it over the finished dish, then taste before adding any other salt. The cheese is salted in brine,⁸ so you will usually need less.

If you want the aroma and can use a little oil

Truffle oil plus plain salt

Truffle oil can supply the aroma while plain salt does the salting. Know what you are buying. In the 2017 study, both naturally and artificially flavored truffle oils were dominated by bis(methylthio)methane, the white-truffle marker, even in most oils flavored as black truffle, and neither kind adequately replicated the aroma of the truffles examined.⁵

Ratio (Computed for the salt, Method for the oil): Use the same weight of plain salt as the truffle salt (Computed, above). For the oil, no ratio exists: add a few drops to the finished dish, toss, and taste. It is easy to overdo.

What isn’t known

• No study we found analyzes truffle salt’s own aroma, so how much the flavorings contribute is unknown.
• We found no published ratio for porcini salt, Parmigiano or truffle oil in place of truffle salt.
• The porcini and truffle aroma figures come from separate studies of different samples; no study compares the two directly.
• Porcini is often said to be much cheaper than truffle. We found no price source for this page, so we do not give figures.

Related

• Truffle salt, sea salt, sea salt substitutes, table salt
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• Mushroom spices, spices for scrambled eggs, seasonings for fries
• MSG substitutes, MSG vs. salt