Crispy Fish

My husband and I loved the breading flavor, which is like eating cajun fish and the french fries at the same time. The coating is excellent for any skinless, boneless meat: I have now tried it with fish fillets, chicken thighs, and pork chops. If you are afraid of frying in butter, try spraying all over the meat with butter flavored Pam, dusting it with coating, spraying again, dusting again, and then one last spray before putting it into a hot oven on a foil lined pan. If you are afraid of the spicy heat (or have picky kids), start off with only 1/4 teaspoon of the cayenne and add a little more to taste each time. I like to add a pinch of crushed thyme and dried onion to the mix. Thank you Kristi. You made my Ash Wednesday supper a hit.

No one in our family liked this...sorry. We love fish. We have it every Friday...it's a Green Bay, Wisconsin tradition. Thought we'd try a new way of fixing it and found this recipe. The problem with this 'breading' is that you cannot taste any fish at all. It's sooo crunchy and it soaks up soooo much shortening that it was just blah, greasy and crunchy. Not at all what we were looking for. It began to get very dark on the outside, but after almost triple the recommended cooking time, the fish was still not flaky and cooked through. Tried a second batch....exact same problem. Definately won't be using this again.

My family and I love this recipe. I make the coating exactly as written and it turns out excellent every time. I do dry off the fish (walleye) after soaking and dip in a beaten egg before dipping it in the coating mixture. Make sure the oil is very hot for best results. My three year old asks for this fish every day.

THis was such crispy fish. I used half yellow cornmeal half flour and will do so next time too. Also I think next time i will use mustard powder instead of the pepper. ALSO - the next day I used the leftover mixture to make MEATBALLS for Meatball Grinders with a Yummy Sauce. Wow it was great!!! This stuff makes great meatballs. Just added a couple of eggs and the meat.

This was really good. I wasn't sure about the potato flakes as a crust, but it was really good. I didn't have any cayenne pepper so I just left it out, and honestly, I think it probably would've been better with it in. I thought it lacked enough flavor, but my husband, who is a very picky eater, really loved this recipe! He said he'd like it once a week (which is a HUGE compliment for him!). I cut the fillets into strips to make "fish sticks", covered each strip in potato/flour mix, dipped in beaten egg, and then back in the potato/flour mix. I wanted a thicker crust and it worked really well. Thanks for sharing, this is a good recipe!

I really like this recipe! I generally don't like deep frying because my house ends up with that greasy restaurant smell, but this wasn't bad. To cut down on fat I used canola oil, and I didn't have any potato flakes so I used finely crushed saltines. The spices were great. I will definitely use this again when my dh begs for a fish fry. Thanks!

'OH MY GOODFISH!' This is the BEST! Fish Breading! I just made my Walleye from Burt Lake last week..:) Used this breading recipe and.. even my B/F said this is GOOD! only thing i changed was used my McCormick red & black pepper blend instead of caynne pepper but, i bet it is good with a hotter pepper! I used veg oil in a deep fry pan heated the oil to hot, dried the fillets, dipped them in egg then dredged them in the breading and fried in the hot oil till golden brown and done! AWESOME! thank's Kristi! this is a keeper :)

This is a great recipe. We love it. Easy to make and whoda thunk potato buds could add so much? I added a little bit of Old Bay seasoning too to give it that Chesapeake Bay touch and substituted flounder and orange roughy for the cod.

VERY GOOD! I couldn't believe when my kids even ate it! I generally like fish (we used Blue Gill), but this was GREAT! Thank you for a new family favorite!

This fish is really good with some changes. For the first batch I followed the recipe exactly but the coating just didn't stick, so then I dipped it in eggs then in the breading mixture then back in the eggs and back in the breading to give an extra coating. Delicious!

This was excellent!!! We like things spicy so I added alot more spices and I think I'll use 1/2 cornmeal & 1/2 flour next time. Thank you Kristi! P.S. I tried the 1/2 cornmeal mixture yesterday and it was even better (the fish stayed crispy even cold).

Very good and tastes great on chicken and pork too.

Was very good and crunchy for oven baked fish. We were looking for a light fish recipe - didn't want to fry it - and this hit the spot.

This is a great recipe! My family loves it and always wishes I had made more. The fish is very tasty and seems to melt right in your mouth. I usually make the amount of coating called for in the recipe, but instead of dredging in a bag, I put the fish in a bowl with the coating, making sure to pick out any fish peices and fry them. I then put the extra coating in a freezer bag and freeze it until next time. There doesn't seem to be any negative effect to this, and I don't think it's unsanitary, as the coating is kept at a very low temperature until I fry the fish.

