Nuri Spiced Sardines in Tomato Sauce 3/5

$7.00

While a lot of sardines in tomato sauce are using basic tomato puree to mask an inferior product, Nuri takes a different approach. They take the sauce seriously, and have developed a family recipe that is downright delicious. They put so much effort into their sardines, it would be foolish not to care as much about the sauce. The “spiced” in this version is Piri-piri pepper. If you want it tasty but not zesty, try the Nuri Sardines in Tomato Sauce.

125g (4.4 oz) tin

In stock

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Description

Ingredients: Sardines (Sardina pilchardus), Tomato Sauce (homemade secret recipe including tomato pulp, olive oil, cloves, black pepper, and bay), cucumber, chili, carrot, salt.

The terms “spiced” and “spicy” are used pretty much interchangeably in the tinned fish world, to mean two different things: with a hot pepper (or hot pepper flavor), and with cloves/bay/carrot/hot pepper. There are many examples of both terms being used to mean both things.

We are so frustrated by how widespread this confusing inconsistent usage is that we’ve gone through our entire product line to correct the incorrect ones such that our description of “spiced” or “spicy” will always indicate which it really is, regardless of the packaging. “Spicy” = with hot pepper flavor. “Spiced” = with the cloves/bay/carrot/hot pepper flavors.

Reviews

  1. Jeff (verified owner)

    I have to admit that prior to trying a tin of these I thought that the idea of sardines in tomato sauce seemed a bit wrong.

    I bought a few tins of these because I absolutely love Nuri spiced sardines (and you probably do too, else you haven’t tried them yet) so I felt a duty to try them.

    I heard these benefit from being heated up a bit so I warmed the tin up in a bit of water before cracking them open while getting a slice of sourdough bread toasted. The spiced tomato sauce that these are in is fairly thin – for some reason I thought it would be thicker and with more texture – not that thin is wrong. I plucked out a sardine and dropped it onto a piece of toast and found my way to my first blissful bite.

    These have a flavor that I wouldn’t have conceived of, and even if I had, I’m not sure I would have understood it to be the right combination of flavors, but… tomato, spice, sardines…. it’s perfect. Nuri spiced sardines are the spiced sardines by which all others are judged for me. The same is now true for spiced sardines in tomato sauce.

    I eat sardines and other tinned fish on a fairly regular basis. I don’t always want a tomato-based tinned fish meal, but when I do, these hit the mark every time, perfectly.

  2. Hream McDan (verified owner)

    5 out of 5. I *totally* get the Nuri cult following now, I really really get it. I’ve been searching for a great ‘sardines in tomato sauce’ tin for years and years, and barely found one that was even decent. These Nuri? Absolutely bonkers. The tomato sauce is clearly NOT an afterthought here, it’s NOT ketchup and NOT tomato paste … it’s actually delicious tomato sauce that perfectly compliments the sardines. You’ll want to lick the tin clean. And the spice on these?!? Wonderful. Maybe you’d call it a medium heat, as it’s enough to notice but not overwhelming in any way.

    Had this over some kelp noodles for an absolutely perfect and super healthy lunch. I can’t wait to have it again and again and again, wish I’d tried these so long ago. A new staple in my pantry.

  3. Greg L (verified owner)

    I’m torn on this review. We need some background. A friend sent me a tin of these, then I purchased my own tin. Both were wildly different, in terms of taste and quality.

    The first tin was perfection. I have a very high tolerance for spicy food, I just love it. Often things that are marketed as “spicy” I will not be able to taste any spiciness at all. To the point where my wife has to taste-test spiciness for our kids because I’ll miss when something is quite spicy for them. The tin had a pleasant level of spice and the tomato sauce was delicious. The fish were whole with bright, shiny skin and incredibly moist. They held up well when extracted from the tin with chopsticks. 4-5 little peppers in the sauce. A sure 5/5 stars.

    The second tin, however, was a far cry from the first. Upon opening the tin, there wasn’t a single whole sardine to be found. I was met with broken chunks of fish in the sauce. No spiciness detected at all. I even double-checked the wrapping to make sure I was eating the right thing. The tomato sauce was good, but there was only 1 pepper in the entire tin. The sardines tasted decent, but this was more like a 3/5 dragged down to 2/5 due to the messiness inside the tin.

