Best value
The $3 tin
Sardines have more omega-3s than most of what's behind the glass at the fish counter — and they're one of the cheapest things in the store. The price is upside down.
Sardines vs. what people actually buy
EPA + DHA omega-3s per 3 oz. The two most popular "healthy" picks are at the bottom.
| Fish | Omega-3 (3 oz) | vs sardines |
|---|---|---|
| Sardines, canned | 1.19 g | — |
| Shrimp | 0.24 g | 5× less |
| Tilapia | 0.11 g | 11× less |
Shrimp is America's most-eaten seafood; tilapia is close behind. Both are perfectly safe on mercury — they're just not omega-3 sources. The tin wins, and it's not close.
One tin, four days of omega-3s
The conventional dietary target is about 250 mg/day of EPA + DHA. A single tin of sardines is roughly 1,000+ mg — call it four days' worth, for about three dollars. Treat 250 mg as a target, not a magic number: large trials at higher doses using capsules missed their primary endpoints. But as a way to hit the target cheaply, the tin is hard to beat.
Other small-fish wins
Same logic — small, oily, short-lived. High omega-3, low mercury, low price.
- Herring — 1.71 g
- Atlantic mackerel — 1.02 g
- Anchovies — FDA "Best Choices"
- Canned pink salmon — 0.91 g
Get the whole cheat sheet
Five swaps, the full omega-3 ranking, and the fish to limit — one page, all sourced.
The Fish Cheat Sheet →Omega-3 values — NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, sourced to USDA FoodData Central. EPA+DHA per 3 oz cooked.
Mercury tiers — FDA/EPA joint "Advice About Eating Fish," rev. October 2021.
Omega-3 target — Mozaffarian & Rimm, JAMA 2006;296(15):1885–99. The ~250 mg/day figure is a dietary reference target, not an RCT-proven preventive dose.
Sardine photo: José Antonio Gil Martínez (CC BY 2.0).