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Kosher Salt vs. Table Salt: Grain, Additives and How to Convert Between Them

By · Reviewed · 13 sources

Kosher Salt Vs. Table Salt

Kosher salt and table salt are the same stuff, sodium chloride, so why do recipes care which one you use? The grain. It decides how much salt fits in a spoon: about 6 grams of table salt per teaspoon, 4.8 grams of Morton kosher salt and only 2.8 grams of Diamond Crystal.1 The rest of the difference is what else is in the box. Table salt usually has an anticaking agent and often iodine, while kosher salt is rarely iodized and named for its use in koshering meat.

Side by side

Kosher saltTable salt
What it isCoarse-grained sodium chloride, named for koshering meatFine-grained sodium chloride
How it’s madeDiamond Crystal: brine heated and stirred in open pans, forming hollow pyramid crystals. Morton: vacuum evaporators, then pressed flat between rollers1Tiny, uniform crystals from rapid vacuum evaporation (ATK);2 the AHA describes it as mined and processed to a fine texture3
AdditivesMorton: yellow prussiate of soda, an anticaking agent.4 Diamond Crystal: none, per ATK1Usually an anticaking agent.2 Morton iodized: calcium silicate, dextrose, potassium iodide5
IodineNot usually iodized6Iodized or plain. US iodized salt: 45 mcg iodine per gram6
Grams per teaspoon (ATK)Morton 4.8 g; Diamond Crystal 2.8 g1About 6 g, regardless of brand1
Grams per ¼ teaspoon (Morton labels)Morton kosher 1.2 g4Morton iodized 1.5 g5
Sodium per ¼ teaspoon (Morton labels)480 mg4590 mg5
DissolvingMore slowly than table salt7Faster than kosher salt7
Main jobSeasoning by hand; ATK’s first choice for seasoning meat2Measured cooking and baking, and the shaker
FlavorSalty; Diamond Crystal crisp and light, Morton harderSalty; fine and quick to dissolve on the tongue
PriceNo dated, sourced comparison foundNo dated, sourced comparison found

The label rows compare one brand’s products with each other. They’re rounded serving sizes, not lab weighings.

Grain: the difference that matters

How the salt crystallizes sets the grain. ATK says table salt gets its tiny, uniform crystals from rapid vacuum evaporation.2 Kosher salt’s two big brands get their large grains in different ways. Diamond Crystal grows hollow pyramids in open, heated pans of brine, while Morton presses vacuum-evaporated salt through rollers into thin flakes.1

Three things follow from the grain.

  • How much fits in a spoon. A coarse grain leaves air between crystals, so a spoonful holds less salt. The AHA points out that coarse salt has less sodium per teaspoon only because fewer crystals fit.3 Weight for weight, they’re the same.
  • How fast it dissolves. Kosher salt’s coarser grains dissolve more slowly than table salt, and Tufts says that can help season the surface of food.7
  • How it handles. ATK’s testers make kosher salt their first choice for seasoning meat because the coarse grains are easy to pinch and spread.2 On buttered bread, they liked Diamond Crystal’s “delicate and fleeting crunch.”1

Where the name comes from

Kosher salt is named for what it’s used for, not how it’s made. Its coarse grains were used to draw blood out of meat, as Jewish dietary law requires. Morton says its kosher salt is kosher certified. You’ll often read that the big grains sit on the meat without dissolving, so the meat doesn’t end up too salty. We couldn’t find a source for that.

What’s in the box

Table salt usually has an anticaking agent to help it pour. Morton’s iodized table salt lists salt, calcium silicate (an anticaking agent), dextrose and potassium iodide.5 Under US rules, salt with added iodide can be labeled “iodized salt” and has to say that it supplies iodide, a necessary nutrient. Salt with an anticaking agent can be labeled “free flowing.”8

Kosher salt isn’t iodized and usually has nothing else added.7 The exception is Morton’s, which contains yellow prussiate of soda as an anticaking agent. ATK reports that Diamond Crystal has none.41 So “kosher salt has no anticaking agent” is true of one big brand, not both.

Do the additives change the taste? ATK’s tasters couldn’t tell iodized from noniodized salt.2 In a separate test, broths seasoned with equal weights of Morton and Diamond Crystal tasted the same.1

Measuring: where the swap goes wrong

By weight, the two are interchangeable. By volume, they aren’t, and the published conversions don’t agree.

SaltGrams per teaspoonSource
Table saltAbout 6 g, regardless of brandATK1
Morton kosher4.8 gATK1
Diamond Crystal kosher2.8 g (rounded to 3 g in a later ATK article)ATK19

For 1 teaspoon of table salt: the sources disagree

SourceMorton kosherDiamond Crystal
ATK’s rule of thumb1½ teaspoons2 teaspoons
Morton’s conversion chart (Morton products only)1¼ teaspoonsnot covered
Computed from ATK’s own gram weights (6.0 ÷ 4.8 and 6.0 ÷ 2.8)1¼ teaspoonsabout 2⅛ teaspoons
Computed from Morton’s own label weights (1.5 g ÷ 1.2 g per ¼ teaspoon)1¼ teaspoonsnot covered

Sources: ATK rule,2 Morton chart,10 ATK weights,1 Morton labels.54 Three of the four routes give 1¼ teaspoons of Morton kosher. ATK’s own rule of thumb gives more. We’d rather show you the disagreement than pick one. The same table is on our kosher salt page. ATK itself recommends weighing salt.9

Can one stand in for the other?