    I’m hoping the second tin was a fluke. I want to believe these are as good my first try. My rating is based mostly on the first tin, with one star deducted in hope that I just ran into some bad quality control on the second tin.

  4. Gabriel Siciliano (verified owner)

    A wonderful, new-to-me preparation of sardines in tomato sauce. the sauce tastes closer to a homemade passata than I’ve had from other sardines in tomato, and the subtle spice adds a welcome kick. The carrots and cucumber contribute a nice textural element. The fish themselves were cooked to perfection, and flaked apart with just a bit of pressure. firm and meaty, their flavor was excellent. I plan on making this tin one of my mainstays for lunch!

  5. rmm59 (verified owner)

    I have been a fan of sardines for a while and have tried many different brands, but Nuri’s Spiced Sardines in Tomato Sauce is one of the best I’ve had. The tomato sauce is incredibly flavor, and really brings out the natural flavors from the sardines. The sardines are also incredibly fresh and have a great texture. They are easy to add to pasta, sandwiches, or even just eat them straight out of the can. Highly recommend these, and I personally enjoyed these more than the olive oil variant.

    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

  6. Fisheye (verified owner)

    Four plump sardines came bathed in a wonderful tomato sauce with a pepper, a carrot, and a cucumber slice. I ate a small piece and confirmed that the texture was good – not too firm, not too mushy. All four went into a sandwich of toasted multi-grain bread, lots on red onions, lettuce, and tomato. I dumped the entire tin of sauce in it for good measure, and it was worth the mess. My bread fell apart and I was picking up the fish and other stuff with my fingers.

    I see many more tomato sardine sandwiches in my future.

  7. Kate Burgess (verified owner)

    OMG, these were good. I cut a baguette the long way and toasted it. Once pleasantly crunchy, I rubbed some garlic on the cut side of the bread, added a bit of kewpie mayo, flaked the fish over it with the tomato sauce, then topped it all with lemon zest and chopped parsley. I devoured it and was instantly sad that I had only purchased one tin.

  8. emosberger (verified owner)

    Now that I’ve had nearly all of the different tins that Nuri has to offer, the spiced tomato sauce version is my absolute favorite! These are the gold standard of tomato sardines in my humble opinion. The sauce isn’t an afterthought – Nuri really seems to care about their sauce recipe, and the spice profile kicks it up a notch.
    I usually enjoy it room temperature straight out of the tin over my usual sprouted grain toast but taking the time to warm up the contents takes it to the next level. Toss the tin with some hot linguine and you have an awesome lunch.
    If I had to choose only one tin that would be my “desert island” choice, this may be it. Definitely in the top 5 of all time for sure.

  9. randymatteson427 (verified owner)

    Overall rating 5/5!! I grew up on watered down cheap tomato sauce and never liked it. I never sought out tomato based foods as I grew up. After many years of that trauma passing and seeing the Nuri factory video, I decided that I wanted to try the Nuri line-up. I am so glad that I went the Nuri Spiced Tomato route! My expectations were blown away!! I am so glad that I opted for the spiced version – the extra seasoning opened my taste buds and never took me to that old memory. The flavor combined with the fish and its texture was so satisfying. I have a new craving now! After seeing the factory staff package their tins, knew I wanted the Nuri artwork for a little whimsical project. Now I have a Nuri spiced Tomato label book mark 😀 The waxed paper will hold up for a very long time. I feel like I got the whole experience! again 5/5 as my first time with a tomato base sardine.

  10. jacob.harris.122 (verified owner)

    Pleasant heat, like the level of a “medium” grocery store salsa, and the heat is mostly in the sauce, not the fish. There’s a few fun veg bites with cuke and pepper, all soft. Sauce is rich and tasty. So far I’ve gone mostly for sprats and these are the first real sardines I’ve had in a long time. Compared to the (Brunswick) sprats I’m used to, these are much more firm and have more of a fish flavor than just smoke, oil, and salt. I would get these again easily.

  11. aniriuil (verified owner)

    This tin was my first time trying sardines in tomato sauce, and before cracking it open, I was honestly a little nervous about the flavor pairing. But this sauce was absolutely lovely and had a rich umami flavor – very different (and much better) than the marinara sauce I was expecting! After trying the regular Nuri spiced sardines (without tomato), I was not expecting these to be particularly spicy, and I was very pleasantly surprised by the spice levels in this tin.

