Sardinhas Assadas (Grilled Portuguese Sardines)

Ask anyone who grew up in Portugal what June smells like, and they won’t say flowers. They’ll say charcoal and sardine smoke drifting over every street during Santos Populares, the saint’s day festivals that turn whole neighborhoods into open-air grills from mid-June through the summer.

My husband still teases me about the first time I dragged him to a arraial in Lisbon, where we ate sardines standing up off paper plates with our fingers, and he decided on the spot that this was his favorite Portuguese tradition, no contest.

Sardinhas assadas are about as simple as Portuguese cooking gets, and that’s the whole point. Fresh sardines, coarse salt, a hot grill, nothing else needed until the fish hits the plate, at which point a drizzle of good olive oil and maybe a squeeze of lemon finishes the job. The classic plate underneath is boiled potatoes and a roasted red pepper salad, which soak up all that smoky, salty fish oil and turn into the best part of the meal.

Lucas, my self-appointed savory quality control officer, judges a summer cookout entirely by whether sardines showed up, and Sofia has learned to love the boiled potatoes even though fish still isn’t her favorite.

If you can’t find fresh sardines, frozen whole sardines from a Latino or Asian market work well once thawed and patted dry, just avoid the tiny canned kind, they’re a different animal entirely.

This pairs beautifully with the piri-piri sauce from my Portuguese Piri-Piri Chicken (recipe on the site), and if you want the full Santos Populares spread, serve it alongside my Caldo Verde (recipe on the site) for the cooler evenings.

Sardinhas Assadas Recipe

Prep time: 15 minutes · Cook time: 15 minutes · Total: 30 minutes · Servings: 4 · Calories: ~320 per serving

Ingredients

• For the sardines:
• 12 whole fresh sardines, scaled and gutted (ask your fishmonger to do this)
• 2 tablespoons coarse sea salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges
• For the classic sides:
• 1 1/2 pounds small yellow potatoes, unpeeled
• 2 red bell peppers
• 1 green bell pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and black pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Rinse the sardines and pat them completely dry. Season generously with coarse sea salt on both sides and inside the cavity, then let them sit at room temperature for 15 minutes while you heat the grill (the salt draws out just enough moisture for really crisp skin).
2. Boil the potatoes in salted water until fork-tender, about 20 minutes, then drain and keep warm.
3. Meanwhile, char the bell peppers directly over a gas flame or under the broiler, turning until blackened all over. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let steam for 10 minutes, then peel off the skins, remove the seeds, and slice into strips. Toss with garlic, red wine vinegar, 3 tablespoons olive oil, salt, and pepper.
4. Heat a charcoal or gas grill to high heat and oil the grates well. Grill the sardines 3 to 4 minutes per side, until the skin is crisp and blistered and the flesh flakes easily at the thickest part.
5. Plate the sardines over the warm potatoes with the pepper salad alongside. Drizzle everything with olive oil and serve with lemon wedges.

Recipe Notes

• Buy the freshest sardines you can find, ideally the same day you’ll cook them; look for clear eyes and firm, shiny skin, and ask the fishmonger to scale and gut them if you don’t want to do it at home.
• No outdoor grill? A cast iron grill pan indoors works, just crack a window and turn on the exhaust fan, because sardines are a fragrant fish.
• Don’t skip the salting step. It seasons the fish all the way through and helps the skin crisp instead of steaming.
• Leftover grilled sardines are wonderful flaked over toast with a little olive oil and tomato the next morning, closer to a Portuguese breakfast than you’d expect.