Air Fryer Fish

Best air fryer fish no breading recipe is here! Lightly seasoned fillets make for a healthy, keto, and low-carb dinner. Fork-tender in just a few minutes, this easy fish recipe is perfect with fresh or frozen fish in air fryer!

from Frozen

It’s not just how to cook fresh fish though, we have gone a step further with frozen salmon in air fryer too. Why? Because I happen to be forgetful and dinner doesn’t always get defrosted in time. I shared at the top how to cook it right out of the freezer too. Yes I have those moments often and surprisingly it works great too.

If you’re forgetful like me, this tip will come in really handy when you want to make any air fryer fish recipes for dinner. You’ll want to add a bit of tartar sauce and/or squeeze of lemon at the end for moisture with this.

We are speaking about defrosted cod specifically in this post. The printable recipe card at the bottom of this post speaks to this. There isn’t a huge difference though if you chose a different variety.

If you live in a smaller town like we do, you may need to buy frozen fish and thaw it out on your own. On the coast, the choices are limitless year-round. You really don’t need much. This time, we didn’t use any breading at all for our air fried fish fillets. Below, I will share with you how to use a light layer of bread crumbs too. These are the ingredients you will need for this version:

Ingredient Notes

1. Fish fillets of your choice but they should be about the same size and thickness. Fresh or store bought with skin on is preferred just to keep them as tender as possible but not required. They shouldn’t overlap either so keep in mind the size of your basket.
2. Salt and Pepper are just basic seasonings. Many times I will add Lawry’s, garlic powder and/or Old bay on top too.
3. Butter is nice for moisture and flavor, you could use olive oil instead, but salted butter is so much better. We have used a dairy free product too and that works great.
4. Lemon juice freshly squeezed is nice at the end before serving but optional of course.

Non stick cooking spray in air fryer basket is helpful too. If you like a bit of tartar sauce you can make a bit of that to serve on the side too. It’s a must when we are making air fryer frozen fish sticks for sure.

We are focusing on no breading fish filets here. If you wanted a crunchy layer like you get when they are frozen out of the box you could do that with an egg whisked and then pressed into crumbs. Breadcrumbs, crushed crackers or even cornflakes or cornmeal works too.

How Long to Cook Fish in Air Fryer

This is going to take about 12 minutes once it is set inside. First, preheat air fryer to 400 degrees F for 5 minutes. Just like how to smoke salmon, you always want to make sure that the heat is even the whole time when it comes to getting the outsides as crunchy as possible.

Air Fryer Cod

These pictures feature cod fillets, but any white fish would cook similarly with the 12-minute cooking time. The biggest difference is the thickness of the fillets. Follow the directions on our air fryer tilapia and air fryer catfish posts and see which way you like the best.

Want to try some other type of seafood? I’m sure you do if you have already made and enjoyed all of these above. The next would be as crunchy as deep fried but without submerging it in oil. That is…..”fried” air fryer oysters. Our naked tuna steak air fryer and/or air fryer scallops are amazing too.

Remember, you’re probably going to serve this with other items on the side too. You can go comfort food style with fries, or sweet potato chips too. Make it fun if you do by using hot dog baskets or thick paper as cones. We will share a few other side dishes below too. Need this done quicker? Make air fryer fish nuggets!

How to serve

With cauliflower florets makes for a super healthy with just some olive oil and seasoning. NO breading and no need for it either I swear. Here are a few pressure cooker recipes you can try as well. They’re great, tender, and flavorful without any crispiness on the outside.