What Delicious Dishes Can You Make With Sardines? How to Prepare and 9 Unbeatable Recipes

Sardines are a species of fish that live in brackish and marine waters, rich in nutritional value and very versatile in preparation. However, many people still wonder what delicious dishes can be made with sardines or how to cook them so they aren’t fishy and are easy to eat.

In this article, Ola Squid will help you learn more about sardines, guide you on how to prepare them properly, and suggest delicious sardine dishes favored by many families, from frying and braising to cooking soup or making salad. The shared information is based on practical experience, is easy to perform, and is suitable for daily meals as well as occasions when you want to change the flavor on the weekend.

What delicious dishes can you make with sardines?

If you know how to handle the smell and choose the appropriate cooking method, sardines can become a “national” ingredient. The fish meat is soft, slightly fatty, with small bones, making it very suitable for crispy frying, braising until the bones are soft, cooking sour soup, or making salad. Below are typical suggestions when you are looking for what to cook with sardines for your family.

Crispy fried sardines

Crispy fried sardines is the simplest dish but is always loved because it is easy to make, requires few ingredients, and suits many people’s tastes.

Ingredients:

• Fresh sardines: 500 g
• Salt: 1/2 teaspoon
• Pepper: 1/3 teaspoon
• Crispy frying flour: 100 g
• Cooking oil

How to make crispy fried sardines:

• Clean the sardines, remove the innards, wash with diluted salt water, and drain.
• Marinate the fish with salt and pepper for about 10 minutes.
• Roll the fish in crispy frying flour.
• Heat the oil, and deep-fry the fish.
• Fry over medium heat until the fish is golden brown and crispy.
• Remove and drain the oil, serve with raw vegetables and garlic chili fish sauce.

Fried sardines in tomato sauce

Fried sardines in tomato sauce is a familiar, easy-to-make dish with a harmonious sweet and sour taste. The fish is fried golden and crispy on the outside, soft and sweet on the inside, combined with a rich tomato sauce that helps reduce the fishy smell and goes very well with rice.

Ingredients:

• Sardines: 500 g
• Tomatoes: 3-4 pieces
• Shallots: 2 bulbs
• Garlic: 2 cloves
• Green onions
• Salt, fish sauce, sugar, pepper
• Cooking oil

How to make:

• Clean the sardines, wash with diluted salt water, and drain. Lightly marinate with salt and pepper for 10 minutes.
• Heat the oil, fry the fish until golden on both sides, remove and drain the oil.
• Sauté the shallots and garlic until fragrant, add the chopped tomatoes and sauté until soft, season with fish sauce and sugar to taste.
• Place the fish in the sauce pan, simmer over low heat for 5–7 minutes so the fish is evenly infused. Sprinkle with green onions, turn off the heat and serve hot with rice.

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Sardine fish cakes

Sardine fish cakes are a rustic, delicious dish that takes advantage of the natural fattiness of sardines. The cakes are soft, slightly chewy, less fishy, and can be fried or steamed, served with rice, noodles, or as a snack.

Ingredients:

• Sardines: 500 g
• Ground pork: 100 g (optional)
• Shallots: 2 bulbs
• Garlic: 2 cloves
• Minced dill or green onions
• Egg: 1 piece
• Fish sauce, pepper, sugar
• Cooking oil

How to make:

• Clean the sardines, remove the head and bones, finely chop or grind until smooth.
• Mix the fish with ground pork, shallots, garlic, egg, dill, season with fish sauce, pepper, and a bit of sugar to taste.
• Knead the mixture to make it chewy, form into balls or flatten into patties.
• Deep-fry until golden brown or steam and then lightly fry, serve hot.

Pepper-braised sardines

When mentioning what to cook with sardines, one cannot ignore the rich, lightly spicy pepper-braised dish, which is perfect for rainy days.

Ingredients:

• Sardines: 700 g
• Peppercorns: 1 teaspoon
• Fish sauce: 2 tablespoons
• Sugar: 1 teaspoon
• Shallots, garlic

How to make:

• Clean the fish, arrange in a pot.
• Sauté shallots and garlic, add to the fish.
• Add fish sauce, sugar, pepper.
• Braise over low heat for 30–40 minutes until the bones are soft.

