Julie Clark
Posted: Updated:
Paleo Battered Fish
This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.
Make this crispy, Paleo Battered Fish for a healthy, 30-minute meal that kids will love!
Do you ever get stuck in the chicken and ground beef rut for dinner?
I know we do. To many of us, chicken and ground beef are the safe, easy meats to prepare at home. It’s true that they are easy, but I’m going to push you out of your little ground beef comfort zone today and show how quickly a paleo battered fish dinner can come together.
I know a lot of times kids (and even adults) can cringe at the idea of fish. This Paleo Battered Fish will become a favorite. How do I know? Because two of my kids were not happy with my choice of fish for dinner, but as soon as they had one bite of this crispy, fried cod, they suddenly thought fish was the best dinner ever.
Alaskan seafood is high in protein, low in sodium and saturated fat, and full of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. It comes from a natural environment which produces lean flesh and firm texture, with a delicious flavor. I chose cod for this battered fish, but Alaskan seafood also includes salmon, shellfish and whitefish and can be purchased fresh, frozen or even canned.
I was more than excited to share about Alaskan seafood in this battered fish recipe, which is one of my favorite comfort foods. I made this version paleo which means it is grain free, gluten-free, sugar-free and dairy free. Healthy, but still fantastically delicious.
And the kids still loved it. Success.
Don’t be scared off at the thought of making a fish dinner. Fish is easy to prepare and cooks quickly, making this a meal you can get on your table in under 30 minutes, and here’s how you’ll do it.
1. Mix up the batter, which is simply ¾ cup tapioca starch, ¼ cup coconut flour, 1 teaspoon garlic salt, 1 teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, 2 eggs and ¼ cup sparkling water. Why sparkling water? It’s a replacement for the beer in beer battered fish. If you’d like, you can just use plain water.
2. Get ½ a cup of olive oil heating over medium-heat on the stove so that when you add the fish it sizzles immediately.
3. The 5 Alaskan cod fillets that I used were large. I cut the fillets into two triangles to make 10 smaller pieces of fish. Make sure the cod fillets are defrosted and pat them dry with a paper towel so the batter sticks better.
4. Coat the fish in the batter and place them carefully in the hot oil. When using gluten-free/grain free ingredients, it’s important to handle the fish the least amount possible. The breading doesn’t stick on as well as with regular white flour. I placed the fish in the oil, then didn’t touch it for 4 minutes until I turned the fish. Then the fish cooked for another 3-4 minutes and I gently removed the fish to wire rack so that they can drip but stay crispy. (Make sure you have paper towels under the rack to catch the drips.)
It’s also important to not cook the fish to long. Depending on the thickness of the fish fillets, it will only take 3-5 minutes of frying on each side before it is done. Test the fish carefully with a fork and it should be white and flaky. If you cook the fish too long, it may get tough.
I hope your family will enjoy this paleo battered fish as much as we did!
Q: Do you get stuck in the ground beef and chicken ruts?
Q: What’s your favorite type of Alaskan seafood?
Paleo Battered Fish
Make this crispy, Paleo Battered Fish for a healthy, 30-minute meal that kids will love! Gluten Free, Grain Free, Sugar Free and Whole30.
Servings 5 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup tapioca starch
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup sparkling water
- 24 ounces Alaskan cod fillets
- 1/2 cup olive oil
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the tapioca starch, coconut flour, seasonings, eggs and water.
- Heat ½ cup of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.
- Cut the cod fillets in half diagonally (if they are too big and you'd like smaller pieces). Use a paper towel to gently dry the cod fillets.
- Once the oil is hot, coat the cod fillets with the batter and place them into the hot oil.
- Allow the fillets to cook for 4 minutes, then gently flip the fillets and allow them to cook for an additional 3-5 minutes until they are white and flaky inside. Be careful not to overcook.
- Once the fillets are done, use a spatula to remove them from the oil and place them on wire rack so that they stay crispy. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
Serving: 201g | Calories: 338kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 33g | Fat: 13g
Find more paleo recipes here.
