What is the ‘trendiest meals of 2026’?… tinned fish

Social media is often rife with strange food trends, and one of the latest may have many scratching their heads.

Tinned fish has long been associated with the back of cupboards, but it’s starting to fill up supermarket aisles – and the poshest variety can now be found for up to £12.50. 

And now the canned seafood has been described as one of the ‘trendiest foods of 2026’. And while influencers have talked about it for years, supermarkets in Britain have finally caught up. 

For years the mighty tinned fish has been an easy sandwich filling or to add something to a salad. It doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, has a long shelf-life.

So it may come as a bit of a surprise then that after a quick browse of the tinned section of the supermarket, tinned fish can be found for up to £12.50 – a regular tin usually costs less than a pound.

Posh tins of sardines were found in Marks & Spencer for £11, while a can of ‘white’ tuna was available for £12.50. That’s more than 10 times the regular price of sardines and tuna, which M&S sell for just £1.

Waitrose sells a can of ‘Cantabrian’ Anchovy fillets for £10 a pop.

Tinned fish has been spoken about by health influencers, online chefs and one Nottinghamshire man who has skyrocketed to fame for reviewing it.

Known online as ‘Tinned Fish Reviews’, Marcus Ansell has amassed a following of more than 1.3 million people on both TikTok and Instagram.

He told the Daily Mail: ‘I think people are realising how good tinned fish is and how interesting it can be.

‘A lot of people were probably just used to the cheap supermarket type canned tuna but I think people just didn’t realise the huge, fancy and exciting world of tinned fish.

‘You can definitely get some really nice tins of fish for less than £5.

‘If it was a fancy date night and you wanted to get something really nice for your girlfriend or something then I’d probably spend a bit more than that though.’

Mr Ansell reviews tins of fish from around the world, often wearing a fez on his head and accompanied by his dog, King Arthur.

He said: ‘The expensive stuff is completely different from regular supermarket tuna.

‘So for normal supermarket tuna, it tends to taste quite metallic. They might have a texture that’s sort of a little bit dry and are more difficult to chew and swallow.

‘With the fancy expensive ones, they have a delicate, buttery texture with no metallic taste. They are just delightful.

‘They do seem very expensive but when you consider them a really luxury item, like a special treat, it sort of becomes a lot more reasonable.’

Mr Ansell started reviewing tinned fish after receiving some from his sister at Christmas two years ago. He posted his first video soon after and has now garnered such a following that he quit his full-time job to review tinned fish for a living. 

‘Asda and Tesco both have pretty good ranges, especially their Extra Special and finest range. M&S do some really good hot smoked mackerel that’s really popular.’

Mr Ansell said that some people in the US are importing M&S tinned mackerel because they can’t get it locally.

A stall in Borough Market, the Tinned Fish Market, which has a small following online, is the best place to get tinned fish in the UK, according to Mr Ansell.

‘There are so many different varieties that it could become quite a big hobby of trying all the different ones.’

He said that he bought a tin of Alalunga Hake for £23. It was so expensive because all the fish came solely from the cheeks.

‘It’s absolutely amazing,’ he said. ‘You can easily spend over £20 though.’

He said that he usually eats the tinned fish on its own or just with a bit of toast. ‘The ones with sauce, the more expensive ones, you want to heat those up,’ he added.

‘Some have butter at the bottom, so you have to heat it up and pour the butter on some toast before you chew on it. It’s fantastic.

‘It’s a completely different thing to normal supermarket tuna, it tastes completely different. And I think it’s absolutely worth the price difference.’

Another curious tinned fish trend has seen food influencers fold a paper towel on top of an opened can of sardines and setting it on fire.

If the kitchen does not burn down, it can apparently make a tin of gently smoked fish within minutes.

Former chef and TikTok cooking influencer Ben Slator set fire to a £13 can of Los Peperete sardines.

He said in a video: ‘This tastes like barbecued fish…it’s surprisingly delicious.’

Despite canned fish being one of the oldest foods on the market, with a history dating back to the 1700s, many young TikTok users are bizarrely only now discovering it due to its ‘niche’ appeal. 

The craze sees creators routinely post recipe videos of how best to use the seafood, with many a far cry from the products’ value-shelf roots.

Expensive cheeses, posh wines and an assortment of charcuterie boards are a common theme of the viral videos, some of which rack up millions of views.

Health food influencer Sunna van Kampen, with nearly 900,000 followers, called tinned fish the ‘trendiest food of 2026’.

He said: ‘They are healthy, high in omega-3s and it’s just olive oil and fish.’

Tonic Health, as he is known online, said about the expensive supermarket tinned fish: ‘Not sure it’s worth 12 quid but it is delicious tuna and super healthy.’