#there is literally no quality evidence for msg sensitivity even existing

[fidius]

MSG occurs naturally in several foods, including tomatoes, cheese, and seaweed (if you're going dairy free your can get some of the Parmesan-topping umami action from aonori/green laver flakes depending on what you're adding it to). It's one of the prime reasons pizza is delicious.

If a fairly basic European-derived food doesn't taste right it's probably missing fat (olive oil or butter) or salt. If it's East Asian it's probably missing soy sauce. If it's South Asian you probably didn't cook your spices properly.

If you just want to add some extra flavor to things for fun, try adding acid with vinegar, lime, sumac (underrated!), pickles, etc. Put a bit of any herb in a bitewhether it seems like it will fit or not (if you're not one of the unlucky cilantro-averse, it makes almost everything better). Burn the top or edges a little. Use stock or green tea instead of water. Swap out black pepper for long pepper. Whatever idea pops into your head in the kitchen, try it. Sometimes your subconscious will make up combinations that seem 'wrong' but are delicious. Just add a little bit into the a spoonful and taste it.

Genuinely, I don’t know how else to get the word out, but I feel like if your home-cooked dinners don’t taste right, you're missing either paprika, sugar, butter, or chicken bouillon.