14 Sardine Recipes You’ll Want To Dive Right Into

Maybe we should have seen it coming, with trends like Tomato Girl Summer and Lemon Girl Aesthetic, but it seems like summer is all about… sardines? An obsession with these tiny, silvery swimmers has been sweeping the nation, not only for dining purposes, but also, incredibly, as a motif on apparel, home decor and even jewelry. Perhaps obviously, we’re here for the food, but we like this trend as an inspiration for the Mediterranean feels that come along with it. If you haven’t cooked with sardines before, you can easily dip a toe in the Mediterranean sea using canned sardines, but don’t shy away if you see them fresh at the fishmonger. Oiled and grilled simply, and lemoned up before eating, sardines are a great summer pleasure. If we all have to be sardine girls to enjoy them, then so be it.

Once you try this simple preparation from Guy Fieri, you’ll wonder why we’re not eating sardines all the time. A benefit of their small size: They cook up so fast! Here, Guy pairs them with a spicy tartar sauce that’s chock-full of the tangy things that complement sardines so well.

This combination will easily become a salad you crave, as all the elements go so well with one another. You’ve got jammily-cooked eggs, creamy boiled Yukon Golds and pleasant bitterness from the escarole. A bright vinaigrette makes every combination that you load on your fork a great adventure.

Bobby Flay points out: If you can, grill those sardines over charcoal. Their inherent oiliness gives them the most amazing smoky char around all the edges that becomes so wonderful. Here, they are paired with a flavorful herb sauce akin to a fresh pesto, with dill, parsley and walnuts giving it an unusual twist.

If there’s a particular part of Italy associated with sardines, it’s the southern islands, yes, Sicily, but also, of course Sardinia, from where the fish get their name. It’s common to find them tangled with pasta here, often accompanied by caramelized onions or even a sprinkling of toasted breadcrumbs. Here, they get a little zhuzh of pine nuts and raisins, a common Sicilian pairing that shows its Arab and Greek influences.

How do you keep a rich fish from becoming too heavy from a deep-fry? Marc Murphy shares the story of learning this trick of marinating the fish briefly in vinegar first, so that its sour edge tames the richness from within. A crunchy outer shell means you’ll be popping these sardines like peanuts.

Any fans of the Caesar salad know that its signature is typically anchovies, either mashed and disappeared in the dressing (and appealing often to even those who “don’t like fish”) or draped right over the top in all their glory. This version swaps in smoked sardines, for a simultaneously more and also less assertive touch (the smokiness is strong; the fishiness is diminished). A pinch of cured meats and homemade croutons really cinch this one as a salad so good, you might encounter something like it in your favorite restaurant.

This dish takes a page from the Danes with their iconic smorrebrod, the open-faced sandwiches that yes, make an excellent lunch, but would also make epic snacks during a cocktail hour. The rye bread is such a natural partner to oily, salty fish, and fresh onion, cucumber and dill brighten things up. You can never go wrong with a homemade, really simple spread of mustard and crème fraiche as a base, a combination of richness and tang that brings out the best in the sardines.

First let’s talk about tonnato sauce. If you haven’t encountered it, you might need some convincing; but if you have, as in the iconic Piedmontese dish vitello tonnato, you will know that it’s a sauce that you want to slather all over everything. It comes from pureed tuna (yes, really!) and its surprisingly gentle yet super-savory flavor enhances everything it comes into contact with. Like these tempura-fried sardines, which already on their own are an absolute treat, but dipped in the tonnato, it’s a match made in seafood heaven.

Consider this the 101 dish if you’ve never prepared sardines before. You’ve made tuna salad, right? What if you replaced the tuna with a supremely flavorful and healthful fish instead? The lemon zest and juice really brightens this salad, which is super delicious in a sandwich or on toast or crackers.

The incredible appeal of a recipe like this one is its utter simplicity — but also its deliciousness. This is the glory of tinned fish, where you can have a sophisticated snack in mere minutes. Here, a sweet and sour herb oil is all that’s needed to turn a can into a party.

This twist on the classic Caesar salad really delivers whether you’re a sardine lover or just looking for more ways to use tinned fish. In addition to anchovies, we add a few sardines to the dressing to make it extra creamy and savory. The rest of the sardines from the tin are tossed with the romaine, distributing a little of their flavor in each bite and boosting the salad’s protein and calcium. Homemade garlicky croutons and a hit of Parmesan round out this delicious salad. Serve it as a first course or side salad, or take advantage of the extra heartiness from sardines and make it a light main course.

This classic pasta recipe hails from Sicily and was originally made using fresh sardines and wild fennel, but you can make a delicious version using good-quality canned sardines and bulb fennel. Saffron, golden raisins and pine nuts create a savory and slightly sweet base for the sardines and bucatini pasta. Instead of grated cheese, this dish is finished with what is sometimes called the “poor man’s Parmesan” in Italy, pangrattato, an ingenious use of stale bread to make crispy, olive oil-toasted crumbs.

These healthy high-protein quinoa bowls are a great way to incorporate more sardines into your diet. Baby spinach, jammy eggs, olives, crispy chickpeas and an herby tomato and cucumber salad round out these colorful bowls for a variety of textures and flavors and tons of nutrition, including an awesome 30 grams of protein. Use whatever good-quality olive oil-packed sardines you like or can find — they can vary a lot in flavor so experiment to find the ones you like best. Most of the ingredients in these bowls (the quinoa, eggs and cucumber and tomato salad) can be made a couple days in advance and stored in separate containers, making this an ideal recipe for meal prep.