Tinned Fish Is Having a Moment‚ and Here Are Our 17 Best Recipes

If you’ve been on social media at all in the last few years, it’s highly likely you’ve seen a tinned fish video or two. Whether it was a review or a recipe, you might have been sucked in wondering if you, too, should hop on the tinned fish train. Even as far back as 2023, anyone who might dare call themselves a foodie was probably already thinking about tinned fish—I know I was. My first real foray into it was spurred that year by Anna Hezel’s Tin to Table.

Preserving fish in cans, tins, and jars has been done since at least the late 1700s as a cheap and easy way to not only stretch the shelf life of seafood (from octopus and squid to mackerel, mussels, clams, and cockles), but also to maintain its freshness and flavor. In Spain and Portugal there’s a huge tradition around these conservas in the Iberian Peninsula that many point to as the driver behind today’s resurgence in the popularity of tinned, marinated seafood brands and bars. (Here are brands of sardines and anchovies not to miss.)

Below are some of my favorite Mediterranean-inspired ways to cook with some of the most popular, easy to access tinned and canned fish products in the States: tuna, anchovies, and sardines.