Great Value Sardines in Oil, 3.75 oz

Sardine snobs like to look down at these sardines but these are good, especially for the price. Great Value sardines are far superior to Beach Cliff. Do not buy Beach Cliff sardines. They are terrible. If you have a bit more in your budget i'd recommend buying King Oscar. You can see the difference, but again, the Great Value brand is not a bad choice.

I'll be upfront—I bought these Great Value sardines in oil because I was trying to add more tinned fish to my diet without spending a fortune. At this price, I figured if they were terrible, I'd only be out a couple of bucks. Worst case, the cat would eat well. The can is the standard 3.75 oz size. When I popped the lid, I was honestly surprised. The fish are packed in there pretty tightly, but they came out whole without falling apart. You get three or four decent-sized sardines per can, maybe a few smaller ones mixed in. The oil is soybean oil, not olive, which matters to some people. It's clear and smells clean—not overly fishy or stale. Texture-wise, they're tender but still have a little backbone (literally and figuratively). Some of the larger ones had slightly noticeable spine pieces, but nothing crunchy or unpleasant. The flavor is mild, definitely less “fishy” than some pricier brands I've tried. A squeeze of lemon and some cracked pepper made them genuinely good on crackers. My complaint is the oil amount. It's a little heavy-handed, and I ended up draining most of it off. Also, the can opener tab broke on me once out of the three cans I've opened so far—had to use a manual opener, which was annoying. I'm hoping the rest of the flat stays fresh and doesn't develop that off metallic taste some canned fish gets over time. For now, these are staying in my pantry.