Learn how to love sardines

Tinned fish are often overlooked, but they’re an excellent source of protein along with many other nutrients. Since eating enough protein is so important and so challenging, they’re a great pantry staple to turn to when you’re in a protein pinch.

Sardines are a particularly nutrient-dense tinned fish to always have stocked in your pantry. If you’re a skeptic, I’m hoping this blog will convince you to give them a try again!

I realized I have zero sardine recipes in the Cooking Club mostly because I feel like most people don’t like them, but I’m hoping this week’s sardine recipe might change some minds.

Read on to learn why sardines are the elite tinned fish!

What’s so great about sardines?

These little oily tinned fish are packed with omega-3 fats, high-quality protein, vitamin D, and calcium. Unlike other tinned fish, sardines have tiny little soft bones that are safe to eat and you won’t even notice you’re eating them. This is why they are such a great source of calcium.

Since they are at the lower end of the food chain and primarily feed on algae (rather than larger fish), they are much lower in mercury compared to other fishies.

What I love about sardines (and all tinned fish really) is that they are an easy ready-to-go source of protein. 

One can (= one serving) gives you about 18-23g of high quality protein.

How to make sardines taste good

Not everyone likes sardines (my husband included) because they’re whole little fish in a can that don’t smell very good. 

So, unless you love the taste of sardines, the best way to sneak them into your meals is to hide them under lots of acid, herbs, and other strong flavors.

The simplest way to enjoy sardines is smashed onto toasted bread (rub the toasted bread with a clove of garlic) topped with lots of fresh lemon, herbs, and pepper. You could smear some pesto or other spread on the toast first, then top with sardines, etc…You could pan-fry the sardines in oil to get a little char on them.

Add sardines to your tuna salad! Just sub one can of tuna with one can of sardines. 

Toss sardines into pasta or stir them into your scrambled eggs.

How to source sardines

When sourcing sardines or any tinned fish, always look for transparency on the packaging – where they were sourced, how they were caught. The more info on the packaging the better!

You can also look for MSC-certified sardines, which are caught from fisheries that have been independently certified to the MSC Fisheries Standard.

Look for sardines packed in oil rather than water because oil is better at preserving the integrity of the sardine.

You can find sardines in olive oil, smoked sardines in olive oil, sardines in tomato sauce, etc…If you’re not a fan of sardines, try them smoked or packed in tomato sauce.

If you love sardines, comment below to let us know how you like to eat them!