This quick and easy grilled sardine recipe requires only a few good ingredients, and comes together in a few minutes. Simple and delicious for all my seafood lovers!
TIPS AND THINGS TO NOTE:
Prepping the sardines:
When you purchase the sardines ask the fish monger to gut and clean your fish. You can ask for the head on or off depending on your preference. If you don’t have the option of having your fish cleaned at the store you may need to use a knife to scale your fish by pulling your knife against the scales (starting at the tail end and ending at the head). Next you will need to run your knife along the belly of the fish and remove all the fish guts and rinse with water. To the scaled and gutted fish add 1 tbsp salt, 1/2 a teaspoon of turmeric and half a lemon (juice and peel) to a bowl along with the sardines and combine (you may want to use gloves to prevent the turmeric from staining your hands). Once combined begin rinsing the fish with cold water until all the turmeric and salt is washed off the fish. Pat the fish dry on a paper towel, and core vertical lines along the sides of the fish.
Other cooking methods:
If you don’t have a BBQ don’t worry. You can pan fry these in a little olive oil or air fry them- you may need to increase the cooking time in the air fryer to about 10 minutes ( at 400 degrees).
If you don’t have a grilling cage:
If you don’t have a grilling cage you can place the sardines directly on the grill but omit the fresh herbs because they will will fall through the grill – you could however try tucking some herbs into the belly of the fish.
Grilled Sardines
Ingredients
finish with:
Instructions
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Wash and score the sardines (see notes).
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Season the sardines with olive oil, Montreal steak spice and dry herbs.
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Place them on a wire or metal grilling cage and place some fresh herbs on top (placing the herbs on top is optional). See notes if you don’t have a grilling cage.
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Grill over high heat for 3-4 minutes per side drizzling olive oil in between flips. I flipped mine about 4 times, and cooked them for a total of about 7 minutes- if you are not using a grilling cage only flip them once to prevent them from breaking). You will have to cook them longer depending on their size.
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Plate and finish with a light drizzle of olive oil, a fresh squeeze of lemon, and a sprinkle of fresh finely chopped or dry parsley. Enjoy!
Note
- Prepping the sardines: When you purchase the sardines ask the fish monger to gut and clean your fish. You can ask for the head on or off depending on your preference. If you don’t have the option of having your fish cleaned at the store you may need to use a knife to scale your fish by pulling your knife against the scales (starting at the tail end and ending at the head). Next you will need to run your knife along the belly of the fish and remove all the fish guts and rinse with water. To the scaled and gutted fish add 1 tbsp salt, 1/2 a teaspoon of turmeric and half a lemon (juice and peel) to a bowl along with the sardines and combine (you may want to use gloves to prevent the turmeric from staining your hands). Once combined begin rinsing the fish with cold water until all the turmeric and salt is washed off the fish. Pat the fish dry on a paper towel, and core vertical lines along the sides of the fish.
- Other cooking methods: If you don’t have a BBQ don’t worry. You can pan fry these in a little olive oil or air fry them- you may need to increase the cooking time in the air fryer to about 10 minutes ( at 400 degrees).
- If you don’t have a grilling cage: If you don’t have a grilling cage you can place the sardines directly on the grill but omit the fresh herbs because they will will fall through the grill – you could however try tucking some herbs into the belly of the fish.