⚙ Cooking in salted water: How to Do It and How Long It Takes

Cooking in salted water takes 10 min most of the time (usually between 4 min and 10 min).

The water should taste like a seasoned soup, not like sea water: a heaping teaspoon of salt per liter. Add the salt once the water is boiling.

Dish	Usual time
Cooked pasta	10 min
Asian noodle soup (ramen)	7 min
Potato Gnocchi	1 min
Crustless savory pie	8 min
Cooked Carrot Salad (Moroccan)	12 min
Dressed Vegetable Salad	5 min
Vegetable Schnitzel	8 min
Shish Barak (Meat Dumplings in Yogurt)	9 min
Persian Rice with Tahdig	5 min
Store-Bought Gnocchi	5 min
Biryani	4 min
Kebabs, Burgers and Pan-Fried Patties	10 min

Cook in boiling salted water in batches until the gnocchi float, then 30 seconds more, and lift out with a slotted spoon · 30 sec · Homemade Potato Gnocchi
Cook the green beans in boiling salted water 4–5 minutes, until tender but still crisp · 4 min · Tuna Salad with Green Beans
Cook the rice in boiling salted water for 5–6 minutes, until the grain is soft outside and firm in the center, and drain · 6 min · Persian Rice with Tahdig
Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water (4¼ cups of water and a heaping teaspoon of salt for every 4 oz of pasta), following the package directions (taste about 2 minutes early), until al dente · 10 min · Pasta with Fried Garlic
Cook the carrot slices in boiling water with a pinch of salt for 15 minutes, until they are tender but not falling apart · 15 min · Moroccan Salad — Cooked Spiced Carrot and Tomato Salad
Cook the beets whole in the skin in boiling salted water for 45–60 minutes, until softened · 52 min · Homemade Pickled Beets

The rice goes into the layers only partly cooked: it finishes cooking in the chicken's steam in the closed pot, and rice cooked all the way turns mushy.
Boiling first softens the whole vegetable all the way through, and the oven only browns it outside: without it, a whole vegetable needs much longer in the oven.
Overcooked cauliflower falls apart in the coating. Take it out when a knife goes in easily but it still holds its shape.
Only parboil: the grain finishes cooking in the steam, and rice cooked all the way turns sticky in the pot.
Cook the beets whole and in their skins: the color and sweetness stay inside, and the skin slips off easily after cooling.