Crispy breaded keto fish sticks! This air fryer fish recipe is so simple and a total family pleaser. Don’t have an air fryer? Don’t worry, I also included instructions for your oven.
Do yourself a favour. If you are going to invest in any new kitchen equipment over the next year or so, get yourself an air fryer. I recently purchased one and it has been life changing. Or rather, it has been dinner changing. It’s opened up a whole new world of keto dinner recipes that take far less time, less effort, and less mess. I suspect that as the popularity of air fryers increases, we will see a huge onslaught of air fryer recipes.
And this air fryer fish recipe is the first from me! These crispy keto fish sticks were so good and my kids loved them. They took all of about 20 minutes total to make. It may be my new favorite way to cook fish, especially for the family.
I also love this idea for Air Fryer Mongolian Beef. I may have to play with the recipe to get it low carb friendly.
What is an Air Fryer?
The term fryer is something of a misnomer here, because air fryers don’t really fry your food at all. Frying refers to cooking things in fats or oils, and air fryer recipes don’t rely on any fats for cooking.
An air fryer really is just a small convection oven that circulates the hot air so effectively that it produces a crispiness similar to deep frying foods. Without all the mess.
Don’t get me wrong, I love deep fried foods and I am certainly going to keep making them. I have no fear of the added fats and oils in them, and in fact, I relish the added flavor and fat. But deep frying is a lot of work, uses up huge amounts of oil, and requires a lot of clean up. Not to mention that your house will smell like deep fried foods for days, no matter how well you ventilate it.
Deep frying is a special occasion kind of thing, whereas the air fryer is so easy and so fast, I could easily use it every day.
Admittedly, I am just getting started with this new appliance. I purchased the Cuisinart model that is also a toaster oven and I love the darn thing. Our old toaster/convetion oven was on its way out and I saw this on sale so I grabbed it. But I hear great things about the smaller, more compact models as well.
Keto Air Fryer Recipes
What can you make in an air fryer? Oh my goodness, friends, there are so many options and I am trying a number of my own keto recipes in this fun new machine. Such as my Brown Butter Old Bay Wings and my Buffalo Chicken Drumsticks. Both of these recipes work well in the oven, but take less than half the time in the air fryer.
I’ve also tried fried pickles and fried cheese, both coated in pork rinds from Pork King Good. That’s what I used for this air fryer fish recipe as well. Highly recommend the crushed pork rinds, but the fried pickles and cheese were less than satisfactory. The pickles got soggy after just a few minutes, and the cheese still melted too much and basically disappeared, although the pork rind crust that was left was phenomenal!
If you’re looking for chicken, try these Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets too.
Here are some other great ideas:
Air Fryer Roasted Broccoli
Air Fryer Tip: One thing I’ve found is that the bottoms of the food never gets that crispy unless you flip it partway through cooking. For air fryer chicken, start with the pieces skin side down and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, then flip over and cook another 10 to 20 to crisp up the skin.
How long you cook them will depend on the size of the chicken. Air fryer chicken wings take only about 20 minutes total!
Now, if you don’t have room or the budget for another kitchen applicance, I completely understand. Anything that can be air fried can also be cooked in the oven. If you’re dying for these fish sticks but don’t own or want to own an air fryer, I’ve included some instructions in the recipe notes. You know I am not the sort of person to leave hungry people hanging!
Oh and be sure to check out Pork King Good. They just came out with a cajun pork rind breading too. Which is funny since I added Cajun seasoning to these fish sticks!
More delicious keto fish recipes
Shrimp and Sausage Skillet Dinner
Keto Air Fryer Fish Sticks
Ingredients
- 1 lb white fish such as cod
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoon water
- 1 ½ cups pork rind panko such as Pork King Good
- ¾ teaspoon cajun seasoning
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Spray the air fryer rack with non-stick cooking spray (I use avocado oil spray).
- Pat the fish dry and cut into sticks about 1 inch by 2 inches wide (how you are able to cut it will depend a little on what kind of fish you by and how thick and wide it is).
