Avoid watery vegetable salads with these simple tricks

Vegetable salad often appears on my table during Christmas. My family loves this simple dish, which contains many healthy and tasty ingredients. However, some of them can make the salad watery.

To prevent the vegetable salad from becoming watery, choosing the right ingredients is crucial. All vegetables should be fresh and thoroughly dried after cooking. It's advisable to avoid storing them in the refrigerator before preparing the salad, as chilled vegetables tend to release excess moisture.

Another important step is cooking the vegetables whole, rather than cutting them before cooking. This way, they retain more flavor and structure, which means less water. It's also very important to drain ingredients that were previously in brine—such as pickles or corn. If you don't do this, the brine will seep into the salad, making it watery and losing flavor very quickly.

It's also worth remembering to limit the amount of salt added to the salad during preparation. The best solution is to add it just before serving, minimizing the risk of it becoming watery.

If, despite following the above rules, the salad is still too moist, it’s worth trying other tricks. One option is to add potatoes, a small amount of potato starch, or rice cereal to absorb excess water. Alternatively, you can place the finished salad in a colander a few hours before serving to allow the excess liquid to drain.

The key to success is also proper storage. The best way to keep vegetable salad is in the refrigerator, in a tightly sealed container, which prevents loss of freshness and excessive absorption of moisture from the outside. If possible, avoid freezing, as the thawing process significantly worsens the texture of this dish.