The Canned Fish At Trader Joe's You Should Absolutely Add To Your Shopping Cart

No skin or bones to fuss with. Firm flakes break tidily with a fork, with an underlying, gentle smokiness. If you only add one canned fish to your Trader Joe's cart, make it the Farm Raised Hardwood Smoked Trout Fillets. The trout is packed in canola oil, so after cracking open the can, drain, then splash the fish with good olive oil and a squeeze of lemon. Try folding the fish into an omelet with cream cheese and chives, or blitz it with yogurt, horseradish, and lemon for a five-minute smoked trout dip. 

The mild, shelf-stable protein complements a variety of flavor profiles, which is why we ranked it first among nine Trader Joe's canned fish. Because the tin is petite, portioning is straightforward and waste stays low; buy two if you're feeding more than one or want leftovers for a trout-and-potato hash.

There's also a sustainability angle. Trout is generally a lower-impact choice compared with larger, long-range species. Farmed trout are raised in freshwater systems with efficient feed conversion, and the species' smaller size means lower mercury than big pelagic fish. For those trying to eat more fish without defaulting to tuna, smoked trout gives you clean flavor and versatility with fewer tradeoffs. The ingredient list is short — trout, oil, salt, smoke — which is exactly what you want in a pantry tin. Plus, a drained tin is roughly a single serving with about 20 grams of protein, so with just a handful of baby arugula and a squeeze of lemon, lunch is solved. 

Trout is a river fish and tastes like it, clean and slightly sweet. It is less oily than mackerel and less briny than sardines, making it adaptable and easy to build around. It helps to think in components rather than recipes: Acid to wake it up, cream to soften the smoke, crunch for contrast, herbs for lift, and salinity to draw out the savory complexity. That matrix gives you plates that feel intentional in minutes. It's easily smushed up with some lemony garlic aioli, and served over a salad of little gem and shaved fennel. On a tinned fish board, use rye crisps or sturdy water crackers so the flakes hold; add crème fraîche and a spoon of trout roe or capers for a neat pop of salt. If you pour a glass, reach for something bright and dry, like Muscadet, Sauvignon Blanc, or a very dry Riesling, so the wine doesn't fight the salty-smoky profile.

Hardwood smoking does two big things to the tinned trout: It firms and it perfumes. After a light brine, the surface dries into a tacky pellicle that grabs smoke. Low, steady heat from alder, apple, or oak lays down aromatic compounds that smell of toasted spice and campfire drifting into clean mountain air, not ash. That smoke boosts savory depth, softens any low-tide or rivery edge, and gives the flesh a pale blush. The process pulls a little moisture, which tightens the protein of the flakes, so they hold on toast and in salads instead of disintegrating. Trader Joe's Farm Raised Hardwood Smoked Trout Fillets feel substantial without heaviness, and turn simple plates into dinner.