The Very Best Canned Tuna, Based On A Blind Taste Test

As a food writer and author of a cookbook about tinned fish, I am constantly being asked: What’s the best canned tuna? To find the most high-quality options, I sampled 12 cans of oil-packed tuna and 14 of the water-packed variety, spanning categories like white tuna (albacore), light tuna (skipjack or yellowfin), solid (packed in full fillets or slices) and chunk (chopped or pulverized). Based on a blind taste test, I think you can find none better than Olasagasti’s Bonito Del Norte In Olive Oil, which offers large, tender flakes that are best enjoyed straight from the can.

Overall, these are the tins that impressed me the most:

• Best Canned Tuna Overall: Olasagasti Bonito Del Norte In Olive Oil
• Best Canned Tuna In Water: Tonnino Albacore Tuna Fillets In Spring Water
• Best Budget Canned Tuna In Olive Oil: Rio Mare Solid Light Tuna In Olive Oil
• Best Budget Canned Tuna In Water: Good & Gather Solid White Albacore Tuna In Water
• Best Light Tuna In Water: Safe Catch Wild Elite Pure Tuna

With new independent brands popping up, and more and more European brands becoming available on American grocery store shelves, the canned tuna aisle is a much more exciting and competitive space than it was when I was growing up. And once you look beyond that aisle and start shopping online, the options become even more overwhelming. While it can be fun to collect tins while traveling or popping into specialty food stores, it’s also helpful to have a few dependable brands that you know you can count on for that perfect baguette sandwich or rice bowl. Below, I get into why the five aforementioned winning tins are worth seeking out.

This was the can that I kept returning to again and again for one more bite, as the fish was perfectly seasoned and full of umami flavor that worked harmoniously with the mild olive oil. The meat was a rich pink color that’s typical of bonito del norte (a type of albacore that’s sold by many Spanish brands), and the fish kept its integrity through the canning process, resulting in big, tender flakes. While this can was the most expensive one I tried (for comparison, Scout is about $12 per can and Fishwife nets out to about $11 per can), I felt that the quality matched the cost. Simply put, I would happily buy this tuna again to enjoy straight out of the can with some fresh summer vegetables and bread.

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In a side-by-side comparison with other tunas packed in water, Tonnino’s Albacore Tuna Fillets In Spring Water was a clear winner. While it’s easy for canned tuna to become overcooked and dry (especially when there’s no olive oil to add richness and moisture), these fillets were wonderfully delicate. Mixed into a tuna salad with mayo, celery and red onion, this option held its flake structure without disintegrating completely. That said, this is one of the few water-packed options that I didn’t think needed mayo. For tuna eaters who are trying to avoid olive oil for any reason, this option makes a luxurious alternative. I’m not sure that I could taste the difference between “spring water” and whatever type of water the other tunas were packed in, but overall, I didn’t find that this product had any of the fishy or metallic tastes that sometimes make their way into the liquid surrounding the fish.

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With a cost of about $3.50 per can, the Rio Mare Solid Light Tuna In Olive Oil is a solid option to keep stacked in your cupboard for throwing into pastas or into pan bagnats. The fish is well-salted and surprisingly moist for a light tuna, and it doesn’t have any of the strong iron notes that sometimes come with leaner species of tuna. The only thing I didn’t love about this can was the meat’s lack of integrity—the tuna flaked apart on the fork into a lot of tiny pieces, making it difficult to scoop out intact. This texture makes me less keen on eating this tuna straight from the can, but I still think this would be great mixed into a spaghetti with lots of lemon and capers or piled onto some crusty bread with a bunch of olives and fresh herbs.

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If you find yourself routinely making family-sized quantities of mayo-based tuna salad, Good & Gather’s (Target’s house generic brand) Solid White Albacore In Water is a stellar fish to use. While the brand’s Chunk Light and Premium Wild Chunk White Albacore Tuna In Extra Virgin Olive Oil & Sea Salt both rated very lowly in my taste tests, this solid albacore was a top contender out of the water-packed products I tried. The tuna tasted better than similarly priced options (like Bumble Bee’s Solid White Albacore), and when mixed with mayo, celery and red onion, it created a perfectly balanced tuna salad that barely needed any further seasoning. One downside of this pick is that although the can bears a Marine Stewardship Council badge, this tuna is caught using longlines; the fishing method is known for its high bycatch rate and is not recommended by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch.

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Tasted on its own, this tuna had a meaty flavor that was slightly iron-tinged, but it created a very balanced, pleasant tuna salad. While it isn’t the cheapest or most delicious can of tuna packed in water, if you’re specifically seeking out a light tuna for salads, this gets the job done. Safe Catch also advertises that they test each fish before canning it, ensuring that the fish has no more than .100 ppm (parts per million) of mercury, which is significantly stricter than the FDA requirements.

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Other Canned Tunas I Tested

In total, I tested 26 cans of tuna, 21 of which didn’t quite make the cut. That said, some of these cans are still worth considering. Here are my thoughts.

Bumble Bee Solid White Albacore In Water: I found the flavor of this classic to be around average, and the texture had a slight squeakiness to it.

Cento Solid Pack Light Tuna In Olive Oil: This would be a nice can to mix with a lot of other ingredients, but on its own, I found that the fillet was missing some structure and richness.

Chicken Of The Sea Chunk Light Tuna In Water: While the flavor of this was slightly better than the other chunk light tins I tried, it still had a mushy, waterlogged quality that I don’t think works in any tuna application.

Fishwife Albacore Tuna In Olive Oil: Although I had a slight preference for the Olasagasti, this one rated quite highly for its meaty, well-seasoned flavor and pleasantly tender flake structure.

Good & Gather Premium Wild Chunk White Albacore Tuna In Extra Virgin Olive Oil & Sea Salt: Compared to the water-packed chunk lights, this was much better, but still had a sort of rubbery texture and a salty blandness.

Good & Gather Chunk Light Tuna In Water: Of all of the cans that I tried, this was unequivocally the worst with its fishy, metallic flavor.

Ortiz White Tuna In Olive Oil: For about $8 for a 3.25-ounce can, Ortiz is one of the most affordable and popular Spanish tuna brands. Although I liked the overall taste and would happily buy this tin for periodic salads and sandwiches, I found the texture to be slightly mushier than some of the similarly priced competitors.

Safe Catch Wild Ahi Yellowfin Tuna (No Oil): Because this fish was packed without oil, I tasted it alongside the water-packed tunas. It was a close runner-up to the Tonnino Albacore and had a rich texture and full flavor.

Scout Wild Albacore Tuna In Extra Virgin Olive Oil: This ranked very highly in my list of runners-up for its delicate taste and high-quality olive oil.

Seatales Solid Light Skipjack Wild Tuna In Olive Oil: The olive oil tasted good, but the fish was slightly metallic.

Seatales Solid White Albacore Wild Tuna In Water: This had a very mild flavor, and without mayo, I found the texture a tiny bit chalky.

Seatales Solid White Albacore Wild Tuna In Olive Oil: While the flavor here was nice, the meat was slightly drier than some of the competitors.

Seatales Solid Light Skipjack In Water (No Salt Added): Of the two options I tried with no salt added, this was my preference. While I like to start a tuna salad with a well-seasoned fish, this can would be a reliable choice for those looking to control their salt intake.

StarKist Chunk Light Tuna In Water: Like the Good & Gather Chunk Light, this tuna reminded me why I don’t tend to buy chunk light tuna as a category.

Tonnino Albacore Tuna Fillets In Olive Oil: Along with Fishwife and Scout, this was a close runner-up in my oil-packed tuna test. The texture was tender and the salt level was perfect.