The Cheap Chicken Of The Sea Seafood Product You Should Avoid Completely

Research has shown that canned fish like sardines have plenty of health benefits, and they can also be quite versatile and tasty. Chicken of the Sea offers a variety of sardines packed in olive oil, Louisiana hot sauce, mustard sauce, lemon, and tons of other flavors. It sounds like a delicious variety to choose from no matter what you're craving, but reviewers don't always agree. As much as customers may love the company's famous tuna, Chicken of the Sea sardines get a lot of hate online.

One Reddit user strongly advised others to save the $1 they spent on these sardines and simply buy a Twix bar instead. "Upon opening, a very strong and unpleasant smell hits you in the face," they recalled. "I ate one sardine out of the tin and threw the rest away. They fell right apart and didn't taste good." One of the replies chimed in with a harsh agreement: "Dude, those are dog food." Speaking of which, in another thread, a Redditor complained, "Packed in water, they are in my opinion far and away (and I mean, by FAR) the grossest sardine; mushy and disgusting flavor." 

The reply from another user was simply, "Totally agree, and I'm no connoisseur. COTS (Chicken of the Sea) in water is like cat food." Sardines are packed with nutrients, so a lot of people are willing to give Chicken of the Sea a try regardless. However, across multiple threads, the consensus is that the texture and flavor just don't stand up to other brands.

Not all of the reviews for Chicken of the Sea sardines are so bleak, but even some of the positive ones read almost as backhanded. For instance, one Reddit post is entitled "Not THAT bad. But still bad." The review opens by saying "Texturally it wasn't bad: it held together OK and wasn't mushy nor dry," which seems like it's heading in a good direction. By the end, they noted, "Just a very bland flavor, so I ended up putting chimichurri on the whole thing." Another Reddit post about the Louisiana hot sauce sardines was also lacking in praise. The Redditor acknowledged that they worked fine on a slice of buttered toast, which isn't negative, but it's not exactly positive, either.

Maybe the best way to understand how customers perceive Chicken of the Sea sardines comes from a Reddit review of sardines packed in water. "These are probably the worst sardines I've had this year," it begins. "On the other hand, they really weren't that bad and I still found them enjoyable." Call them Schrödinger's sardines, simultaneously good and bad. There's a reason we included them on a list of cheap canned seafood to avoid. If you find them falling flat, we would recommend giving Chicken of the Sea sardines a zesty upgrade with a splash of acid, like pickles or lemon juice. There are also a host of mistakes people make with canned sardines that you should avoid.