The whole family enjoyed this recipe and my husband said it was the best way to use instant mashed potatoes that he had ever heard. I followed the recipe to the letter but i will cut the cayenne in half next time, just as a personal preference. I will DEFINATELY make this again

We go salmon fishing every summer on Lake Michigan, and always have a plethora of fish in our freezer. On Fridays during Lent I try to come up with creative new ways to fix salmon. I ran across this recipe and gave it a shot even though it recommends white fish. It turned out great, but I have to confess that I am a double dipper, and I think that is what put it over the top. After dredging and coating a first time, right before I put it in the pan I dredge and coat again. I will be making this recipe again!!!

Really loved this one. Used on Haddock filets. Crunchy, nice seasoning, full flavor. I've never fried fish before but that's what the family wanted. Will definitely make this again. Only thing I did differently was use a beaten egg prior to dredging in the dry ingredients (versus soaking in cold water.) Yum!

We loved this and I toned down the cayenne because of my little ones. They always finish the whole fillet that I give them (they are 5 and 3)

Loved this! I also dipped my cod in egg before the coating. Beautiful and so yummy! Next time I will add more cayenne pepper for a little more kick. I have saved the rest of the coating to use at a later time for something else. We had homemade fries and coleslaw with our cod and it was a restauraunt quality meal for sure. Reminded us of food from San Fransisco's Fisherman's wharf vendors.

Halve the bread crumbs makes tons. Enough for 10 slices of fish

We loved this recipe, and had many compliments. we did dry the fish off, dip in an egg/milk mixture and fried in olive oil. Very tasty! thanks so much

Good.

Made just a little different. Used three pie plates for my work station.Put together about 2 c. Panko Bread Crumbs to 1 c.Corn Flake Crumbs, with about 1 tsp. of salt and 1 1/2 tsp.of Old Bay in one pie pan, then in another pie pan I added about 1 c. of flour with 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp of Old Bay The last an egg mixed with water beaten. Put your piece of fish in egg mixture, then in flour, then back in egg, then in Panko,bread crumbs. Fry on high heat, fry till it's the color you like, [flipping over to each side]drain on paper towel lined cookie sheet. Put in 200* oven to keep warm till your all done frying.

Yummmmmy. Thank to all for the great suggestions. I dredged in potoato/flour dry mixture, then the egg, then the dry mixture again before frying. I also cut the fish in about 1" strips, which helped the crispiness and made it nice for dipping in tartar sauce. Didn't have shortening, so used canola oil. We loved it.!

This was my first time to fry fish and I think it turned out pretty well. Just make sure that the oil is hot enough or the breading will not stay on the fish. I made the mistake of turning down the heat b/c I thought it was too hot, but it wasn't. Overall, it was really good.

I did not have enough potato flakes so i used 1 1/2 cups of potato flakes and 1 1/2 cups flour. i also used salmon and then deep friend it. this was very crispy and delicious. oh and i also addded 1/2 cup italian style bread crumbs. This is a very good recipe, the only thing i would highly reccomend is not soaking the fish in water. dry it really well and then dip in an egg and milk mixture then coat with dry mix.

JUST MADE THIS FOR MY DAUGHTER AND I. DELICIOUS!!!!!! THANK YOU FOR THIS AWESOME RECIPE!!! I ADDED SOME SALT FOR A LIL MORE TASTE! :)

Was soooooo good!!!

This is a GREAT fish coating! It's not your regular run of the mill bland same old same old! My kids are 3,4 and 6 and they LOVE it! They eat 1 to 2 fillets each! Using tilapia is the only change i make because it is alot less expensive. TRY THIS RECIPE!!!

I finally made this.. coated with mayo and then in the potatoe flakes, etc.. It is a keeper !!!

I left out cayenne(kids), used canola oil, made 1/2 batch breading, it was plenty. Very good, easy, also great as onion chips. Definate keeper.

My kids loved this!

nice recipe makes a great beer batter also

GREAT! instead of 1 cup flour, used 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup corn meal. loved it

Definitely a keeper! No leftovers like usual. My son actually went back for seconds which never happens with fish. I've tried it with both haddock and salmon fillets ans they both rocked! The spicy "kick" made the fish.

