Salt Cod substitute

Best substitute

Fresh cod home-salted for 24 to 48 hours

About twice the weight of the dry salt cod called for

Best for salt cod fritters

Close match

This is the real answer if you have a day. Bury skinless fillets in a bed of coarse salt in a covered dish in the fridge, 24 hours for thin pieces and up to 48 for thick loin, then rinse thoroughly and pat dry. The salt firms the proteins and draws out water, so the fish flakes into dense, meaty pieces instead of falling apart. It tastes cleaner and less deeply cured than commercial baccala, missing the aged, faintly funky note that months of drying gives.

Other salt cod substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Fresh cod quick-salted for one hour
Different taste
About twice the weight of the dry salt cod called for
The weeknight version.
What changes
Sprinkle about a tablespoon of coarse salt per 450 g of fillet, leave it an hour, then rinse and dry well. It firms up noticeably and holds together far better than untreated fish, but it still tastes plainly of fresh cod, sweet and mild, without the concentrated savoury depth of a real cure.
Best for
fritters and croquettes, quick stews, baked dishes, when you decided on dinner at 5pm
Mash one or two anchovy fillets into the batter or the mixture to supply the cured, savoury note the short salting cannot. Squeeze the fish dry in a clean towel before mixing.
3Salted pollock, hake or ling
Close match
Use the same amount with the dry salt cod
Often sold in the same section of the same shops, usually cheaper, and functionally almost identical since the curing method is the same.
What changes
The flake is a little softer and finer than cod and the flavour slightly less sweet, but in a fritter or a stew almost nobody would pick it out. Pieces are often thinner, so they need less soaking.
Best for
everything salt cod is used for, fritters, stews, brandade
Start tasting for saltiness after 12 to 18 hours of soaking rather than going the full 48, or thin salted pollock ends up bland and mushy.
4Stockfish (stoccafisso), rehydrated
Different texture
Use the same amount with the dry salt cod, allowing longer soaking
Air-dried cod with no salt added, the ingredient many northern Italian recipes actually mean when they say baccala.
What changes
It needs two to four days of soaking with frequent water changes but no desalting, so the finished flavour is cleaner and more intensely cod-like. The texture is chewier and more fibrous than salt cod, which is prized in dishes like baccala alla vicentina.
Best for
baccala alla vicentina, slow-braised dishes, recipes where a firm chew is wanted
Because it carries no salt, you will need to season the dish properly yourself. Ask for it to be sawn into pieces at the shop, because dry stockfish is close to impossible to cut at home.
5Smoked haddock or smoked cod
Different taste
Use the same amount with soaked salt cod
Already salty and firm, so it behaves correctly in the pan and needs no preparation beyond a short soak in milk if it is very salty.
What changes
It brings smoke, which salt cod does not have, so the dish tastes distinctly smoky rather than brinily cured; that suits brandade and chowder beautifully and pushes a delicate Venetian whipped baccala somewhere else entirely.
Best for
brandade, chowders and creamy dishes, fish cakes and croquettes, potato-based dishes
Choose undyed smoked haddock, since the bright yellow dyed kind will colour a creamy dish. Poach it gently in milk and use that milk in the dish.
6Canned tuna or good jarred cooked fish
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount with soaked salt cod, drained
The emergency option, and only for fritters, croquettes and mixed fillings where the fish is bound with potato.
What changes
It tastes clearly of tuna, and the texture is soft and shreddy rather than flaked and firm, so the fritters are denser and less interesting. It already carries salt, so hold back on seasoning until you taste.
Best for
fritters and croquettes bound with potato, fish cakes, stuffed vegetables
Use oil-packed tuna and drain it well. Do not attempt brandade or baccala mantecato with it, because the emulsion depends on cured fish protein and the result will be a loose, fishy paste.

What is Salt Cod?

Salt Cod is Salt cod, known as baccala in Italy and bacalhau in Portugal, is cod that has been heavily salted and dried into stiff pale slabs, and it must be soaked in cold water for one to three days before it can be cooked.