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Braised sardines with pickled greens

Braised sardines with pickled greens is a rich, rice-complementing dish, combining the fattiness of sardines with the mild sourness of pickled mustard greens. The braised dish has a harmonious flavor, helping to reduce the fishiness and is very suitable for family meals.

Ingredients:

• Sardines: 600–800 g
• Pickled mustard greens: 200 g
• Tomatoes: 2 pieces
• Shallots: 2 bulbs
• Garlic: 2 cloves
• Chili: 1 piece (optional)
• Fish sauce, sugar, pepper
• Cooking oil

How to make:

• Clean the sardines, cut into pieces, wash with diluted salt water, and drain.
• Lightly wash the pickled greens to reduce saltiness, squeeze dry. Cut tomatoes into wedges.
• Sauté shallots and garlic until fragrant, add tomatoes and sauté until soft, then add pickled greens and stir well.
• Arrange the fish in the pot, season with fish sauce, sugar, chili and add water until submerged, braise over low heat for 20–25 minutes until the fish is cooked and flavorful.

Braised sardines with sugarcane

Braised sardines with sugarcane is a rustic dish, carrying natural sweetness from the sugarcane, which helps the fish become soft, fatty, and effectively reduces the fishy smell. The braised dish has a rich, mildly sweet taste, very suitable for serving with hot white rice.

Ingredients:

• Sardines: 600–800 g
• Sugarcane: 2–3 pieces, split small
• Shallots: 2 bulbs
• Garlic: 2 cloves
• Chili: 1 piece (optional)
• Fish sauce, pepper
• Cooking oil

How to make:

• Clean the sardines, cut into pieces, wash with diluted salt water, and drain.
• Line the bottom of the pot with sugarcane, arrange the fish on top.
• Sauté shallots and garlic until fragrant, add to the fish pot, season with fish sauce, pepper, chili and add a bit of water.
• Braise over low heat for 30-40 minutes until the fish is soft and flavorful, and the braising liquid thickens, then turn off the heat.

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How to make sardine salad

Sardine salad is a fresh, attractive dish with a harmonious sweet, salty, spicy, and sour taste. Careful preparation helps reduce the fishy smell of the sardines, combined with raw vegetables and a rich dressing, making it very suitable as an appetizer or a weekend change of taste.

Ingredients:

• Fresh sardines: 500 g
• Lemon or vinegar: 2–3 pieces
• Onion: 1 bulb
• Carrot: 1 small bulb
• Vietnamese coriander, Thai basil
• Roasted peanuts, fried shallots
• Chili, garlic
• Fish sauce, sugar

How to make:

• Clean the sardines, fillet the meat, slice thinly, squeeze with lemon juice or vinegar for 5–7 minutes until the fish is par-cooked and less fishy, rinse quickly, and drain.
• Thinly slice the onion and soak in ice water, shred the carrot, wash vegetables and drain.
• Mix the dressing including fish sauce, sugar, minced garlic and chili, lemon juice for a balanced sweet and sour taste.
• Mix the fish with the vegetables, pour the dressing over, sprinkle with peanuts and fried shallots, toss well and serve immediately.

Grilled sardines

Grilled sardines is a simple, delicious dish that preserves the natural fattiness of the fish. When grilled, the fish releases a fragrant aroma, the skin is slightly crispy, the meat is soft, and it is very attractive when served with raw vegetables and dipping sauce.

Ingredients:

• Fresh sardines: 600–800 g
• Lemongrass: 2 stalks
• Garlic: 2 cloves
• Chili: 1 piece
• Salt, pepper, cooking oil
• Raw vegetables for serving

How to make:

• Clean the sardines, remove the innards, wash with diluted salt water, and drain.
• Minced lemongrass, garlic, chili, mix with salt, pepper and a bit of cooking oil, rub evenly on the fish, marinate for 15–20 minutes.
• Arrange the fish on a grill or baking tray, grill over charcoal or in an oven at 180–200°C for about 15–20 minutes, flipping so the fish cooks evenly.
• Once the fish is golden and fragrant, remove and serve hot with raw vegetables and dipping sauce.

