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Home Recipes By Type Main Dishes

Beer Battered Fish

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By: Diana Posted: 6/13/20 Updated: 1/9/21

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

Light and crunchy Beer Battered Fish prepared the traditional way! To make the batter ultra-crispy, the water is replaced with beer for better texture and flavor. Serve it with fluffy chips and tartar sauce, and you’ll end up with a British feast just like what you’d have in Britain!

Close up of perfectly crisp golden beer battered fish served on a white plate

Fish and chips is a staple across Britain. In every city and town, you’ll find a few small fish and chips shops selling golden battered fish with chips on the side. Traditionally, fish and chips were wrapped in yesterday’s newspaper (and I love that rustic look and feel!), but nowadays they’re served wrapped in white paper or in paper boxes for takeaway.

Luckily, the fish and chips recipe hasn’t changed throughout the years and finding a really good fish and chip shop isn’t difficult. Most of these shops make a very simple batter for the fish which consists of flour, baking powder, water, salt, and pepper. The recipe is great, but the fish must be eaten as soon as it’s out of the deep fryer and still hot. Otherwise, it will soften and become greasy and soggy.

So to make super crispy homemade fish, I like to add beer to my batter (I didn’t come up with this, it’s a traditional method but no longer found in small fish and chips shops and you have to go to a fancy restaurant to find it!). Fizzy beer or ale is what will take your fish and chips to the next level. It will not just improve the texture, but it will also improve the flavor and the fish won’t be greasy.

How to Make Beer Battered Fish

If you read the recipe in full before you start, making beer battered fish will be a breeze. Learn it once, and you’ll keep making it over and over again.

What Kind of Fish to Use

Use any white fish fillet such as cod, pollock, halibut, hake, catfish, basa, or ling. This doesn’t work well with other fish such as tuna or salmon.

What You’ll Need

  • Fish fillets. Fresh or frozen and thawed.
  • Beer or ale.
  • All-purpose flour and baking powder.
  • Salt and pepper. You can use other seasonings if you like, but I like to keep it simple and just add salt and pepper.
  • Oil for frying. Any neutral high smoke point works. I use canola or corn oil.
Beer battered fish ingredients

The Directions

  • If using frozen fish, thaw completely before cooking. Season the fish with salt, and let it sit for at least 20-30 minutes (up to 1 hour). This will help to extract the moisture from the fish and make it firmer for crispy fish.
  • Dredge the fish in seasoned flour, and shake off any excess flour (see image 1 below). It’s important to get rid of any excess flour to get the right texture.
  • Make the batter: In a large bowl, whisk the flour with baking powder, salt, pepper, and beer. Make sure not to over mix the batter (see images 2 and 3 below).
  • Heat the oil in a cast-iron pot with a kitchen thermometer, or in a deep fryer until it reaches 300°F (150°C).
  • Dip the fish in batter, take it out shaking any excess batter off. And lower down into the hot oil very slowly (see images 4 and 5 below).
  • Deep fry for 7 minutes turning halfway through.
How to make beer battered fish

Remove from oil, and place on a wire rack for the extra oil to drip and for the fish to stay crispy. If not serving right now, then place in the oven at a low temperature so that the fish stays crispy. And here you have it, perfectly crunchy beer battered cod or any other fish that you’re using.

Placing the fried fish on a wire rack to get rid of any excess oil

I love using my Deep Fryer as it has a thermostat and makes sure that the temperature of the oil is always right, it also has a timer (super useful!). But you can totally use a pot with a kitchen thermometer attached.

Close up of a crunchy piece of fried fish and tartar sauce on the side

Top Tips

  • Go for white and firm fish.
  • The fish must be super fresh to cook perfectly. If using frozen, then thaw in the fridge overnight.
  • Season the fish with salt prior to cooking, and let it sit for at least 20-30 minutes (up to 1 hour). This will help to extract the moisture from the fish and make it firmer for crispy fish sticks.
  • The batter must be thick similar to a heavy cream consistency.
  • The batter can be made ahead and sit in the fridge overnight, in fact, the fish turns out crispier when it’s dipped in a batter that was made on the day before.
  • Use fresh oil.
  • Soggy greasy fish happens because oil is not hot enough, so controlling the temperature of the oil is very important.
  • If you have leftovers on the next day, I recommend reheating in an Air Fryer or a fan oven and the fish will crisp up again.
  • Serve with homemade tartar sauce, it’s much healthier than store-bought, cheaper, and always tastes better!
Holding a flaked fried fish

Serving Ideas

Typically crunchy fish is served with tartar sauce, mushy peas, and crispy chips/fries. But below are more ideas for you to try:

  • Healthier oven-baked fries
  • Air Fryer baked potatoes
  • Greek vegetable bake
  • Mac and cheese

Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!

