Published: Oct 25, 2018 · Modified: Jul 29, 2022 by Carolyn

Crispy Air Fryer Fish Sticks

Name: Keto Air Fryer Fish Sticks
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 1 lb white fish such as cod; 1/4 cup mayonnaise; 2 tbsp Dijon mustard; 2 tbsp water; 1 1/2 cups pork rind panko (such as Pork King Good); 3/4 tsp cajun seasoning; Salt and pepper to taste

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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 Pork Chops

Air Fryer Roasted Broccoli

Air Fryer Salmon

Air Fryer Steak

Air Fryer Parmesan Shrimp

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

Fish Saltimbocca

Keto Thai Fish Cakes

Hearty Fish Chowder

Keto Tuna Patties

Shrimp and Sausage Skillet Dinner

Dipping a fish stick into garlic dill mayo

Keto Air Fryer Fish Sticks

Crispy breaded keto fish sticks! This air fryer fish recipe is so simple and a total family pleaser.

4.96 from 21 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: air fryer fish, air fryer fish recipe, keto fish sticks

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 10

Total Time: 20

Servings: servings

Calories: 263kcal

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.

Notes

If you don't have an air fryer, you can still make these delicious keto fish sticks. Simply preheat your oven to 425F and add several tablespoons of oil to a rimmed sheet pan. Place the sheet pan in the oven while it preheats.

Place the coated fish sticks on the pan and bake 5 minutes, then flip over and bake another 5 minutes.

Nutrition Facts

Keto Air Fryer Fish Sticks

Amount Per Serving (1 recipe = 4 ounces)

Calories 263 Calories from Fat 144

% Daily Value*

Fat 16g25%

Carbohydrates 1g0%

Fiber 0.5g2%

Protein 26.4g53%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.

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Comments

4.96 from 21 votes (2 ratings without comment)