Justine Sterling
Flaky salt is a real flex. Like, you’re not seasoning your food with flake salt. You’re finishing your food with flake salt. You’re so fancy you have decorative salt! Of course, it’s not just for looks. Flaky salt adds crunchy texture as well as a burst of bright salty flavor that stands on its own, rather than melting into the dish. But what’s the best flaky salt? Is it Maldon salt like every foodie friend would have you believe? I tasted 11 brands of flaky salt to find out.
How I tasted the flaky salt
I tasted each salt on its own and on bread spread with unsalted butter. I wanted to get the full sensation and flavor of each salt without being distracted by other flavors like meaty steak or cookies. Mmmm…cookies.
How I evaluated the flaky salt
You might think that all flaky salt tastes the same. It certainly all tastes salty. But it’s definitely not all the same. In my search for the best salt flakes, I considered flake size, crunch factor, and intensity of the salty flavor. The best flaky salt shouldn’t be too crazy salty for fear of overpowering whatever you’re sprinkling it upon. It should be crunchy, but not hard—you don’t want your dinner guests thinking you finished the dish with broken shards of plastic. And the size? Well, that depends on how you’re using it. We’ll talk about it.
Here’s the best flake salt for all your fancy flake salt needs.
Best flake salt, ranked
- Falksalt Sea Salt Flakes Smoke
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These flakes of Mediterranean sea salt are infused with smoke flavor—and they are huge. Seriously, you don’t need to use many flakes to add a punch of salty, smoky flavor to a dish. They are brown, so you’re not going to get that contrasting color like you will with the other flake salts on this list. But you will get a seaside bonfire flavor. Try sprinkling some on grilled foods—I think veggies would love it—or even on some dark chocolate.
Credit: Merc / Amazon
- Jacobsen Salt Co.
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This is the best flaky sea salt if you want big, honking flakes. Produced in Oregon, these big, crunchy sea salt flakes are seriously salty. Yes, some salt is saltier than other salt. And this stuff is seriously salty. You do not need to use a lot of it in order to get a big punch of salty, oceanic flavor. For me, this is the best flaky sea salt for baking. I think a few of these giant flakes on a batch of chocolate chip cookies would look beautiful and really pop.
Credit: Merc / Amazon
- Cornish Sea Salt Co. Sea Salt Flakes
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Sourced from the coast of Cornwall, U.K., these pyramid-shaped sea salt flakes are wonderfully light and crunchy. They’re quite thin, so they dissolve quickly in your mouth, filling it with a really salty salt flavor. While some of these flaky sea salts tasted particularly marine or earthy and savory, this is pure, bright, zippy salt in the most platonic sense. These are some of the best sea salt flakes to sprinkle on raw tomatoes or salads or other pure, ingredient-forward dishes. It will enhance flavors with its pure saltiness without trying to hog the spotlight.
Credit: Merc / Amazon
- Osmo
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Created by celeb creator chef Nick DiGiovanni, Osmo flaky sea salt is unlike any other flaky salt I’ve ever had. It is much softer than the others on this list, and the shape is less uniform, too. While it still has good crunch and structure, it is softer than the other salts I tried—more like a crunchy snowflake than ice. The salty flavor is potent but still soft. It’s gentle on your tongue, filling your mouth with salty flavor rather than focusing on one part of your tongue. It’s certainly the best flake salt to buy if you want a more gentle crunch and flavor—and I also think it’s the best flaky salt to buy if you’re looking for more of an all-purpose salt. You can use this to season, not just finish.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Maldon Sea Salt Flakes
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Maldon Sea Salt really is the best flake salt brand. The flakes are so light but still crunchy. And the sea salt flavor isn’t overwhelming. It fills your mouth with a salty sensation—it’s more the feeling of umami than just the flavor of salt. Plus, fancy as the packaging looks, Maldon is actually pretty affordable. An 8.5oz box will run you less than $7 from Amazon, and you can even sometimes find a giant tub of the stuff for less than $10 at Costco. I wouldn’t turn down any of these other flaky salts, but Maldon will always be my go-to.
Credit: Merc / Amazon
Best Flaky Smoked Salt
Best Big Flaky Salt
Best Salty Flaky Salt
Best Soft Flaky Salt
Best of the Best
Other flake salt we tried:
- Vancouver Island Sea Salt
- Straight from France Fleur de Sel
- Maldon Smoked Sea salt
- Neolea Smoked Sea Salt
- Neolea Med Herbs Sea Salt
- Neolea Citrus Sea Salt
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Jordan Myrick
