Anchovy Paste vs Anchovy Fillets: Swapping and Substitutes
Everything you need to know for swapping between anchovy fillets and anchovy paste: substitutes, equivalents, and taste differences
Anchovies
Anchovies are an amazing ingredient. They are used whole in appetizers or anchovies on pizza. However, they are very useful chopped, mashed, or in a paste. They pack an umami flavor boost that can enhance dressings, sauces, braises, marinade, soups, and stews. Anchovies will usually get to you in the form of anchovy fillets or anchovy paste. Here we’ll go over anchovy paste vs anchovy fillets, and how to swap and substitute anchovy paste to anchovies in equivalent amounts.
Swapping between anchovy paste and anchovy fillets
Anchovy paste is made of ground anchovies and also may include olive oil, vinegar, sugar and spices. Anchovy fillets usually come in a can, tin, or jar stored in oil. When substituting anchovy paste for anchovy fillets, the question is 1 tsp anchovy paste is equal to how many anchovies? Also, we might want to know 1 tsp anchovy paste is equivalent to how much chopped or mashed anchovies?
1 teaspoon anchovy paste = 2 anchovy fillets
1 teaspoon anchovy paste = 1 teaspoon finely chopped or mashed anchovies
This makes it simple to substitute anchovy paste and fillets. In terms of flavor, some preparations are better for swapping between anchovy paste and anchovies. In general, you can always substitute anchovy fillets for anchovy paste, but not necessarily vice versa. A general guideline for when to substitute is that you can always substitute anchovy paste for anchovies in a cooked preparation. In a raw preparation, you should use discretion. The flavor of the anchovy paste may be undesirable in such cases.
| Cooked Preparation | Raw Preparation | |
| Can I substitute anchovy paste for fillets? | Yes | Use Discretion |
Substituting other ingredients for anchovy paste and anchovy fillets
Sometimes you might want the umami flavor boost but not want to use anchovy fillets or anchovy paste at all. In such cases, you can get the umami flavor enhancement from other ingredients, such as fish sauce, Worcestershire sauce, or shrimp paste. The following table gives the substitutions:
| Anchovy Paste Substitution | Equivalent Amount for 1 tsp anchovy paste |
| Fish Sauce | 1 tsp |
| Worcestershire Sauce | 1.5 tsp |
| Shrimp Paste | 1 tsp |
is a tube of anchovy paste(2oz) equivalent to a can?
Hi Cynthia,
No – they are not equivalent. You will need more than a can of anchovies (assuming 2 oz) to substitute for a 2 oz tube.
More detailed explanation: A 2 oz tube of anchovy paste is approximately 12 tsp, which is equivalent to approximately 24 anchovy fillets. So if the can of anchovies contains 24 anchovy fillets, it is equivalent to a 2 oz tube of anchovy paste. However, a 2 oz can of anchovies contains much less than 24 fillets.
Hope this helps!
Anthony