Once you make air fryer fish sticks from scratch, you’ll never deep fry them again! Perfect with homemade tartar sauce.
Fish Sticks in Air Fryer
Forget the frozen aisle – Make healthy fish sticks in the air fryer with cleaner, fresh ingredients that taste so much better than packaged ones. They’re delicious and taste even better with tartar sauce flavored with dill pickles, lemon juice, and dill. These homemade fish sticks in the air fryer are great for meal prep too. Double the batch, and have one for dinner and freeze the other for another night. If you don’t have an air fryer, make this baked fish stick recipe instead. More of my favorite air fryer fish recipes are this Air Fryer Salmon Sandwich, Air Fryer Salmon and Blackened Fish with Key Lime Tartar.
Fish Stick Ingredients
- What type of fish is used for fish sticks? The best fish for fish sticks is a firm white fish, like cod, sea bass, or haddock. You’ll need 1 ½ pounds of skinless fillets. If using frozen fish, thaw it first.
- Eggs: Beat two large eggs.
- Dijon Mustard to flavor the fish
- Lemon: Squeeze half of a lemon in the egg mixture.
- Panko: Use seasoned panko breadcrumbs.
- Seasoning: Salt and paprika for the eggs and Old Bay for the panko
- Tartar Sauce Ingredients: Full-fat Greek yogurt, light mayonnaise, dill pickles, fresh dill, lemon juice, salt
How to Make Fish Sticks in the Air Fryer
- Cut the fish into 16 sticks, about four inches long and one inch wide.
- Tartar Sauce: Combine all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and refrigerate.
- Dredging Stations: Combine the eggs, Dijon, lemon juice, paprika, and salt in a medium bowl and the panko and Old Bay in another.
- Coat the Fish: Dip each fish stick in the egg mixture and then panko. Set aside and repeat with the remaining fish.
- How Long to Cook Fish Sticks in an Air Fryer: In batches, transfer the fish sticks to the air fryer basket and spray both sides with olive oil. Air fry at 400°F for 8 minutes, turning halfway, until golden and crisp.
No Air Fryer? No Problem!
I also have this fish stick recipe with oven directions if you don’t have an air fryer.
- Preheat the oven to 450°F, and spray a large sheet pan with oil.
- Place the breaded fish on the pan, spray the tops with oil, and bake for about 12 minutes.
What’s the Best Air Fryer?
I LOVE my GoWISE USA 8-in-1 Digital Air Fryer! It’s the best air fryer I’ve ever used because it’s powerful, spacious, and has a basket divider to cook two foods at once. I test all my air fryer recipes in it, and you can get it on Amazon for about $70.
Variations:
- Gluten-Free Fish Sticks: Substitute gluten-free panko.
- Egg Allergy: Omit the eggs and coat the fish in the Dijon-lemon mixture before dipping them in panko.
- Old Bay: If you don’t have Old Bay seasoning, add paprika, black pepper, cayenne, and salt to the panko.
- Mustard: Swap Dijon for yellow mustard.
- Herbs: Substitute dill with chives or parsley.
- Tartar Sauce: If you don’t have time for homemade tartar sauce, buy your favorite brand at the supermarket. You could also serve them with this lemon-caper sauce, ketchup, or cocktail sauce.
What to Serve with Fish Sticks
Keep it kid-friendly and serve them with:
- mac and cheese
- french fries
- cauliflower tots
- zucchini pancakes
- baked potato
- twice baked potatoes
- coleslaw
How to Freeze Fish Sticks
This healthy fish stick recipe is perfect for freezing to have on hand for easy dinners.
- Place the sheet pan with the uncooked, breaded fish sticks in the freezer for about two hours to flash freeze them.
- Once frozen, transfer them to a freezer-safe bag or container and squeeze out all the air. Freeze for up to six months.
- To eat, place the frozen fish sticks in the air fryer and cook at 400°F for 8 to 12 minutes, depending on the thickness, or until fully cooked.
If you want to freeze cooked fish sticks, follow the same process for freezing uncooked sticks. They’ll keep for up to 3 months, and you can reheat them in the air fryer until heated through. Once air fried, leftover sticks will last for 3 days in the fridge.
Air Fryer Must-Haves!
