How To Cook Perfectly Crisp Sardines In Your Air Fryer

If the thought of eating canned sardines ruins your appetite, don't discount this fish altogether. For the uninitiated, learning to eat sardines fresh is a separate experience from discovering how to eat them out of tins only. While the latter can sometimes have an overwhelmingly fishy taste and an oily consistency, the flavor of fresh sardines is drastically different, as it's much milder and has a firmer texture.

Plus, while it's obviously incredibly easy to eat tinned sardines right out of the can, since they're already cooked, whipping up fresh versions isn't much more difficult. To learn the best way to make them, we turned to Chef Charlotte Langley, President and Founder of Langley Foods. Her device of choice? The air fryer, which is already our go-to appliance for making crispy food in a flash. "For fresh sardines, lightly coat them with olive oil and seasonings before air frying," Langley said in an interview with Tasting Table. "Cook them at around 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius) for 8-10 minutes, flipping halfway through, until the skin is crispy."

Before you air fry your sardines following Langley's advice, there are a few things you'll want to take care of. If you can, buy fish that have already been cleaned and had their insides removed. But if you can't find them prepared this way, you'll want to slice them open lengthwise and remove their intestines yourself. You can choose to remove the heads or leave them on — and in the same vein, you can also take out the bones or leave them in if they're small and soft enough. Before popping them in the air fryer, however, make sure that your sardines have been thawed if you started with frozen fish.

As for the seasonings, follow whatever your taste buds prefer. Go for a flavored olive oil for a fancy touch and sprinkle on herbs like parsley, thyme, and oregano, or blends like Cajun, Italian, or Old Bay seasoning. For a little kick, throw in some chili powder, cayenne, or red pepper flakes. Or for more neutral flavor, add on some paprika, garlic powder, or onion powder.

And what if you do want to give canned sardines a try in your air fryer? Langley has a tip for that, too: Only place yours in the device "for a few minutes to warm them up and give them a slight crisp." She warned, "Just keep an eye on them, as they're already cooked."