This Canned Fish Is Alton Brown's 'Secret Weapon' For Sauces And Dips

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Unique recipes, stints on television shows like "Good Eats" and "Iron Chef", and popular cookbooks are just some of the things you should know about Alton Brown's culinary career. He's obviously got some gastronomic tricks up his sleeve, one of which involves a rather humble ingredient to amp up the flavor of his sauces and dips. For Brown, all it takes is a tin of anchovies — but there's a specific brand that he's fond of. 

According to a June 2024 Instagram post on the chef's page, Brown prefers Fishwife's tinned anchovies as his secret ingredient for various sauces and dips. Now, anchovies are used in various tomato sauce recipes, so we can't credit Brown for the idea, but it does remind us that unexpected ingredients can give next-level flavor to an array of dishes. In a sauce or dip, anchovies deliver a rich, salty punch of umami in every bite. 

You don't have to use Fishwife anchovies, the brand that Brown shouted out on Instagram, but Fishwife is known for quality products that are ethically sourced, which is an important factor when it comes to canned seafood. The company's anchovy filets, packed in Spanish olive oil, are wild-caught by the first MSC-certified sustainable anchovy fishery in Europe.

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You can add canned anchovies to many different sauces and dips, but one go-to option that Alton Brown swears by is cooking them into a tomato sauce to use on pasta. In fact, Brown has a spaghetti recipe that calls for a small amount of anchovies in the sauce. Anchovies dissolve when cooked, but they pack a lot of flavor, so you'll only need one anchovy for every two servings of sauce, per Brown's recipe. You can also add a couple of anchovy fillets to a simple homemade tomato sauce or an easy homemade marinara sauce recipe. Balance the flavor of the tinned fish with garlic and fresh herbs like thyme or basil. A pinch of red pepper flakes for a touch of heat is always a nice idea, too.

If you prefer a sauce other than tomato, another option is to make a butter sauce with white wine, lemon, capers, herbs (like parsley), and tinned anchovies. Another sauce of sorts that you might not realize typically contains anchovies is Caesar dressing. You can use any anchovies leftover in the tin to make a homemade batch (and prevent food waste!). And, if Brown's idea to use tinned fish in your sauces and dips doesn't sound appealing, keep in mind that anchovies are delicious in recipes, even if you don't like fish, because while they are flavorful, they don't taste overly fishy.