---
title: "Happy Table: Why Tinned Fish Is Back in Fashion and Nine Ways to Eat It, From Toast to Tacos"
description: Why tinned fish is loved from Portugal to Japan, what is in a tin of sardines or mackerel, and easy tinned fish recipes from appetisers to tacos.
author: Dr Marina Nani (Editor-in-Chief)
date: 2026-10-22T15:35:40.159Z
updated: 2026-10-22T15:37:08.525Z
canonical: https://richwoman.co/article/happy-table-tinned-fish-recipes
image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/tinned-sardines-beach.webp
categories: Food
content_type: Guide
region: Europe
publication: Rich Woman Magazine
schema_type: Article
---

A tin of sardines costs less than a cup of coffee, [keeps for years in your cupboard](https://richwoman.co/article/fresh-vs-canned-food-nutritional-value-environmental-and-economic-factors) and holds around 20g of protein. For much of the 20th century, British households ate tinned fish every week. Refrigeration pushed it to the back of the cupboard after the Second World War, and it spent decades as [the food you kept for emergencies](https://richwoman.co/article/how-much-canned-food-does-your-family-of-four-need-for-a-72-hour-emergency-kit).

Now tinned fish sits on [sharing boards in New York bars](https://richwoman.co/article/sardinesummer-how-tinned-fish-became-summer-s-most-surprising-hosting-hack), fills specialist shops in Lisbon and sells out in limited-edition tins in Paris. Younger shoppers in the UK and the US have rediscovered it as an affordable source of protein, and supermarkets have reported double-digit growth in tinned tuna sales. In much of Europe and Asia, people never stopped eating it in the first place.

## Portugal, Spain and France treat the tin as a delicacy

Portugal expanded its canneries to feed soldiers and civilians through both world wars, and 'conservas' remain part of daily life. Shops in Lisbon and Porto stack their walls with brightly printed tins of sardines, mackerel, octopus and cod roe, and some bars serve little else but tinned seafood with bread, olives and a glass of vinho verde.

In Galicia and the Basque Country, a tin of berberechos (cockles), mejillones en escabeche (mussels in a paprika and vinegar marinade) or ventresca (tuna belly) arrives at your table as a tapa, often with a vermouth before lunch. The best Galician cockles can cost more than a good bottle of wine.

Brittany takes the idea further with 'sardines millésimées', vintage sardines stamped with the year of canning. Collectors keep them for several years and turn the tins every few months so the oil soaks evenly into the fish, which grows softer and richer with age.

## Japan, Korea and the Philippines eat it every day

Japanese supermarkets give whole aisles to saba (mackerel) tinned in miso, soy or plain brine, and mackerel briefly overtook tuna as the country's favourite tin during a health-food craze in the late 2010s. Tinned-food bars in Osaka and Tokyo warm tins over a small flame and serve them with sake.

In South Korea, boxed gift sets of tinned tuna rank among the most popular presents at Chuseok and Lunar New Year. Home cooks stir the tuna into kimchi jjigae, a spicy stew, or mix it with mayonnaise for gimbap rolls.

Tinned sardines in tomato sauce feed millions of households in the Philippines and across West Africa. Cooks fry them with onion, garlic and chilli and serve them with rice or bread, making a filling meal for very little money.

## Scandinavia built an industry around the sprat

Norway once had hundreds of canneries packing brisling, a small sprat smoked over oak, and the city of Stavanger has a museum dedicated to the trade. Mackerel in tomato sauce remains a breakfast classic on rye bread in Norway and Denmark.

## What you get from a tin

**Protein.** A standard tin of sardines, mackerel or tuna gives you 20 to 25g of protein, roughly the same as a chicken breast.

**Omega-3 fats.** Sardines, mackerel, anchovies, herring and salmon all count as oily fish. The NHS advises two portions of fish a week, one of them oily. Tinned tuna does not count as oily fish, as canning strips out much of its omega-3, so treat it as a lean protein instead.

**Calcium.** The soft, edible bones in tinned sardines and salmon make them a useful source of calcium. Mash them in rather than picking them out.

**Mercury.** Small fish such as sardines and anchovies sit low in the food chain and carry very little mercury. If you are pregnant, the NHS advises no more than four medium tins of tuna a week.

