I never ate fish sticks as a kid and quite frankly don’t eat them as an adult either. My older daughter used to love the frozen ones when she was little, but I couldn’t stomach the taste. Thats when I decided that I needed to create my own homemade fish sticks.
I decided to use Tilapia for these because of its mild taste and white flaky center. I use Panko bread crumbs because they crisp up nice when lightly fried. These Tilapia fish sticks are crunchy on the outside, but still tender on the inside. I like to dip it in my lemon garlic mayo, but my kids still prefer ketchup. Either way you won’t be disappointed. You can serve them with oven roasted fries and vegetables and call it a night!
Crispy Tilapia Fish Sticks
Crispy Tilapia fish sticks are crunchy on the outside, but still moist and tender on the inside. Once you make these homemade fish sticks you’ll never buy store bought again.
Ingredients
- 6 Tilapia filets
- 1/2 cup flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
- 2 eggs, beaten with a dash of Tabasco
- 1 1/2 cups Panko bread crumbs, seasoned with salt and pepper
- Salt & Pepper
- Olive Oil
- Lemon ( cut into wedges for serving)
Lemon-Garlic Mayo Dip
- 1 cup Mayonaise
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Juice of 1 lemon (about 2 tbsps)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Prepare fish by cutting into strips. Keeping the thin side long and cutting the thick side in half on the diagonal. Season fish strips with salt and pepper.
- Line a baking sheet with foil.
- Set up an assembly line with 3 shallow bowls.
1 bowl for flour, 1 bowl for eggs, 1 bowl for Panko bread crumbs - Time to coat the fish! Doing one piece at a time.
* Lightly coat fish in the flour shaking off any excess.
* Next, dip into the egg so it’s evenly coated.
* Lastly, coat the fish in the Panko crumbs turning over a couple times to be sure it’s evenly coated. Pressing panko breadcrumbs into the fish to help it stick.
* Place the piece of fish onto the prepared baking sheet with foil. Repeat with remaining fish. Sprinkle with salt & pepper over the breaded fish. - Line a plate with paper towels and set next to the stove. This is where you will put the cooked fish strips.
- In a large pan warm olive oil over medium heat. Depending on the size of your pan being sure not to over crowd it, place 4-5 pieces of fish and fry until crisp and golden brown. About 2-3 minuets per side. Remove and place on prepared plate. Continue to cook the remaining fish in batches until complete. Removing any browned or burned pieces from pan. Adding more oil if necessary to continue.
- Season the cooked fish with salt and serve with lemon wedges and garlic mayo dip.
Instructions for Lemon-Garlic Mayo Dip:
Combine all ingredients into a small bowl and mix. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve as a dipping sauce for the fish.
Notes
- Whenever I am coating a protein in flour, egg or breadcrumbs I always season the flour, egg and breadcrumbs. So add 1/4 tsp each of salt & pepper to the flour and panko bread crumbs and use a fork to stir to combine. I also like a dash of Tobasco sauce in my egg wash. This is totally optional, but I find it add a little something. Not heat, just flavor.
- You can prepare the breaded fish sticks ahead of time. Complete steps 1-4 then cover the baking sheet with foil and refridegerate until ready to cook. These can be prepared in the morning and then fried off for dinner.
