Sardines are canned fish that people love or hate. When mom would cook this for breakfast, it woke everyone in the house! It has such a strong smell from such a small tin, haha! But when sautéed with onions, garlic, and other aromatics, it is delicious. It also has a ton of health benefits you can read about here. This is a simple and popular breakfast in West Indian cuisine and is commonly served with fried bakes, oil roti, sada roti, sliced bread, and rice- for dinner. My dad would sometimes add a can of sardines to his cook-up rice; it gives the rice a nice flavor. Adding potatoes to the sardines helps it "stretch." You can even sauté it with a can of chickpeas for added protein.
My favorite brand of sardines is King Oscar's. I like the variety of flavors from this brand. The one I've used today is Mediterranean-style with olives and peppers. I like how thin the fish is; the skin isn't thick and rubbery like some other brands.
My parents love Marshall's brand, but I can only find that at the West Indian stores. You can use any brand of sardines you like; make sure the size/weight is similar to the one I've used for this recipe. It doesn't have to be exact.
You don't need much to bring this dish together—just a few aromatics and dry seasonings, and you'll have a healthy and satisfying meal!
Sautéed sardines and potatoes
Sardines sautéed West Indian style. Delicious and healthy served with rice, bakes, or your favorite roti. Add some potatoes to make it stretch!
Ingredients
- 2 3.75oz tins sardines
- 1 small onion
- 3-4 garlic cloves
- 1-2 hot peppers (optional)
- 1 small tomato, diced or (1 teaspoon tomato paste + 2 tablespoon water)
- 1 medium potato, quartered and thinly sliced
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 2 stems scallions
- 2-3 sprigs fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried
- 4 tablespoon water
- 2 teaspoon oil for cooking
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat skillet on medium, add oil. Sauté onion, garlic, pepper, and tomato.
- Remove sardines from tin, do not add oil in tin. Use a fork to lift sardines out. Add to skillet. Mash with spoon and fry with everything in skillet for 6-8 minutes.
- Add dry seasonings, thyme, and potatoes. Add 4 tablespoon water and cover with lid to steam potatoes. Set heat to medium-low. Allow potatoes to cook 5-6 minutes or until tender.
- Add scallions and mix to combine.
- Adjust seasoning to your taste.
Lisa S says
Looks delicious- love the bright colours - I’m a rice lover so this dish looks perfect.
Alica says
Thanks Lisa! Yes I love it with rice too, especially with dhal ?.
Tiffany Stansberry says
Potatoes came out hard, so cook potatoes separate fry those in a separate pan and use salt because the salt is missing
Alica says
Hi Tiffany, oh no, so sorry your potatoes came out hard. As mentioned in the recipe, slicing the potatoes very thin allows it to cook faster. You can certainly cook the potatoes separately then add to the sardines. I use this method in my bora recipe. However, in this recipe I wouldn't add salt to the potatoes when cooking separately because the sardines have enough salt.