This easy homemade seasoned salt recipe bursts with the umami flavour of green tea. Sprinkle matcha salt over fried chicken or tempura, popcorn, or even sweet baked treats! Ready in less than 5 minutes, this simple green tea salt sprinkle adds a powerful flavour kick.
Why We Love This
Creating your own seasoned salts and condiments is so quick and easy! It’s fun to experiment with flavours and ratios until you get the flavour just right, just like in homemade shichimi togarashi (Japanese 7 spice blend), homemade curry powder or baharat (a Middle Eastern spice blend).
While matcha salt is super simple to make, it packs a real flavour punch. Use it instead of regular salt across a huge range of sweet and savoury recipes!
Make a small amount to experiment, or blend a bigger batch to keep on hand to sprinkle over meats, vegetables, eggs, tofu, or really anything you like!
Related: Matcha Cookies / Matcha Ice Cream / Matcha Latte
What is Matcha Salt?
Matcha salt (抹茶塩) is exactly that – a blend of high quality sea salt with high quality, culinary grade matcha green tea powder.
This traditional Japanese seasoned salt is most often used for sprinkling over deep fried vegetables (known as tempura), where it adds a burst of colour and salty flavour. But there are so many more ways to use matcha salt – see below for more ideas.
What You’ll Need
- Salt – Always use sea salt rather than regular iodised table salt which can sometimes include additives. Fun Fact: Matcha salt is traditionally made with very finely ground sea salt – done by hand, this can often take 30+ minutes! Instead, we use sea salt flakes because we prefer a little extra texture. Feel free to use either flakes, finely ground sea salt or Himalayan salt if you prefer.
- Matcha (Green Tea) Powder – This is a finely ground powder made from high quality green tea leaves. It’s much more highly concentrated (in both flavour and caffeine) than regular green tea, so you don’t need much for a big flavour burst.
Wandercook’s Tips
- Opt for Quality – To get the best flavour in your homemade matcha salt it’s best to use high quality salt and matcha powder. You only get out what you put in right?
- Start Small – Our recipe is deliberately for a small amount so you can experiment and get the ratio just to your liking. Once you’ve perfected your matcha salt to your taste, feel free to make a bigger batch to store for later.
FAQs
Use it in a similar way you would use regular salt. It’s especially good when you want an extra kick of savoury umami flavour. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
– Anything Fried / Battered – From tempura to chicken, fish, fries, hash browns and more. The salty umami profile of matcha salt is amazing with crispy fried batter!
– Grilled or Roasted – Try it with grilled meats in Japanese or Korean BBQ, or sprinkled over seafood or roast potatoes and vegetables.
– Popcorn – It works better with stovetop popcorn cooked in oil. Once cooked, sprinkle with matcha salt and get stuck in.
– Eggs – Poached, scrambled, boiled or fried. We love boiled eggs on toast in the morning, sprinkled with matcha salt or shichimi togarashi.
– Tofu – Try a little sprinkle over yufodu (hot simmered tofu) or cold tofu drizzled with mentsuyu soup base.
– Pancakes – It’s not just perfect with savoury pancakes like Japanese okonomiyaki or Korean pajeon, but even sweet maple pancakes get a huge flavour lift with a sprinkling of matcha salt!
– Cakes & Treats – Add a little sprinkle to strawberry muffins or use instead of regular salt in salted brownies.
– Matcha Milkshakes – Add a pinch before blending.
– Salad Dressings or Mayonnaise – We love adding a pinch to kewpie mayonnaise – delish! You could also add to goma dare (Japanese sesame sauce for shabu shabu hotpot)
– Edamame Beans – Sprinkle over blanched or grilled edamame beans as a tasty snack.
– Stir Fries – Vegetables, chicken, and everything in between.
We recommend storing it in an airtight container and using within six months for the best quality and flavour.
Check out the colour. Matcha is usually a vibrant green colour. If it has faded to a more dusty green or greenish/yellow, it’s gone past its prime – time to make a fresh batch!
Variations & Substitutes
- Tweak the Ratios – Our preferred ratio is 1 tbsp salt to 1/2 tsp matcha, however depending on the type or grade of salt and matcha powder you use, you might like to experiment with a 1:1 ratio. Try a few different versions and see which you like best!
- Play with Texture – If you prefer a smooth salt blend, pop the salt and matcha into a mortar and pestle and grind until smooth.
If you’re a fan of Japanese cuisine, try these next:
★ Did you make this recipe? Please leave a star rating below!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp sea salt or Himalayan salt
- ½ tsp matcha green tea powder
Instructions
- Place salt and matcha powder in a small dish and mix to combine.1 tbsp sea salt, ½ tsp matcha green tea powder
- Use as a seasoning in place of regular salt, as a rub for meats or seafood, or even in desserts. See the full post for more ideas.
Recipe Notes
- Salt – Always use sea salt rather than regular iodised table salt which can sometimes include additives. Fun Fact: Matcha salt is traditionally made with very finely ground sea salt – done by hand, this can often take 30+ minutes! Instead, we use sea salt flakes because we prefer a little extra texture. Feel free to use either flakes, finely ground sea salt or Himalayan salt if you prefer.
