I run MrTinned (mrtinned.com), the market reporter which tracks prices, deals and stock for over 6,600 tins at 219 online shops every day. This month I pulled the cheapest single tins per 100g that you can order online. Every tin below was in stock, at this price, at a shop that ships to the US at the time of this post. Chunk light tuna is left out on purpose because it would win every time. Single tins only, no cases or multipacks, and one tin per brand.

A few things stood out:

• Sprats take 5 of the 20.
• GoStockUp has 3 of the 20, all sprats.
• Three Baltic tins tie at exactly $3.99 for 240g.

Each name below links to the tin's page on AllTinned (alltinned.com), the tinned fish reference site that shows who stocks it, whether today's price is fair, and a free Watch that tells you when the price moves.

Which of these have any of you actually eaten, any of them worth it?

What is your go-to cheap tin that is not on this list?

1. Chudo Morey Sprats with Tomato, 240g at GoStockUp: $2.27 ($0.95 per 100g)
2. Roza Sardines in Tomato Sauce, 155g at ThailandBazar: $1.55 ($1.00)
3. El Mexicano Sardines in Tomato Sauce, 425g at Marina Market: $4.49 ($1.06)
4. Bumble Bee Premium Wild Pink Salmon, 14.75oz at Target: $4.49 ($1.07)
5. Riga Gold Smoked Fried Baltic Sprats in Tomato, 240g at GoStockUp: $2.80 ($1.17)
6. Sealect Sardines in Spicy Dressing, 155g at ThailandBazar: $1.86 ($1.20)
7. Penguin Boiled Mackerel, 400g at MegaKfood: $4.99 ($1.25)
8. Grace Classic Mackerel, 155g at Target: $1.99 ($1.28)
9. Iberia Sardines in Tomato Sauce, 4.2oz at Target: $1.59 ($1.34)
10. Ras Asayr Tuna in Sunflower Oil, 185g at Parthenon Foods: $2.49 ($1.35)
11. Alshark Moroccan Sardines in Tomato Sauce, 125g at Parthenon Foods: $1.69 ($1.35)
12. StarKist Selects Solid Yellowfin Tuna in Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 4.5oz at Target: $1.79 ($1.40)
13. Roland Sardines in Tomato Sauce, 212g at Parthenon Foods: $2.99 ($1.41)
14. Krakus Herring Fillets in Gourmet Sauce, 200g at Euro Food Mart: $2.99 ($1.50)
15. Dongwon Boiled Mackerel, 400g at Hanyang Mart: $5.99 ($1.50)
16. Rugen Fisch Fried Herring in Spicy Marinade, 500g at World Market: $7.99 ($1.60)
17. Baltic Gold Fried Sprats in Tomato Sauce, 240g at Russian Food USA: $3.99 ($1.66)
18. Old Riga Fried Baltic Sprats in Tomato Sauce, 240g at Bakkal International Foods: $3.99 ($1.66)
19. Baltic Catch Natural Sardines, 240g at Russian Food USA: $3.99 ($1.66)
20. The Best of Riga Smoked Sprats in Oil, 240g at GoStockUp: $4.06 ($1.69)

I've only tried a few Fishwife tins, but I love lemon and gifted myself these. Unfortunately the lemon peel/rind gave the deens a little bit too bitter of a flavor. I wish I had bought a fresh lemon to go with it 😂 Ended up grabbing garlic cream cheese from my fridge to go with the plate.

Featuring assorted pickles and also my cat Frank coming in for a sniff

How should I eat this one? No crackers allowed

Just tried a tin of Nuri Extra Spicy Sardines in Olive Oil. The fish quality and olive oil are incredible as always, although the jump in heat is pretty minimal. If the standard Nuri Spiced (1 pepper) is a 3/10 on the heat scale, the Extra Spicy (3 peppers) is barely a 4.5/10. Overall, a great tin!

The tin is from the Fantastic World of Portuguese Sardines (they are good, but I don’t recommend buying them because they are like $20/tin—my mil likes to gift me these). The ingredients said sardinha pilchardus, but I’ve never seen sardines this big.

Pardon my poor photo skills. When I was super little my dad would hand feed me sardine snacks. Usually he’d make some kind of relish mayo etc. concoction to go with it or to stretch it. He’d serve it on pieces of saltine or Hawaiian rolls. It was affordable and the best he could do but to me it always felt like a tasty delicacy. I didn’t realize until recently it wasn’t salmon, tuna or some other fish but it was sardines so surreal. This can was 8 bucks, now it kinda is a delicacy. A gallon of gas is about 6.50. The other shelves of sardines were empty.

Three large pilchards. Firm, good bones. One had some roe. Ate them on saltines, a little tabasco at the end to mix it up but mostly plain. They were great! Very happy with the quality and taste.

Also Sriracha, forgot to add that.

As a general rule, I don’t love most mustard tins, but this cream sauce offering from French producer Les Mouettes d’Arvor is a pleasant exception. I like it best heated through in a bath of very hot water, which opens up the flavor of that sauce.

Pulling back the lid today revealed just a single large filet, which was a nice surprise. The skin is retained, which I prefer over fully filleted filets. I’d baked a loaf of bread with sweet potatoes—savory, not sweet, but still not quite a perfect fit with the mustard cream. Live and learn.

In India, quality tins are next to impossible to score. This one is available, and at a price comparable to what it costs in Europe — however I can’t really find any reviews for kaviari’s tinned fish (the reviews are largely for their caviar). Anyone think a few tins of these are worth acquiring at roughly 10 euros a pop?

I think today's the day. I've been a tinned fish tourist, lurking in these subreddits but I still haven't bitten the tiny fish bullet. 🐟

I loved mackerel and other whole fish hot and prepared in a restaurant Alexandrian, Chinese, Korean style, etc. so why am I freaked out over a little oily guy? (Probably from lurking and seeing the "what organ is this" posts)

I have these guys, sliced sesame bread and some gochujang. Is that a good combo? Am I missing something? I feel like chili crisp and a crusty bread might really schmeck, but I don't have those things on hand right now.

How did you hype yourself up before you lost your sardinity??

Is it just oil that never got wiped off from the canning process?

Overall review these were delicious. Super rich and fatty tasting with a delicate texture. I’d recommend as a one time treat as it was $20 a tin. Unless you just got money like that. I don’t lol

I really enjoy these pint-sized Mabuti tins, canned by Pinhais and at least traditionally intended for their marketplaces in Asia. Nuri quality in a snack-pack format. This amiable fellow does a fine job of highlighting what’s good about these sardines.

Gift from my mom from when we visited SF last summer. I've had a long day so I just ate it out of the tin with pita chips and a squirt of lemon juice. Except for that one big piece, very rich and tender! Even a bit steak-like in some bites. And thank god for no crunchy bits like I've had in the past with tinned squid (you'd think it'd be easy to de-bone an animal with only one bone). If it weren't for that tough piece it'd be perfect.

Update: finally got around to eating these. Over rice.

The pros: at least two fish had roe.

The cons: i expect an aroma, particularly from herring. But this was otherworldly. Very powerful.

Extremely mushy. No bite to the filets at all.

Not very thoroughly cleaned. Lots of random organ parts.

The smoke was also overpowering. I tasted it the next day.

Maybe these are the Baltic taste. Just not my taste. Still ate the whole bowl.

Oy.