Colored salt is a fun and easy way to add some personality to your dishes. Whether you’re looking to add a pop of color to your baked goods or want to create a unique way to top the rims of your craft cocktails, colorful and vibrant salt is a great option. But what exactly is colored salt, and how do you make it?
What Is Colored Salt
There are two categories of colored salt: naturally occurring and intentionally dyed.
Naturally Occurring Colored Salt
We cover a number of the naturally occurring culinary salt that has a color other than white on this website. We have a number of articles about Pink Himalayan salt, but the one that addresses how it gets it’s color, and what the color variations can be can be found at: Taste The Rainbow: How The Color Of Himalayan Salt Affects Its Flavor.
Hawaiian sea salt is available in white. The red sea salt gets it’s color from the clay that lines some of the salt pans – the same colorant that is used to make those Hawaiian red dirt shirts. The Hawaiian black sea salt is mixed charcoal to achieve the black color. For more about Hawaiian colored salt, see section 13 and 14 here: Worth It’s Salt: 20 Different Types of Salt.
There are also a number of gray salts. Celtic sea salt gets it’s color from the minerals that accumulate at the base of the salt harvesting ponds.
Intentionally Colored Salt
Sometimes you just want something fun! One of the beauties of salt is that it is really easy to color. The coloring does not affect the flavor of the salt, making it a purely aesthetic addition to dishes.
Colored salt is simply regular salt that has been tinted with food coloring. This can be done using any type of salt, from table salt to sea salt, and any color of food coloring that you like. The key is to use a container that allows you to mix the salt and food coloring together thoroughly, so that the color is evenly distributed throughout the salt.
You can use gel food coloring or liquid food coloring. Both will work, but may influence the mixing time. In my instructions and pictures below, I am using inexpensive liquid food coloring from the grocery store – normally intended for coloring frosting or icing.
How To Make Colored Salt
Materials
- Salt – in my pictures I am using 1/4 cup salt per bag
- Liquid Food coloring
- Plastic bag with a zipper top – mine are 3×5″ bags, but use a sandwich or quart-sized bag for larger quantities
The salt used in these pictures is the super-inexpensive table salt from the bottom shelf at the grocery store. It is non-iodized and a pound of it cost $0.89.
Combine the ingredients
Put your salt in the bag, then add drops of liquid food coloring. This is two drops of green food coloring. I was expecting it to clump up and not blend very well but I was wrong ;)
Mix it up!
Try to get most of the air out of the bag and seal it. Now mix the salt and food coloring together by kneading the bag. It only takes about 15 to 20 seconds to get a color like this one from two drops of food coloring.
Deepen the color, if desired
This is what the salt looks like after adding two more drops (a total of 4) of food coloring and mixing for another 20 seconds.
Alternate method: add food coloring first
For this bag of salt, I put two drops of food coloring in first, then smeared it around.
Final result …
I thought that adding the color first might reduce the mixing time, but it ended up being about the same as the green salt. If you are mixing two different colors together – such as a drop of red and a drop of yellow to make orange, I would use this method.
Tips and Tricks
Here are some tips and tricks to help you make the best colored salt:
- Use a small amount of food coloring at first and add more as needed. You can always add more, but you can’t take it away, other than adding more salt.
- For a more vibrant color, use more food coloring.
- For a more pastel or paler color, dilute the food coloring with a drop or two of water before adding it to the salt. This method can be beneficial when you are coloring very coarse salt like kosher salt.
- If you want to make multiple colors, use separate bags for each color.
- Store the colored salt in an airtight container or zip top bag to keep it fresh.
I thought that handling the colored salt might also color my fingers, but that was not the case. The hygroscopic nature of the salt completely absorbed the food coloring.
Uses for Colored Salt
Now that you have some beautifully colored salt, what are you going to do with it? Here are some ideas.
Baking Fun
How about Salted Caramels with colored salt? Pink or yellow might look good.
Pretzels are an obvious choice for colored kosher salt toppings. Bright green or blue would really draw attention to your homemade baked goodies!
Crafts and Art Projects
Colored salt is a versatile material that can be used in a variety of crafts and art projects. It can be used to make colorful art in place of using sand, create textured paintings, and add a pop of color to collages and mixed media projects. Colored salt can also be used to make homemade sidewalk chalk, as well as to dye fabric and paper.
I like using salt in place of colored sand for children’s art projects. All it takes is some construction paper, craft glue or glue sticks, and some colored salt. The cleanup afterwards is a lot easier than with sand.
Salt can be mixed with acrylic or water based paints to apply texture to artworks. The salt remains very stable after drying, and of course is acid-free.
Sensory Play
Colored salt is a popular material for sensory play activities. It can be used to create a sensory bin or table, where children can explore and play with the different colors and textures of the salt.
Clear containers can make fun vessels for making patterns and shapes. Children can learn about blending two different colors to make a third color.
When using colored salt for sensory play, it’s important to supervise children at all times and to encourage them not to put their fingers in their mouths. It’s also a good idea to use a tray or bin with high sides to contain the salt and prevent spills.
Home Decoration
Colored salt can be used to add a pop of color and texture to a variety of decorative projects. It can be used to fill vases and jars, create colorful centerpieces, and add a decorative touch to candles and other home decor items. Colored salt can also be used to create rangoli designs, a traditional Indian art form that uses colored sand to create intricate patterns and designs.
Colored salt in a clear vase or jar can be used for making bases for silk flower arrangements. Once the stems are arranged in the salt, mist in some water from a spray bottle to help set the salt in place.
Cocktail Rimming
One great use for colored salt is decorating cocktails or even non-alcoholic drinks with fun rims! Colored salt rims would be great for a party with a theme color or a wedding celebration. For more ideas about sensational salted cocktail rims, see Rimming With Flair: 15 Salt Rim Mixes for the Perfect Cocktail.
Orange + Black rims for Halloween? Red, White and Blue for 4th of July? Holiday party decorating has never been easier (or more inexpensive).
Final Thoughts
Colored salt can be a fantastic addition to various culinary decorating applications. It can be used to enhance the visual appeal of dishes and drinks, or even create decorative accents for crafts and art projects.
