What to do with a can of sardines?

Cheap, practical, and full of good things, canned sardines have it all. Explanations.

Sardines and their benefits

Did you know that the sardine was the very first canned fish? In 1795, the Champagne master confectioner Nicolas Appert developed a method of sterilization, called “appertization” (let’s give back to Caesar…), and conservation, to protect these divine little fatty fish. The can was born! First the sardine, then many other fish followed, such as tuna and mackerel.

That’s a little story to unwrap at a dinner, but the real info is above all that sardines provide us with omega 3 (100g of sardines covers 5 to 6 times our needs), vitamin D – ideal when you lack sun -, phosphorus, but also calcium, especially if you buy products with skin and bones (100g of sardines covers 50% of daily needs). Ideal for maintaining our bone mass. Obviously, sardines, like any other fish, contain proteins, essential macronutrients which act at different levels (muscle, skin, digestive, immune, etc.). Sardines are also rich in vitamin B12*, ideal for elderly people who are often deficient in this level.

Recipes using canned sardines

There is still one essential point that we have not yet mentioned: taste. Canned sardines are simply good! Whether in oil, marinated, or natural, sardines can be served directly or integrated into a preparation. Pasta salad, pizza, rillettes or meatballs, sardines go everywhere.

To read: Quick, recipes for an impromptu aperitif!

Good to know : you can replace fresh sardines in many recipes with canned sardines, by simply skipping the fish cooking step. That being said, we replace a cooked product with another cooked product, implying that if the sardines are supposed to be marinated and then just snacked, the final effect will not be the same. The idea in using canned sardines is to take advantage of their ease of use, their low price, and their long shelf life. It’s the ideal product to always have in your cupboards, especially if you can’t get fresh fish easily.

To follow, 10 gourmet recipes to prepare with canned sardines.

*Source Canned fish