3 Canned Fish Varieties You Should Be Considering For Pasta

If you haven't jumped onto the tinned fish bandwagon, you're missing out! Tinned fish are durable, cheap staples encompassing far more than anchovies and tuna. They are also the secret weapon for elegant upgrades to your favorite pasta dishes. Tasting Table interviewed Charlotte Langley, founder of Langley Foods and Nice Cans who provides her favorite tinned fish varieties for pasta along with their respective sauce pairings.

"Consider MSC-certified sardines, smoked trout, or even crab," Langley suggests. "Sardines add a Mediterranean flair when tossed with olives, tomatoes, and basil in pasta. Smoked trout can elevate creamy pasta sauces, and canned crab is a delicious substitute for fresh in a linguine dish with lemon, garlic, and parsley."

While there are plenty of brands to choose from, Langley urges you to make eco-friendly choices: "Choosing MSC or ASC-certified canned fish ensures sustainable choices and enhances flavors in each dish." Both MSC and ACS-certified products will protect entire marine ecosystems and promote long-term fishing practices that won't destroy or endanger the fish being farmed or wild-caught. The MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) certification is identifiable by a blue label printed on the can while the ASC (Aquaculture Stewardship Council) certification is a green label. The MSC certification applies to wild caught fish and fisheries while the ASC certification applies to seafood farms. These smoked, oil-packed sardines from Wild Planet are MSC certified while Safe Catch trout is ASC-certified.

Each of Charlotte Langley's tinned fish picks offers distinct flavors and textures that are ideal pairings for specific pasta dishes. Sardines are arguably the most common tinned fish of the three and are often compared to anchovies. However, sardines aren't as salty as anchovies and they're also larger, meatier filets that'll make a delicious swap in a traditional pasta puttanesca. You can also use tomato-packed sardines in our recipe for almond dill and sardine bucatini.

Canned trout is much more complex than its sweet, mild, and flaky fresh counterpart because it's usually smoked and packed with infused oils. A great addition to charcuterie boards, canned trout are also the smoky, umami-rich ingredient that'll bring depth to a rich, creamy pasta sauce. Add a drained can of filets to this hazelnut cream pasta or drown it in our easy Alfredo sauce recipe.

Crab is usually an expensive, special occasion dish reserved for fancy restaurants. Canned lump crab makes this delicacy more accessible and saves you the trouble of extracting the meat from its hard shell. Just as you'd pair fresh crab with lemon butter, you can add it to this butter and lemon-forward zesty pasta al limone recipe or this lemon spaghetti.