There’s a particular place in hell for somebody who makes their colleagues pattern 19 totally different cans of tuna in a single sitting. That somebody is…me! However I promise it was all within the identify of science, as a result of how else would we decide for you which of them manufacturers of canned tuna are value shopping for?
In our most up-to-date style take a look at, we pulled collectively 19 manufacturers of canned tuna you’re prone to discover in your native grocery store and really thoughtfully tasted every to seek out the perfect one. To be of probably the most service to our readers, we tasted each canned tuna in water and canned tuna in oil—we’ve break up up the rankings under so you’ll be able to seek advice from whichever class you favor to eat. After tasting many, many spoonfuls of canned tuna on their very own and/or on high of a cracker (and presumably exceeding our mercury quota for the yr), we’ve decided the very best can of tuna you can purchase and cook dinner with.
Severe Eats / Amanda Suarez
The Contenders: Tuna in Oil
- Dealer Joe’s Stable Mild Yellowfish Tuna in Olive Oil
- Ortiz White Tuna in Olive Oil
- As Do Mar Tuna in Olive Oil
- Bumble Bee Prime Tonno in Olive Oil
- Tonnino Yellowfin Tuna Stable Pack in Olive Oil
- Genova Premium Albacore Tuna in Olive Oil
- Callipo Oro Mild Tuna in Olive Oil
- Dealer Joe’s Albacore Tuna in Olive Oil
- 365 by Complete Meals Canned Wild Tuna, Albacore in Additional-Virgin Olive Oil*
- Cento Tuna in Olive Oil*
Severe Eats / Amanda Suarez
The Contenders: Tuna in Water
- Dealer Joe’s Stable White Albacore Tuna in Water
- Blue Harbor Fish Co. Wild Albacore Stable White Tuna in Water*
- Tonnino Tuna Fillets in Spring Water*
- Rooster of the Sea Stable White Albacore Tuna in Water
- Good&Collect Chunk Mild Tuna in Water
- Nature’s Promise Chunk Mild Tuna in Water*
- Starkist Chunk Mild Tuna in Water
- 365 by Complete Meals Albacore Tuna in Water*
- Bumble Bee Stable White Albacore Tuna in Water
*This tuna is Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) licensed, which suggests the fish is wild-caught.
Severe Eats / Amanda Suarez
The Standards
Nice canned tuna ought to style like tuna (and never like cat meals, however extra on that in a sec). The easiest ones ought to even be interesting sufficient to eat on their very own. And, after all, the are you able to select needs to be scrumptious and moist sufficient so that you can wish to incorporate it into your sandwiches, salads, and pasta with out concern of its fishiness overpowering your total meal.
Oil-packed tuna ought to have simply sufficient oil to glisten, however not sufficient to depart a movie of grease in your mouth. It ought to have a balanced taste of fish and oil—with neither overpowering the opposite. The tuna ought to style and really feel wealthy, and have refined fruity, peppery notes from the olive oil.
Tuna in water, then again, needs to be pleasantly moist with out, within the phrases of a taster, “swimming within the water.” It shouldn’t be bland or dry, and although it needs to be well-seasoned, it also needs to be impartial sufficient to include into your cooking. It shouldn’t be mushy and virtually disintegrating.
No matter whether or not tuna is oil-packed or water-packed, it needs to be sturdy sufficient to toss right into a salad but in addition delicate sufficient to flake aside gently when prodded with a fork. It shouldn’t be dry, nor ought to it’s mushy. And, most significantly, it mustn’t style just like the tin it got here from. (Folks usually joke that canned tuna tastes like hen, however we’d a lot desire it if it tasted like precise fish as a substitute of poultry.)
For our style take a look at, I emptied all of the cans into bowls and allowed editors to eat the unidentified tuna by itself or with a cracker. I had them consider every one based mostly on its taste, chunk or texture, and the way oily or watery it was relying on its class. I requested every to pay shut consideration as to whether the tuna tasted tinny, bland, or fishy. Spoiler alert: Tuna in oil fared significantly better general than tuna in water. Our editors typically most well-liked well-salted, flavorful tuna that had simply sufficient oil or water to stop it from being dry. No one preferred ultra-soft tuna that was virtually dissolving into the oil or water, and as a substitute most well-liked tuna with giant, meaty flakes.
Severe Eats / Amanda Suarez
The Rankings: Tuna in Oil
Tonnino Yellowfin Tuna Stable Pack in Olive Oil, 4.16/5
This was our editorial director Daniel Gritzer’s favourite; he thought the tuna was scrumptious and had good seasoning, in addition to a pleasant olive oil taste. “Wow, that is good,” he wrote. “Beneficiant quantity of oil right here and I’m not mad about it.” He additionally made notice of the tuna’s “lovely giant, sleek flakes.”
Ortiz White Tuna in Olive Oil, 3.7/5
Megan, our affiliate editorial director, appreciated the big chunks and described this as “a really satisfying tuna.” Everybody made a notice of the pleasantly salty taste; our affiliate visuals director Amanda Suarez thought this was the perfect quantity of oil she’d need in oil-packed tuna, and whereas Megan did detect the slightest tinny aftertaste, she nonetheless gave it full marks for taste.
