Homemade Healthy Air Fryer Fish Sticks Recipe
This Homemade Healthy Air Fryer Fish Sticks Recipe only requires 10 ingredients (INCLUDING salt and pepper): cod or tilapia, spices: salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, whole wheat flour, eggs, lemon juice, panko breadcrumbs, and old bay seasoning! Oven baked instructions listed as well.
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time15 mins
Total Time30 mins
Course: Main Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: air fryer, healthy, seafood
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 437kcal
- 4 (4 oz) fillets frozen cod or tilapia thawed
- 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt plus more for sprinkling after air frying
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 large eggs
- 1 large lemon juiced, plus more for serving after air frying
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 2 teaspoons old bay
- Tarter sauce HIGHLY recommended for serving
Thaw fish, if using frozen.
Cut each fillet of thawed fish into 4 pieces. You should end up with 16 sticks that are 1 inch wide by 2 inches long.
Pat dry with paper towels.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk together whole wheat flour, paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
In another bowl, whisk together eggs and lemon juice.
In an additional bowl, whisk together panko and old bay seasoning.
Dunk each fish piece into the flour mixture, then the egg mixture, and lastly, the panko mixture.
Make sure each piece of fish is getting fully coated at each step. You may need to press the panko mixture into the fish to get it to stick.
Spray tops with cooking spray to encourage browning.
For the air fryer: recommended method!
Hit “ON” on the air fryer.
Then hit “PRE-HEAT”.
Set the temperature to 400 degrees F and set the timer to 10-12 minutes.* I'd start with 10 minutes.
Hit “START”.
The air fryer will beep at you when it’s finished preheating.
Once preheated, spray the basket with cooking spray and place in approximately 6 pieces of fish. Make sure they aren’t touching.
After 5 minutes, carefully flip each piece of fish, then continue cooking for the remaining 5 minutes.
Remove from air fryer, sprinkle with more salt (if necessary, I definitely needed more salt) and a generous squeeze of lemon.
Repeat with remaining fish.
Serve with tarter sauce!
For the oven:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F and line a rimmed baking sheet with a silicone baking mat.
Place prepared fish onto prepared baking sheet.
Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, flipping halfway through. You may want to broil at the end to get these more crispy.
Remove from oven, sprinkle with more salt (if necessary, I definitely needed more salt) and a generous squeeze of lemon.
Serve with tarter sauce!
Take 5 seconds to . We greatly appreciate it!
*I needed 10 minutes. Time may vary depending on thickness. You can always add more time after checking one piece of fish.
I actually think the nutritional information is a bit aggressive, since you don't actually use all the flour/eggs/panko. This is just a rough estimate.
Serving: 4pieces (out of 16) | Calories: 437kcal | Carbohydrates: 58g | Protein: 34g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 154mg | Sodium: 1014mg | Potassium: 757mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 830IU | Vitamin C: 15.4mg | Calcium: 170mg | Iron: 5.2mg