I’m not from the South contrary to popular belief (even mine sometimes). My roots are so deep in the South that I sometimes forget I was born in the urban city of Chicago and raised in the burbs. I’ve got Midwestern written all over me but Southern flavor flowing through my veins. It’s hard when both of your parents are from Mississippi and frequent time is spent there visiting my grandparents and catching up with family. One of the things I feel most connected to in the South are the fish frys.
We have them at family reunions and Thanksgiving and are even planning a fun family one this summer. We get the best fillets (my daddy loves bringing back as much as he can when he is down in the Delta), and we fry them up along with other fish, hush puppies and fries and serve with my garlic bread recipe. It’s a soul food feast for the ages if I do say so myself.
A few years back, I started to crave my roots but with a healthier spin. That’s how I ended up creating this Spicy Oven Fried Catfish recipe. No frying is necessary for it, and you won’t even miss it, trust me! The flavor is perfectly spicy, the breading is crunchy, and the fish is flaky and moist yielding the most spectacular results. Thanks to cayenne, paprika, lemon pepper and a hint of hot sauce, you get all that Southern spice you crave without the guilt.
Because this oven fried catfish recipe is so on point, I’m thinking about throwing my family’s first fish un-fry. And I might add this Grilled Catfish recipe to the mix as well. Wonder how THAT will go over!
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- Non-stick olive oil spray
- 2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2-2 teaspoons seasoned salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons hot sauce
- 1 pound catfish fillets cut into smaller pieces
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper liberally sprayed with non-stick olive oil spray.
- In a brown bag or ziploc bag, add cornmeal, flour, salt, pepper, cayenne, lemon pepper, and paprika and shake together.
- In a deep pie plate or large shallow bowl, whisk together eggs and hot sauce.
- Add each fillet to the bag of cornmeal breading to coat then dip into beaten eggs on both sides, then lastly add back into the cornmeal breading and shake liberally to coat well. Place the fillet on the coated baking sheet. Repeat with each fillet.
- Liberally spray the tops of each fillet with non-stick baking spray coating the fish well until completely covered in spray. Bake for 25-30 minutes depending on thickness of fillets until golden brown but still juicy in the inside.
- Remove fish and cool for 5 minutes then serve with lemon and chopped parsley.
Recipe Video
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This recipe looks so good! I love fried catfish (I’m not southern either, but growing up in Oklahoma, I definitely picked up a taste for some southern-ish food). I’m absolutely trying this!!!
Hooray let me know how it turns out.
Fellow Mississippi girl here to. I was just tellng myself the other day that I needed to come up with a recipe for “baked, fried” catfish. Well, I ran across this and it looks perfect. Ill be going home to MS for a week to take my daughter to college and I am hosting dinner at a cottage in town. I am going try this which will turn some heads and turn up some noses because it’s not fried but I am certain they are going to like it.
I’ve never cooked fish in my life. My husband fishes and he will fry it up but I’m clueless. Can I use thawed out filets from the store (we have none on reserve) or do you suggest fresh fish?
Filets from the grocery store’s fish market area is best if you can do it.
Hi Jocelyn, I made this fish for New Year Eve, and It was great , I paired it with broil shrimp in chili sauce, rice and broccoli. My Hubby really enjoyed it. My catfish pieces were really large so what we didn’t eat that night we ate with grits the next morning. I will be making it again. Thank you,
Gosh that sounds absolutely amazing!!!!
I have made this 3 times since discovering the recipe. Love it! Tonight, on a whim, I decided to try and use this same recipe for onion rings. They were FABULOUS. Unfortunately, 25 min was almost too long in the oven for the rings – maybe if I made them a little bigger – they were 1/2 inch slices – they wouldn’t get too brown. Nonetheless, we loved the rings and from now on – it is this recipe for fish and onions.
OMG I must definitely try this for onion rings. I bet it is incredible!!!
This is the best fish recipe for the oven I’ve ever used! I’ve tried many that looked promising but turned out soggy. This one does not disappoint. My husband and I love it and it’s replaced how I cook fish at home.
Hooray Debra!!!! I’m so so glad you enjoyed it. It is certainly my fave recipe!
I made this tonight – didn’t have catfish so I used Pollock filets. My wife can’t take the heat so I left out the cayenne, lemon pepper (because I didn’t have any) and the hot sauce. They were absolutely delicious. I love my deep-fried fish and this is even better and will be the go-to recipe from now on. Can’t wait to try catfish. I love traveling the south and getting all that great fried catfish. Up here in the north, for some reason, they just can’t get it to taste the same. I read an earlier comment about adding Old Bay – I will try that, too. Wish I could give this recipe even more stars than 5!!