Homemade Fish Fingers: This classic kids meal gets a Clean eating makeover and becomes a dinner not only do the kids go crazy for but you're very happy to serve them. Make these ahead of time, keep them in the fridge until you need them and hey presto! You've got a Clean version of their favorite food served with a squeeze of lemon juice, waiting to be popped into the pan just like the original that's been around since the 1950's.
- You can also oven bake these fish fingers laid out on a baking tray and baked for 15 minutes in a hot oven.
Homemade Fish Fingers
My husband and two of the kids love to fish and we have an amazing fishing spot about 8 minutes from home (don't tell anyone coz' apparently fisherman like to keep their spots a secret). So we are pretty lucky to have fresh fish for dinner most of the Summer. To keep my marriage intact and my freezer full of fish, I let my husband do all the fishing. He isn't complaining though. Quiet time on the boat. Only two kids. And I'm happy about it. The man is seriously blessed I tell ya :)
When my kids were little (aka pre-clean eating days), I would buy weekly boxes of fish fingers. The dodgy ones. The pre-made 40 in a pack (not sure how much fish is actually in it) kind of fish fingers. But then I figured out how to make them.
These crispy, golden fish nuggets are actually ridiculously easy to make at home and take about the same amount of time to cook. I can't even call it kids food anymore. These are a delight that any adult would happily devour. I know. Because I do :)
Buy The Right Fish Fillets
Buying the right fish fillets is fundamental to this recipe. I asked one of my kids what they liked best about the 'old' fish finger. No bones was right up there in the number one spot. Second on the list was 'they're crunchy'. Yep, the breadcrumbed coating sure does go a long way to making these awesome. So from the fish aspect, buying the right fish fillets is really important.
Fish had bones in it sometimes. This is a problem for a lot of people. One time choking on a fish bone is enough to out many of us off fish for life. So it's a good thing you can buy boneless and skinless fish fillets.
Boneless and skinless cod is probably the choice of fish most people would use and it's fairly easy to buy in the supermarket, if a little pricy at times. However, there are some ethical issues around Cod being over fished, so you can use any firm white fish fillets you can find. I want mine to be 100% natural fish, no additives or fillers at all, so check the pack in your local store to make sure it's just fish you're buying.
Haddock is a fish that works well for these fish fingers, and you can also use this same method to make homemade chicken dippers as well. But back to the fish...
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Panko Bread Crumbs vs Normal
Panko breadcrumbs are breadcrumbs that have been 'flaked' rather than crumbed and they traditionally absorb less oil when you're frying them. They're fairly easy to find in the supermarket and although they're made with white bread, there's nothing else (usually, although check) in them to be concerned about. Sometimes I do buy a box of these. I know.....I have failings :)
Being someone that doesn't know how to 'flake' bread, only 'crumb' it, this is what I do if I've not bought Panko breadcrumbs from the shops. Simply whizz up a few slices of bread in the food processor and you have breadcrumbs. If you wanted to get fancy about it, you could add some lemon zest to the breadcrumbs before you whizz it into crumbs for an extra lemony hit!
Frying Pan or Bake
While I tend to use a frying pan to cook these, you can bake them in the oven. The frying pan gives a little more golden crunch, but oven baked fish fingers are also pretty darn good. If you're going to oven bake these, drizzle a little olive oil over them before they go in the oven and turn them half way through to ensure a crunchy coating all round and bake until golden brown.
Dips For Homemade Fish Fingers
Fish fingers are not the same without some sort of a dip to go with them. Here are some of the dips we like to have with them:
- Smoky Chipotle dipping sauce
- Clean Eating BBQ sauce
- Clean tomato ketchup
- Homemade Tartare sauce
- Mayonnaise
- Lemon wedges (not a dip, no, yummy still the same!)
Homemade Fish Fingers And Chips
'Fish and Chips' wouldn't be the same without the 'chips' part of the meal. Keep it healthy by oven baking your own using regular potatoes or sweet potatoes. Just add a little olive oil, salt and bake for 20 - 25 minutes until they start to crisp. Serve it all up with some all natural ketchup and fresh lemon slice.
Want to add a vegetable? Peas are the preferred choice here for us. Garden peas boiled, or mushy peas are both pretty good with fish and chips!
Got Leftovers?
Left over homemade fish fingers? You can keep cooked fish fingers on the fridge for a day and then give them a quick blast on a medium heat to re crisp them and heat them through. Personally, we like to have these between two chunky pieces fo whole grain bread with some mayo.
More Clean Eating Fish Recipes For Kids
Did you Know...
OK, so maybe I'm giving away my age here, but when I was a kid ... (don't all the best stories start with this) ... we would order fish and chips from the local takeout and get it served wrapped up in yesterdays newspaper. You got dinner and a read. If you were really, really lucky - you got the page with the cartoons.
Anyway. They don't do that anymore. Apparently it's a hygiene thing. Which makes sense, but if you are willing to overlook the germ thing (and I know a lot of you may be squirming at this, so just skip this bit), maybe give the kids a taste of the good ol' days and serve them their fish and chips dinner all wrapped up in yesterdays news.
How To Make Homemade Fish Fingers
Ingredients
- 4 Fish Fillets
- 1 Cup Panko breadcrumbs
- 2 Eggs lightly beaten
- Olive oil for frying
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat pan on stove top
- Add a little oil
- Cut Fish Fillets into ½ inch strips (or bigger if you want thicker fish fingers). Each fillet makes 6 - 8 fish fingers in our home
- Dip the fish in egg, then in crumb.
- Place crumbed fish in hot pan and fry for about 2 min a side, until golden.
- I cook the fish fingers in batches of 6 to 8 per pan (so around one full fillet per batch)
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Serve with fresh lemon, oven baked chips and fresh salad.
Homemade Fish Fingers Recipe
Homemade Fish Fingers
Ingredients
- 4 Fish Fillets
- 1 Cup Panko breadcrumbs
- 2 Eggs lightly beaten
- Olive oil for frying
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat pan on stove top
- Add a little oil
- Cut Fish Fillets into ½ inch strips (or bigger if you want thicker fish fingers). Each fillet makes 6 - 8 fish fingers in our home
- Dip the fish in egg, then in crumb.
- Place crumbed fish in hot pan and fry for about 2 min a side, until golden.
- I cook the fish fingers in batches of 6 to 8 per pan (so around one full fillet per batch)
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Serve with fresh lemon, oven baked chips and fresh salad.
