Grab your Air Fryer and make this Crispy Air Fryer Fish ASAP. Covered in a crispy delicious crust, you can have guilt free fried fish as often as you like.
Summer fish fries are my favorite outings to attend. You know, the ones they have when your uncle who can season the fish like a champ comes over, fries up some amazing white fish, and the whole family gets together and enjoys. I’m talking that fried fish with that amazing golden fried glow. I’m talking that catfish, whiting, perch, yummy! I have those days that I want that amazing fish at home BUT I don’t want to deal with frying in oil.
Now thanks to my air fryer, the one I bought on a whim during my pregnancy, I can make delicious golden fish filets whenever I want without all the grease, and guilt.
Now I bet a few people are reading in disbelief that I made these golden beauties in my air fryer. How is this air fryer fish so golden? How is it so crispy and flaky? It’s all about the method, which I’ll explain below in the recipe instructions as well as the step by step photos below.
How Do I Air Fry Fish?
Great Question! Air Fried Fish is pretty easy and takes about four simple steps. The beauty with this recipe is that you don’t need any extra ingredients outside of your typical fish breading and a little bit of oil in a spray bottle. All you’ll do is:
Place fish in your favorite fish seasoning
Place in greased air fryer basket
Cook, spray, turn, cook some more
All done.
I like to make my own fish breading for this air fried fish recipe as I always have the ingredients and I like to season my fish some more after it’s cooked. I do the salt and pepper after it’s cooked for extra flavor. You can create your own or use the store bought kind, both would work.
Tips for Air Fried Fish
- I’d suggest using fresh fish fillets for this recipe or good quality frozen fillets. If you’re fillets are too thin, they won’t do well in this recipe as they won’t have enough time to crisp well.
- Spray your oil only halfway through cooking as this will increase crispiness.
- Do not use the over the counter misting sprays in your air fryer (For Example, Pam). For whatever chemical reason, those things can take the coating right off your air fryer basket. Your best bet is to invest in a good oil mister. I use this one
. If you really love your over the counter spray and want to use it anyway, remove the fish from the air fryer basket before spraying to make sure it doesn’t land on your basket. - Do not overcrowd your air fryer basket or your fish will steam rather than fry.
- Make sure when spraying, the fish is fully covered in oil and all seasoning has been fully covered with no flour spots showing. If flour spots are showing, you will not get that good golden color.
- I use whiteing fish in this recipe however this method will work for any other white fish. If using catfish, follow my method for soaking in milk first, which can be found on my very first my forking life blog post, Fried Catfish..
- Eat fried fish immediatley. All fried foods are better that way.
- You must have hot sauce. I mean, it’s just a must.
If you’re looking for a delicious side to thit Air Fried Fish, try these Air Fryer Potato Wedges.
I’m having so much fun with my air fryer that I’m looking forward to sharing more Air frying recipes with you all. Make sure to check out my Marinated Air Fried Salmon, Lobster Tails in the Air Fryer, Perfect Air Fryer Steak , Crispy Air Fried Coconut Shrimp, Healthier General Tso’s Chicken in the Air Fryer, Air Fryer Brussel Sprouts, Air Fryer Fried Chicken.
Air Fryer Fish
Ingredients
- 4-6 Whiting Fish fillets cut in half
- Oil to mist
Fish Seasoning
- ¾ cup very fine cornmeal
- ¼ cup flour
- 2 tsp old bay
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp paprika
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp black pepper
- OR
- Your favorite fish seasoning
Instructions
- Combine ingredients for fish seasoning in a Ziplock bag and shake. Set to the side. In the alternative, you could use your favorite fish seasoning. Rinse and pat dry your fish fillets with paper towels. They should still be damp. Place fish fillets in ziplock bag and shake, until fillets are fully covered with seasoning. Place fillets on a baking rack to allow any excess flour to fall off. Grease the bottom of your air fryer basket and place the fillets in the basket. Cook filets on 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Open basket and spray the fish on the side that is facing up before flipping, ensuring that the fish is fully coated. Flip and cook other side for 7 minutes. Remove fish and serve.
Video
Notes
Non-Aerosil Oil Sprayer Bottle
Silicone Kitchen Tongs
Nutrition
Step by Step photos of Air Fryer Fish
Pin Crispy Air Fryer Fish
Find more Air Fryer Tips and Trick here.
Garrett P.
Sunday 18th of October 2020
I'm new to the whole air fryer concept. I purchased a pre-owned and wasn't getting the results I wanted and had start to blame it on the air fryer. It was actually the air fryer-fryer(that would be me) that had the problem. LOL I didn't know to spray down the food after the batter. I Thanks to this post, I am having nice crispy perch and parmesan zucchini dinner tonight.
Kia
Monday 14th of September 2020
I used your recipe and it turned out delicious. My family loved it. I tweaked it a little because I sprayed both sides with oil and shortened the time because my pieces were a little smaller. A couple of sprays of oil instead of two inches is a much healthier way to have fried food. Guilt free indulgence.
Joe
Wednesday 5th of August 2020
We love It!
Tanya
Wednesday 5th of August 2020
Thank you :)
Leonard K
Tuesday 28th of July 2020
Hi Tanya Been looking for someone who has optimized a crispy air fryer fish COMPLETELY OIL FREE. See yours and so many others do this but still spray oil on the fish. Would be lots healthier if you did not. Air fried fish was the litmus test when I got my Innsky 10.6qt, wash fish, coat in Louisianna Cajun spicy dry batter and cook in air fryer. Was looking for a beer batter for air fryer without ANY oil. Wonder if one of you creative cooks could figure this out? Looks good tho.
Tanya
Wednesday 29th of July 2020
Hi Leonard, I tried it without the oil and it just didn't get as nice and golden. It wasn't bad, it just didn't have the shine I'm used too. Beer batter may be different. My guess is that you would need to coat the fish, then freeze it, and then fried. However, I don't think those results would be the same as deep fried.
Rosalynn Tobin
Sunday 26th of July 2020
I'm doing chicken drumsticks in my air fryer, but, it seems like they cook to a crisp......they are hard to eat....do I have the air fryer up to high ...I have an xl Air Fryer and the degrees say 140...160....200....how high should I have the air fryer for the chicken drumsticks to be eaten????
Tanya
Monday 27th of July 2020
Hi Rosalynn, you're probably cooking them too long. I cook my drumsticks on 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes. How long you cook them will depend on the size of the drumsticks and your air fryer. Here's my drumstick recipe. Hope it helps :) https://www.myforkinglife.com/sticky-bbq-air-fryer-chicken-legs/