This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
This air fryer fish fillet recipe is yet another awesome example of the power of the air fryer. Golden, crispy fish fillets cooked to perfection and ready in just twenty minutes. Serve with some lemon wedges, some tartar sauce, and maybe even some air fried green beans and you’ll have a great time.
The best thing about this recipe is that even though the outside of the fish is crispy and golden, the inside remains firm and moist.
Air Fryer Fish Recipe
Air fryers are popular for a reason—they let you enjoy crispy favorites with way less oil. This easy fried fish recipe tastes like classic fish and chips but is lighter, healthier, and super easy to clean up.
What Kind of Fish Can Be Cooked in an Air Fryer?
You can use any kind of fish fillet for this recipe. We recommend any firm white fish. Classics like cod, tilapia, grouper, pollock, or hake are great. You could go Southern-style and use catfish fillets, or even try salmon! Ling or barramundi also make great fish fillets for the air fryer if you can get them.
You’ll Need
How To Air Fry Fish
Generally, we recommend using fresh fish fillets for this recipe. However, if you have high-quality frozen fish fillets available, you are more than welcome to try this recipe using those instead. Just be sure to completely thaw them out before adding them to the air fryer.
- You’ll want to coat your fish fillets in your choice of breading and then spay with a cooking spray.
- For your breading, you can use any store-bought breadcrumbs, although we do recommend that you try making your own breadcrumbs. You should try mixing the crumbs – either store-bought or homemade – with some seasoning. Onion or garlic powder,Cajun seasoning and black pepper are great places to start.
- Next, you cook the fish in the air fryer at 200°C (390°F) for 10-12 minutes. Flip the fish at about 6-7 minutes through to make sure it’s evenly cooked on both sides.
How to Thaw Frozen Fish
There’s something of an art to thawing frozen fish. The best way to do this is to leave it in the fridge overnight so it gradually warms up. You don’t want the fish to heat up too quickly from frozen or it will get mushy.
If you’re only using small pieces, you could place the fillet in ice-cold water until it has thawed. Either way, the secret is a gradual increase in temperature.
Recipe Tips
- You can use fresh fillets, or try using frozen fillets as long as they are completely thawed out. Don’t use fillets that are too thin. Thin strips don’t work well for this recipe as they are more likely to overcook and become rubbery. You could, if you wanted, use thinner fish strips to make fish sticks.
- Avoid overcrowding your air fryer basket. Crowded fillets won’t cook on the sides, they have worse heat dispersal, and don’t take on the beautiful golden-brown color that we all love about fried fish.
- You may need to adjust your cooking time depending on the thickness of your fish fillets. Different types of fish might also require adjustment to your cooking time, as some varieties of fish have denser flesh than others. You can test the doneness of your fish fillet by taking a fork and seeing how easily the fillet flakes. Cooked fish will flake easily beneath the fork.
Serving Suggestions
Of course, the classic side for fried fish would be French fries, or as they call them in England, chips. It’s pretty easy to make fresh fries in the air fryer, as all you really need is a potato that you can cut into strips and some oil.
If you’re feeling healthy, you could always go for green beans or Asparagus to accompany your fish fillets. You could make potato cakes, and of course we all love tartar sauce with fish and chips.
Most of the charm in this dish is in its simplicity, so we highly recommend that you avoid overcomplicating things when it comes to the sides. Something straightforward and heartwarming like fries, Roasted potatoes, or a simple Tomato and cucumber salad is a great way to go.
More Air Fryer Recipes
Pin this now to find it later
Pin It
Air Fryer Fish
Equipment
Ingredients
Air Fryer Fish:
- 6 2 pounds| 1 kg fish fillets
- 1 cup Panko or regular bread crumbs
- 1 large egg
- 4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Cajun Creole seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Cooking spray
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
Air Fryer Green Beans:
- 1 pound 500 grams green beans
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a shallow bowl, combine the bread crumbs, Cajun creole seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper and salt.
- In a separate shallow bowl, mix together the egg and lemon juice.
- Dip each fish fillet in the egg mixture and dredge in bread crumbs. Spray with a cooking spray and transfer to your air fryer.
- Cook at 390°F (200°C) for 10-12 minutes. Flip the fish fillets halfway through the total cook time. Remove from the air fryer. Garnish with parsley.
- Optionally, add the green beans, garlic to a medium bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat.
- Place the green beans in the air fryer basket and cook for 7 minutes at 370°F | 180°C. Toss the basket after 4 minutes. Remove green beans and serve with air fried fish.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
All rights reserved. CHEF JAR. All images and content are copyright protected. PLEASE do not use my images without my permission. If you want to share this recipe, PLEASE provide a link back to this post.
Seafood Recipes
[ess_grid alias=”fish recipes”][/ess_grid]
Made it tonight with grouper fillets, and it was fantastic!Definitely a keeper!
Thank you Jorge!
A great recipe! Simple and easy to follow! This one goes on rotation!
Thanks Gracie!
I used cod using your directions and it was fantastic! Thanks !
Thanks Maria!