Anchovies vs Sardines: What’s The Difference?

Sardines and anchovies are both small fish commonly found canned. But for all their similarities, they are quite different. Chef and food writer Matt Degen explains anchovies vs sardines, and how to cook with each.

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00:00 Intro
02:02 Anchovy and sardine similarities
05:14 How to use anchovies
07:27 What does anchovy taste like?
08:30 Cooking with anchovies
09:37 Homemade Caesar salad dressing
11:28 How to use sardines
12:33 What do sardines taste like?
14:48 Trivia time!

inside this container are anchovies small flavorful fish packed in a can with liquid And inside this container are sardines which are also small flavorful fish packed in a can with liquid Anchovies and sardines are ubiquitous but often misunderstood and potentially sneered at Today I’m going to demystify anchovies and sardines explain their similarities and differences and provide examples of how to make tasty recipes with each Yes there’s something admittedly fishy about this episode but I promise it’s all in good taste So let’s get at it Hello and welcome to I Want to Cook My name is Chef Matt and this channel is all about helping you be a better cook And yeah both anchovies and sardines can make you a better cook They can really up your recipes Now let’s do the 30,000 ft overview before we get into kind of the unique characteristics of each of these because well anchovies and sardines do have quite a bit in common Now these are all canned as you can see here But both anchovies and sardines are available fresh It’s just really really rare 99% of the time when you buy an anchovi or sardine well it’s going to be in a can like this Now both of these are saltwater fish They’re both these little silver fish and they’re quite oily as well which means they’re high in those omega-3 fatty acids Now these are unique but they also have quite a bit in common So let’s talk about their similarities first Okay so the first thing to know about both anchovies and sardines is that when they’re canned like this well that name is pretty broad It’s not necessarily referring to one type of fish like the sardine or the anchovi Both of these fish well anchovies and sardines are made up of a broad class of different types of fish But when they’re canned like this they’re going to be split into one of two categories They’re either going to be called anchovies or sardines So just know that going in that there are many different types of fish that can fit the profile of either an anchovi or a sardine when it’s canned Now just like canned tuna well both anchovies and sardines they’re fully cooked That means you don’t have to cook them You don’t have to worry about overcooking or undercooking These things are ready to eat And heck they’re even easier than canned tuna in some ways because they just have this little lid that you pop open So you don’t even need a can opener And that means well they’re just really easy to use Another similarity between anchovies and sardines is that well they’re pretty inexpensive These cans cost maybe a $1.50 or $2 or $3 depending on the size It’s really not a big outlay You know fresh fish can get really expensive in the store but well these are cheap and they’re also widely available I mean you can go to just about any market And in the canned fish section you’re going to find anchovies and sardines They’re just they’re really widely available And because they are in cans that means they’re shelf stable So these things can last a long time in your pantry It’s the opposite of fresh fish where you know it can go bad really really quickly even when it’s refrigerated With these they can last months and sometimes maybe even years just in your pantry in the can ready to go Both of these most of the time are often going to be found in a liquid Now the liquid may vary depending on the can And you can see what it is by just simply reading the can but oil is a common liquid that is used to can these things That keeps these fish moist That keeps them well preserved and that can also add to the flavor as well You know it can give it that nice mouth feel when you’re ready to use it Both of these are often salted as well so that helps with both the flavor and the preservation process And finally both of these have what I might just call a fishy reputation Yeah not everybody loves anchovies and sardines but I think that’s more because they might be misunderstood If you know how to use and cook with these both of these can be absolutely delicious And that’s one of the reasons I’m making this video is to kind of help demystify that make these both more approachable But I promise you that both of these can be super tasty Well you just got to use them right and sometimes in moderation [Music] Okay let’s start with what is probably the more controversial of these two the anchovi You’ve probably all heard the joke about that relative who loves anchovies on their pizza and maybe you just kind of like you know get the ick factor from that But once again when used properly anchovies can be delicious Now these are all canned Uh they’re salted they’re brined and that’s part of the anchovi making process Anchovies have a very strong flavor and that is intentional But that doesn’t mean that it has to overwhelm whatever you’re cooking with And it’s really easy to tame the flavor of anchovies In fact before you use these things you’re probably just going to want to take them out of the can and soak them in water Just soak them in some cold water for about half an hour before you’re ready to use Then simply pat them dry What that’s going to do is that’s going to take away a lot of that saltiness a lot of that strong flavor and that’s really going to tame these and well that’s going to help whatever you’re cooking with so that it doesn’t overwhelm it with anchovi taste Now I keep talking about cooking with anchovies versus just kind of eating them plain And for the most part that’s where anchovies start You should really think of anchovies more as an ingredient as something you would just kind of eat unto itself Yes you can I mean you can absolutely eat a little anchovi fillet but these are really best when thought of as an ingredient within a recipe or added to a recipe to help make it shine And a little goes a long way I mean you see the size of these cans They’re not very big and that’s intentional because you don’t need a whole lot of anchovi when you’re using it in a recipe Again this is going to be kind of a background note just to have a little bit of that flavor Now let’s talk about that flavor and let’s try one of these things so that I can kind of describe how they taste Okay so let’s open up one of these cans