Canned Sardines substitute

Best substitute

Canned mackerel

Use the same amount by weight as the canned sardines you are replacing

Best for sardine tagine

Taste and texture differ

Canned mackerel is the closest swap at 1:1, since it is the same kind of rich oily fish and behaves the same way in a tagine, a pasta or a fishcake. Canned tuna in olive oil also works 1:1 but is much milder, so add half a teaspoon of anchovy paste and an extra glug of olive oil per tin to put back the depth and the fat. If the sardines were only there for savoury backbone, three or four oil-packed anchovy fillets per tin will do it.

Other canned sardines substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Canned tuna in olive oil
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight, plus ½ tsp anchovy paste and 1 tbsp olive oil per tin
Firmer, milder tinned fish that stands in well once you top up the savouriness and the fat.
What changes
Best for
salads, sandwiches, pasta, stuffed vegetables, rice dishes
On its own tuna is drier, firmer and dramatically milder, and you lose almost all the oily-fish depth along with the soft calcium-rich bones. The anchovy paste closes most of the flavour gap and the extra oil closes the texture gap. Buy tuna packed in olive oil rather than water, since water-packed tuna makes the difference worse.
3Oil-packed anchovies
Taste and texture differ
Use 3-4 fillets for every 1 standard tin of sardines, not 1:1
Intensely savoury cured fillets that melt into a sauce rather than sitting in it as pieces.
What changes
Best for
pasta sauces, chermoula and dressings, tomato-based stews, flavouring greens
Do not swap these by weight or the dish will be unbearably salty. Anchovies are cured, not simply cooked, so they are several times saltier and more concentrated. They work beautifully when the sardines were providing umami and depth, and not at all when the sardines were the protein, since three fillets will not feed anyone. Add them early so they dissolve.
4Canned salmon
Different taste
Use the same amount by weight
Firm pink tinned fish, also with soft edible bones, but far less assertive.
What changes
Best for
fishcakes and patties, salads, sandwiches, pasta bakes
It holds together well, which makes it excellent for anything you need to shape, and the bones are soft in the same way. But it is distinctly less fishy and less salty, so patties made with it taste noticeably mild and need extra salt, lemon and something sharp like capers. It is the wrong choice for any dish that is supposed to taste emphatically of Mediterranean oily fish.
5Fresh sardines, smelt or small mackerel
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight, cooked before use
The fresh version of the same fish, or another small oily fish, grilled or pan-fried first.
What changes
Best for
grilled and chermoula-stuffed sardines, tagines, escabeche-style dishes
For a recipe where the fish is grilled or stuffed, this is not a substitute so much as an upgrade. In a recipe that assumed tinned fish, expect a cleaner, less salty result without the slightly cured, concentrated tinned flavour, and no soft edible bones unless you cook them very thoroughly. You will also need to add salt and oil that the tin would have provided.
6Smoked mackerel or kippers
Different taste
Use the same amount by weight, or less to start
Hot-smoked or cured oily fish with the right richness and a much bigger flavour.
What changes
Best for
pates and spreads, salads, pasta, toast
The fat content and flakiness are close, so the texture works. The smoke, however, will take over completely, and a Moroccan sardine dish made with smoked mackerel will taste like a smoked fish dish with Moroccan spices rather than the other way round. Use about two thirds the amount and increase the lemon and herbs to balance it.

What is Canned Sardines?

Canned Sardines is Canned or tinned sardines are small oily fish, cooked once in the sealed tin and packed in olive oil, water or tomato sauce, sold whole with their soft edible bones or as skinless boneless fillets.

Cooking tips

Do not pour the oil away. The oil in a tin of good sardines has been sitting with the fish and is a seasoning in its own right, excellent for dressing the salad, frying the onions or moistening the couscous. If you swap in a tin of tuna packed in water, add a tablespoon of olive oil to make up for what you have lost.
Mash the bones in rather than picking them out. In whole tinned sardines the backbone is completely soft and is where most of the calcium is, and it disappears into a fishcake or a spread without anyone noticing. Boneless skinless fillets have already had this removed, which is part of why they taste blander.
Sardines are already fully cooked, so in a tagine or stew they go in during the last five to ten minutes. Add them early and they disintegrate into shreds and the dish tastes muddy, which is the single most common way this ingredient gets ruined.
Check whether your tin is packed in oil, water, brine or tomato sauce before you season anything. Tomato-sauce sardines arrive already spiced and salted, so cut the recipe's salt and tomato paste, and brine-packed fish may need a quick rinse if the dish is already salty.
A standard tin holds roughly 100 to 125 grams of fish, which is about three to five whole sardines. Recipes that call for a number of sardines rather than a weight are usually assuming fresh fish, so weigh rather than count when you are swapping between fresh and tinned.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use canned tuna instead of canned sardines?

Yes, at 1:1 by weight, but it is a bigger change than it looks. Tuna is a lean firm fish and sardines are small oily ones, so you lose both fat and savoury depth. Buy tuna in olive oil, add an extra tablespoon of oil and half a teaspoon of anchovy paste or one mashed anchovy fillet per tin, and it will read much closer. In a salad or a sandwich nobody will complain; in a dish that is meant to taste of oily fish they will.

Can I leave the sardines out entirely?

It depends on the job they are doing. If they are the protein, as in a sardine tagine or sardine balls, then no, and you should swap in another tinned or fresh fish rather than omit them. If they are there as a savoury background note, in a pasta sauce or a dressing, you can leave them out and add half a teaspoon of anchovy paste, a splash of fish sauce or a spoonful of capers and olives to keep the salty savoury edge.

What is the difference between sardines and anchovies?

Sardines are larger and are cooked in the tin, so they taste like fish: mild, oily and savoury, and you eat them as pieces. Anchovies are small fish cured in salt for months, so they taste concentrated and intensely savoury, and they are used in small quantities as a seasoning that melts away. They are not interchangeable by volume in either direction.

Do I need to drain canned sardines?

Usually not, and often you should not. For salads, spreads and pasta the packing oil is worth keeping. Drain them if you are frying or grilling the fish and want it to brown, if the recipe already contains a lot of fat, or if they are packed in water or brine and you want the dish less salty. Sardines in tomato sauce should generally go in with their sauce, with the recipe's own tomato reduced accordingly.

Are the bones in tinned sardines safe to eat?

Yes. The long pressure cooking in the sealed tin softens the bones completely, so they crush between your fingers and are eaten as a normal part of the fish. That is true of tinned salmon as well. Fresh sardines are different: their bones stay firm unless the fish is cooked very hard, so recipes for fresh sardines usually have you remove the backbone.

Related substitutes

More seafood substitutes

Canned Sardines substitute

Other canned sardines substitutes

2Canned tuna in olive oil

3Oil-packed anchovies

4Canned salmon

5Fresh sardines, smelt or small mackerel

6Smoked mackerel or kippers