- In a small shallow bowl, whisk together the mayo, mustard, and water. In another shallow bowl, whisk together the pork rinds and Cajun seasoning. Add salt and pepper to taste (both the pork rinds and seasoning could have a fair bit of salt so dip a finger in to taste how salty it is).
- Working with one piece of fish at a time, dip into the mayo mixture to coat and then tap off the excess. Dip into the pork rind mixture and toss to coat. Place on the air fryer rack.
- Set to Air Fry at 400F and bake 5 minutes, the flip the fish sticks with tongs and bake another 5 minutes. Serve immediately.
Anje Leigh says
Just do not want to use pork rind so what can be substituted?
Carolyn says
Sorry, that’s what this recipe needs to be crispy.
Jean says
Great recipe! Turned out great! Thanks!
Diana Miller says
You have a lot of recipes using pork rinds. Is there anything you can substitute for this? I have a hard time getting past the idea of eating pig skin. I can’t eat chicken skin either!!
Carolyn says
Sadly, no good substitutes that actually get crispy.
Susan Mackrell says
Pork rinds are not commonly used in cooking in the UK so are not found in our shops. Do you have an alternative but easy breadcrumb recipe suitable for fish?
PATTY MCDERMED says
Make your own by putting pork rinds in your blender any brand will do. Amazon also carries them.
Heather Keywood says
Not true – you can buy Mr Porky pork rinds in all major UK supermarkets – just whizz them up in a food processor to exactly the same ‘crumb’ texture.
Kathy A says
They look great, but what about us that don’t eat pork? Is there an alternative?
Carolyn says
You can try almond flour but it won’t be as crisp.
Robyn Wimmer says
Looks good. I have a two-ovens appliance and the larger one has a convection oven option. I think I can use it instead of purchasing an air fryer. Yes? No?? Thanks, Carolyn.
Carolyn says
Yes… I gave oven instructions in the recipe.
Robyn Wimmer says
Of course you did! Way too early this morning for me…sorry. 🙂
Carolyn says
Haha. 🙂 I get it!
Anne Dalin says
I cannot wait to try the “fried” fish recipe. Crunchy food is sooo good!
Have you tried using the special parchment paper made for air fryers? It’s the BEST! Not only does it keep the food from sticking, but if it’s “breaded”, you don’t lose any of it. The parchment paper has small holes, so the air can circulate while it’s cooking.
Two of these fit perfectly in the Cuisinart Airfryer. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09LLVLPKD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Carolyn says
I’ve seen it, it’s supposed to be very helpful!
Angela Ritchey says
There were very tasty but the pork rinds did not stay on during the flip at 5 minutes. I think I might have had too much mayo still on the fish. I will use more sparingly next time.
Vicki V says
So easy and yummy. I love the mustard and Cajun seasoning. I only cook for 8 minutes total (used cod filets).
Amber Harris says
We’ve made these twice and they’re a big hit for the family. I lessen the Cajun seasoning for my kids and add more when I go to coat mine and my husbands. The coating doesn’t stick to the fish well, and doesn’t get crisp. I’m not sure if there’s a remedy for that, but we enjoy eating them with a drizzle of lemon juice over it.
Patti Sani says
Really good and easy. Still have trouble getting the coating to stick, but I dried the cod as much as I could and pressed in the coating. No sticking in the air fryer after spritzing with avocado oil. We will definitely have this again!
Matt Freund says
I love fish sticks. These are so good.
Lucy says
This may b the best thing I’ve ever cooked. I used tilapia. Saint put water in the Mayo mixture because the fish seemed moist enough. I breaded them and put them
In the fridge for two hours while I was in a meeting. The mustard and the Cajun seasonings is everything. Thank u.
Matt Freund says
Bravo. These fish sticks are really tasty. I have made them a few times. I really enjoy them. Thanks for the recipe.
Elva says
I’m going to try whisps instead of pork rinds.
Do you think it will work
Carolyn says
I really couldn’t say, I haven’t tested it.