and I’m going to do the thing that I told you not to do I not soaking these first We’re just going to kind of eat one of these as is And as you can see they’re just these little tiny fillets here uh packed in this this oil Again these guys are pretty small I This is what I do for you I’m just going to eat one of these things whole And it’s really salty But I don’t know I just I really like them It’s It’s very strong Again you’d really want to soak this first But the beautiful thing about anchovies is they have what’s called that umami factor That that flavor sensation that’s associated with savoriness Think like soy sauce or seaweed That’s what they can add to a dish Now again you’re probably not going to want to just eat them out of the can like this but you can And well they pack a lot of flavor Now if you’ve never used anchovies before and you don’t care for them on your pizza two great ways to incorporate them into a recipe are well one we’ve already made before and that’s my pasta pinesca Remember that was that kind of chunky super savory flavorful pasta sauce Well anchovi fillets or anchovi paste are great in that And I should mention that anchovi paste is also a nice gateway into the world of anchovies if you don’t want to deal with the fillets It’s basically well you know ground up anchovies And this is readily available too Another great and classic way to use anchovies in fact it’s probably one that you’ve already experienced anchovies with even if you weren’t aware of it is Caesar dressing So dressing for a classic Caesar salad has anchovies and it’s really easy to make at home So let’s whip that up and I’ll demonstrate how you can use anchovies in that classic dressing [Music] Okay we’ll use a food processor for this You might remember this little guy This is this little quezin art that I found new in the box It was uh I think it was 30 years old but had never been opened And well it works great So anyways I start by putting the anchovies and a couple cloves of garlic right into the food processor And then we’re just going to pulse this Then we’ll simply add a couple tablespoon of olive oil You can use either an egg for this or well just some mayonnaise I’m going to use a couple tablespoons of mayonnaise And then one of the other secret ingredients that has a lot of that kind of unumabi flavor is worister sauce Going to add about a teaspoon of that We’re going to pulse this again Now we are going to slowly drizzle in about half a cup of olive oil And what’s neat about these is these this little component of your food processor This will actually let the oil drip in slowly It’s got this little hole at the bottom That’s what it’s for So we’ll just kind of dribble this in slowly Let it do the work Okay let’s test the fruits of our non labors This is such an easy way to make a dressing or mayo That is such good dressing It’s so flavorful And yeah it’s got anchovies in there but it it doesn’t taste fishy That’s the beauty of using anchovies in a recipe like this It’s just a little subtle background Now this is ready to be dressed on a salad and enjoyed [Music] Okay let’s talk sardines And well as you can see first of all there’s more variety of sardines usually that you’ll find in the store Whereas anchovies are kind of anchovies there’s quite a variety of sardines Now sardines are usually part of the herring family if you’re familiar with that fish And it’s pretty versatile Now as you can see from this assortment here we have sardines with like a lemon flavor some with like a smoke flavor uh you know others packed in oil Uh this one in soybean oil others in olive oil There’s a bit more variety when it comes to sardines And well that’s because you know if anchovies are more of like a supporting actor sardines can play more of a starring role You can use these as an ingredient just like you would anchovies but you can also eat sardines well kind of as is as part of more of a main component of a dish as you would other fish Let’s open a can and give one a taste And as I do that I’ll regail you with the story So apparently sardines were the first canned fish and they were done so under the orders of Napoleon to feed his troops So uh we can say we’re eating a little bit of history here too But as you can see these sardines the fillets are bigger than the uh canned anchovies that we had uh previously But as you can see it’s kind of similar in looks We got kind of this silvery oily fish And sardines are far milder than anchovies So where anchovies they really kind of hit you with the flavor these sardines you know they’re they’re just a little more I wouldn’t say they’re they’re not flavorful They definitely have flavor but it’s more of like a strong tuna but it’s just a good fish You know it’s got that nice kind of robust oily texture and obviously it’s in oil here so it’s got that anxiousness And it’s really good You can eat these as is So how would you use sardines in a recipe Well these are really versatile arguably even more versatile than anchovies because they don’t hit you over the head with flavor You could use a sardine in any recipe that might call for a stronger oily fish So that could be everything from a pasta to a tapa salad or even like a sardine sandwich or even like what I like to call a sardine bruschetta where you have some crustini You have maybe some lettuce or some type of green herb You have some sardines and some red onions That could be really really delicious It could make a nice snack or light lunchon So there you go We’ve got anchovies versus sardines Now hopefully you know both the differences and the similarities of each but I want to hear from you Do you like either or both of these type of fish and what do you use them in Maybe you have memories of your parents or grandparents using these in recipes Maybe you found some of your own I would love to hear in the comments below Okay trivia time Speaking of small things last week I asked you to identify this little guy and several of you got it correct It is indeed a turkey laser Uh this is what you would use along with some twine to help uh get your turkey prepped for Thanksgiving roasting or whatever have you to get it all kind of bundled together This little thing is indeed a turkey lacer Congratulations to everybody who correctly identified it For this week’s culinary trivia we are continuing with the small theme What is this little guy Do you see this It is just it’s just it’s a tiny little thing but boy is it beautiful If you know what this is or you have a guess put it in the comments below and I will of course let you know the correct answer in the next episode As always thank you so much for watching Thank you for subscribing Until next time I hope you want to cook [Music]