Julie Clark
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Paleo Battered Fish
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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.
Amazing springboard recipe! After reading the comments, I used 3–4 times the amount of water (just plain water). I also replaced the garlic salt with onion powder and replaced 1/4 cup of the tapioca starch with almond flour. I dredged the fish (I used whiting fillets) in potato starch before battering. It got rave reviews from my family members, even the ones who usually eat “normal” breading. This is the first time I’ve been able to eat battered fried fish in several years, and it was such a blessing to find a great recipe that worked on the first try!
Howdy! I could have sworn I’ve been to this site before but after going through many of the posts I realized it’s new to me. Nonetheless, I’m certainly pleased I found it and I’ll be bookmarking it and checking back regularly!
the batter turned to slime on me 🙁 I used sea bass and a cast iron skillet – maybe that was the issue.
I was very pleasantly surprised by this recipe. I used one teaspoon of garlic salt and left out the other teaspoon of plain salt as that seemed like an awful lot of salt. I also had to at least double the sparkling water to make the batter thin enough to handle, Be sure to dry the filets to make sure the batter sticks well. I used coconut oil and this recipe was absolutely delicious on some pike filets that I took out of my deep freeze from last Fall
Tried it last night for the first time. I was pretty nervous, after reading all the previous reviews, which seemed like a mixed bag of ‘it worked’ and ‘ not sure what happened’. Mine turned out fantastic and was super simple, imho. I used it was Tilapia fillets. The batter did thicken a bit much once or twice, as it sat, but just added a touch more water each time. I’m assuming this was due to the coconut flour. It seems to be something you drag the fish through instead of dip, per-say, but it works great. I used the… Read more »
This is my go to recipe to fry fish, chicken etc. Goes well with both. It is excellent!!!
For those who can’t have “egg” I tried using plain coconut milk, can also use coconut flour. 1/4 cup of milk is the equivalent of 1 egg. The batter came out smooth and we tried it, to make onion rings and fish. TASTES AMAZING! Thank you for the inspiration to move past no eggs.
I made this tonight and it was amazing! Like, the best fish recipe I’ve ever made. This is comparable to a restaurant for sure. Super impressed and this is a keeper recipe 🙂 Thank you so much!
P.S. reading some of the other comments, it’s worth noting – I did add some extra sparkling water to thin the batter slightly. Probably about 1/8 cup extra, but that made it perfect. It stuck to my fish perfectly – no issues with sliding off. I also used coconut oil instead of olive oil – I just prefer it for frying. (I patted the fish dry, coated it, and then plopped it in the pan with the oil.)
This was so good! I made it last night – it was easy to do and turned out so well. The whole family loved it (finally – a fish recipe the kids like!).
This is literally the VERY FIRST time I comment on a blog recipe. This is divine 😍
People complaining about it being too hard must not have used tapioca starch.
I added oregano to the batter and it’s to die for.
Much better than the gluten ones. Thanks for sharing.
This was SO easy and had a really great texture and crunch. I will add more seasonings next time, but there will FOR SURE be a next time!
Absolutely delicious! thank you
Had some tilapia fillets in the freezer and was craving fried fish. Am so happy I found this recipe! It was so delicious I’m considering using it again for some chicken tenders tomorrow!
I’ve tried several grain-free-frying batter recipes, and this one is by far the best I’ve had. My husband loved it, and we are thrilled to be able to do a fish fry again! We catch crappie in the lakes/tanks here in Texas, and they make the best fried fish. They hold together beautifully and have a light flavor similar to cod, but with a more delicate flake like tilapia. We had been baking them, but it wasn’t the same. Thanks again for this! Pure brilliance!
‘Cuisine: American‘ I think you need to change this given that fish and chips is a British national dish.