Bring A Briny Burst To Tacos With This Overlooked Canned Seafood

Seafood tacos can be a great treat, whether you're dishing them up for a dinner party, Taco Tuesday, or just a nice meal to enjoy by yourself. But what seafood should you use? Should it be fresh or canned? Well, the possibilities are endless, from one-pan fish tacos to the array of mild white fish varieties popular in classic seafood tacos, but one frequently overlooked option that makes for a briny, savory taco is canned oysters. Canned oysters can be found in multiple varieties, from oysters packed in spring water to rich, hearty smoked oysters, and can make a scrumptious taco filling alongside your favorite toppings.

Canned oyster tacos can be made in multiple ways. Because canned oysters are pre-cooked, some recipes call for simply heating up canned, smoked oysters before using them as a taco filling in tortillas topped with homemade salsa. On the other hand, you can also batter your canned oysters in cornmeal and fry them for crispy, piping hot bites to fill your tacos with. If you choose to batter and fry your canned oysters before adding them to the tacos, this can create a dish that recalls a New Orleans-style oyster po' boy, but in taco form, for a fun fusion meal.

It's more than just tacos; canned oysters are due for a renaissance as a delicious, versatile member of the tinned fish universe. While these juicy bits of shellfish are often forgotten among tinned fish enthusiasts, they have a long history as a canned seafood staple and can be a multi-faceted and tasty addition to your pantry. People have been eating canned oysters since the nineteenth century; in fact, they were a popular way to enjoy seafood in the American West in the days before widespread refrigeration.

Today, though, whether you prefer your canned oysters smoked or simply cooked and packed in oil, there is no shortage of ways to enjoy them. Oyster stew is a rich, savory dish that can be a comforting way to use canned oysters, or you can take the fried oysters, like some of the taco recipes call for, and put them on a baguette with homemade remoulade for a po' boy sandwich. You can even try canned oysters for a simple take on a famously decadent appetizer by using them for "poor man's oysters Rockefeller," which can be made without even removing the oysters from the can for cute individual portions.