Sardine sour soup

Sardine sour soup is a rustic, easy-to-eat dish with a refreshing sour taste that helps reduce the fishy smell. The fish meat is soft and lightly fatty, combined with sour soup vegetables to create a cool soup dish, perfect for family meals.

Ingredients:

• Sardines: 600–800 g
• Sour tamarind or pineapple: 2–3 tablespoons of tamarind or 1 slice of pineapple
• Tomatoes: 2–3 pieces
• Shallot: 1 bulb
• Okra, elephant ear stems, bean sprouts, rice paddy herb
• Salt, fish sauce, sugar, cooking oil

How to make:

• Clean the sardines, cut into pieces, wash with diluted salt water, and drain.
• Sauté shallots with cooking oil until fragrant, add tomatoes and sauté until soft, add water and tamarind or pineapple, and bring to a boil.
• Add the fish and cook over medium heat for 10–15 minutes until the fish is cooked, season with salt, fish sauce, and sugar to taste.
• Add okra, elephant ear stems, bean sprouts and rice paddy herb, cook for another 1–2 minutes, then turn off the heat and serve hot.

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How to prepare and clean sardines

Sardines have a characteristic fishy smell, so proper preparation will help the fish be clean, less fishy, and tastier when cooked.

Preparation steps:

• Initial cleaning: Cut off the fish head, use a knife to slit the belly, remove all innards and the black membrane inside the fish belly.
• De-fishy wash: Wash the fish with diluted salt water, optionally add a few slices of crushed ginger or a little vinegar/lemon to reduce the smell.
• Scale (if needed): For large sardines, you should lightly scrape off the scales to make the fish cleaner.
• Rinse and drain: Rinse the fish again with clean water and let it drain before cutting or preparing.

Small tips:

• Do not soak the fish for too long in lemon juice or vinegar to avoid making the meat mushy.
• You can quickly blanch the fish in boiling water for 10–15 seconds if using it for soup or braising to make the fish firm and less fishy.

Proper preparation will help sardine dishes be delicious, easy to eat, and maintain the natural fattiness of the fish.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to braise sardines until the bones are soft

To achieve soft bones in braised sardines, the fish needs to be braised for a long time over low heat. Before braising, clean the fish thoroughly; you can lightly fry or quickly blanch it in boiling water to firm up the meat and reduce the fishy smell. When braising, line the bottom of the pot with sugarcane, galangal, or ginger, add fresh coconut water, tea, or rice vinegar to assist in softening the fish bones. Braise continuously for 60–90 minutes, topping up with boiling water when it runs low, until the fish bones are soft and edible.

How much do sardines cost?

The price of fresh sardines on the market currently usually ranges from about 40,000 – 90,000 VND/kg, depending on the season, fish size, and sales area. During peak fish season, the price is often lower. Frozen or pre-prepared sardines may have a higher price. Specifically, for dried sardines, the popular price ranges from 120,000 – 200,000 VND/kg.

Where do sardines live?

Sardines are fish that live mainly in marine and brackish water areas, often appearing in coastal areas of Vietnam. Some sardine species have the habit of moving into estuaries to spawn. Sardines live in large schools, grow rapidly, and are commonly caught, being a familiar and nutrient-rich food source.

Through this article, you probably have a complete answer to the question what delicious dishes can you make with sardines as well as mastering how to prepare and cook sardines to make them less fishy, easy to eat, and full of flavor. With the advantages of being easy to find, affordable, and nutrient-rich, sardines can completely become a familiar ingredient in family meals if you know how to cook them properly.

Don’t hesitate to try alternating between fried, braised, soup, or salad dishes to change the flavor of your daily meals. If you are a fan of seafood and want to find more quality products for your family meal, besides fresh fish, you can explore the premium whole dried squid products at OlaSquid to enrich your daily menu. And don’t forget to follow Ola Squid’s Blog to discover more delicious seafood recipes, useful kitchen tips, and choose the right products for your kitchen.