I had some fresh sea bass but I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it and this recipe was delicious. I made a couple of changes though, I didn't have potato flakes so I just used flour. (I want to try this again with the flakes though.) Also, I whisked an egg in a bowl and dipped the fish in that then sprinkled the seasoning's right onto the fish then dredged in the flour and fried in butter. My fish had skin on so I only dredged and seasoned one side and cooked skin side first. The skin crisped up so the fish easily came away. I served it with new potatoes cooked with butter, salt and pepper then a sprinkled some freshly grated parmesan cheese on top and had green beans with chopped sweet pepper. I would definitely make this again!

Hard to rate this one. I am sensitive to wheat and left out the flour (as suggested) and the only instant potatoes I had on hand were more granular than flaky, which is probably why the breading didn't stick to the fish while frying. I ended up with a pile of bland, crispy potato bits and even blander fish. Will try again with flakier dry potatoes. If it's a significant improvement I'll change my rating.

WOW!! I didn't know that homemade fish sticks could be so crispy! I made the dipping mix, only adjusting the spices to reflect what I have on hand. Fantastic. Will definitely make again. We used some halibut up that was getting too old to taste good grilled. The kids all liked it except my 2 year old. That may have been due to other factors though! You sometimes can't tell with that age. Anyway, I loved them!

We've searched for a crispy fish recipe for close to a year now. I've made them all - and not been pleased w/ any - UNTIL THIS!!! I made a mistake and added 1c bread crumbs instead of the flour. We loved it so much, I doubt I'll make the change. I did add the garlic powder to the potato flake mixture - but to the fish, I sprinkled paprika, cayenne pepper, sea salt and onion powder on both sides. I also lightly whipped 3 egg whites to coat the fish before dipping it in the dry ingred. We fryed the fish in peanut oil heated to approx. 375 degrees. The fish fillets were done in approx. 2 minutes - and were not oily. This recipe is a home run!!!!!!

I found myself out of my regular fish fry so I immediately pulled up this site and found this seemingly easy and well received recipe. I followed these directions exactly. I found the fish greasy and the coating tasteless. Perhaps we are just more accustomed to spicy, crisp and DRY fish. I, personally, think the biggest problem with this fish is that the coating makes the fish absorb too much of the grease, making the fish itself "wet" and gummy instead of the flaky and moist texture you would want. I used Talapia, the easiest fish in the world. Our normal fish coating is dry Louisiana Fish Fry. Don't hesitate to try this because of my review.. I'm sure I must have done something wrong being that so many others raved about it. This is just one person's opinion:)

Yummy. My husband doesn't usually like fish but he said he liked this fish!!!

I'm from Singapore and I tried cooking this recipe for my family and everyone loved it! There were some problem looking for the ingredients in Singapore, for example, potato flakes and what is cayenne pepper? We used the packaged bread crumbs instead, and everything turned out great! Didn't add cayenne pepper. Thanks Kristi

Loved loved loved it!!! As many posters have said, my husband does not care for fresh fish but he was amazed that he liked this fish so well. Thank you for sharing this recipe--it is definitely a keeper.

My husband & I enjoyed this dish very much even though he usually frowns when I say fish is for dinner. He asked that I be sure to keep the recipe.

My grandson was here visiting and he practically liked his plate clean! This was a great dish. Thanks for sharing.

I am not a fish person but I cooked this using white fish I got on sale. The price was right so Ibought it. I used oil to fry it but it was nice and cruncy and good flavor to it. will make again

I used this reciepe with cod and it was fantastic, the kids loved it, fish looked just like the picture crispy and brown. It reheated well the next day, will use this reciepe again.

I've always got potato flakes on hand (for thickening soups/stews/etc.) and never thought of it as a coating! VERY nice change of pace from seasoned bread crumbs and much crispier! Have made this several times now... will try with 1/2 flour and 1/2 cornmeal as one reviewer suggested on the next go 'round. Thanks! (I'm going to 'borrow' this coating for some b/s chicken, too!)

Great recipe! Did change it a bit, used one cup dry potato flakes, one cup Panko and one cup flour. Reduced the spices, but next time I'll use the full amount. Fried in Canola oil. Breading nice and crispy.

3 = liked it I didn't love this, but that's OK cause I shouldn't be eating fried food anyway right? My fish didn't look like the picture at all. I didn't have that much coating nor was it as nicely colored. I will not try this again, but I liked it :)

This was fabulous...to make it more "picky kid friendly" I will use less cayenne...otherwise it is perfect as written

We didn't have the potato flakes and replaced with cracker crumbs and it worked well. The spiciness was fabulous/

Very tasty and crispy. I used 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup cornmeal as other reviewers suggested. I also added an egg in the milk dip to help the mixture stick to the fish better. Great recipe.

