How to Cook Walleye Perfectly

We will share how to cook walleye in air fryer, baked in the oven, or in a pan on the stovetop. Each way will get to flaky and fork tender. Lightly breaded fish or naked with no breading, we love this dinner.

Walleye in Air Fryer

Amongst all the different methods we will share here, as an easy air fryer recipe is our favorite by far. These fillets are fresh, or at least defrosted pieces, because we wanted to add a bit of breadcrumbs to the outside. You can air fry frozen fish too if you want but there will be no breading to it that way.

You can choose skin on or without it. We have done both and the timing doesn’t sway really at all. Depends on what the butcher has on hand really. If it does have the skin you can rest assure that the meat flakes off easily.

Air Fryer Fish Skin

Ok so if you want to remove the skins, don’t throw them away!! OMG these make the best healthy crunchy snack seriously. You may think whaaaa??? but believe me and try it at least once. You can get two air fryer walleye recipes if you separate the meat from the skin this way;

• Fish Skins – sliced off meat and dried with paper towels
• 3 Tbsp. Corn Flour
• ½ tsp Salt and Pepper for seasonings, or whatever you like beyond that
• 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil

Preheat your air fryer to 390 degrees Fahrenheit for 5 minutes. Pat skins dry with paper towels well so the oil and seasoning swill stick nicely.

1. In a shallow bowl combine the corn flour and all your seasonings, mix
2. Rub olive oil on skins all over
3. Lay one skin piece at a time in the flour and coat on all sides.
4. Spray inside of air fryer basket with non stick spray
5. Lay coated pieces into basket without overlapping them at all
6. Air fry for a total of 10 minutes or so flipping each piece over halfway thru until they’re as crispy as you like

Enjoy just like potato chips but these are so much healthier for you! Then you can follow our instructions for the meat below in the same machine, or make pan seared walleye fish with a bit of butter on medium heat for 4-6 minutes per side until flaky.

How to Cook Walleye in Oven

You’re going to go ahead and follow the same steps as far as breading the outside here. If you wanted to skip that part, save some calories, and bake walleye naked in the oven then just brush with olive oil on top instead. Season with salt and pepper or season as you wish.

• Always preheat your oven first, to 450 F this time
• Then you’re going to line a baking sheet with parchment paper
• Lay fillets on top with skin on the bottom
• Bake for 15-20 minutes, timing will depend on how thick your filet pieces are
• Internal temperature for fish should reach 145 F to be safe to eat but still moist

I was born in Hawaii and lived there for many years. My worst pet peeve is dried out fish meaning that it has been cooked so long that it turns grey. Please oh please don’t do that. If I had my druthers I would say to have it a bit undercooked and still just a bit pink vs. dry.

How to Cook Walleye on Grill

We first did a post on how to cook frozen fish grilled here. I have made salmon and white fish this way. It surprisingly turns out well even right out of the bag in the freezer section. It is always better if you can start with a defrosted piece for sure if you have the time. What you will do is;

• Line small baking sheet with foil
• Preheat your grill to medium high heat
• Place fish fillets on top with skin side down
• Drizzle melted butter on top and sprinkle on seasonings
• Wrap foil up on the sides to create a foil packet meal out of it so it can steam
• Grill for 7-10 minutes or until it flakes with a fork

Serve with a fresh squeeze of lemon juice and enjoy with some veggies! If you want to make this with another protein, you could make shrimp in foil packets too side by side.

How to Cook Walleye with Skin On

Keep in mind that this is a very bony fish so you should use tweezers to ensure each piece is out when you remove it from the package. Also when eating take smaller bites and be careful just in case there is one or just a few little tiny ones left in there.

• 4 fillets walleye
• Panko bread crumbs
• Eggs whisked to get your breading to stick, you could make naked too
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• Salt and a pinch of black pepper
• olive oil spray

If you choose to cook it without the skin that is okay too and you would follow the same directions here. You might want to check 1 minute shy of the total cook time listed below since it wouldn’t be quite as thick. It does take a bit more time to cook thru the fish skin if left on so keep that in mind.

Air Fryer White Fish

This goes for any sort of white fish really. You can use regular breadcrumbs like we did with our air fryer tilapia recipe too. Your choice. First you’re going to combine your choice of bread crumbs, salt, pepper, and garlic powder together in a bowl. Then spread onto a large flat dish or plate.

• Whisk your eggs together in another large flat dish.
• Remove any small bones in fillets you see. Dip walleye fillet into egg, coating both top and bottom. Lift up and allow excess to drip off.
• Lay into bread crumb mixture, coating both top and bottom well.
• Preheat air fryer at 400 F for 5 minutes. Place two fillets at a time in air fryer without overlapping. Spray fillets evenly with olive oil spray. Cook for 8 minutes.
• Flip fillets over and spray with olive oil spray again.
• Cook for 6-7 more minutes or until crispy on outside and tender inside.

Timing will vary depending on how thick or thin yours are so check at min. time. Ours were medium I guess if I had to describe them as far as the size and thickness. It is best if you can find fillets that are the same width all the way across so it cooks evenly.

All of these are pretty quick, under 30 minutes for any direction you choose to go with.