Fish sticks were probably one of my childhood favorites. We didn’t eat them that often so whenever I sat down to a wonderful plate of fish sticks, french fries and some green stuff, usually broccoli, I felt like it was a special treat. Between that and the fact I spent many recesses in the library for fun, I’m beginning to think I was a weird kid. But weird kid-ness aside, I must admit that it has been a long long time since I have had fish sticks. To my surprise I was craving them lately. Instead of running to the frozen aisle, I decided to make my own from scratch. It was surprisingly easy.
The first obstacle to tackle was what kind of fish that I wanted to use. I knew I wanted a white fish, and immediately thought cod. However, when I got to the store, surprise, surprise, they didn’t have any and I was left with halibut. Now I say left with halibut not because halibut is not delicious, because it is. I say left with halibut because it is super expensive, at least in my neck of the woods anyway. But I decided to bite the bullet and pay the extra. If you can’t get your hands on any halibut fillets you can substitute cod or even tilapia. Keep in mind, you may have to adjust the cooking time slightly.
The second obstacle was what kind of breading I wanted to use. Did I want to do a batter? Or would it be better to do a simple bread crumb coating? I decided on my old standby, a combo of bread crumbs and panko. It worked quite nicely.
The third and final obstacle was to bake or to fry. I knew frying would produce the golden brown color I am accustomed to with fish sticks. But after scarfing down a few plates of Creamy Herb Fettuccine earlier this week, I decided baking would be a better option. They may not have been as golden as they would’ve been had they been fried, but they were scrumptious nonetheless.
I have made this recipe twice. IT IS AWESOME! I didn’t have to tweak it at all. The tartar is the total bomb and actually makes me wanna eat MORE fish! Thanks for an awesome recipe!
Im really going to this it looks like its mad easy to bake and prepare…it doesn’t take that long to cook anyways
My kids enjoy fish sticks, but I rarely buy them because of the high fat, high sodium, high preservative nature of the ones in the freezer section. These will be great to be able to enjoy fish sticks again without the food-product angst.
Hi Des,
I’m very much in favor of baking than frying and the fish sticks here do look golden enough. Thanks for sharing a simple yet delicious way of cooking fish from scratch, i heart it.
Oh, I love fish sticks too! And I have had them for a very very long time either! AND we happen to have 50 pounds of it in the freezer. (My hubby is a fisherman and we live at the Oregon Coast) So you can bet your sweet boopie that I am going to make these! Thanks
Dana ♥
Looks very good! I like the idea of cooking them in the oven, I often just deep fry things because its quicker.
i would have to use tilapia if I’m going to cook this..