- Matcha (Green Tea) Powder – This is a finely ground powder made from high quality green tea leaves. It’s much more highly concentrated (in both flavour and caffeine) than regular green tea, so you don’t need much for a big flavour burst.
- Opt for Quality – To get the best flavour in your homemade matcha salt it’s best to use high quality salt and matcha powder. You only get out what you put in right?
- Start Small – Our recipe is deliberately for a small amount so you can experiment and get the ratio just to your liking. Once you’ve perfected your matcha salt to your taste, feel free to make a bigger batch to store for later.
- Tweak the Ratios – Our preferred ratio is 1 tbsp salt to 1/2 tsp matcha, however depending on the type or grade of salt and matcha powder you use, you might like to try a 1:1 ratio. Try a few different ratios and see which you like best!
- Play with Texture – If you prefer a smooth salt blend, pop the salt and matcha into a mortar and pestle and grind until smooth.
- How to use – Use it in a similar way you would use regular salt. It’s especially good when you want an extra kick of savoury umami flavour. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Anything Fried / Battered – From tempura to chicken, fish, fries, hash browns and more. The salty umami profile of matcha salt is amazing with crispy fried batter!
- Grilled or Roasted – Try it with grilled meats in Japanese or Korean BBQ, or sprinkled over seafood or roast potatoes and vegetables.
- Popcorn – It works better with stovetop popcorn cooked in oil. Once cooked, sprinkle with matcha salt and get stuck in.
- Eggs – Poached, scrambled, boiled or fried. We love boiled eggs on toast in the morning, sprinkled with matcha salt or shichimi togarashi.
- Tofu – Try a little sprinkle over yufodu (hot simmered tofu) or cold tofu drizzled with mentsuyu soup base.
- Pancakes – It’s not just perfect with savoury pancakes like Japanese okonomiyaki or Korean pajeon, but even sweet maple pancakes get a huge flavour lift with a sprinkling of matcha salt!
- Cakes & Treats – Add a little sprinkle to strawberry muffins or use instead of regular salt in salted brownies.
- Matcha Milkshakes – Add a pinch before blending.
- Salad Dressings or Mayonnaise – We love adding a pinch to kewpie mayonnaise – delish! You could also add to goma dare (Japanese sesame sauce for shabu shabu hotpot)
- Edamame Beans – Sprinkle over blanched or grilled edamame beans as a tasty snack.
- Stir Fries – Vegetables, chicken, and everything in between.
Nutrition
14 Comments
Sinem Yilmaz
13/01/2019 at 4:48 pmHello! I love matcha recipes and also loved the matcha salt idea. I’d love try it soon. Could you tell me the brand of this matcha powder that you use on this recipe? I have tried various brands and realized that not all of them are as solvent as this one and I cannot remember its brand name. Thank you!
Wandercooks
14/01/2019 at 2:06 pmHi Sinem, thanks for stopping by! Same here, we’re addicted to anything matcha – teas, ice cream, salt blends – you name it! We found this brand of tea while we were in Japan but I’m pretty sure you can get it pretty widely now – it’s called Oi Ocha
(Amazon affiliate link). Delicious!
Liz @ I heart vegetables
19/04/2016 at 8:43 pmYum!! I want to try this on popcorn! I love trying new seasonings 🙂 Such a healthy way to get lots of flavor!
Wandercooks
20/04/2016 at 7:47 pmIt’s like a whole new world of flavour, especially for popcorn haha. We just had some on potato gems and it was so delicious!
Charla @ That Girl Cooks Healthy
19/04/2016 at 6:30 pmYou two ladies are so innovative, who knew you could make matcha green tea salt? How cool is that? Thank you for providing a few suggestions of how to use it. I was just sitting here thinking of dishes to apply it to. I think the popcorn would make a great savoury note.
Wandercooks
20/04/2016 at 7:48 pmThere are so many amazing recipes and ideas out there, we were so lucky to stumble across foodie gold on our travels. Hope you enjoy the popcorn Charla!
Brian Jones
19/04/2016 at 5:00 pmReally intriguing combination, matcha is real tough to get hold of in these parts unfortunately.
Wandercooks
20/04/2016 at 7:51 pmHopefully that will change asap Brian. We’re pretty lucky here in Australia to have access to some decent import stores close by. In the meantime though you could possibly source matcha along with other awesome ingredients via Amazon.
Mica @ Let's Taco Bout It Blog
19/04/2016 at 2:15 pmI love the colors! Great post!
Wandercooks
20/04/2016 at 7:51 pmThanks Mica!
Sandra - The Foodie Affair
19/04/2016 at 1:39 pmSuper way to use matcha besides in a beverage! My mom recently introduced me to matcha. I’ll have to share this salt recipe with her! Thank you!
Wandercooks
20/04/2016 at 7:52 pmThanks Sandra, hopefully it’ll be a new favourite seasoning for you guys. Enjoy!
Kristy @ Southern In Law
17/04/2016 at 6:05 amThis is such an awesome idea! I have a bag of matcha on my benchtop so I’ll have to try this!
Wandercooks
18/04/2016 at 11:11 amBrilliant, hope you’ll love it Kristy! What foods will you try with it first? 😀