More Air Fryer Recipes You’ll Love
- Air Fryer Chicken Tenders
- Parmesan-Basil Salmon
- Zucchini Sticks
- Air Fryer Fried Shrimp Sandwich
- Air Fryer Steak
Air Fryer Fish Sticks
Equipment
Ingredients
Tartar Sauce:
- 1/4 cup full fat Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup light mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup finely chopped dill pickles
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped dill
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
Fish Sticks:
- 1 1/2 lbs skinless wild cod, sea bass or haddock fillets, if frozen thawed
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1/2 lemon, squeezed
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons seasoned panko breadcrumbs, regular or gluten-free
- 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
- olive oil spray
- lemon wedges, for serving
Instructions
- Cut the fish into 16 sticks, about 4 x 1 inches.
- Combine the ingredients for the tartar sauce in a small bowl and refrigerate until ready to eat.
- Combine eggs, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, paprika and salt in a medium bowl.
- In a second bowl combine the Panko crumbs with Old Bay seasoning.
- Dip the fish into the egg mixture, then the panko. Set aside.
- Transfer to the air fryer basket, in batches as needed and spray both sides with olive oil. Air fry 400F about 8 minutes, turning half way, until golden and crisp.
- Serve hot with tartar sauce.
Last Step:
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Notes
- Place the sheet pan with the uncooked breaded fish sticks in the freezer for about 2 hours to flash freeze them.
- Once frozen, transfer them carefully in a freezer bag or container, squeezing out all the air.
- Freeze up to 6 months.
Anything I can use in place of panko?
This recipe is spot-on for flavor and crunch! The breading held up so well through the cook process. My family loved the tartar sauce which is saying a lot as none are mayo fans! This whole recipe will be on repeat!
Glad everyone enjoyed it!
Easy to make and very yummy! I’ll be making these again, and again!
Thank you!
I am a tartar sauce lover, and poor-tasting tartar sauce can ruin my entire meal. This was some of THE BEST tartar sauce I’ve ever had and it was so easy to make! The fish also was extremely flavorful. My husband is begging for me to make the meal again!
These are delicious… easy to make and hardly any time to make…
All I can say is wow! Really tasty fish sticks with the delicious tartar sauce. I’m surprised how good they taste.
Delicious. A must try. I think I’ll be making these again and again!
was very good, the home made tartar sauce was the bomb.. only issue i had was the fish fell apart when i went to flip them, other then that they were very tasty, will definitely make again when they come up on another week
I made this recipe when you posted it before. It was great! Waaaay better than grocery store frozen variety. No comparison. Fresh and I knew the ingreadients.
This recipe was delicious! The crispy fish was just what I as craving. I enjoyed the freshness of the homemade tartar sauce. Easy to make too!
Glad you enjoyed it!
These came out great. Made adjustments based on what we had – small blue gill filets took about 4 minutes total. Thanks!
Prepped and froze to cook later. So easy during the week and delicious!
Pretty darn good! Crunchy and delicious. The sauce was good too!
Made for dinner tonight and it was a huge hit with everyone including 3 year old and 4 year old. 4 year old said I needed to get on my phone and write a review to say it was the best dinner ever. Easy to pull together and a big crowd pleaser.
Grandsons said they’re REALLY good! Better (and healthier) than store bought! Tartar sauce is yummy too! Thanks for another great recipe!!
Air fryer vs Air fryer pan in the oven makes a huge difference. Use the Air fryer if you have it
A new favorite dish in our house. Followed as written and it’s perfection from the fish to the sauce. Crispy, tasty, and fast-enough for a weeknight meal.
Hi, what can I use instead of Old Bay? It’s not available in my country.
Search Google for a homemade Old Bay seasoning recipe. It’s quite good and you should have all the ingredients needed for it!
I made these, the taste was good, crispy, but the breading didnt stick to the fish came off when I flipped them. help!
This happened to me too. Any suggestions?
Same happened to me. Would make again once I figure out how not to lose the breading.
This is a light, easy to prepare recipe. I enjoyed it very much
LOVED this recipe! Easy to make and wonderful to eat. My husband loved this and he is not a fish fan. Definitely make again!
GREAT!!
Easy & good!
I made this exactly as written and it was absolutely delicious. I can’t decide if the fish or the tartar sauce was the star. Just another of your outstanding recipes!
Thanks Barb!
Hi, can this fish recipe be cooked in the oven. Thanks sandy
Yes, see above for oven directions.
Very good, will make again
We enjoyed these fish sticks very much
Great!!
Oh I need to make these again! These are the best !