The Best Tinned Anchovies in the UK

Most people's experience of tinned anchovies is a flat, overly salty strip that exists to be tolerated on a pizza. That experience has almost nothing to do with what a properly cured anchovy actually tastes like. The difference comes down almost entirely to where the fish is from and how long it has been cured — get both right and you have one of the most rewarding tins in the entire category.

What to look for

Curing time is the single biggest factor. A good anchovy fillet has been salt-cured for months, sometimes over a year, before it ever reaches the tin. This slow process is what builds the complex, savoury depth that separates a serious anchovy from a cheap one. Anything cured quickly will taste flat and one-dimensional by comparison.

Origin matters almost as much. The Cantabrian Sea off northern Spain produces larger, oilier anchovies than most other waters, and the region has built its reputation on this fish specifically for generations.

The best overall: Yurrita

Yurrita's Cantabrian anchovies, hand-filleted in Getaria on the Bay of Biscay, are the benchmark for the category. Larger and more flavourful than anchovies from almost anywhere else, cured for a minimum of twelve months before tinning. If you only try one anchovy from this list, make it this one.

Best British: Plymouth anchovies

A genuine rarity — British-caught and tinned anchovies, a style almost nobody else in this category stocks. Distinct from the Cantabrian tradition, with a character that reflects British waters rather than the Bay of Biscay. Worth trying specifically because so few producers offer an alternative to the Iberian standard.

Best for heat: Briosa

Briosa's spicy olive oil anchovies bring genuine warmth alongside the cure — a good option for anyone who wants the anchovy's intensity paired with chilli rather than served plain. Works particularly well stirred through pasta or laid over bread with something to cut the richness.

Best for delicate flavour: Açor

Açor's anchovies, from the Azores, are cleaner and more restrained than the bolder Cantabrian style — a good entry point for anyone newer to anchovies who wants the flavour without the full intensity of a longer cure.

How to use them

Anchovies reward two very different approaches. Eaten directly — on good bread, with butter, or alongside olives and a glass of something cold — they are a dish in their own right. Cooked into a sauce, they dissolve almost entirely and leave behind only their savoury depth, which is what makes them so effective in a pasta sauce or a puttanesca. For both methods, see Anchovy Pasta: Three Ways.

The verdict

Start with Yurrita if you want the category's benchmark. Reach for Plymouth if you want something distinctly British. Briosa for heat, Açor for something gentler. All four are worth having in the cupboard at once — they serve genuinely different purposes rather than competing for the same role.

Browse the full anchovy collection to see what's currently in stock.