The Old-School Diner Sandwich That's Due For A Comeback: It Totally Fits Today's Trends

Among the diner foods you don't see on menus anymore, one sandwich deserves a second look. Packed with protein and essential nutrients, canned sardines can switch up basic recipes, including go-to lunch ideas. While sardine sandwiches once had a place on menus and dinner tables, particularly since the ingredient was an affordable option, the tinned fish has been replaced by other choices like tuna and meat — but that doesn't mean you should give up trying them out.

Sardines can add a savory, umami-forward depth to standard recipes, like bringing zing to plates of sourdough avocado toast that are topped with poached eggs. A major benefit of making sardine sandwiches is that they can be flavorful and easy to put together with basic and limited ingredients. Cooking isn't necessary to quickly make a tasty sandwich, and when served with favorite lunch sides — salads, soups, or chips — a dependable meal is ready to serve and eat. Toasted, buttered bread that is topped with mayo, chopped scallions, and sardines, then crowned with a squeeze of citrus, chopped greens like parsley or cilantro, and finished with salt and pepper, is all that you need to banish hunger.

With a range of options of sardines at the market — the tinned fish can be found packed with oils and seasonings, deboned, or flavored — you can find the fish that works for your taste and cooking preferences. Upgrade tuna melts with sardines, either by adding sardines to the sandwich or swapping out ingredients to layer with melted cheese, mayo, and tapenade. Toast topped with cottage cheese and sardines can add a protein-packed start to the breakfast table, or for fresh lunches, a tartine made with sardines and freshly plucked garden herbs can offer bright flavor to power through the day.

Should you want to get the oven warm, baking sardines in a white wine tomato sauce to spoon on top of buttery and toasted garlic bread is another easy option for a quick and hearty meal. With so many different ways to incorporate sardines into recipes, this dependable ingredient is a solid option to add to grocery lists and keep stocked in the kitchen pantry — even if only for a quick sandwich.