Inspired by “bring a tin” fish themed dinner parties on TikTok and a rise in stylishly packaged seafood from artisan producers, nutrient-dense preserved seafood is enjoying a revival. These sustainable seafood treats make great gifts for the MasterChef in your life. Why not build an ocean-themed gift box for them? To get you started, we’ve handpicked some of the tastiest products available in the UK, all certified to the MSC standard, so that they are good for your favourite (sea)foodie and the ocean too.
Tesco Cornish Sardines
This award-winning product took home the title of MSC UK Product of the Year 2024 via a hotly contested public vote. This product captures everything that a British, sustainable seafood product should be. Not only is it local, affordable, certified and delicious, but these fish are caught by a small scale, centuries old fishing community, that have dedicated themselves to safeguarding a healthy fish stock and protecting the wider marine environment.
Rockfish Cantabrian tuna in olive oil
Chef, restaurateur and all-round seafood supremo Mitch Tonks launched his own brand of top-notch tinned seafood in 2021. Line caught in an MSC certified fishery in Northern Spain and filleted by hand, these flakes of bonito tuna are moist and tender and deliver a “gorgeous briny, saline taste”. Keeping it in the family, the artwork is designed by none other than his wife, Penny. Add the bonito to a salad Nicoise with runny yolks and new potatoes, or to a bowl of spaghetti (oil and all) with a generous helping of caramelised onions, a spoonful of olive tapenade, lemon, garlic and chilli flakes.
Delicius Cantabrian anchovies
Beloved by chefs, the humble anchovy is massively underrated by many home cooks. These fleshy beauties are wild caught by an MSC certified fishery in the Cantabrian Sea and can add a flash of umami to most dishes from pasta to stir fries. Blitz into a dressing instead of salt, pair with fresh tomatoes, basil and a rub of garlic on bruschetta, or warm a few in a pan with cooked greens to season vegetables with an intense, savoury flavour.
Onuga faux caviar
These tiny jet-black spheres are made from wild smoked herring. They can add a chef-like flourish to a celebration dish or simply take the likes of scrambled eggs to another level. An alternative to fish roe and caviar that’s kind on the ocean, they have a lightly smoky flavour with a hint of lemon. Go ahead and release your inner MasterChef – try them sprinkled onto courgette and potato fritters topped with crème fraiche, or as a garnish in creamy salads and pasta dishes.
Albacore Tuna in Extra Virgin Olive Oil
The Waitrose Albacore Tuna Fillets are firm and meaty with a subtle, delicate flavour. They're hand-prepared and packed in extra virgin olive oil. The tuna is sustainably fished in the North East Atlantic Ocean. It's delicious in a Niçoise salad, with crunchy lettuce, cooked green beans, boiled eggs, black olives and tomatoes - perfect for kicking off a healthy start to the new year.
Sainsbury’s Ventresca tuna fillets
These oil-rich, belly fillets of light-fleshed albacore tuna are caught with pole and line in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Unlike some premium tinned and jarred tunas, this ventresca is marinated in plenty of extra virgin olive oil keeping it tender and succulent. It seems a shame to run the risk of drying out these soft fillets in, say, a tuna melt or fishcakes. Instead, try crafting your own tuna sushi with rice, avocado and sheets of nori, or add it to a salad of quinoa, crispy chickpeas and radicchio with a citrus and herb dressing.
Mussels in tomato and red pepper sauce
A super seafood, mussels are packed full of protein, zinc, Vitamin B12, Omega-3 fatty acids, iron and folic acid. They are great for your brain – boosting cognitive function; your heart – lowering blood pressure; your immune system – helping you fight infections; your joints – reducing inflammation and your red blood cells – preventing anaemia. This jar is a great cupboard essential and can be quickly heated and stired through any pasta.
More sustainable seafood
Where to buy MSC certified products
With over 1500 MSC certified products in the UK and Ireland, find out where you can buy MSC certified sustainable seafood and the brands to look out for.
Five reasons to love tuna
Packed with nutrients and rich in omega-3 fatty acids, tuna is an excellent source of high-quality protein.
What does the blue MSC ecolabel mean?
The blue MSC ecolabel is only applied to wild fish or seafood from fisheries certified to the MSC Fisheries Standard, a scientific measure of sustainable fishing.