Yeah! It’s like salt but for savory things. There’s a pretty good chance that if I’m cooking with salt and pepper, I’m making something savory, and in those cases MSG improves the flavor of it basically always.

For example: I frequently air fry broccoli. As a base, I toss it in olive oil, salt, pepper, and MSG. If I want it spicy, I’ll add red pepper flakes. Sometimes I substitute salt for season salt for a different vibe. Other times I add garlic powder, or make a balsamic glaze for them. No matter what it’s prolly gonna have salt, pepper, and MSG.

It also goes really well on meat in general. Some cuts of beef don’t really need it cause they’re super savory to begin with, but especially some of the cheaper cuts that aren’t as flavorful.

Another big one is chicken breast. Thighs have more flavor, but when it comes to texture, I like the chicken breast meat better, so in order to boost that savory chicken flavor, I’ll add MSG.

It’s really hard to describe it, MSG is literally just like, pure savory. It’s not quite a salt replacement, tho i could see someone calling it salty, but it really boosts that savory/umami flavor.

Honestly the only time I don’t add pure MSG is when I’m cooking with things that have it included already. A lot of asian food has MSG in ingredients like fish sauce and oyster sauce, it’s totally possible to boost the MSG content of a dish without sprinkling msg onto it.