Canned fish… tinned fish… whatever you call it, it’s trending, and for good reason. Delicate filets of herring, tuna, sardines, anchovies, and more seem to last forever when you preserve them in a salty brine. This also makes them lasting on the shelves of grocery stores and helps keep their prices low in this age of tariffs. Our recipes below provide you with inexpensive but flavorful meal ideas that stretch these fish further than just straight out of the tin. Lunch and dinner have never been so easy.
Easy Canned Fish Recipes
Pickled Herring
Canned herring is naturally salty and a rich marinade preserves them in their packaging. Rather than eating them straight from the container, upgrade them by pickling in vinegar with mustard seed, allspice, cloves, bay leaves, and a bit of sugar.
Fried Sardines (Sarde in Saor)
If the slippery texture of sardines turns you off, maybe frying them will change your mind. A mixture of crispy sardines, onions, vinegar, and raisins slathers onto a slice of barley sourdough. Finish it all with pine nuts and parsley for an elegant bite.
Panelle (Sicilian Chickpea Fritters) with Ricotta and Anchovies
Anchovies are for more than just on pizza. By creating a panelle chickpea fritter from scratch, you get a base that you can dress up with a variety of flavors. Think ricotta cheese with za’atar seasoning, lemon juice, and anchovy fillets.
Lemon Spaghettini with Olives and Anchovies
Since pasta is another ingredient that’s sure to stay reasonably priced this year, at least if it’s domestically produced, combine it with affordable canned anchovies. A light lemon olive oil drizzles over a dish of black olives, anchovy fillets, carrots, capers, and a variety of spices.
White Bean Tuna Salad Wraps
There is something so nostalgic about tuna salad that even when it’s just between two pieces of bread it’s delicious. Bulk up your usual recipe with the addition of chopped red onion, lemon juice, white beans, arugula, and spring salad mix.
Bigoli in Salsa
Another way of combining pasta and canned fish is in our Bigoli in Salsa recipe which features sardines or anchovies and a white wine sauce. Using whole-wheat spaghetti adds another healthy element, showing that taking care of yourself can be accessible too.
Story by Kylie Thomas
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