Yes. Any salt can stand in for another by weight. By volume, adjust for the grain. These amounts match our kosher salt substitute page.

SwapStarting amountTreatment
Either, measured by weightThe same weightComputed
Morton kosher in place of 1 teaspoon table salt1¼ teaspoons (ATK’s rule says 1½)Disputed (see above)
Diamond Crystal in place of 1 teaspoon table salt2 teaspoons (ATK’s weights imply about 2⅛)Disputed (see above)
Table salt in place of 1 teaspoon Morton kosher¾ teaspoon, then tasteMethod
Table salt in place of 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal½ teaspoon, then tasteMethod
Table salt in place of kosher salt for seasoning meat by handUse less and sprinkle from a height, then tasteMethod

How we got these. By weight: the Codex standard requires food-grade salt to be at least 97% sodium chloride on a dry basis, not counting additives.11 By volume: the kosher-to-table amounts just flip the conversions above (1 ÷ 1¼ is ⅘ and 1 ÷ 2 is ½), rounded down so you start low. In baking, salt has to spread evenly through a dough and is often measured by the spoon, so fine salt is the predictable choice.

Which to use when

  • Kosher salt: seasoning meat and vegetables by hand before cooking, where ATK’s testers prefer it;2 brining poultry, which Morton suggests its kosher salt for.4
  • Table salt: anything measured by the spoon, and the shaker. Morton markets its iodized salt for cooking, baking and seasoning at the table.5

A sensible split: kosher salt at the table, fine salt in measured recipes.

Health notes

  • Sodium. Weight for weight, there’s no difference. The AHA says table salt, kosher salt and most sea salts are about 40% sodium.3 Per spoonful, kosher salt carries less. Morton’s labels give 480 mg of sodium per ¼ teaspoon of its kosher salt and 590 mg for its iodized table salt.45 Tufts puts a teaspoon of kosher salt at 1,920 mg against 2,325 mg for table salt, without naming a brand.7 The FDA’s Daily Value for sodium is less than 2,300 mg a day, about a teaspoon of table salt.12 Switching to kosher salt only cuts sodium if you end up using less salt by weight.
  • Iodine. This one’s a real difference. US iodized salt contains 45 mcg of iodine per gram, and iodizing salt is voluntary in the US. The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements lists kosher salt among specialty salts that usually aren’t iodized. Most salt in the American diet comes from processed foods, which almost always use noniodized salt.6 If you cook only with kosher salt and count on salt for iodine, keep iodized salt around too. See iodized vs. non-iodized salt.

What isn’t known

  • We couldn’t find a lab analysis of either kosher brand. The Swiss government survey of 25 salts included one standard iodized table salt but gave no sodium figure for it, and didn’t include kosher salt.13
  • We couldn’t get Diamond Crystal’s own weight per teaspoon from the company. The figures here are ATK’s.
  • We didn’t find a published test of how either salt dissolves or spreads on meat, beyond Tufts’ general point that kosher salt dissolves more slowly.
  • No dated, sourced price comparison.

Footnotes

  1. Kate Shannon Levine, The Best Kosher Salt, America’s Test Kitchen, 2019. americastestkitchen.com · Publication ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13

  2. Salt Types and Measurements, America’s Test Kitchen. americastestkitchen.com · Publication ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  3. Sodium Sources: Where Does All That Sodium Come From?, American Heart Association, 2025. heart.org · Reference work ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  4. Morton Kosher Salt Flakes, product page, Morton Salt. mortonsalt.com · Merchant ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  5. Morton Iodized Table Salt, product page, Morton Salt. mortonsalt.com · Merchant ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  6. Iodine: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals, NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. ods.od.nih.gov · Regulator ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  7. What’s the difference between kosher salt and other salt?, Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter, 2013 (updated 2019). nutritionletter.tufts.edu · Publication ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  8. 21 CFR 100.155, Salt and iodized salt, Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. ecfr.gov · Regulator ↩

  9. Eden Faithfull, The Wrong Brand of Kosher Salt Could Ruin Your Dinner, America’s Test Kitchen, 2022. americastestkitchen.com · Publication ↩ ↩2

  10. Salt Conversion Chart, Morton Salt. mortonsalt.com · Merchant ↩

  11. Standard for Food Grade Salt, CXS 150-1985 (rev. 2012), Codex Alimentarius. services.bis.gov.in · Standard ↩

  12. Sodium in Your Diet, U.S. Food and Drug Administration. fda.gov · Regulator ↩

  13. Esther Infanger and Max Haldimann, Report on the composition of prevalent salt varieties, Swiss Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office, 2016. warwick.ac.uk · Regulator ↩