Top pick
Sweet, savory, and deeply smoked, this meaty mackerel was a crowd favorite.
All of the smoked fish we tried from Fishwife (mackerel, trout, salmon, and tuna) had a similar sweet and smoky flavor profile, but we thought the Slow Smoked Mackerel with Chili Flakes was most successful. It was a near-unanimous hit among our testers.
The fillets are heavily smoked, which gives them a deep mahogany color and a meaty, chewy exterior—what smoked meat aficionados would call a nice bark. Yet the fish wasn’t dry, as some of the other varieties were; it was oily and succulent, with tender flesh beneath the smoky outer crust.
The chili flakes add just a bit of heat, and the addition of demerara sugar and garlic powder gave this fish a flavor that multiple people described as teriyaki-like.
Nice enough to serve on crackers at a party, this would also make a delicious and easy meal over rice with some fresh or pickled vegetables.
Country of origin: United States
Top pick
A thick, creamy mustard sauce envelopes these mackerel fillets, making them ideal for eating with bread.
Les Mouettes d’Arvor Mackerel in Mustard and Crème Fraiche, canned on the coast of Brittany, France, come packed in a thick, luscious sauce of mustard and crème fraîche. The appearance of the sauce—opaque, oily, and pale—was a little off-putting to some tasters, but the flavor was widely appreciated.
The sauce is rich, with a nice tart Dijon flavor, and a bit of sweetness. The fish itself tasted very fresh, with a briny, oceanic flavor and not much of the muddiness that a canned oily fish like mackerel sometimes has.
Some of us felt these were too rich to eat much of, but they would make a great appetizer or lunch for two with a baguette and a simple green salad.
Country of origin: France
Top pick
Wine gives this mackerel a sharp, vinegary flavor that some tasters found refreshing, but others found overpowering.
Les Mouettes d’Arvor Mackerel in Muscadet Wine and Herbs was more polarizing than the variety in mustard sauce, but it had quite a few fans among our tasters. The Muscadet brine is sweet and potently vinegary, with a flavor that reminded a couple people of pickled herring, though the texture of the fish is firmer, since this mackerel is cooked, not pickled raw.
Those who enjoyed this tin really loved it. One person described the flavor as “super bright and floral,” and another praised the “refreshing straight-from-the-sea vibes.” But a few people found the sweetness and the in-your-face vinegar flavor unpleasant.
The high acidity means it might be hard to eat this whole can on your own. The fish would probably be best served in small bites on crackers or crusty bread, with a smear of salty butter or mayo to balance it out.
Country of origin: France
Top pick
The lemon flavor in this tin of mackerel fillets was the most balanced, bright, and fresh-tasting of any lemony fish we tried.
We generally enjoyed everything we tried from Ramón Peña, a conserva producer from Galicia, Spain, but the Mackerel in Olive Oil and Lemon was one of the favorites.
The fish has a supple, meaty texture, and tastes quite salty but is balanced by the floral flavor of lemon zest. We tasted a handful of other tinned fish flavored with lemon, but none were as fresh or aromatic. More often, lemon in other tins imparted a bitter, cooked rind flavor, or its flavor disappeared almost entirely.
You could eat this fish any number of ways: on its own, with crackers or bread, or over rice.
Country of origin: Spain
Top pick
These fried sardines and a rich, homey sauce could easily be a meal on their own.
Another favorite from Ramón Peña was the tin of Sardines in Sauce, which are dredged in flour and fried before being canned in a chunky sauce of tomatoes, red peppers, onions, and wine.
The flavor is rich and oniony, with a little sweetness from the peppers, and many testers commented on how homey it tastes, like a comforting stew. The dredged and fried exterior lends a texture that borders on mushy, but it’s not unpleasant. Instead, it helps marry the soft, sweet chunks of onion and pepper with the oily sardines into a cohesive, unctuous dish.
While they’re delicious enough to serve at a party, many of us thought these sardines make a great meal in a can, and we’d happily eat all of them in one sitting over rice, pasta, or with bread.
Country of origin: Spain
Top pick
The tiny mackerel in this tin look like jewels nestled in the bright yet creamy red pepper sauce.
