How to cook frozen fish in air fryer, in the oven, on stovetop and even on a grill. Yes baking frozen fish is easy but every one will yield tender flaky fish fillets for a healthy dinner.
We are always cooking frozen fish at home, because I am forgetful. I donโt always remember to defrost and thaw our cod, tilapia, catfish, salmon, shrimp or scallops the night before. NO worries, we will explain cooking frozen meat to tender right here. (affiliate links present)
How to Cook Fish From Frozen
Of course there are a ton of varieties out there. Iโll focus on the โregularโ fillets that most of us buy at the store here. For the most part all white fish up to 12โณ in length will cook at the same rate no matter what method you use. Larger varieties like salmon and tuna would need to be cut into smaller pieces.
For those I prefer for them to be in 3โณ wide fillets like we did with our air fryer frozen salmon. If it were already frozen whole you will be limited to baking it in the oven. Cook time will be longer than posted below in our printable recipe card, we will discuss this more in depth down below.
We will show you how to cook frozen tilapia (and other varieties) without all this extra work though, just straight out of your freezer from solid to tender in no time.
If you do this then you can follow any sort of easy fish recipes you might find online (or on my site here). This is the only way to add breading which we love, if hard it wonโt stick. This is how to cook walleye that way with a bit of whisked egg.
How to Cook Frozen Fish
Ok so I will separate this into air fryer fish recipes and Instant Pot fish recipes. Like I said, as long as your pieces are no longer than 8โณ x 4โณ wide the cook time would be almost the same. Whether you had white fish or pink salmon the biggest difference in cook time beyond that would be the thickness.
in Instant Pot
- Instant Pot frozen salmon turns out so perfectly moist with high pressure and steam.
- You can use the same timing for Instant Pot fish whether it would be fresh or rock hard, same goes for our Instant Pot crab legs really, just a difference of 2 min.
- We share here how to cook frozen scallops in multiple ways here.
in Air Fryer
- Air fryer frozen shrimp is great and only takes a few minutes.
- We just shared how to make air fryer frozen tilapia this week.
- You can use the instructions and timing for air fryer frozen fish to cook air fryer frozen cod, mahi mahi, catfish or any other type of white fish.
We have even shared how to grill frozen fish here, which is kindaโ crazy but so good.
Baked in the Oven
If you do not have countertop appliances and just want to use your oven, you can. I mean I am obsessed with the other methods but I get you might want just the good โold fashionedโ method too. If you were able to thaw then I recommend our oven fried fish instructions to get the outside crunchy.
Left hard like you see here below youโll want a few slices of fresh lemons to add some flavor and seasonings of your choice. Simple Lawryโs seasoned salt and pepper is just great.
If you are referring to a whole fillet then yes you can. I would never cook an entire fish that hasnโt had bones removed and cut in half because it wonโt cook evenly. At 425 F. it does take about 30 minutes but surprisingly bakes in an oven to tender.
1. If it is in a vacuum sealed bag, bonus, keep it in that. If not then youโll want to transfer it into a freezer Ziploc bag, remove air inside and seal shut.
2. Fill a large bowl in your sink with cold water.
3. Submerge your bag and let it sit there for a good 20 minutes, then rotate to the other side in the bowl and continue doing this until it has defrosted fully.
4. Lift out of cold water to remove it from the bag, pat dry with paper towels and follow your directions on how to bake it.
Technically you can keep it frozen and cook forever, but it wonโt taste that good after a while. Ideally it should be cooked within 3 months of being frozen, if done properly. You do NOT want air to be trapped inside the bag where this is stored so it is important to use a vacuum seal bag or freezer bag.
How to Cook Frozen Fish in Oven without Thawing
Step 1 โ Preheat oven
Step 2 โ Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
Step 3 โ Place 3-4 slices of fresh lemons under each frozen, previously fresh fish.
Step 4 โ Drizzle or brush the fish with your melted butter (or olive oil) with a sprinkle of chili pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and parsley on top.
Step 5 โ Cook fish approx. 20-23 minutes. (smaller pieces may be closer to 15 minutes, check often)
Tips and Tricks
If you want a bit of crisp at the end, pat the fish dry with a paper towel and spray top with olive oil. Set inside an air fryer on top of parchment at 380 F for just a few minutes and then serve.
Cooking Frozen Fish
Equipment
- 1 baking sheet
Ingredients
- 3-4 fish fillets, cod, tilapia, mahi mahi, catfish or other smaller white fish. Salmon frozen cut into 2-3" pieces would be same timing, whole fillet would take much longer
- 2 lemons
- 2 tbsp butter, melted
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp chili pepper flakes, optional
- 1 tbsp parsley, optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Line baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper. Place 3 slices of fresh lemon under each frozen fillet on sheet.
- Top the fillets with melted butter and then sprinkle with chili pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and parsley. Bake approx. 20-23 minutes or until fillets are cooked thorough to the center and fork tender.
- Timing will vary depending on how thick yours are and what type of fish you're baking.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
