Easy Air Fryer Fish Sticks w/ Lemon Tartar Sauce

These delicious and crispy Air Fryer Fish Sticks are a healthy spin on a childhood favorite! Serve them with a creamy homemade lemon tartar sauce for ultimate YUM factor.

Why You’ll Love Making Fish Sticks in the Air Fryer

• Right off the bat, you’re consuming less sodium than frozen fish sticks.
• You get a nice cut of fresh, meaty fish of your choosing rather than a mysterious combination of pulverized white fish.
• Deep-frying is tedious, messy, and leaves an aroma to linger in your kitchen for quite some time. The air fryer keeps things clean!
• Cooking fish sticks in the air fryer will yield the same golden crisp as a deep fry.

What to Serve With Fish Sticks

• French fries are a classic choice! You could also serve them with roasted mini potatoes to change things up.
• During the warmer months, a cool lemon and dill macaroni salad is a great side. For chillier months, opt for some cozy skillet homemade mac and cheese!
• To load up on veggies, consider this crunchy Greek cucumber and tomato salad. And oven-roasted broccoli with nutritional yeast is also a hit.

Ingredients

A full list of ingredients can be found in the recipe card below.

• Skinless white fish fillets — Mild fillets like cod, halibut, or pollock are great.
• Panko bread crumbs — I like using panko specifically because they create a bigger and better crunch.
• All purpose flour & eggs — Two super important components for breading. The all purpose flour coats the fish so that the egg can better stick, and the egg in turn helps the breading stick.
• Seasoning — I like to season my breading with some garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika

How to Cook Fish Sticks in the Air Fryer

1. Preheat the air fryer to 375º F. While the air fryer heats up, get your fish ready. Gently pat the fillets with paper towels to get rid of excess moisture and season them with some salt and pepper.
2. Slice the fish fillets into strips that are about 1/2-inch wide and 3 to 4 inches long.
3. Set up your dredging station by placing flour, egg wash, and panko bread crumbs into shallow bowls or pie plates. Mix the seasoning into the panko bread crumbs.
4. Open the air fryer, spray the bottom with some olive oil or non-stick spray. Dredge your fish sticks one by one into the flour, egg, and panko, and place them into the air fryer basket. Don’t overcrowd them—you’ll likely have to do this in batches.
5. Close the air fryer and cook the fish sticks for 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, open the air fryer and carefully flip the fish sticks over. Cook them for another 3 minutes, then open the air fryer and transfer the fish sticks to a plate. Repeat with the other batches until you’re done, and serve the fish sticks with tartar sauce–preferably my homemade lemon tartar sauce! (It’s so so good.) You could also serve it with homemade ketchup if that’s more your jam.

Recipe Alterations & Modifications

• Fish varieties — I mentioned above that the best types of fish to use for air fryer fish sticks are meaty white fillets, like cod, halibut, or pollock. These can definitely be made with salmon, but you’ll of course have a different flavor.
• Breadcrumbs — You can use plain Italian breadcrumbs instead of panko, but the crunch and texture will be a little different. Still delicious, though!

Recipe Tips

• Use skinless fillets for your fish sticks.
• If making the tartar sauce, do it a few hours in advance and refrigerate it. This will let the flavors marry and the mixture thicken up a bit more!
• If you want to make a batch of air fryer french fries to go with your fish sticks (and I highly recommend it), make the French fries first, then set them aside and cover them while the fish cooks. The fries will stay warm and crispy, whereas the fish won’t.

Storage, Freezing, & Reheating

1. These fish sticks will keep in the fridge, in an airtight container, for up to 3 days.
2. To reheat, I highly suggest popping them in the air fryer for a few minutes as opposed to the microwave to keep them crispy.
3. To freeze, store in a freezer-friendly air-tight container for up to 3 months.

Frequently Asked Questions

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You can also show off your creations on Instagram by tagging @killing__thyme

Other Air Fryer Recipes You’ll Enjoy

• Thai Sweet Chili Air Fryer Salmon Bites
• Air Fryer Broccoli
• Air Fryer Lemon Pepper Salmon Caesar Salad
• Best Air Fryer Buffalo Chicken Wings
• Easy Air Fryer Pizza

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5 from 48 votes

Crispy Air Fryer Fish Sticks + Lemon Tartar Sauce

By: Dana Sandonato

Delicious Crispy Air Fryer Fish Sticks are a healthy spin on a childhood favorite! Serve it with a creamy homemade lemon tartar sauce.

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 6 minutes minutes

Total Time: 22 minutes minutes

Servings: 17 fish sticks

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Ingredients 

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FISH STICKS

• ▢ 1.5 lb cod fillets, Or another meaty white fish, liked halibut or pollock
• ▢ Sea salt and cracked black pepper
• ▢ 1 cup All purpose flour
• ▢ 2 eggs, beaten
• ▢ 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• ▢ 1 tsp garlic powder
• ▢ 1 tsp onion powder
• ▢ 1 tsp paprike
• ▢ Zest of a lemon

LEMON TARTAR SAUCE

• ▢ 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• ▢ 1/2 cup chopped dill pickles
• ▢ 1 TBSP dill pickle brine from the jar
• ▢ 1 TBSP chopped fresh dill
• ▢ 1 tsp lemon juice
• ▢ 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions 

FISH STICKS

• Preheat the air fryer to 375º F.
• With paper towels, gently pat the fillets to get rid of any excess moisture; season them with some salt and pepper.
• Cut the fish into strips that measure about 1/2-inch wide and 3 to 4 inches long.
• Set up a dredging station by placing flour, egg wash, and panko bread crumbs into shallow bowls or pie plates and lining them up in an assembly line. Mix the garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and about 1/4 tsp of salt into the panko bread crumbs.
• When ready, open the air fryer tray and spray the bottom with a bit of olive oil or non-stick spray. Then, dredge your fish sticks, one by one, into the flour, egg, and panko. Place them into the air fryer basket; be sure not to overcrowd them. You will likely have to cook your fish sticks in batches.
• Close the air fryer and cook the fish sticks for 3 minutes, then carefully flip the fish sticks over using tongs and cook them for another 3 minutes.
• Open the air fryer and transfer the fish sticks to a plate. Repeat with the other batches until you're done, and serve the fish sticks with tartar sauce—or ketchup if you prefer!

LEMON TARTAR SAUCE

• Put all of the ingredients for the tartar sauce into a small mixing bowl.
• With a fork, mix everything together until well combined. Give it a taste and adjust if necessary.
• Refrigerate until ready to use. I like to make this first and refrigerate it for about 30 minutes before serving it with the fish sticks.

Nutrition

Serving: 1fish stick | Calories: 57kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 8g | Cholesterol: 18mg | Sodium: 25mg

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