We really liked the crispiness of this and it had good flavor. I didn't find that it held any more oil than any other coating (used canola). I had exactly 1# of cod - 4 fillets - but only needed 1/2 the amount of coating mixed. No problem - I froze the rest for next time. Thanks for posting!

This is an excellent recipe. I usually use fish fry and it always turns out well, but I had to try this one. The outside is SO crispy, and the inside stays moist because you don't have to overcook to get a crisp outside. Thanks for a new favorite!

I made this recipe with fresh walleye and it was awesome! We didn't fry the first batch long enough so it wasn't real crispy. We fried the second batch a little longer and it was crispy and had great flavor. It took no time to prepare and was even good the next day.

I had a thought...try the roasted garlic or herb potato flakes...sounds good to me!!

Very tasty... fried it in vegetable oil in a large non-stick skillet

YUM :) Made it w/ catfish and made a chipotle tartar sauce out of mayo, relish, hot sauce and cajun seasoning. easy and tasty

My 9 year old loved this. I did not have the cayenne pepper and had intended to leave out anyway due to the kids but my husband felt that it needed more flavor. So, next time I make it, I will put some in. I took another person's advice and cut the coating ingredients in half. It made more than enough to dip the fish in.

This was excellent!!! We left out the cayenne pepper (for the kids' sake) and it still had great flavor. I had just pulled a package of frozen fish from the freezer and put it in the cold water while I was mixing the dry ingredients... it was thawed and ready to cook by the time the oil was at the correct temperature. We will use this one many times!!! Thanks :)

This is a favorite recipe exactly as written, but now that it's in my rotation, I use garlic potato flakes which I now keep on hand just for this recipe, 1/2 C of the flour and as a long-time Marylander, I should move out of this beautiful state if I didn't substitute Old Bay for the cayenne. Very, very good recipe.

I was looking for a fried fish recipe that didn't use eggs and came across this one. I cut down a little on the pepper, substituted cornmeal for about 1/3 of the flour, and fried the fish in canola oil. It turned out crunchy and yummy! I did have a lot of "breading" left over, so next time I'll make half the amount so it doesn't get wasted. Thanks for the good recipe!

Made this as written with the exception of only putting in a sprinkle of chili powder due to serving to a 1 and 2 year old. It was great but needed some additional flavor. Next time will make with full amount to see if that helps. :)

The potato flakes added an interesting taste and very crispy!

Great fish. My whole family enjoyed it! The only change I made was frying in canola oil. Yum!

This is the BEST fish breading recipe I have ever made!!! So easy that I know it by heart!! I now keep a container of it on hand all the time. Sometimes I'll throw in a little panko for extra crunchiness.

Definitely a keeper!! Hubby likes a crunchy batter and I prefer a smooth batter, but I gave this a try. I was pleasantly suprised at how this turned out. I used the exact ingredients (no variations) and deep fried in oil. It wasn't too spicy either. It was actually perfect. We are definitely making this again!!!

This is wonderful, best fish breading that I've ever had very crispy just as the recipe states. I always have to have tar-tar sauce with my fish but not with this recipe. I will add a little more seasonings next time though. I'm going to try it on chicken too. Thanks, wonderful recipe who knew potato flakes make such a crispy coating???

This was the first time that I had EVER fried fish, and I was really nervous. I am a vegetarian, but not averse to cooking for my husband. Not only was this easy, but he raved on and on about the fish. This is a definite keeper! I did change a few things, however. I threw in about a teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes, and omitted the cayenne pepper. I used about 1 tablespoon of cajun seasoning instead. My husband said that it was the most flavorful fish that he's ever eaten! Thanks!

delicious!!! I will definitely make again.

Very Good tho I did cut potato flakes and flour in 1/2.I used low sodium seasoned salt,also I used Crisco Vegetable oil for frying,healthier choice than shortening. Drained well in paper toweling twice. SUPERB.Thank you.

My hubby takes over in the kitchen whenever we have fish for dinner. He found this recipe and made a few changes. He sub'd steak spice for the cayenne pepper, we only had regular shortening in the house and he preferred to dip the fish in egg before putting into the potato coating. Doing it this way gave the coating a more golden look. This was a very tasty way to do the fish and my kids inhaled all of it. Thank you for this recipe!

This recipe was good but not as crispy as i expected.Try dipping the fish in egg and milk then coat with mix.... really good!

