Canned Sardines Go From Quick Snack To Classy Appetizer When Served Like This

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If you're serving appetizers to a seafood-loving crowd at home, we've already covered how to build the ultimate tinned fish snack board. But if the tastes amongst your guests are more mixed, you're better off having a classic cheese and meat charcuterie board, with tinned sardines added into the mix. That's right — instead of eating them as your humble midday snack, transform your favorite tinned sardines into a classy appetizer as part of a charcuterie board. This move immediately adds diversity to your board, and let's be honest: Tinned sardines are trending in everything from skincare to fashion.

Many tinned sardines come in attractive vessels — like the offerings from trendy tinned seafood brand Fishwife. Keep the fish right in the ornamental tin, open it, and arrange it on the charcuterie board amongst the meats and cheeses, along with a tiny fork. Since the best way to balance the oily, fatty sardines is with acid, you should have wedges of lemon nearby on the board. Sardines that are packed with preserved lemon, or in mustard or tomato sauce, also make a wonderful addition to a charcuterie board.

If we're talking sardines packed in straight-up olive oil, there is a range of accoutrements in addition to lemon that take them to the next level. Freshly chopped herbs should absolutely be on offer — dill, parsley, chives, or basil all work well (as well as green onion). Briny capers are heaven with these oily little fish, as well as pickled onion, cornichons, and olives.

When it comes to spreads or sauces, you can double down on those that also pair well with the cured and smoked meats on the board. Zingy mustard, unsalted butter, tzatziki, hot sauce, crème fraîche, olive tapenade, and tangy spreadable goat cheese would cover all the bases. It's also nice to have an acid-forward vinaigrette for drizzling ... the options are almost endless.

You need tasty vessels to carry all your meat, cheese, and sardines. It's important to have a variety when feeding a crowd. Of course, sliced, crusty baguette is always a must, along with crostini. Scandinavian crisp-bread style crackers (like these rye Finn Crisp), seed crackers, and gluten-free rice crackers each work wonderfully. For a low-carb option, go with lettuce cups, endive leaves, or cucumber rounds. You now have a charcuterie board that's on-trend and truly has something for everyone.