Batter was perfect. Applied it to haddock. No slippage. Remember to keep oil hot, 375 at least before you add the fish, then bring the temp back up to 345 as you fry. An indispensable tool for any cook is an instant read thermometer. I recommend paying a bit more but choosing one from Thermoworks.
/Users/corinneferguson/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/resources/proxies/derivatives/d5/00/d599/UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_d599.jpg
I just made this for lunch for my husband and I and we both loved it! I read all the comments about the batter being too thick so I doubled the amount of sparkling water and it was a really nice consistency. It honestly came out perfect. It was a beautiful golden color and tasted great! Thank you so much for this recipe! I’ll be adding it to our rotation of meals.
This looks great! To get the batter to stick correctly you just mix the eggs separate from the dry ingredients. You dip in egg, then in the tapioca mixture. I can’t wait to try!
Absolutely delicious! Made this with haddock and it was amazing. Even the leftovers were good! My husband, who never prefers the paleo version of anything, said this recipe is a keeper. Thank you!
This batter was amazing! So nice to have an option without almond flour for a change. Worth converting the measurements to metric. For any Aussie peeps, it is 91g of Tapioca, 28g Coconut flour, 90ml sparkling water and the rest is the same. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Julie. Please replace my previous comment with the one below. Auto-correct on my phone messed up my “P.S.” 🙁
Delicious! My husband and I felt like we were eating at a restaurant! I did increase the club soda to 3/8 cup, replaced the garlic salt with garlic powder, and increased salt to 1 1/2 tsp., as others recommended. We have already added this to our dinner rotation. We had it with sweet potato fries. Thank you!
P.S. Here is the BEST recipe for sweet potato fries: http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1014647-sweet-potato-fries
Best Paleo batter I’ve ever tried and I’ve tried many-it actually sticks.
I do use lard rather than olive oil for high temperature frying. The fish turned out great
I haven’t yet, but plan to try it on veggies: asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower. I think it should work.
I can’t eat eggs and I am on stage one of AIP so I’m really limited. But I used your tapioca starch and coconut flour idea with salt and pan fried it. It gave it the crunch I was looking for! Thanks!!
WOW. Thank you for creating this recipe! I made it using kudzu starch, which is all I had. I also added twice the amount of garlic powder (a bit less salt) and used the liquid of some fermented tofu to give a cheesy flavor (instead of sparkling water). AMAZING. I am so pleased with how the batter held together so well and is scrumptious around fish. This satisfied my breaded fish craving!!!!
This was AMAZING!!!!! Thank you!!!!! It reminded me of a batter that is used in a Puerto Rican dish call Bacalaítos, where dried salted cod is used instead of fresh/frozen cod. I can’t wait to make them! I thought that I would never be able to eat them since my gluten intolerance. I am so happy I can have battered fish and Bacalaítos!
I didn’t have tapioca starch so I used arrowroot instead. Worked like a charm! It was easy and delicious and the kids LOVED!
I never leave comments but we had this tonight and it was fantastic! I dried my fish (Alaskan haddock) well before battering and had no problems with batter sliding off.
Hubby is French and has pretty high standards for food but he’s still raving about the fish an hour later 🙂 We had it with home fries baked in duck fat and herbs, and it hit the spot perfectly.
Hello, We just had fish, and I forgot all about doing this with battering my 2 fillets, so I probably could down-size this by half, and then with the rest of the batter, either make a huge pancake with some sweetener and cocoa powder, or use it in a hurry to batter something else and eat dessert right after, like some banana, but since there is no oil or butter I can store this in the fridge and batter hopefully sweet potato french fries. I think the one person had a problem with the batter sticking to her fish because… Read more »
This was the best battered fish I EVER ate! This breading is TOO good and easy to make and use. I use it to make breaded zucchini and eggplant parmigiana! One night for dinner, I had your fish and wings with blue cheese and my husband picked your fish! First time ever for him not to eat wings first! BTW, I do use one cup of sparkling water. Thank you!
Just heard about this on “splendid table”. Tried it last night with bluegill fillets…very nice! Substituted corn flour for coconut, which worked. Went to a 5 to 1 ratio though. Also added a blend of tumeric dominated spices…about two spoonfuls. This worked too! Thanks!
It was a great hit in our family. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe! 🙂