Great recipe! I used regular salt instead of season salt, as I was out of it. I also just fried the fish in vegetable oil. It came out great tasting and crunchy, how we like it!

Being vegetarian, we used a vegetarian "fish" just to see how it would come out. Like another reviewer we used canola oil instead of shortening and crushed saltine crackers instead of potato flakes. Wow! Surprisingly good results. Thank you Kristi!

I used tilapia... Followed recipe exactly except my crisco wasn't butter flavored. It was amazing! I'll never fry fish any other way. My picky kids loved it! Very crunchy and nice flavor

I didn't add the 5TB black pepper called for, believing it to be excessive for something to be fed to children. The potato flakes added an interesting new texture that was quite good.

We loved this recipe. It was perfectly seasoned and the coating stuck to the fish perfectly. I always have problems with the coating flaking off during frying, but this came out great. The texture of this was wonderful-it truely is "crispy" fish. The only change I made was frying in canola oil instead of crisco.

My 5 year old grandaughter could not stop eating this. Anything the grandkids will eat like that is a winner in my book.

I thought this recipe was good, but still lacked just a bit of flavor. Maybe adding lemon pepper instead of ground black pepper, as well as sprinkling a bit of lemon juice on the fish would help. I thought the amount of spice was great, but adding some citrus would be perfect.

I added extra seasonings all round. I used garlic potato flakes and served with a homemade red onion tartar sauce.The fish skin was amazing!

Wow -- this was great. I am not inclined to fry foods often but I am glad I did with this one. I used fresh ocean perch filets, they were light, crispy and delicious. homemade tartar sauce was the icing on the cake and my husband and daughter GOBBLED this up. I was thinking we would have a lot of leftovers -- not at all. And, I used brown rice flour in addition to the potato flakes to keep it gluten free. Thanks for the great recipe -- I will be making again.

I tried it with the cornmeal instead of following as written. I didn't like the cornmeal crunch. That said, I think the potato flakes alone were bland. I could taste dry potato flakes over the fish a few times and wished I'd added more seasoning. It IS a great base! Will try again!

This was quick and easy. We liked how crispy the coating was but we found it way too salty. You can really taste the seasoning salt as well as the cayenne. If I make this again, I would cut back on the seasoning salt and probably leave out the cayenne all together.

Fantastic! Crispy and delicious.

Absolutely delicious! I used a little less shortening and a little more pepper.

I used this recipe for haddock, and substituted 1/2 cup corn starch - instead of flour- tasted great! Will make this recipe again- but I shouldn't have flipped the fish because it fell apart- the shortening is deep enough to not flip.

Doctored up the seasonings a bit but LOVE the use of the potato flakes! Boyfriend usually doesn't care for fried foods but he LOVED this! Served fried cod with "Rachel's Wasabi Cocktail Sauce" made hecka hot as preferred. Will add this one to the roattion for sure! Thanks!

Tasty fish! Nice and spicy. Rather than use shortening for the frying, I went ahead and just sprayed my pan with some olive oil. It was a little harder to cook, and flaked more, but it cut alot of the fat out.

this was a great recipe mm at first i thought it wouldnt be good with butter but iwas wrong it was delicious it was te best!!!!!

This breading is wonderful! My whole family loved the fish prepared this way. I fried the fish in a sautee pan with a little bit of canola oil instead of deep frying it. Just turn when golden brown. Very good flavor and crispy. Really brought out the taste of the fish. I also used butter and herb instant potato flakes since I was out of the plain. Very good!

AMAZING!!!! Would be excellent on Chicken too (taste like KFC).

Crispy & easy. Frying is always a pain, but this recipe makes it turn out darn good. Tip: drain on paper grocery bags.

Fixed this for the first time tonight; could not be easier to prepare and serve. The taste is delicious and the texture is delightful. Recommended highly.

I'm sure this would be amazing deep fried but I went for a pan-fried version. My only complaint is it is WAY too spicy--and I LOVE my food hot. I will cut the spice in half next time but will def. make this again. Lots of flavor, delicious, just too much cayenne.

Fantastic! The only variation I use was to dry the fish after water soak and dip in beaten eggs before coating the Flounder. Pan fried until golden brown turning once. The butter flavored shorening, used for frying, adds a nice flavor. Great recipe! I'll be using this for all of my fish dinners unless something better comes along.

Worked well. Served with tempura dipping sauce rice and edamame

I used this breading with Lake Erie yellow perch fillets. It was wonderful!!! So easy, and no eggs needed. I will be using this recipe again. Thank you Kristi.