Mackerel substitute

Best substitute

Sardines, fresh or tinned

Use the same amount by weight; reduce cooking time by about a third for fresh ones as the mackerel you are replacing

Best for grilling

Close match

Sardines are the closest substitute for mackerel, fresh or tinned, and go in 1:1 with a shorter cooking time because they are smaller. Herring or bluefish are the next best if your fishmonger has them, since they carry the same amount of oil and the same assertive flavour. Salmon or steelhead will work 1:1 in any grilled, roasted or miso-glazed recipe, but they are much sweeter and gentler, so add extra ginger, vinegar or mustard to keep the dish from tasting bland.

Other mackerel substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Herring or bluefish
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
The other two properly oily fish, both of which behave in the pan the way mackerel does.
What changes
Best for
grilling, broiling, pan-frying, smoking, oatmeal-crusted frying
Herring is softer and slightly sweeter than mackerel, bluefish is stronger and can taste almost metallic if it is not very fresh. Both hold up to mustard, vinegar, chilli and heavy smoke exactly as mackerel does, and both need to be cooked the day you buy them.
3Spanish mackerel, kingfish or jack mackerel
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
Different fish under the mackerel name, and freely interchangeable with Atlantic mackerel.
What changes
Best for
grilling, broiling, curries, saba shioyaki, escabeche
Spanish mackerel is a shade milder and firmer, king mackerel is much larger and stronger, and jack mackerel is what fills a lot of tins. Buy whichever your shop labels mackerel and adjust the cooking time to the thickness of the fillet rather than to the name.
4Salmon or steelhead trout
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight
The friendly, widely available option for any recipe where mackerel is being grilled, roasted or glazed.
What changes
Best for
miso-glazed fish, grilling, roasting, teriyaki, fishcakes, salads
It works mechanically because both fish are oily enough to take direct heat, but the character changes completely: salmon is sweeter, softer and much less savoury, so a miso-glazed saba becomes mellow and rounded rather than punchy. Add a splash of rice vinegar, extra grated ginger or a little more soy to bring the edge back.
5Trout
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight, cook 1 to 2 minutes less per side
A leaner freshwater stand-in for pan-fried and whole-roasted mackerel.
What changes
Best for
pan-frying, whole roasted fish, lemon and herb preparations, brunch dishes
Delicate, sweet and much lower in fat, so it dries out sooner and cannot carry heavy mustard, chilli or vinegar treatments without disappearing under them. Excellent if you want the shape and speed of a small whole fish and would rather have something gentle.
6Tinned tuna in olive oil
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight, plus 1 tsp olive oil and ½ tsp anchovy paste per tin
The pantry swap for any recipe built on tinned mackerel.
What changes
Best for
pasta, fish salads, sandwich fillings, fishcakes, rice bowls
Much milder, drier and firmer, so a mackerel pasta made with it tastes thin. The extra oil replaces the fat and the anchovy paste puts back the savoury depth; without those two additions the dish reads as tuna salad rather than as oily fish.
7Sea bass, cod or another white fish
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight, plus 1 tbsp olive oil and 2 chopped anchovy fillets per 400g
The least-best swap, listed because it is often the only thing in the shop.
What changes
Best for
baking, grilling with a basket, fish stew, curries
White fish is lean and mild, which is the opposite of what mackerel brings, so the dish loses both its richness and its backbone. Add oil for the fat and anchovy for the savoury depth, expect a lighter and less interesting result, and do not attempt it for a recipe where the fish's oil is the point, such as saba shioyaki.

What is Mackerel?

Mackerel is Mackerel is a small, strongly flavoured oily fish with dark grey-pink flesh and a lot of natural fat, sold fresh as whole fish or fillets, tinned in oil or tomato, or hot-smoked, and it appears as saba in Japanese cooking, as Atlantic or jack mackerel on tins, and as a grilled staple across Turkish, Korean and British kitchens.

Cooking tips

Mackerel is a same-day fish. Its oil turns quickly, which is why it has a reputation for tasting strong, so buy it with clear eyes and firm flesh and cook it the day you get it, or buy it tinned or smoked instead.
Score the skin two or three times, dry it thoroughly with kitchen paper and salt it fifteen minutes ahead. That is the difference between crisp skin and a fillet that sticks and tears, and it works whether you are grilling, broiling or pan-frying.
Cook it skin side first over higher heat than you think, then flip for barely a minute. A mackerel fillet is thin and full of fat, so it goes from perfect to dry very quickly.
The dark bloodline down the centre of the fillet carries most of the strong flavour. Cut it out if you or your guests find mackerel too fishy; the rest of the fillet is much milder than its reputation suggests.
Mackerel loves acid and sharp seasoning: lemon, vinegar, mustard, ginger, chilli, grated daikon or rhubarb. If a mackerel dish tastes heavy, it almost always needs acid rather than salt.
Shime saba and other salted-then-vinegared raw mackerel preparations are cures, and the salt and vinegar quantities and timings are doing food safety work as well as flavour work. Follow a tested recipe exactly rather than improvising the proportions.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use tinned mackerel instead of fresh?

For anything mixed or mashed, yes: fishcakes, pasta sauces, pates, salads and rice bowls all work well with tinned. For anything where the fish stays whole, such as a grilled fillet or saba shioyaki, no, because tinned mackerel is already cooked and soft and it will fall apart. Drain it but keep a spoonful of the oil, which carries a lot of flavour.

Is mackerel too fishy, and how do I make it milder?

Freshness matters more than anything else, so buy it the day you cook it. Beyond that, trim out the dark bloodline, cook it hot and fast rather than slow, and finish it with lemon, vinegar or grated daikon. Done that way, mackerel tastes rich and savoury rather than fishy.

Can I use salmon instead of mackerel?

Yes, in any grilled, roasted or glazed recipe, at the same weight. Salmon has plenty of oil so it will not dry out, but it is noticeably sweeter and less savoury, and the dish loses mackerel's assertive character. Push the seasoning up with more ginger, soy, mustard or vinegar depending on the recipe.

Can I just leave the mackerel out?

Not if it is the protein in the dish. If mackerel is a background ingredient, for example a fillet flaked through a potato salad or a spoonful stirred into a pasta, you can drop it and replace the savoury depth with two chopped anchovy fillets or a teaspoon of anchovy paste plus a good glug of olive oil. The dish will taste lighter but still seasoned.

Is saba the same as mackerel?

Yes. Saba is simply the Japanese word for mackerel, usually Pacific or chub mackerel, and saba fillets sold frozen in Japanese groceries are the same fish you would buy fresh at a fishmonger. If a Japanese recipe calls for saba, any fresh mackerel fillet will do the job.

Related substitutes

More seafood substitutes

Mackerel substitute

Other mackerel substitutes

2Herring or bluefish

3Spanish mackerel, kingfish or jack mackerel

4Salmon or steelhead trout

5Trout

6Tinned tuna in olive oil

7Sea bass, cod or another white fish