You overshot the salt. The soup tastes like the sea. Everyone says "add a potato" — that's mostly a myth. Here's what actually works.
Add an acid first
Salt and acid mask each other on the tongue. A squeeze of lemon, a splash of vinegar, a small spoon of tomato paste — all of these knock the salt back without changing the body of the soup.
Start with a teaspoon. Taste. Add more if needed. This usually fixes a slightly oversalted soup on its own.
Add fat
Cream, butter, a glug of olive oil. Fat coats the tongue and dampens how strongly you perceive salt. A tablespoon of cream into a soup that's "almost there" softens it instantly.
Doesn't work for clear broths — those need the acid trick, not fat.
Stretch it (the real version)
For badly oversalted soup, the only real fix is to make more. Not water — that thins everything. Make another batch of the same soup with zero salt, then combine.
Yes, it's annoying. Yes, you'll have twice as much. Yes, the freezer is your friend. This is what restaurants do when they get a salt mistake on a 6-litre stockpot.
The potato thing
The potato trick — drop a peeled potato in, simmer for 15 minutes, fish it out — does work, slightly. The potato absorbs maybe 15% of the salt. That's not enough for a serious mistake. It's also slow.
Acid + fat first. Stretching second. Potato is a distraction.
Prevention
Salt at the end. Always. Stocks reduce. Cured meats release salt. Cheese carries it. The soup tastes correct at 6:00 and tastes like a salt lick at 6:30 because everything kept concentrating.
Taste, then salt. Not the other way around.
