Salt is on nearly every table in the country. It is one of the most used spices in every kitchen, and restaurant, and can really transform a dish from basic to fantastic. There are a bunch of gourmet salts that are at the top tier in the salt world. Check out the best gourmet salts the world has to offer with our ultimate list of top picks for head chefs and line cooks.
I don’t have proof, but this may be the salt that started the whole thing. I know, personally, that this was the product that I first tried that made me realize there’s way more to salt than the good old table salt in a shaker.
This is fleur de del — flower of salt — and it’s got great crunch and super clean flavor. It comes in a good looking 4.4 ounce canister that has a cork top.
Speaking of stellar, it’d be a great idea to get a salt cellar for this — or any of the salts in the list. It makes it very easy to use the salt…and in a way that says, I know my salt game.
Maldon Sea Salt Flakes has a long, storied history. The Maldon Salt Company was incorporated in Maldon in 1882. Since then, it’s been run by the same family and they use the same, traditional methods of harvesting their salt from the sea. (They say that now, instead of three salt pans, they use 19.)
This is another “basic” gourmet salt that any foodie would love. Besides being a great deal — it’s an 8.5 ounce box of sea salt flakes — it’s the kind of salt that’s perfect for finishing a dish. It’s very light and almost resembles snowflakes.
The great thing about this big sampler is that you get a combination of gourmet salt blends and just salt. The “just salt” is a variety of different types, which is great for comparing or using on different dishes. The salts are:
Cyprus White Salt
India Kala Namak Black Salt
Bali Pyramid Salt
Hawaiian Red Alaea Salt
Himalayan Pink Salt (Fine)
Guatemalan Fleur de Sel Salt
The five blends are:
Applewood Smoked Salt
Cyprus Rosemary Salt
Spanish Chorizo Salt
Herbes de Provence & Fleur de Sel Blend
Tropical Hibiscus Salt
Another cool thing about this set is it looks good on the kitchen counter. It’s eleven glass tubes, each with a cork, that sit in a wooden base. Each tube contains anywhere from 0.7 to 1.3 ounces of salt, depending on the density of the salt.
This is from The Spice Lab’s Premium Collection and it gets a great 4.6 out of 5-star rating average.
Gourmet salt that has truffle in it should come with a warning: this stuff can be addictive. This is an eight ounce jar of fine sea salt that has been blended with bits of Italian black truffle (which is like a mushroom, only way more unique, way more flavorful, way more expensive).
I use truffle salt whenever I make a pasta that I’m also using truffle oil with. The great thing about truffle salt is that you can use it on many different things, like popcorn, veggies, chocolate chip cookies, ice cream, etc.
More than 85 customer reviews and a stellar 4.5 out of 5-star rating average. The package comes with a handy little wooden salt spoon.
This is a basic gourmet salt, which is on the coarse side, that we’re including because of its unique origin: it’s from the Cuyutlan Lagoon in Colima, Mexico. According to Aztec Sea Salt, this is the same region where the Aztecs traded their salt more than 500 years ago.
The salt is harvested for just 120 days out of the year, sorted by hand and packaged in small batches. The packaging talks about how to use their salt (although it applies for any salt, really): “Take a pinch between your thumb and fingers, grind between your fingers while holding your hand about one foot above the food to be salted.”
This salt, which comes in an eight ounce resealable bag, works well on anything. It’s very popular, with more than 760 customer reviews and a 4.4 out of 5-star rating average.
If you haven’t experienced the deliciousness that is porcini mushroom, you are in for something great. If you have: you’re in for something great.
This blend is simply sea salt and dried porcini. Porcini mushrooms are fantastic when they’re fresh. When they’re dried, they’re almost better because they’ve got an even more concentrated flavor. Earthy and very umami. This salt would work great all by itself to finish a simple pasta dish or sprinkled on top of a steak (after cooking).
You get a four ounce jar of Caravel Gourmet’s gourmet salt with this one. Caravel’s got more than 115 customer reviews and a fantastic 4.6 out of 5-star rating average.
This is not only a tasty sample set, it’s good looking to boot. The set comes with six different salt blends.
Truffle & Salt
Fennel & Salt
Saffron & Salt
Fiori & Salt
Porcini & Salt
Herb & Salt
Before you Google it, I’ll let you know that I already did: Fiori means “flower” in Italian and the Fiori & Salt blend is sea salt and edible flowers (from Italy). And no offense, but just in case: porcini is a type of mushroom and it’s probably one of the best tasting, strongest mushrooms out there. This would be a great salt to finish a simple aglio e olio pasta with. (Aglio e olio is garlic and oil sauce that’s a very basic, very popular, very great pasta sauce.)
The salts — six 1.1 ounce jars — are all from Italy, imported by Ritrovo Italian Regional Foods. Very popular, they have a 4.4 out of 5-star rating average.
Smoked salt has seen a big surge in popularity over the past few years. This one, from Gustus Vitae, which sources its salts from the San Francisco Bay, is flavored with alderwood smoke. (Funnily enough, the company says the salt has a “mahogany” color…despite the fact that alderwood is the smoke.)
This gourmet salt comes in a handy three ounce container that has a magnet on the bottom: you can stick it on the fridge, or stove, or wherever magnets in your place like to be stuck. The container has a slot for pouring more salt…and three small holes for pouring less salt.
This is a very popular salt among Amazon shoppers, with a 4.1 out of 5-star rating average.
This is the big one of the list and it’s a great gift for the gourmet or someone who really loves different salts.
Alaea Hawaiian-Style Sea Salt
Bolivian Rose
Cyprus Black Lava Mediterranean Sea Salt
Cyprus Flake Mediterranean Sea Salt
Durango Hickory Smoked Salt
El Dorado Mesquite Smoked Salt
Fleur de Sel
Flor de Sal
Flower of Bali Tropical Sea Salt
Fumée de Sel
Himalayan Pink Salt
Hiwa Kai Hawaiian Black Lava Salt
Kala Namak Indian Black Salt
Mayan Sun Tropical Sea Salt
Mediterra Mediterranean Sea Salt
Murray River Flake Salt
Pacific Blue Kosher Flake Salt
Peruvian Pink Mountain Spring Salt
Alderwood Smoked Salt
Sel Gris
Tamisé de Guérande
Velvet de Guérande
Trapani Sicilian Sea Salt
Yakima Applewood Smoked Salt
Each of the 24 salts is in its own glass jar with a cork top — the jars hold anywhere from half-an-ounce to one ounce, depending on the type of salt. The set comes in a good looking bamboo case, which has a closure mechanism. You can easily, and conveniently, reuse all this great packaging.
This would be a great intro pack for someone looking to try a variety of flavors. Among the 12 salts, there’s one smoked salt — a smoked bacon chipotle — and two Hawaiian salts: Hawaiian Bamboo Jade, which contains bamboo leaf extract, and Hawaiian Black Lava, which is naturally black, solar evaporated salt from south Pacific Ocean waters.
Other flavors include:
5 Pepper Sea Salt
Garlic Medley
Rosemary Sea Salt
French Grey
French Fleur de Sel Sea Salt
French Citrus Fennel Sea Salt
French Garden Blend Sea Salt
French Provencal Sea Salt
French Harvest Sea Salt
This is a 2-Pack. One pack is the French Salt Sampler and the other is the Infused Salt Sampler. Each pack contains six half-ounce containers. It also comes with two wooden serving spoons.
In addition, you can download Caravel’s digital cookbook, which includes 29 recipes that let you put your salts to work.
If you're looking for gourmet salt for yourself or as a gift, we've curated a list of 11. Whether it's fleur de sel or a great sea salt blend, find it here.