If you're not a tinned fish lover, this WILL be the recipe that converts you. This tomato sardine toast recipe shines with the luscious sardines on top of crispy, buttery toast, smothered with a homemade tomato spread. You'll fall in love with tinned fish, and you can thank me later.
This recipe is the perfect appetizer for any dinner, any gathering, any time of year!
This dish is inspired by my love for canned tuna, but also comes from a desire to create something completely different for all of you! This recipe pairs well with pasta recipe like my creamy spinach pasta, or my easy roasted vegetable pasta recipe.
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This recipe was updated on May 13th 2025 to add in FAQ and reduce redundant information.
Key Ingredients
- Sardines
- Italian Bread
- Butter
- Cherry tomatoes - For this particular recipe, you'll want to find cherry tomatoes on the vine, or simply cherry tomatoes. Grape tomatoes are a little small, and you'll only really need one pack of the tomatoes.
- Olive oil
- Garlic cloves
- Fresh or dried basil
- Fresh or dried oregano
- Hot honey (or if spice isn't your thing, regular honey works well!)
- Red Pepper Flakes
Be sure to check out the recipe card at the end of this post for more information about quantities, measurements, and specific cooking instructions.
Step by Step Instructions
Start by adding the tomatoes to a large pan with olive oil, letting them sweat by covering the pan. After 10 minutes, uncover the pan and add in the garlic, basil, salt, pepper, and dried oregano. Let the tomatoes sauté and simmer for another 10 minutes. Add the ingredients to a food processor and blend until smooth.
Meanwhile, crisp up the slices of bread by melting butter in a cast iron or nonstick pan. Place the bread into the pan and crisp on each side until golden brown, 2-3 minutes. Spread 1 tablespoon of tomato on the toast, and place a full or half sardine on top. Smash the sardine to spread it around and top with red pepper flakes and a drizzle of honey.
Hint: smash the sardines into the toasts and spread the fish around the toast. It'll give the toast an even bite each time.
Recipe Swaps and Substitutions
There are a few things you can change in this recipe, but the one thing I would not swap out is the sardines themselves. This recipe is built aroiund sardines, so if this is not your thing, this may not be the recipe for you. Otherwise, here are some swaps and substitution recommendations:
- Toast - use gluten free bread instead of the italian baguette; you can slice the pieces larger than what I have shown.
- Honey - feel free to use regular honey if you don't prefer hot honey.
- Tomato Sauce - you can use pre-made or store-bought tomato sauce if you don't want to make the quick version of this.
Sardine Variations
Sardines actually make a great snack for any time of day! If you want to vary how to serve these sardines, here's a few ways you can eat them:
- With crackers and cheese
- On toast - as seen this recipe.
- In pastas - a friend of mine has an amazing recipe with adding sardines to pasta.
- In salads
- Straight out of the tin.
How can I store this recipe?
This recipe is best eaten the day it's prepared. If you want to wait to serve this for another day and prep ahead of time, keep the sardines in the tin until ready to serve. You can prep the tomato sauce ahead of time, as well as crisping up the toasts.
PRO TIP
Make sure to use a good, crusty bread for the toasts so that it crisps nicely!
Hungry for More?
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Tomato Sardine Toast
Equipment
- 1 large frying pan
- 1 tongs
- 1 food processor
Ingredients
- 1 pkg cherry tomatoes
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoon dried basil
- 2 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tin sardines
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 4 small toasts
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon hot honey optional
Instructions
- Add the tomatoes to a large pan with olive oil, let them sweat by covering the pan. After 10 minutes, uncover the pan and add in the garlic, basil, salt, pepper, and dried oregano.
- Let the tomatoes sauté and simmer for another 10 minutes. Add the ingredients to a food processor and blend until smooth.
- Meanwhile, crisp up the slices of bread by melting butter in a cast iron or nonstick pan. Place the bread into the pan and crisp on each side until golden brown, 2-3 minutes.
- Spread 1 tablespoon of tomato on the toast, and place a full or half sardine on top.
- Smash the sardine to spread it around and top with red pepper flakes and a drizzle of honey.
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