So much better than store-bought: This Crispy Oven Fried Fish gets super crunchy and will be a new favorite for kids and adults alike. My homemade breaded fish blows frozen fish sticks out of the water by far!
1poundthick white fish filletI prefer cod cut into pieces, I do about 8-10 pieces
For the pan
¼cupunsalted butter
Instructions
Prep: Preheat oven to 430°F (220°C). Put a dark-colored roaster OR baking sheet in the oven to heat up - the pan you use to bake the fish on needs to be hot to melt butter on!
Make breading: Mix all ingredients for dry breading in a shallow dish.
Prep eggs: Add eggs to a SEPARATE bowl and beat well.
Bread fish: Dip fish into breading to lightly coat. THEN coat fish with egg. FINALLY, coat fish with breading again, this time you can really pack on as much as will stick! (Just place breaded fish pieces on a plate until you've breaded them all.)
Melt butter: Remove pan from oven - careful, it's hot! Add 3 tablespoons of butter to pan to melt. Spread all over pan and put fish pieces on.
Bake: Bake fish for 10 minutes. Flip, add remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and finish baking for 5-10 minutes or until coating is crispy and fish is cooked through. Finish under the broiler for 2-3 minutes.
Finish: Let fish pieces rest on the pan for 5 minutes after baking, then serve immediately.
Notes
Ingredient notes
Fish: I prefer skinless cod for this recipe, because the fillets are quite thick and firm. Tilapia will also work, though the fillets tend to be much thinner and will cook faster, but they also come out a little less juicy.
Cornmeal: I use this to make the coating a little crisper. But if you don’t have any cornmeal on hand, you can just use more breadcrumbs instead.
Breadcrumbs: If you’re using Panko in place of the breadcrumbs, I highly recommend dredging the fish in just seasoned flour first (vs dredging it in the mix of all dry breading ingredients). This will ensure the breading comes out right.
Seasoning: Old Bay Seasoning can be used in place of the single spices the recipe calls for. I would go for 1 tablespoon, but use more or less according to your taste.
Fat: Even though this is not deep fried, you do need some fat to get the breading to cook and the fish to crisp up. I like using butter for the taste, but you can also use vegetable oil or, for a very lean version, cooking spray. The cooking spray tends to be not quite enough to catch all of the dry flour, so I recommend using a little bit of oil to brush on any dry patches around 5 minutes before the baking time is up.
Recipe tips
Neat breading
Always use the same spoon to remove the egg washed fish from the bowl with the egg and drop it into the bowl with the dry ingredients without touching the flour (this spoon remains your “wet spoon” and you want to keep it away from the dry ingredients, otherwise things get messy).
Once you have dropped the fish piece into the dish with the dry breading mix, use a different spoon or small measuring cup to scoop dry breading on top of the fish fillet piece (this is your dry spoon, keep it away from the egg wash).
Use the measuring cup or the back of the spoon to pound the breading onto the fish. Pounding/pressing on the breading will slightly flatten out the fish, but it also helps to make the breading stick very well.
Turn the fish over, scoop on more dry breading mix and pound again.
Bread the fish correctlyThe trick to getting batter to stick to fish for oven frying is pretty simple. It’s all about dipping the fillet pieces in the right ingredients in the right order:
First, into a mix of breadcrumbs, flour, cornmeal, seasoning and baking powder (the baking powder helps the batter to rise a little, so the moisture from the fish makes it less soggy) for a thin coating.
Then into beaten egg.
And finally thickly coat with the breadcrumb mix again. So simple!
Bake the fish correctly
do NOT line the pan
use a DARK pan (I will often use a roaster like this one so I get less splattering in the oven – this is an affiliate link and I will make a commission for purchases made after clicking through)
preheat the pan in the oven until it’s sizzling hot
don’t skimp on the butter
finish under the broiler (but don’t burn the fish!)
let the fish rest for 3-4 minutes after baking, but not for much longer