Do shrimp skewers, grilled fish or oysters make your mouth water? Even if you can’t resist them, the price of some seafood items may prevent you from tossing them into your grocery cart. But there’s no need to deprive yourself! To enjoy seafood whenever you want, here are some tips to help you save on your next purchases.

1. Small shrimp, big savings

Small shrimp tend to be less expensive. By buying small white shrimp (size 26-30), you often get more for your money than with the larger ones (size 16-20). Cooking tip: You can cut shrimp into small pieces to incorporate into your recipes. This gives the impression that there are more—they’ll be in every bite!

2. Buy in large format

If you have enough space in your home freezer, buying large-format fish and seafood packs is always more economical. The price per 100 grams is often less expensive—and that’s reason enough to make space in the freezer!

3. Make way for mussels

Mussels, often in the shadow of oysters, should not be underestimated. Plus, they don’t just have to be eaten in their shells—even if that’s a simple way to prepare them. Once cooked, you can shell them and add them to pasta, sauces and rice.

4. Protein blend

To enjoy a good seafood dish whenever you get a craving for it, reduce the amount in your recipe and add other proteins to balance it out. In a fish curry, add a can of chickpeas, or prepare a frittata using eggs, salmon and vegetables.

5. Cooking with canned goods  

Many canned fish products are pantry staples—it’s simply a question of how to integrate them into recipes so that no one will suspect that they didn’t come from your local fishmonger. Canned salmon makes a great salmon paté and a delicious savoury pastry filling. Canned tuna is not only great in sandwiches, it also makes for a superb pasta dish ingredient, or can be prepared Mexican-style for quesadillas.

6. The other pollock

Did you know that it is possible to buy unprocessed pollock fillets? Pollock is best known for being used in a fish dehydration technique in which preservatives, flavour and artificial colour are added to mimic crab. This product is indeed much cheaper than crab, but pollock fillets—sold frozen—can be cooked like white fish. It’s a well-kept secret!

7. Dare to try something new

Some lesser-known seafood items are also worth discovering. This is the case for Stimpson’s clams. These molluscs have a very light seafood scent and their flavour is absolutely delicious. They have the sweetness that’s common with lobster or crab, but at a much sweeter price. Find them in the canned seafood aisle.