This tin of ABC+ Horse Mackerel in Brava Sauce is party ready: beautiful to behold and delicious to eat on its own, straight from the can.
The whole (though headless) fish comes neatly nestled in a bright pepper sauce that’s so thick it’s almost creamy, despite containing no dairy (just sweet and hot peppers, garlic, mustard, lemon, and vinegar). The sauce tastes fresh and vibrant, with the vegetal sweetness of red peppers rounded out by a little heat and acidity.
The whole fish might be a little less approachable than boneless, skinless mackerel fillets—a couple tasters were put off by the bones. And the flesh is dense and firm, not as tender as some of the larger mackerel fillets we tried, but many tasters still enjoyed the texture.
A single fish would make for a lovely little forkful at a party, or a nice topping for a cracker or piece of bread.
Country of origin: Portugal
Top pick
These jarred Italian mackerel fillets are clean and meaty. They’re easy to dress up, but good enough to eat plain.
The long, firm Testa Wild Sicilian Sgombro packed in extra virgin olive oil are plain and pristine. They have a fresh, mild fish flavor—not too far off from good quality tuna, and not as fishy and oily as some tinned mackerel can be.
But the texture is more tender than most canned tuna, and not as dry. The fillets are meaty, dense, and a little juicy, breaking apart into large flakey chunks that would be lovely over salad. But you could also eat this mackerel dozens of other ways. Though high quality enough to stand on its own with very little dressing (other than maybe a squeeze of lemon), its simplicity would also make it a good base ingredient in any dish where you might usually use tuna.
Country of origin: Italy
Top pick
Fresh, firm, and meaty, these are like thinner, more elegant sardines.
These slender fish have a saltier, more pungent flavor than Minnow’s Garfish, and reminded us a little of anchovies.
We tasted two varieties of garfish, a long, needle-nosed marine fish (not to be confused with the prehistoric-looking species of freshwater gar found in the United States), and enjoyed both of them.
The whole, headless, skin-on fish has a meaty texture and dark, oily flesh that reminded several testers of top-quality sardines (and might even be a bit better than that—firmer, and less muddy). Of the two options we tasted, Minnow’s Garfish was a little cleaner and fresher tasting, with a bit less salt. The slender, silver bodies are beautifully intact and hold together well, making them ideal for topping a composed salad or elegant toasts.
The Ati Manel Garfish in Olive Oil was saltier and richer, and a little softer in texture. Its flavor was somewhere in between a sardine and a salted anchovy, with a punch of umami that made me want to eat them over pizza or with a Caesar salad.
Countries of origin: Spain (Minnow) and Portugal (Ati Manel)
Top pick
This meaty fish—grilled, then packed in a light yuzu and radish sauce—tastes like a fresh, homey dish.
Sanma (or saury), is a small, dark, oily fish similar to mackerel. In Kyokuyo Yaki Sanma Daikonoroshi, it’s grilled before being canned with yuzu and grated daikon, with results that taste like a home-cooked Japanese dish.
The sauce is lightly sweet, with a hint of floral yuzu and sulfurous radish. Those are the first things you taste, and though they fade as the flavor of the fish takes over, their freshness helps counterbalance the oiliness of the firm, meaty fish.
This would be excellent over rice and is inexpensive enough to make for a nice weekday lunch, but we would happily eat it straight from the can too.
Country of origin: Japan
Top pick
Dryer and chewier than most of the fish on this list and packed with umami, this dace is equally tasty as an ingredient or a snack.
This lightly sweet, deeply savory Pearl River Bridge Fried Dace with Salted Black Beans is deeply nostalgic for some, including one of our tasters, but that’s not why we recommend it. We recommend it because it’s truly delicious.
It’s heavily salted and a little sweet, with a round umami flavor from the addition of salted black beans. The texture is dryer than most fish we tested, and appealingly chewy—multiple tasters described it as jerky-like.
While the chewiness makes it satisfying to snack on plain, the saltiness begs for a bowl of rice. You could also add it to a stir-fry with rice or vegetables.
Country of origin: China
