Add This Canned Protein To Potato Salad To Make It A Main Dish

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Potato salad can be oil-based or mayo-based, use any type of potatoes, and include all sorts of aromatics, herbs, or ingredients. But, it's usually served as a side dish to accompany a main like barbecue or burgers. You can, however, bring potato salad into main dish territory with the help of canned fish.

There are many different types of tinned fish options worth adding to your grocery list from tried-and-true tuna to salmon to sardines. They all pair well with potato salad, while providing a healthy protein source. Canned fish is also much cheaper than its fresher counterpart. It even has a longer shelf life, so you can stock your pantry with a variety of different tins to use in recipes whenever you please. Plus, the seafood is ready to use straight out of the can, saving you additional prep time. 

Each type of tinned fish will add a distinct flavor to potato salad. Some options are rich, others are mild, and some are even smoky. Certain varieties like anchovies are small and tender enough that they'll disintegrate into a dressing, whereas others like meaty filets of mackerel can be tossed in with the rest of the ingredients. Additionally, many types of tinned fish are packed in flavorful olive oil infused with herbs and aromatics, bringing more depth of flavor to your potato salad. You could even use the packing oil to make potato salad dressing even tastier.

If you're new to tinned fish, start with the most popular option in the U.S.: tuna. After all, tuna and potatoes are already a well-known duo in a colorful Niçoise salad alongside hard-boiled eggs and green beans. You can also add cans of drained Starkist Albacore Tuna in Water to a creamy dill potato salad recipe. Otherwise, the ingredients in a classic southern potato salad — think: mayonnaise, relish, and mustard — overlap with those in traditional tuna salad recipes, so including a tin can make for a good pairing.

For an equally mild and delicate flavor, canned trout would be a great addition to potato salad. In fact, we have a delicious recipe for a potato salad with celery and smoked trout that's tossed in a simple dressing of olive oil and lemon juice. Sardines are another mild, but slightly briny fish that will upgrade a recipe. In our ranking of 8 Matiz tinned fish products, we dubbed Matiz's Wild Small Sardines with Sweet Piquillo Peppers the best. Just work the sweet, zingy peppers and the infused olive oil into the vinaigrette used to dress our French potato salad.

For a more unique twist on potato salad, try adding in tins of Donna Maria Codfish with Olive Oil and Garlic. The packing oil can become the foundation for a pesto-based dressing that can be drizzled over fingerling potatoes, scallions, and capers.