How to Make a Meal Less Spicy
Start with a small portion of the spicy ingredient and add to taste., Temper spiciness with additional un-spiced batches of the recipe., Serve the spicy food with a dairy-based drink, dip, or sauce., Add cream, milk, or cheese to liquid recipes such...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Start with a small portion of the spicy ingredient and add to taste.
This allows you to gradually increase the spiciness of a recipe until it is at the desired level.
For ethnic dishes that you may not be familiar with, curries, chili peppers, chili sauces, and ground pepper spices can add a lot of heat even in small amounts, so starting with only a fraction of the quantity listed in the recipe can save a lot of hassle over adding the whole amount and regretting it later. -
Step 2: Temper spiciness with additional un-spiced batches of the recipe.
If you have enough time, a spicy rice dish can be toned down by cooking another half or whole portion and mixing it in with the original. , Dairy products can help mitigate the spice factor in many meals.
Drinking milk with a spicy meal reduces the level of spiciness in the mouth.
Sour cream, plain yogurt, and cream sauces can help tone down spicy meat and vegetable dishes such as Cajun chicken or curried potatoes and carrots.
Alternatively, you could add a cheese topping or butter sauce to temper the spiciness.
If you prefer having a side dish, try small scoops of cottage cheese or a dairy-based dip as an optional fire-quencher that can be served with the spicy item.
A dairy-based dip or sauce also has the advantage of allowing guests to adjust the spiciness of the meal to their individual tastes. , Unlike solid foods that require toppings or dips, liquid recipes can often benefit in taste and texture from mixing dairy ingredients directly into the recipe to reduce spiciness.
Heavy cream or low-fat milk can be added to many vegetable or milk-based soups to reduce the spiciness.
Even bean, pumpkin, pea, seafood, and tomato based soups can go well with a dairy base, although broth-based soups should be taste-tested in small samples before adding cream or milk to cut the spice.
If cream does not pair well with a particular soup, adding shredded cheese or even an entire slice of cheese (one per bowl) upon serving can help temper the spiciness.
Try cheddar cheese with a spicy potato and sausage soup and Swiss or provolone cheese with a beef-broth vegetable soup.
Parmesan pairs well with many chicken broth soups and Italian soups, and soft mild cheeses pair well with tortilla soups and bisques.
If cream or milk is in short supply, a spoonful of sour cream for individual servings of soup can add both visual appeal and a cooling effect to many spicy vegetable or puree soups. , Grains, vegetables, and meats can bulk up the flavor profile of many meals while simultaneously reducing their spiciness.
It may even be better to add a new ingredient to a recipe if having a double batch of just one ingredient would make the meal imbalanced, particularly for one-dish meals.
For Indian curry dishes, try adding potatoes, carrots, peas, onions, rice, coconut milk, or plain yogurt (unflavored Greek yogurt or sour cream will work as well).
For Mexican food, try mixing in bell peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, beans, cheese, onions, corn, sour cream, or rice.
Asian recipes can typically accommodate broccoli, onions, carrots, snow peas, bell peppers, cabbage, or rice. , This may especially help in Asian-inspired recipes, chicken or pork dishes, or recipes with fruit or seafood.
If you are nervous to change the main flavor of the dish with a sweetener, try mixing in some with just a small portion before applying the change to the remainder of the recipe. , Some recipes that call for whole or chopped chili peppers and sauces may have large enough flecks or chunks to manually pick them out of the dish.
Be sure to remove them with a utensil to avoid getting the spicy oil on your hands; even after washing your hands, the oil can remain and irritate the skin or eyes. -
Step 3: Serve the spicy food with a dairy-based drink
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Step 4: or sauce.
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Step 5: Add cream
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Step 6: or cheese to liquid recipes such as soups and drinks.
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Step 7: Mix in new ingredients that fit the flavor profile of the original recipe.
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Step 8: Add sugar
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Step 9: or another sweetener to detract from the meal’s spiciness.
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Step 10: Pick out the spicy ingredient if possible.
Detailed Guide
This allows you to gradually increase the spiciness of a recipe until it is at the desired level.
For ethnic dishes that you may not be familiar with, curries, chili peppers, chili sauces, and ground pepper spices can add a lot of heat even in small amounts, so starting with only a fraction of the quantity listed in the recipe can save a lot of hassle over adding the whole amount and regretting it later.
If you have enough time, a spicy rice dish can be toned down by cooking another half or whole portion and mixing it in with the original. , Dairy products can help mitigate the spice factor in many meals.
Drinking milk with a spicy meal reduces the level of spiciness in the mouth.
Sour cream, plain yogurt, and cream sauces can help tone down spicy meat and vegetable dishes such as Cajun chicken or curried potatoes and carrots.
Alternatively, you could add a cheese topping or butter sauce to temper the spiciness.
If you prefer having a side dish, try small scoops of cottage cheese or a dairy-based dip as an optional fire-quencher that can be served with the spicy item.
A dairy-based dip or sauce also has the advantage of allowing guests to adjust the spiciness of the meal to their individual tastes. , Unlike solid foods that require toppings or dips, liquid recipes can often benefit in taste and texture from mixing dairy ingredients directly into the recipe to reduce spiciness.
Heavy cream or low-fat milk can be added to many vegetable or milk-based soups to reduce the spiciness.
Even bean, pumpkin, pea, seafood, and tomato based soups can go well with a dairy base, although broth-based soups should be taste-tested in small samples before adding cream or milk to cut the spice.
If cream does not pair well with a particular soup, adding shredded cheese or even an entire slice of cheese (one per bowl) upon serving can help temper the spiciness.
Try cheddar cheese with a spicy potato and sausage soup and Swiss or provolone cheese with a beef-broth vegetable soup.
Parmesan pairs well with many chicken broth soups and Italian soups, and soft mild cheeses pair well with tortilla soups and bisques.
If cream or milk is in short supply, a spoonful of sour cream for individual servings of soup can add both visual appeal and a cooling effect to many spicy vegetable or puree soups. , Grains, vegetables, and meats can bulk up the flavor profile of many meals while simultaneously reducing their spiciness.
It may even be better to add a new ingredient to a recipe if having a double batch of just one ingredient would make the meal imbalanced, particularly for one-dish meals.
For Indian curry dishes, try adding potatoes, carrots, peas, onions, rice, coconut milk, or plain yogurt (unflavored Greek yogurt or sour cream will work as well).
For Mexican food, try mixing in bell peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, beans, cheese, onions, corn, sour cream, or rice.
Asian recipes can typically accommodate broccoli, onions, carrots, snow peas, bell peppers, cabbage, or rice. , This may especially help in Asian-inspired recipes, chicken or pork dishes, or recipes with fruit or seafood.
If you are nervous to change the main flavor of the dish with a sweetener, try mixing in some with just a small portion before applying the change to the remainder of the recipe. , Some recipes that call for whole or chopped chili peppers and sauces may have large enough flecks or chunks to manually pick them out of the dish.
Be sure to remove them with a utensil to avoid getting the spicy oil on your hands; even after washing your hands, the oil can remain and irritate the skin or eyes.
About the Author
Doris Patel
Brings years of experience writing about cooking and related subjects.
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