  12. Chris Therrien (verified owner)

    To preface this review I want to say upfront that I’m a big fan of Nuri Spiced Sardines in Olive Oil. I’m also a fan of the same tin under the Pinhais (Nuri parent company) label, which seems to be a slight step above the Nuri in quality. Both tins have clove, bay leaf, slice of cucumber, carrot and red chili. So, given my prior experience, I was excited to try this version with the addition of tomato sauce.

    The tin was hard to open. I could only get the lid half way off. Inside there were 3 or 4 large pilchards, it was impossible to tell as there was no way to remove the fish without having them break apart. There was a bit of orange mush which I can only assume had been a slice of carrot. The only intact element was the red chili as everything else was either dissolved or crumbled to bits. My assumption is that the acid from the tomato had dissolved the fish and veggies. There was no bay leaf inside the tin and no discernible clove flavor. There was also no separate sauce as it seems to have amalgamated with the fish.

    I slightly heated the contents of the tin and served it over a bed of couscous. The only saving grace is that the flavor was delicious.

    After reading all of the other reviews I can only assume I must have gotten a bum tin.
    4.25 fish out of 5 ????????????????¼

  13. ravg (verified owner)

    Probably my gateway tin to the world of canned fish. 3 large sardines in a pretty oily tomato sauce. The spice is relatively mild but definitely more noticeable than other “spicy” sardines. Other sardines in tomato sauce have been hit or miss but this probably is the best representation of that type of packing. This has become my go-to can when I am looking for something reliable. Never had any cans with broken fish, scales, or other low-quality findings.

  14. Ro (verified owner)

    These are the BEST sardines I’ve had. No wonder these are so popular. The tomato sauce is so flavorful & fresh. It’s savory and light and complements the sardines very well — which btw were really soft. I did get some scales though. Also, the pickle and carrot slices were dripping in sauce and a delight to eat. After trying not to eat the entire thing right out of the tin, I had this over really hot, fresh rice that I cooked with cloves, pepper, a bay leaf, & olive oil to accentuate the flavors. Delicious.

  15. Stacy Rosenfeld (verified owner)

    There is a 110% chance I’ll buy these again. They are the first tin of sardines I’ve ever tried and the flavor of the fish itself was not as strongly fishy as I’d expected. The spiced tomato sauce was super flavorful and paired well with the pickled items I ate it with. I toasted some sourdough bread, piled on some cottage cheese with lemon juice and then flaked half the tin of fish over it. I topped it with pickled onions and radish, fresh cucumbers, salt, pepper and salsa Espinaler. I like that the cottage cheese helps temper a bit of the fishiness of the sardines while adding in some nice creaminess. I’ll probably enjoy the rest of the tin tomorrow with some crackers and cream cheese! Yum!

  16. Florence Silver (verified owner)

    A light aroma the moment i opened the tin, a strong tomato scent with just the lightest bit of fishiness in the background of it. Upon inspection, i found 3 visible and whole Pilchards before me. Bathed in a thin, but strongly colored red sauce with smaller shimmers of fat visible. Upon tasting said sauce, i was greeted by a light taste of tomato and spices, that tickled my tongue gently. And upon biting into one of the firm pilchards, i was greeted by a firm texture (with just a couple of scales that could be noted, but nothing too bad). Heating it up brought forward those spiced flavors specifically, and when paired with a slice of rightly toasted and Irish buttered rye bread i was blown away by it. Meaty, easy to eat, but strong flavored. And complimented by the pungency of the bread. Still probably one of my favorite cans, and definitely my favorite way to have pilchards specifically. They hit the nail on the head with the light spice, sweetness of tomato, fragrant clove, and punchiness of the cucumber. Would always recommend it to those afraid of tinned fish.

  17. Doug Westney (verified owner)

    I did a comparison tasting with Nuri and Polladtrini . Both were spiced in tomato sauce. I enjoyed both brands but the Nuri fish seemed a better quality. The sauces were excellent, but I liked the Pollastrini more. Was really good on some angel hair. Both tins are worth purchasing.

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