As Do Mar Tuna in Olive Oil, 3.41/5
This tuna was chunky and meaty and had what Amanda described as “an applicable quantity of oil.” Daniel stated he’d be “completely content material” with this, whereas Amanda enthusiastically exclaimed: “That is good!”
Dealer Joe’s Albacore Tuna in Olive Oil, 3.25/5
I as soon as once more surprise: Are all of us tasting the identical pattern? Some tasters discovered this dry, bland, and mushy, and but…somebody nonetheless thought it had “good fish taste” and “good large chunks” and gave it a excessive sufficient rating to carry this to fourth place.
Genova Premium Albacore Tuna in Olive Oil, 3.1/5
“This tastes just like the tuna from my childhood,” Amanda raved. Megan thought this had a pleasing “nutty high quality,” which isn’t one thing you sometimes hear about tuna. The aftertaste, nevertheless, was purely that of a can. Others famous it was just a little on the salty aspect and just a little dry regardless of the presence of oil, however “general nice.”
Callipo Oro Mild Tuna in Olive Oil, 3/5
A taster thought this was just a little too shredded and mushy, however nonetheless preferred it regardless. Everybody thought it was a contact too salty and would have appreciated bigger chunks.
Severe Eats / Amanda Suarez
Dealer Joe’s Stable Mild Yellowfin Tuna in Olive Oil, 2.9/5
A really middle-of-the-road choose: an fulfilling, if barely odd, mixture of huge and small items with a low-to-moderate quantity of oil. “That is good and impartial,” stated Amanda. “Possibly too impartial.”
Bumble Bee Prime Tonno in Olive Oil, 2.83/5
Regardless of its small flakes, this didn’t come throughout as too dry. Somebody did, nevertheless, discover its taste “very bizarre and fruity,” a lot in order that it overpowered the tuna. Amanda thought it tasted like a cool, fancy infused olive oil. As for Daniel? “I don’t hate it.”
365 by Complete Meals Canned Wild Tuna, Albacore in Additional-Virgin Olive Oil, 2.6/5
Each single particular person thought this tasted extra like olive oil than tuna. Regardless of the outstanding taste of oil, it nonetheless appeared to lack precise oil, making the fish dry and unsightly to eat.
The Rankings: Tuna in Water
Tonnino Tuna Fillets in Spring Water, 3.1/5
Testers beloved the chunky texture of Tonnino’s tuna and thought it had the “right” degree of wetness, although nobody might agree on whether or not the quantity of salt right here was proper. Some thought it had good seasoning, whereas others discovered it “very salty with an acidic undertone” and “fishy tasting in a adverse manner.”
Blue Harbor Fish Co. Wild Albacore Stable White Tuna in Water, 3.1/5
Amanda thought this tasted like hen. In an analogous vein, Daniel commented that this was “delicate” and had “good tuna taste with none robust traits.” It had distinct flakes and was just a little dry, however it wasn’t something just a little mayonnaise couldn’t repair.
Severe Eats / Amanda Suarez
Nature’s Promise, 3.1/5
Funky! Tinny! Salty! Acidic! Daniel thought this had a “very good tuna taste” regardless of the metallic notice. Medium chunk with a yellowish tinge, which, understandably, was not very interesting to our testers.
365 by Complete Meals Albacore Tuna in Water, 3.1/5
We bought large chunks right here, however they had been just a little dry. “Not very thrilling,” stated a tester, which truthfully…isn’t a foul factor for canned tuna?
Rooster of the Sea Stable White Albacore Tuna in Water, 2.8/5
Amanda thought this tasted virtually like an oyster, and never in a pleasing manner. Daniel thought this was bland and “squarely within the center,” noting that it wanted extra seasoning. BRB, Jessica Simpson would love a phrase.
Dealer Joe’s Stable White Albacore Tuna in Water, 2.7/5
This was…just a little bland. Although tasters appreciated the quantity of water this tuna had, it scored poorly for taste: It was too fishy for Amanda, and Megan thought it had a metallic style that lingered lengthy after she’d completed her chew of tuna. I’m starting to note a sample: the decrease the tuna rating, the extra feedback there are in regards to the want for mayonnaise.
Good&Collect Chunk Mild Tuna in Water, 2.5/5
Everybody made notice of the sharp, acidic, and bitter taste right here. “This had virtually a celery/grassy style to it,” Amanda wrote. Its tiny, mushy shredded flakes didn’t do it any favors, both, and Daniel likened it to moist wooden pulp.
Bumble Bee Stable White Albacore Tuna in Water
Nobody agreed on something right here, which is probably going what occurred rankings-wise. Some discovered it dry, some discovered it watery, and others simply thought it was smack dab within the center. “Tastes like tuna,” however with a metallic aftertaste that lingers.
Starkist Chunk Mild Tuna in Water, 2.3/5
Properly!
Our Testing Methodology
All style assessments are carried out with manufacturers fully hidden and with out dialogue amongst tasters that might affect outcomes. Tasters style samples in random order. For instance, taster A might style pattern one first, whereas taster B will style pattern six first. That is to stop palate fatigue from unfairly giving anybody pattern a bonus. Tasters are requested to fill out tasting sheets rating the samples for varied standards. All knowledge is tabulated and outcomes are calculated with no editorial enter in an effort to give us probably the most neutral illustration of precise outcomes potential.