The 3 Best Anchovy Fillets, According to Our Excessively Salty Tests

Anchovies. You either love 'em, or you hate 'em, right? We've got a theory that everybody loves anchovies—it's just that some people don't know they do. Because they're a concentrated source of glutamic and inosinic acid—two molecules responsible for triggering our sensation of savoriness—they're irreplaceable for adding depth of flavor and a meaty backbone to pretty much anything.

People who love bold flavor may readily eat anchovies whole; others shy away from it and only pop that lid when a recipe tells them to. But regardless of which type of anchovy person you are, chances are you've experienced that moment of grocery store indecision, staring down those colorful battalions of tiny filleted fish. Jar or can, cheap or expensive—what is the best brand of anchovies and, more importantly, does it always matter? We decided to find out.

The Tests

• Plain Taste Test: They say you shouldn't cook with a bottle of wine that you wouldn't drink. With that spirit in mind, we tried each package of anchovies plain. We used crackers and water as a palate cleanser between samples.
• Caesar Salad Taste Test: Anchovies are a key element in Caesar salad dressing. We made this recipe for Caesar salad and evaluated how they tasted in a recipe made without cooking.
• Puttanesca Taste Test: Anchovies also factor heavily in puttanesca, a cooked pasta sauce. We made this recipe with each sample and tasted them, evaluating on how well the combined with the rest of the ingredients, and how the anchovies' brine levels stood up to other salty ingredients.

Things to Consider

Salt-Packed Anchovies vs. Fresh

All anchovies are not created equal. Fresh out of the water, anchovy is actually a relatively mild fish—light, plump, and briny. You can also get your hands on salt-packed varieties, which are minimally processed before packing—they've still got their bones and fins intact, which means that for most preparations, they need to be filleted and soaked in water or milk prior to use. Why use salt? It's a preservative, so the anchovies remain food-safe and ready to eat. (They're also canned, which prolongs their shelf-life.) They also come in paste form, but we vastly prefer salt- or oil-packed anchovies to anchovy paste.

What Are Ready-to-Eat Jarred Anchovies?

The kind of anchovies we're talking about today are the ones you are likely most familiar with. They're jarred or canned, and have already been cleaned, filleted, and salt-cured. They're typically stored in olive oil, but it's the curing process that produces the intensely salty, pungent odor and flavor associated with anchovies. Fun fact: It's also what's responsible for breaking down the myosin in the fish—one of the muscle proteins that hold its flesh together—making it exceedingly easy to mash up and dissolve.

What Should Anchovies Taste Like?

There was limited consensus in our group as to what constitutes a great anchovy. But there are a few things we can agree on. Saltiness is inevitable, but if an anchovy is excessively cured, it loses its meatiness—instead developing a grainy texture. When it comes to flavor, anchovies should have a clean, distinctly briny flavor. Anchovies should not taste like, as one taster described, "the bottom of a chum bucket." The texture should be relatively soft, so the anchovy dissolves on your tongue.

If you're going to use anchovies for cooking, it doesn't matter what brand you use—our tasters couldn't distinguish between the puttanesca sauces or the Caesar dressings from sample to sample. We also didn't notice a marked difference between the overall quality of canned vs. jarred anchovies

The Criteria: What to Look for in a Jar of Anchovies

Jarred or canned anchovies should be briny but not too salty. Our favorite anchovies had a meaty texture that wasn't too firm—it should dissolve on your tongue. Look for anchovies packed in oil (for ready-to-eat applications) or salt (those must be cleaned before enjoying).

Our Favorite Anchovies

The Best Anchovies

Ortiz Anchovies (3-Pack)

$40 at Amazon

Ortiz is certainly the most gourmet brand that we tried—it's pricey. What sets it apart? Tasters applauded its "smooth texture," describing it as "tender and meaty." A number noted its relatively mild, clean flavor, a certain "pleasant sweetness" and "cheesy Parmesan flavor."

Key Specs

• Taste-test score: 6.9/10
• Container: Glass jar
• Weight: 3.5oz
• Preservation method: Olive oil
• Ingredients: Anchovies, olive oil, salt

Another Good (Cheaper) Brand of Anchovies

Merro Fillets of Anchovies

$11 at Amazon

Merro sells for a lot less than Ortiz, which was surprising considering how close they were in the final scores. Again, it was a mild flavor and tenderness that was most appreciated. Some actually complained that it was too mild, and one even "wished it was slightly more fishy." All in all, it's a product we'd happily buy and eat whole any day.

Key Specs

• Taste-test score: 6.8/10
• Container: Glass jar
• Weight: 3.17oz
• Preservation method: Olive oil
• Ingredients: Anchovies, olive oil, salt

The Best Extra Salty Anchovies

Agostino Recca Flat Fillets of Anchovies in Olive Oil (Can)

$20 at Amazon

A few tasters were turned off by the salinity level in the Agostino Recca can, though most praised the large size and remarkable tenderness of the fish. "Very firm, meaty like good canned tuna" seemed to be the consensus. Well, that and, "Wow, this is salty!"