Cooking tips

Soak salt cod in the refrigerator, never on the counter, in a large volume of cold water with the skin side facing up so the salt falls away from the flesh. Change the water three or four times a day for 24 to 48 hours for thin fillets, and up to three days for a thick centre-cut loin.
Test the salt before you commit the whole dish. Break off a small piece, poach it for two minutes in water and taste it; if it is still too salty, keep soaking, and if it is bland, you have soaked it too long and should hold back the salt in your sauce.
Never boil baccala hard. Bring the liquid to a bare simmer, drop the fish in, and pull the pan off the heat after five to eight minutes; a rolling boil turns the flakes rubbery and stringy, which is the single most common way the dish goes wrong.
Pay for the thick centre-cut loin rather than the cheap thin tail pieces. The tails are mostly skin and bone, they oversalt in the middle, and they fall apart; the loin is more expensive per kilo and better value in usable fish.
Keep the poaching liquid, especially if you poached in milk. It carries a lot of the flavour and it is what makes brandade and baccala mantecato taste of the fish rather than just of potato and cream.
Salted, dried fish is a preserved product, and the salt is what keeps it safe. Do not reduce the salt in a curing recipe or improvise your own cure or brine strength; if you want to cure fish at home, follow tested guidance from the National Center for Home Food Preservation rather than adjusting a recipe by eye.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use fresh cod instead of salt cod?

You can, but salt it first or the dish will not work properly. Untreated fresh cod is wetter and softer, so it disintegrates in a stew and makes a loose, watery fritter batter. Even one hour under coarse salt, then rinsed and dried, transforms the texture; 24 to 48 hours gets you most of the way to real baccala. Use about twice the weight of fresh fish that the recipe specifies for dry salt cod.

How do I make my own salt cod?

Lay skinless cod fillets in a dish, bury them completely in coarse sea salt, cover, and refrigerate for 24 hours for thin pieces or up to 48 for a thick loin, pouring off the liquid that collects. Rinse well, pat dry, and use within a couple of days. This is a short cure for texture and flavour, not a long-term preservation method, so keep it refrigerated and do not treat it as shelf-stable.

How long do I soak salt cod?

Between 24 and 48 hours for most fillets, and up to 72 hours for a thick loin, always in the fridge with the water changed three or four times a day. Thin, papery tail pieces may need only 12 hours. Rather than watching the clock, poach a small piece and taste it; the fish should be pleasantly seasoned, not aggressively salty.

Can I just leave salt cod out of the recipe?

Not in a dish that is named after it, such as baccala fritters, baccala mantecato or bacalhau a bras, because the fish is the dish. In a mixed seafood stew you can drop it and increase the other fish, but you will lose the savoury backbone, so add a mashed anchovy or a splash of the fish's poaching liquid to compensate. If you cannot get salt cod, salting fresh fish is a far better answer than omitting it.

Is salt cod already cooked?

No. It is cured and dried, not cooked, and it must be soaked and then cooked before eating. Do not taste raw soaked salt cod beyond a tiny piece to check saltiness, and poach or fry it properly like any other fish.

What is the difference between baccala and stoccafisso?

Both are preserved cod, and Italian recipes use the names loosely, which causes endless confusion. Baccala is salted and then dried. Stoccafisso, stockfish, is dried in cold air without salt, which takes months and leaves it hard as wood. Baccala needs soaking to remove salt; stoccafisso needs soaking only to rehydrate, and needs seasoning afterwards. Confusingly, in Venice the dish called baccala mantecato is traditionally made with stoccafisso.

Related substitutes

More seafood substitutes

Salt Cod substitute

Other salt cod substitutes

2Fresh cod quick-salted for one hour

3Salted pollock, hake or ling

4Stockfish (stoccafisso), rehydrated

5Smoked haddock or smoked cod

6Canned tuna or good jarred cooked fish