How Long to Cook Fish Sticks in Air Fryer?

Today’s famous fish sticks were once known as fish fingers, and they were first referenced in a British magazine back in 1900.

The food became popular when there was food restriction during World War II and even after, though the food companies then battled producing and maintaining the best quality. Cod was the main ingredient for making fish fingers. It was first commercialized several years later in 1953 by an American company called Gorton-Pew fisheries, popularly known by Gorton’s nowadays. Gorton’s introduced a new idea of selling the fish finger frozen and was named Gorton’s fish sticks.

There have been competitions to outshine this great food invention recipe; the likes were Clarence Birdseye Herring fish fingers. But people preferred and opted in mainly for the Codfish fingers.

Nowadays, you can buy nicely baked fish sticks in the store or freezer aisle. But there comes an incredible difference when you make fish sticks yourself at home; you’ll enjoy the pleasure of eating the very fresh taste of the fish sticks and the nutrition of homemade sticks.

These crunchy and delicious fish sticks, when cooked right, is irresistible by young and adult owing to a crispy texture on the surface and an inside texture that is easy to chew or tender.

What are Fish Sticks?

Fish fingers come from British English, while fish sticks come from American English. Fish sticks are processed food cooked or made using whitefish species such as Pollock, hake, tilapia, haddock, and most preferably cod which are already breaded or battered. These fish types are available in frozen form in supermarkets and stores, and fish fingers of sticks can be baked using an air fryer, oven, or even the deep-frying method.

What are the Ingredients needed to Cook Fish Stick?

Below are some common ingredients needed with the quantity required to cook fish sticks enough to serve four people.

• Tilapia or Cod: 4 (4 oz.) fillets frozen cod or tilapia
• Wheat flour: 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• Eggs: 2 large eggs, beaten
• Paprika: 1 teaspoon paprika
• Garlic powder: 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• Breadcrumbs: 1cup panko breadcrumbs
• Pepper: 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• Salt: 1 teaspoon salt plus more for sprinkling after air frying
• Lemon juice: 1 large lemon juiced, plus more for serving after air frying
• Old bay seasoning: 2 teaspoons old bay

Tartar sauce — among other sauces you can think of — is best recommended for serving with your fish sticks.

How to prepare the Ingredients before Cooking?

1. Allow the fish to thaw if using frozen. Then, start cutting each fillet of the thawed fish into four equal pieces. You should unarguably be left with 16 pieces of sticks; dry water out entirely with paper towels.
2. Then, mix the wheat flour, salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic powder in a shallow-sized bowl and set it aside.
3. After that, mix the eggs and lemon juice in another bowl.
4. In the third bowl, whisk panko breadcrumbs and old bay seasoning together carefully. Next, dip each stick piece into the bowl with pepper mixture, then the bowl with egg mixture, and finally, dunk in the bowl with the panko mixture.
5. Ensure each piece of fish is completely coated at every step. To make it stick with the fish, it is advisable to press the panko into the fish. Then finally, spray the outside with cooking spray to prevent it from sticking to the air fryer’s basket and encourage browning.
6. Preparation time takes 15 to 18 minutes.

How to make Homemade Fish Sticks in an Air Fryer?

• Turn the air fryer on.
• Then preheat the air fryer to a temperature of 400°F by hitting the pre-set button. Set the time for preheating to 8 to 10 minutes. After that press, the start button, and once preheated, the air fryer will beep.
• Once that is done, spray the air fryer’s basket with a bit of cooking spray and line up to 6-8 pieces in the basket.
• Then carefully turn each piece over in the first 5 minutes, and then cook for the rest 5 minutes. Cooking time often takes 10 to 20 minutes.
• After it’s cooked, collect from the air fryer, sprinkle with more salt —if necessary—.
• Repeat these steps with the remaining fish.
• Serve with sauce of your choice.

Why do I need to Cook Fish Stick with an Air Fryer?

Frozen or homemade fish sticks are better and healthier when cooked in an air fryer than in an oven; this is because the hot air circulating the sticks makes it cook crispy and delicious with little or no oil needed.

How to reheat Leftovers or Frozen Fish Stick in an Air Fryer?

Reheating leftovers or frozen fish sticks in the air fryer is fabulous. You get a crunchy and crispy taste plus a healthy and nutritious meal. You can reheat by following this outlined ways below.

• Firstly preheat your air fryer to 400°F.
• Place the fish sticks inside the air fryer basket and then cook for 1 to 2 minutes until thoroughly done.
• Once done, take the fish sticks out from the air fryer basket, serve, and enjoy.

How to Store/ Preserve leftovers of Fish Sticks?

A good idea for storing leftover fish sticks is to put them in an enclosed container then stores them in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. After that, never leave at room temperature.

It can also stay in the freezer for three months.

Bottom Line

Keep all these in mind to make sure you get the best out of your fish sticks. Firstly, little or no oil is necessary while cooking homemade fish stick; no oil is needed if it is a frozen fish stick, and make sure you cook frozen. Don’t thaw. Make sure you don’t overcrowd the air fryer basket. Cooking time is often based on an air fryer that is not preheated. If cooking in batches, make sure you are careful when the remaining sets may cook a little faster.

Remember to set a timer to 5 minutes; this will allow you to be alert about when you will need to toss as directed in the recipe.

When you follow all these steps closely, you will get an absolute result from your cooking.