**Salt.** Fish packed in brine or sauce can be salty. Choose olive oil or spring water if you are watching your salt intake.

## How to choose a better tin

Buy fish [packed in olive oil](https://richwoman.co/article/mediterranean-diet-s-secret-more-extra-virgin-olive-oil) when you can. The oil carries flavour, and you can use it in dressings or to fry the fish.

Read the label. Whole fillets packed by hand cost more than flakes and pieces, and you will taste the difference on toast or a board.

Look for the blue Marine Stewardship Council label or 'pole and line caught' on tuna, which tells you the fish came from a managed fishery.

Learn a few Spanish and Portuguese terms. 'Ventresca' is tuna belly, 'en escabeche' means pickled in a spiced marinade, 'picantes' means with chilli, and 'ovas' are fish roe.

## Our favourite ways to use tinned fish

**1. Build a tinned fish board.** Open three contrasting tins, such as sardines in oil, mussels in escabeche and smoked mackerel, and serve them in their tins with sourdough, salted butter, lemon wedges, pickled guindilla peppers and a bowl of plain crisps. Spoon the mussels and their marinade over the crisps, as bars in Madrid do.

**2. Upgrade sardines on toast.** Mash sardines in oil with lemon zest, chopped parsley and a pinch of chilli flakes, then pile onto toasted sourdough rubbed with a cut garlic clove.

**3. Melt anchovies into pasta.** Warm six anchovy fillets in olive oil with sliced garlic and chilli until they dissolve, toss through spaghetti and finish with toasted breadcrumbs instead of cheese.

**4. Whip a mackerel pâté.** Blend a tin of mackerel with crème fraîche, a teaspoon of horseradish, lemon juice and black pepper. Serve with rye crackers and cucumber.

**5. Make Tuscan tuna and white beans.** Toss good tuna in oil with cannellini beans, thinly sliced red onion, parsley, lemon juice and olive oil. This Italian classic, tonno e fagioli, takes five minutes.

**6. Turn tinned salmon into fishcakes.** Mix salmon, bones and all, with mashed potato, spring onions, dill and an egg, then coat in breadcrumbs and fry until golden.

**7. Cook a Korean tuna stew.** Fry sour kimchi with a little sesame oil, add water, gochujang and a tin of tuna, then simmer with tofu and spring onions for a fast kimchi jjigae.

**8. Top a **[**Japanese rice bowl**](https://richwoman.co/article/happy-table-why-japanese-breakfast-is-nothing-like-yours-and-what-that-says-about-health)**.** Spoon mackerel in miso over hot rice with a soft-boiled egg, sliced spring onion and a sheet of nori.

**9. Fill a taco.** Crisp sardines in their own oil with smoked paprika and serve them in warm tortillas with lime-pickled onions and a crunchy slaw. The full recipe follows.

## Smoky Sardine Tacos With Lime Slaw

Serves 4 (makes 8 tacos)

### Ingredients

- 2 x 120g tins sardines in olive oil
- 8 small corn tortillas
- 1 small red onion, finely sliced
- 2 limes
- ¼ red cabbage, finely shredded
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- 4 tbsp soured cream or Greek yoghurt
- 1 tsp chipotle paste or a dash of hot sauce
- 1 ripe avocado, sliced
- A small bunch of coriander
- 1 green chilli, finely sliced
- Salt

### Connecting the Dots

1. Put the onion in a bowl with the juice of one lime and a pinch of salt. Toss and leave for 10 minutes, until the onion softens and turns pink.
2. Toss the cabbage with half the pickled onion and a spoonful of its juice.
3. Stir the chipotle paste into the soured cream.
4. Drain the sardines and keep one tablespoon of their oil. Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat, add the paprika and cumin and stir for 20 seconds. Add the sardines and fry for two minutes on each side, until the edges crisp. Break them into large flakes.
5. Warm the tortillas in a dry pan for 30 seconds on each side.
6. Spread each tortilla with chipotle cream, then add slaw, sardines, avocado, the remaining pickled onion, coriander and chilli. Serve with wedges of the second lime.

Swap the sardines for mackerel or tuna in oil if you prefer a milder taste.