Portuguese Sardines: When and How to Eat Them

Grilled sardines are the taste of a Portuguese summer. The smell of sardines on charcoal fills the streets during the June festivals, and the fish are at their best from early summer into autumn. Here’s when and how to eat them, and where to find the best.

Quick answer: eat grilled sardines in season, roughly June to September, when they’re plump and oily. They’re traditionally served on a slice of bread, with boiled potatoes, roasted peppers and salad. Out of season, try Portugal’s excellent tinned sardines.

When to eat them

Sardines are best in summer, when they’ve fattened up, and they become the star of the Santo António festival in Lisbon (12 to 13 June) and São João in Porto (23 to 24 June). Fishing is restricted at certain times of year to protect stocks. See Santo António.

How to eat them

• On bread: place a sardine on a slice of bread to soak up the juices, then eat the bread too.
• Whole: locals eat around the bones, and some eat the skin. Pull the fillets off the spine with your fingers or a fork.
• Sides: boiled potatoes, salad with roasted peppers, and a cold beer or vinho verde.

Where to eat them

• Festival grills in June in Lisbon and Porto.
• Matosinhos near Porto, famous for its fish grills. See Matosinhos.
• Portimão in the Algarve, with its riverside sardine restaurants. See Portimão.
• Local tascas everywhere in summer.

Tinned sardines

Portugal’s canneries produce beautiful tins of sardines in olive oil, with lemon, chilli or tomato. They’re a great souvenir. See Portuguese tinned fish.

More: the Portuguese seafood guide and what to eat in Portugal.

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