The $1.25 Dollar Tree Find I Use All the Time

Dollar Tree—mockingly known as the “dollar-twenty-five-tree”—comes in handy when you’re low on money. The store is in my mother’s regular rotation. I have even curated day trips, at her request, centered on visiting various Dollar Tree locations across California because, “Every location carries something different,” my mother says. And they do, including a variety of canned sardines.

Why I Love Dollar Tree’s Sardines

Sardines showed up often on the dining table growing up, mostly in the form of the traditional post-occupied Puerto Rican recipe, sardina guisada.

Dollar Tree usually has canned sardines in many different flavors. You can find these saltwater swimmers in tomato sauce, olive oil, water, mustard sauce, Louisiana hot sauce, and even lemon pepper. I prefer my canned sardines in olive oil or tomato sauce.

How I Use Dollar Tree’s Sardines

The canned sardines at Dollar Tree aren’t going to end up on a list of the world’s most refined tinned fish from Spain along with a sommelier’s suggestion on which wine to pair it with, but they’re perfect for sardina guisada.

This dish is seasoned with the classic Puerto Rican trio: sofrito, adobo, and sazón. The herbs in the sofrito introduce a much-needed freshness, and the power of the garlic in the adobo takes away some of the “fishy” smell people complain about in seafood rich in Omega-3s.

The canned sardines, sofrito, adobo, and sazón are simmered in an acidic tomato broth until thickened enough to cling to the white rice it’s served with. You can also purchase the rice at Dollar Tree.

This dish was a go-to for my grandma on days I sauntered in declaring, “I’m hungry,” because it took no time to prepare. If my grandma ever had leftovers from the guisada, she’d use them as filling for papas rellenas or empanadas.

Sardina guisada may be a bit of a forgotten dish, but a meditative stroll down a Dollar Tree aisle can be just the thing that jolts your memory.

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