What Do Anchovies Taste Like? Cured, Fresh & Boquerones Compared

What do anchovies taste like? Intensely salty and savory: a cured anchovy fillet is concentrated umami with a briny, fishy edge that dissolves into whatever you cook it in, while a fresh anchovy is mild, soft and sardine-like, and vinegar-cured boquerones are tangy, tender and barely fishy at all. Oil level is medium, fishiness runs from high (cured) to low (boquerones), and the closest comparisons are fish sauce or aged Parmesan for the cured fillet and a small sardine for the fresh fish.

Use cured anchovies as a seasoning, not a fish; to eat anchovies as a fish, order boquerones or grilled fresh ones. For no fishiness at all, see our mild fish guide.

Anchovies taste and texture at a glance

	Cured (salted, in oil)	Boquerones (vinegar)	Fresh
Flavor	Salty, deep umami, briny; NOAA: “pronounced, salty tang”	Tart, mild, lightly briny	Mild, sweet, like a small sardine
Texture	“Pinkish silky” fillets that melt when heated (ICEX)	White, firm, tender	Soft; flesh turns off-white when cooked (NOAA)
Oil / fat	9.7 g per 100 g drained (USDA)	Medium, plus the dressing oil	4.8 g per 100 g raw (USDA)
Fishiness	High on its own; melts away in cooking	Low	Low to medium
Closest comparison	Fish sauce, aged Parmesan	Pickled herring, lighter	Sardine, smelt
Nutrition per 100 g (USDA)	210 kcal, 28.9 g protein, 3,670 mg sodium, 2.05 g EPA+DHA, 232 mg calcium	Not listed separately	131 kcal, 20.4 g protein, 104 mg sodium, 1.45 g EPA+DHA
Mercury / advisory	FDA “Best Choice”	FDA “Best Choice”	FDA “Best Choice”

Are anchovies fishy?

Cured anchovies are, on their own. NOAA says plainly that “canned or salted anchovies have a pronounced, salty tang,” while the fresh fish is subtle, with soft flesh that goes from gray to off-white when cooked. The trick with cured fillets is that the fishiness is a surface quality: melt one into warm olive oil for a minute and what remains is salt and a deep, meaty savoriness.

Quality matters. ICEX describes the good ones as fillets “prepared by hand and cured over months, before being canned in Extra Virgin olive oil,” with a “pinkish silky texture and umami flavor.”

Why do anchovies taste salty, and so savory?

Because they are salt-cured for months. The salt pulls out water and preserves the fish: sodium in USDA’s record for anchovies canned in oil is 3,670 mg per 100 g, roughly 150 mg per 4-gram fillet. Meanwhile curing breaks the fish’s proteins down into free glutamate, the umami amino acid. The Umami Information Center notes that umami “increases as a result of processing such as ripening and fermentation,” and its food table puts cured anchovies at 630 mg of free glutamate per 100 g, versus 10–20 mg in sardine and 1–10 mg in tuna.

Rinse or soak the fillets in milk for ten minutes to tame the salt.

What do anchovies taste like on pizza?

Like salty, savory bursts, not like fish. In the oven the fillets soften into the sauce, leaving salt and depth where they sat. The pairing works because of umami synergy: tomato (150–250 mg glutamate per 100 g) and cheese supply glutamate, the anchovy supplies glutamate plus the fish nucleotide inosinate, and the Umami Information Center’s tests found a 1:1 glutamate-inosinate mix tastes “7 to 8 times” as intense as either alone. NDSU Extension puts it simply: “If you combine foods containing the umami compounds, the resulting flavor is more intense than the food’s flavor by itself.”

For the depth without the salty bites, chop two fillets into the sauce before it goes on the dough.

Anchovies vs sardines

NOAA’s northern anchovy grows to about 7 inches; Pacific sardines pass 12. Per 100 g, USDA puts sodium at 3,670 mg for anchovies in oil versus 307 mg for sardines in oil, EPA and DHA at 2.05 g versus 0.98 g, and calcium at 232 mg versus 382 mg. Full detail in what sardines taste like.

White anchovies (boquerones) vs cured anchovies

Boquerones en vinagre are fresh anchovies cured in vinegar instead of salt, and ICEX describes the result: the fillets “become white and tender, with a tart, more subtle fish flavor.” Its cooking-techniques guide adds that “the vinegar turns the fillets white and firms the flesh,” after which they are dressed with olive oil, chopped garlic and parsley. They taste like a light, clean pickled fish.

Do not swap them: boquerones lack the salt and glutamate depth to carry a Caesar dressing or a pasta sauce.

What does anchovy paste taste like?

Like cured anchovies, smoothed out. Paste is the same salted fish ground with oil, sometimes with a little vinegar or sugar, so it is saltier, slightly sweeter and dissolves instantly; half a teaspoon replaces one fillet.

Two famous sauces run on it. Caesar dressing pairs anchovy with Parmesan: inosinate from the fish, glutamate from the cheese. Worcestershire sauce contains anchovies too; Lea & Perrins’ US label lists them and carries the allergen line “CONTAINS: ANCHOVY.”

Are anchovies healthy, and are they safe to eat?

Yes, with one caveat. The FDA puts anchovies in its “Best Choices” group, the fish it says can be eaten two to three times a week, including in pregnancy. They are small, short-lived plankton-eaters (NOAA: spawning at about 2 years and rarely living past 4), which keeps mercury low.

Per 100 g drained, USDA lists 210 calories, 28.9 g protein, 2.05 g of EPA and DHA, 232 mg calcium and 4.63 mg iron; the raw fish has 131 calories and 104 mg sodium. The caveat is sodium in the cured version: 3,670 mg per 100 g. Five fillets (20 g) deliver about 730 mg, so skip extra salt in the dish.

Where anchovies come from and sustainability

Almost every tin in a US store is European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) from Spain, Morocco or the Mediterranean. Seafood Watch’s February 2024 list rates Spain’s Bay of Biscay purse-seine fishery green (“Best Choice”) and the MSC-certified Cantabrian Sea fishery blue, Morocco yellow (“Good Alternative”), and the Mediterranean and Iberian-coast fisheries red (“Avoid”).

The US has its own anchovy, the northern anchovy (Engraulis mordax), which NOAA calls “a smart seafood choice” that is “sustainably managed and responsibly harvested under U.S. regulations.” 2024 landings were almost 10 million pounds. Most of today’s catch goes to bait and fish meal, not tins.

How to cook with anchovies so they taste best

Melt them. Warm two or three fillets in olive oil with garlic until they fall apart, then build on that: spaghetti with chili and breadcrumbs, sautéed greens, roast lamb, or a compound butter for a grilled piece of mackerel or Florida Spanish mackerel. For fresh anchovies: salt, oil and a hot grill for two minutes a side, or dredge in cornmeal and fry. The smoked fish dip at Fish On Fire scratches the same salty-savory itch.

Bottom line

Cured anchovies taste like salt and savory depth with a briny edge that disappears in cooking; fresh and vinegar-cured ones taste like mild, tender little fish. Buy Cantabrian fillets in olive oil and melt them into the pan. For the richer, oilier relatives, see sardines and eel.

What Do Anchovies Taste Like?