My roots are straight up Mississippi so you know I was practically raised on fried fish and regular fish fries. When I first created this oven fried fish recipe, I was trying so hard to get all that Southern flavor with a crunchy flavorful crust but tender flaky inside. And trust me, I tested it over and over until I straight up nailed it without a pot of grease in sight. My fam absolutely adores this recipe so much that they request this as much as my OG fried catfish. Now that’s saying something.
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Video Tutorial
How to Make Oven Fried Fish
Step 1: 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.
Step 2: In a deep pie plate or large shallow bowl, whisk together eggs and hot sauce.
Step 3: Add each fillet to the beaten eggs on both sides.
Step 4: Then add back into the cornmeal breading and shake liberally to coat well. Place the fillet on the coated baking sheet. Repeat with each fillet.
Step 5: Liberally spray the tops of each fillet with non-stick baking spray coating the fish well until completely covered in spray.
Step 6: 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 before serving.
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Oven Fried Fish Recipe
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I’ll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later!
Ingredients
- Non-stick olive oil spray
- 2/3 cup fine 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 or other fish like tilapia, flounder, and cod
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper liberally sprayed with non-stick oil spray. I usually use olive oil spray but any other neutral spray will work.
- 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 into beaten eggs on both sides, then add 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.
Video
Notes
To Store
To store any leftovers, allow it to cool completely and then place it in an airtight container lined with paper towels to absorb any excess moisture. Refrigerate for up to 2 days. When reheating, warm it in the oven at 350 degrees F for about 10 to 15 minutes to help recrisp the coating and ensure the fish heats through evenly. An air fryer also works really well. Avoid the microwave as it can make the fish soggy. ÂNutrition
Recipe Tips
- Go fresh: The smell will tell you a ton. If you smell a super fishy scent coming from your fish, it ain’t fresh boos. I sometimes will buy frozen and it works well.
- For more crunch: Double dredge. You can dip the fish in the cornmeal batter then into the egg then back into the batter for more crunch.
- Spray really well: And I’m really talking well. Coat every ounce of that fish so that it is oil sprayed and lacking any dry spots. The dry spots won’t get crisp and golden if you don’t.
- Remove from baking pan: After the fish cools a little, I remove the fish and serve pretty quickly because the bottoms can get soggy if they sit too long.
Serving Suggestions
- Fish Fry Faves: Sides like hush puppies or creamy coleslaw work well with this recipe.
- Chicago Style: We love our mix of fried fish with spaghetti boos. Baked spaghetti is also fantastic.
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Thank you Jocelyn for another great recipe. I LOVE fried catfish but hate frying in oil since I trying to eat healthier. The oven fried catfish was amazing. It looked and taste like fried catfish. The outside was crispy and the fish was so moist on the inside. My husband loved it and we made Po’ Boy sandwiches with the leftovers the next day.
Hooray!!!! I’m so so glad you enjoyed it! This is definitely one of my fave recipes too!
Would you recommend using Swai or “Basa” rather than catfish? Wanted to use what I have on hand. And I prefer the mild taste and flaky texture of Swai.
Yes definitely give it a try and let me know how it turns out for you.
Just made this recipe. It came out just like the picture, perfectly breaded, deep fried looking, crispy on the outside, tender and juicy inside, but… the amount of salt is unbearable. I will make this recipe again soon, and will use 1/4 or 1/3 of salt in the recipe here. Thank you for this great idea!
Hi Marina, what type of salt did you use for this recipe? That makes the difference. I use seasoned salt and just updated the recipe to reflect this.
Do I have to cut the fish in half?
No you don’t.
This was very good and super easy to whip with ingredients that are always on hand. I used whole swai fillets and made them into sandwiches on a soft long roll, with a plentiful helping of homemade tartar sauce. They turned out beautifully and were super delicious. People, don’t be afraid to follow the directions and liberally coat with cooking spray after the coating. Looking forward to making these again. Thanks for sharing this. Five Stars!
Hooray! So glad you enjoyed this recipe so much!
This looks great. From the pictures I never would have guessed it was baked. I love fried fish. We will try this here come Sunday.
Awesome! Let me know how it turns out for you. It is one of my family’s favorite recipes!
This was absolutely delicious, tried the recipe exactly as written. Thank you for sharing!
Hooray I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Absolutely love this recipe. Made it last night for dinner and it was so perfectly golden brown and crispy on the outside and light moist and flaky on the inside!! I am so curious how the nutrition compares to the traditional fried…anyone know?
P.s. regardless of calories i will continue to use this recipe cleanup was a breeze! Thanks Grandbabycakes!!!
Hooray I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Finally a perfect recipe I’ve been needing and not fried? Thank you!!! Can’t wait to try!
I hope you enjoy it!
Can I try this recipe with shrimps???
Hi Mizz, I don’t think these will be exactly the same. I would try a fattier fish for this recipe instead.