Keto Fried Fish
How much do you miss batter fried fish while being low carb/ keto? I did occasionally miss battered fish, but not strongly enough to want to make it.
If you don’t already know, I’m not much of a seafood person at all (sorry)! I don’t care for shrimp, lobster, or much crustacean/shellfish, but occasionally enjoy white fish, salmon, tuna, or crab meat. I gotta tell you, now that I know how to make it keto, I love fried fish again!
I recently found a great source for frozen wild-caught cod, and so I was curious to try preparations other than baked with lemon or butter, and decided to dig into the plethora of keto fried fish recipes online.
The first keto fried fish recipe I found called for coconut flour. It was dry and tasteless and fell right off the fish.
Then the second keto fried fish (almond flour + grated Parmesan) almost burned before it was done fully cooking, plus it made my fish taste like fish with burned cheese and burned nuts—ICK! To add insult to injury, the batter didn’t stick to the fish, just like with the previous recipe.
And yes, before anyone mentions, I did see numerous keto fried fish recipes using pulsed pork rinds—no thanks (I’ve made a number of other delicious things with pork rinds, though!)
I shared my first two attempts and failures on Twitter and a number of people chimed in with whey protein as a batter, and I decided to give that a try (even though I was already planning to, as it was the next method on my list to try). I now use egg white protein powder instead, but they work the same.
The result? This is it. This is THE keto fried fish recipe you want, to replicate that flour batter fish fry experience.
Not only did it taste great, it stayed on while cooking, and then at serving time, and even while I bit into it! You’ll be amazed.
BONUS: I’ve included my fast & easy recipe for sugar-free tartar sauce, as well (if you’re into that).
Update: A previously-published version of this recipe was using whey protein isolate. I now only use egg white protein powder (100% dried egg white powder) instead of whey isolate because as a diabetic, whey protein can be rapidly absorbed in the system and can raise blood glucose. Either option works fine, and pretty much yields the same result, so you’re free to choose.
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KETO FRIED FISH RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
1/2 lb of firm fish, skin & bones removed
Salt & freshly cracked pepper to taste
2 eggs
1/4 cup egg white protein powder
Dash of sugar-free seasoning such as Old Bay etc. (optional)
Fat for frying (avocado oil, flavorless refined olive oil, coconut oil, tallow/lard)
Sugar-free tartar sauce and/or lemon wedges, for serving
SUGAR-FREE TARTAR SAUCE RECIPE
(per person, multiply as needed)
2-3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon no sugar added sweet relish or dill relish
(Mt. Olive makes a good no sugar one)
Pinch of dill weed
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
Dash of curry powder (optional)
Make it: Combine all ingredients in a small jar or dish and mix well. For best flavor, chill 30-60 minutes in fridge before serving.
DIRECTIONS
1. Make sure your fish has thawed in the fridge, if using frozen. If you want to speed up the thawing process, you can submerge packaged fish in cool water for about 20-30 minutes or until the fish is no longer frozen.
2. Rinse fish and pat dry, then cut into even sized strips or nugget pieces for frying and place them on a plate.
3. Sprinkle both sides of the fish pieces with a little salt & freshly cracked pepper to taste, and set aside.
4. In a shallow bowl or deep plate, pour the whey protein isolate and spread it around the bottom of the dish (taste before adding optional Old Bay or other seasonings). In a second similar bowl or plate, crack the egg and whisk well with a fork.
5. Place enough fat in a non-stick skillet to cover the bottom at least 1/4 inch. Heat on medium-low or until a temperature of about 350 F is reached and maintained.
6. Next, quickly dip the fish pieces one at a time, into the egg wash using a fork or tongs, and then dredge the fish in the dry mixture.
7. Place each piece of coated fish into the hot oil, spaced apart as much as possible, and fry 1.5 to 3 minutes per side (you may want a spatter guard over the pan). The fish is done when it reaches 160 F internal temperature.
8. Place fried fish on paper towel-lined platter or wire rack to drain the oil.
9. Serve hot with lemon wedges and/or sugar-free tartar sauce.
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KETO FRIED FISH RECIPE NOTES
This recipe is per 1/2 lb of fish, so double it for every 1 lb of fish you need to make.
This is most like a flour batter, and not like cornmeal (southern style) breading, so if that’s what you’re looking for in a keto fried fish, I’m sorry to report this isn’t it.
I suppose if you wanted to go ahead and mix the egg and whey protein together to make a sort of tempura-style liquid batter, you could. But I have not tried that and I’m afraid it would take additional liquid to do that.
If your fish is taking too long to cook or not crisping up, you haven’t heated the pan enough. You want a temp of 350F throughout the cooking process. The oil is ready when you add a sprinkle of the dry mixture to the pan and it bubbles rapidly, then you can add the fish.
I wouldn’t recommend air-frying this, and I’m not sure it should be baked in the oven, either.
Don’t make the mistake of adding baking powder to the batter mix like I did on my first try, thinking it was needed. Even the teensy pinch I used just made everything bitter and you don’t need it. Whey protein isolate on its own fluffs up and crisps nicely in the hot oil, so it’s totally unnecessary.
Be careful to taste your dry mixture before adding any seasoning. The whey protein isolate powder does have a good amount of sodium already (180 g, about as much as canned tomatoes). I added salt to mine on the first run without knowing.
This recipe probably won’t make good leftovers, or at least, I wouldn’t recommend making any in advance to eat later.
Yes, you can use this for breading pieces of chicken as well. I made keto “popcorn” chicken bites with it and fried hem the same as I did the fish. They tasted great with my keto sugar-free barbecue sauce! However, since fish takes much less time to cook than chicken, and they protein isolate powder can burn easily if cooking the batter longer, I precooked the chicken a little first by boiling gently in water until just no longer pink. I used chicken tenderloins cut into strips, and then cut the strips into cubes, boiled them in a bit of salted water, then proceeded with the same steps as laid out here in this keto fried fish recipe.
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This sounds wonderful. I’m going to try this for both chicken and fish.
I’m thinking this could be done in an air fryer too. Have you had any feedback on that method?
Hi Lynn
Thanks for checking it out. I did try this for chicken – see the recipe notes, I have updated since I posted.
As for your question, I already noted I don’t think it would be good for the air fryer but I don’t own one, so you may have to be the one to try it and let me know. Thanks