Recipe
5 from 15 votes
(Click stars to rate!)

Beer Battered Fish

Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 30 mins
Author: Diana
Print Rate Recipe Text Recipe Email Recipe
Light and crispy Beer Battered Fish prepared the traditional way! To make the batter ultra-crispy, the water is replaced with beer for better texture and flavor.
6 servings
Light and crispy Beer Battered Fish prepared the traditional way! To make the batter ultra-crispy, the water is replaced with beer for better texture and flavor.

Ingredients

Fish:

  • 1½ pounds (650g) fish fillets
  • Oil for frying

For Dredging:

  • ½ cup (60g) all purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

For the Batter:

  • 1 cup (120g) all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 ½ teaspoons salt divided
  • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 cup (250ml) beer cold

For Serving:

  • tartar sauce
  • chips or fries
  • lemon wedges

Equipment

  • Deep Fryer

Instructions

  • If using frozen fish, thaw completely. Season the fish with salt, and let it sit for at least 20-30 minutes (up to 1 hour) on a wire rack or paper towels in the fridge. This will help to extract the moisture from the fish and make it firmer for crispy fish.
  • Make the dredging flour. Combine flour with salt and pepper. Set aside.
  • Make the batter: In a large bowl, whisk the flour with baking powder, salt, pepper, and cold beer. The consistency of the batter must be the same as heavy/double cream (add more liquid or flour if needed to achieve this). Make sure not to over mix the batter.
  • Dredge the fish in seasoned flour and shake off any excess flour. It's important to get rid of any excess flour to get the right texture.
  • Heat the oil in a cast-iron pot with a kitchen thermometer, or in a deep fryer until it reaches 300°F (150°C).
  • Dip the fish in batter, take it out shaking any excess batter off. And lower down into the oil very slowly.
  • Deep fry for 6-7 minutes turning halfway through.
  • Remove from oil, and place on a wire rack for the extra oil to drip and for the fish to stay crunchy (it will stay crispy for 15-20 minutes, so best served hot).
  • Serve with chips, tartar sauce, and lemon juice or malt vinegar.

Notes:

  • Use any firm white fish fillet such as cod, pollock, halibut, hake, catfish, basa, or ling. This doesn’t work well with other fish such as tuna or salmon.
  • The fish must be super fresh to cook perfectly. If using frozen, then thaw in the fridge overnight.
  • Season the fish with salt prior to cooking, and let it sit for at least 20-30 minutes (up to 1 hour). This will help to extract the moisture from the fish and make it firmer for crispy fish sticks.
  • The batter must be thick similar to a heavy cream consistency.
  • The batter can be made ahead and sit in the fridge overnight, in fact, the fish turns out crispier when it’s dipped in a batter that was made on the day before.
  • Use fresh oil.
  • Soggy greasy fish happens because oil is not hot enough, so controlling the temperature of the oil is very important.
  • If you have leftovers on the next day, I recommend reheating in an Air Fryer or a fan oven and the fish will crisp up again.

Video

Nutrition Information

Calories: 343kcal, Carbohydrates: 17g, Protein: 20g, Fat: 19g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 45mg, Sodium: 630mg, Potassium: 431mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g, Calcium: 70mg, Iron: 2mg

This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.

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  1. Barbara Midwinter says

    Posted on 4/3/22 at 20:13

    5 stars
    This beer battered fish recipe was the greatest! I don’t have a fryer, so just used a pot I usually make stew in and used enough corn oil to just cover the fish. I will definitely use this recipe alot! I used Haddock fish and it turned out delicious.

    Reply
  2. Curtiss says

    Posted on 1/20/22 at 01:54

    Use pancake flour and you don’t have to worry about it coming out crispy,,,,make SURE oil is at 350 degrees,,also helps to add some old bay seasoning

    Reply
  3. Loopylou says

    Posted on 10/22/21 at 20:30

    5 stars
    Best and easiest batter I’ve made so far!

    Reply
  4. Dennis says

    Posted on 10/7/21 at 22:32

    5 stars
    Very easy and so good. We had extra batter and
    dipped some garden green beans. Even dipped and fried some cookies.

    Reply
  5. Jason Williams says

    Posted on 6/21/21 at 02:12

    5 stars
    Very good recipe! Turned out fantastic. I had leftover batter. Would it be safe to leave in the fridge overnight to use again the next day?

    Reply
    • Diana says

      Posted on 6/21/21 at 10:23

      Happy to hear that you enjoyed it, Jason! You can store the batter in the fridge for up to 24 hours, but as the beer won’t be fizzy I don’t think that the batter will crisp up very well once fried (but you’ll have to test it out and see).

      Reply
Older Comments 1 2

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