Key Specs

• Taste-test score: 6.5/10
• Container: Can
• Weight: 2 oz
• Preservation method: Olive oil
• Ingredients: Anchovies, olive oil, salt

The Competition

• Roland: Roland seemed to slip into the higher ranks primarily due to its blandness. A few noted that it tasted over-cured or dry, but all found it "inoffensive." If it's your only option, it's not a bad one, but we think there are better choices if you're into eating your anchovies plain.
• Roland (Can): Once again, our tasters were split. One participant wrote, "Very prickly bones, plasticky texture. Classic canned flavor." Another took the opposite stance, exclaiming, "Very smooth tasting. I could eat this plain; not too salty." What's clear is that the Roland can doesn't have a very full-bodied anchovy flavor or a meaty texture—it was more likely to dissolve on your tongue than hold its own. These are currently unavailable.
• Agostino Recca Jar: This one garnered some of the highest and lowest scores doled out during the taste test. Interestingly, comments from disagreeing parties noted similar traits—those traits were just valued differently. For a "nice clean flavor" and "slight chalkiness," Agostino Recca is the way to go.
• Cento: This anonymous taster probably says it best: "Even in dressing and sauce, majorly fishy aftertaste." Or, put more succinctly, "Mealy. Ugh."
• Crown Prince: Folks were not fond of Crown Prince, describing it as "ridiculously firm," with a "cardboardy, pulpy texture." As for flavor, saltiness took the lead, with very little fishiness coming through.
• Crown Prince: Nearly every taster noted a certain mealiness and funkiness to the Crown Prince anchovies. Some commented that it had the texture of an overcooked fish, while others thought the flavor was "almost funky" and "overwhelming."
• Polar: Polar evoked some deep reflection from some tasters. "Deep, heavy-tasting. Not sure if that's a good thing?," asked one. Another wrote, ""Dissolves on the tongue. Can't decide if I like that or not." Others called it "chemically" and "gritty, like undissolved salt." Chances are these little fish spent too much time curing.
• Bellino: The hands-down loser, Bellino, seemed to have a quality control problem at hand. Commenters all noted that the product tasted off, wafting an odor that was "stinky and a little ripe." The flavor and texture weren't much of an improvement, described as "thin, fishy, too soft" and even "a little wimpy."

FAQs

What are anchovies?

Anchovies are small saltwater fish; they don’t get much larger than 7 inches in length. They’re most commonly consumed in the form of conservas, or tinned/jarred fish and seafood. You can buy anchovies in the form of paste, whole and salted, or packed in oil. The paste and oil-packed varieties will likely be what’s regularly in stock at your grocery store, whereas more specialty versions can be sourced at specialty food shops or, of course, online. 

What do anchovies taste like?

Anchovies are salty, oily, and fatty. And thanks to the presence of glutamic and inosinic acid, they register on the palate as intensely savory. If you enjoy Caesar salad or Worcestershire sauce, you like anchovies—they’re a major ingredient in both. They can have a fishy quality, which is worth noting for people who are more sensitive to those flavors.

Are anchovies and sardines similar?

Not really, although we can see how you might assume so. They’re both small, oily fish that are regularly cured and preserved. However, the differences stop there. Sardines are larger, with lighter-colored flesh. Sardines are also milder in flavor, with less of a punchy, salty-savory note. They’re both excellent on toast, but aren’t interchangeable in recipes.

How are jarred and tinned anchovies made?

Although there are a variety of anchovy-adjacent products on the market, we’re talking specifically about jarred and tinned, fully prepared anchovies. After being harvested, the anchovies are gutted (bones and fiddly bits removed), filleted (sliced into neat portions), cured in salt, and packed in olive oil. They’re then preserved using a canning process that keeps them shelf-stable.

Do you have to refrigerate anchovies?

Jarred and tinned anchovies can be kept at room temperature—ideally, a cool, dry place like your pantry—until they are opened. If you don’t use an entire tin or jar of cured anchovies upon opening them, transfer the rest to a food-safe storage container and keep it in the refrigerator. They can stay in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.

What can you cook with anchovies?

Beyond eating them straight out of the jar on toast, there’s a lot you can do with anchovies. Of course, they’re tasty on pizza (try it; you’ll like it). They’re also a crucial ingredient in some pasta sauces, like Puttanesca—they’ll dissolve into the aromatics in a hot skillet. You can whisk them into salad dressings, like a classic Caesar; and sauces for a salty hit; or even use them in a marinade for meat. 

Why are anchovies so salty?

Anchovies are preserved with salt! They're also a saltwater fish, which gives them a briny flavor, even when fresh.

Why We're the Experts

• Niki Achitoff-Gray is a food writer and the former editor-in-chief of Serious Eats.
• She holds a certificate in culinary arts from the Institute of Culinary Education.
• She wrote numerous pieces for Serious Eats, including Everything You Can Do With a Tin of Anchovies (attesting to her love of anchovies), a recipe for homemade fresh pasta, the best cookbooks for making fresh pasta, and many, many more.
• For this taste test, we conducted a blind, randomized tasting of 33 anchovies. Tasters filled out sheets that ranked the samples for certain criteria, and all the data was tabulated with no editorial input.