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I’m a big fan of deep-fried haddock, and this recipe (made with a unique trick) is one of my absolute favorite ways of eating it. The crispy batter and overall taste can’t be beat.
Deep Fried Haddock Recipe
A chef friend told me the secret for a proper, crispy batter for deep-frying fish a long time ago. Indeed, not only a friend but the head of a culinary arts program at a local post-secondary school.
It’s so very simple. It’s cornstarch.
While I sadly lost the recipe he gave me in his cooking class that day (and truth be told, he told me it was an old fisherman friend who gave it to him ), I have always remembered that secret.
Mike prefers deep-fried haddock. It’s a nice, milder fish, and it is one of the best choices for deep-frying battered fish. It holds up well and cooks fast.
Look at that gorgeous fish flake.
To be clear, I don’t and most likely won’t ever own a deep frier again, so don’t pass on this recipe because you don’t have one. I used to own one, and it was honestly the most significant, messiest, most annoying kitchen appliance that I have owned. It smelled and was always greasy on the outside, no matter what I did.
I have a large heavy frying pan that I use to deep fry in and let’s face it, deep frying isn’t really something that we should be doing so often that we need a deep fryer.
Fish is rich in protein and healthy to boot, so it’s always one of my top choices. However, my family doesn’t always agree. Mike will eat haddock, which is why I chose to do this dish, but he also likes it deep-fried. Sigh. That man.
Fresh fish is always better, especially when deep-fried in batter. Frozen fish will have extra moisture no matter how you defrost it!
Fried Haddock Tips and Tricks
There are a few secrets that you have to adhere to in order to make great deep-fried haddock.
- The oil temperature MUST be at 375 degrees. The hotter will burn, and you will have raw fish inside, and the cooler will make the batter soaked in grease.
- The batter does not contain milk or eggs. It is as plain as it gets. If you want, you can definitely sub in half beer and half water.
- Use only thin and fresh filets, not frozen.
So who’s in for giving this recipe a shot? I am so excited, it passed the “Mike test” because I swear he is the pickiest person I know when it comes to deep fried haddock. So if he gives this a thumbs up, you know it’s a great recipe!
Happy cooking everyone!
Love you more than chocolate,
Karlynn
The Best Deep Fried Haddock
Ingredients
Batter Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup beer
- 1 tablespoon dill
- 1 dash pepper
- 2-4 High Liner Simply Fish Haddock Filets
For flouring
- 1/2 cup flour
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
Instructions
- Combine the batter ingredients and mix until smooth.
- Preheat 2-3 inches of oil in a heavysauce pan to 375 degrees F.
- Combine the “flouring” ingredients together in a small bowl.
- Dredge the filets through the flour, then the batter until covered with a thick coat of batter.
- Cook two at a time in the hot oil, for approximately 4 minutes per side or until a medium golden brown.
- Remove and drain on paper towels.
- Serve and enjoy.
Nutrition
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Susan Brosh says
Made this with all Gluten-Free ingredients (GF beer, GF flour) and it came out really good. Only issue I has was maintaining the oil temp: first batch came out great – brown and crispy, but temp dropped when I took out that batch and the batter for the next batch just did not stick… for the third batch I knew what to look for so it was better. Another recipe for my recipe book…!
BBracy says
Made this batter last night. Just two of us and less than 1 lb of haddock, so I halved the recipe, which was just the right amount. I omitted the dill because my tarter sauce recipe is made with sweet relish, dill relish, minced onion and dill weed. Wanted to love this batter, but I’ve got a similar recipe in my wheelhouse that fries lighter crumb than this did. Thanks for posting.
Leyza T. says
This is my second time making this recipe and my partner and I love it! We are New Englander’s and love our fish and chips but in the Winter (and with the pandemic) it is hard to come by so I needed to find a recipe.
These are the minor adjustments I made. I use fresh fish and replaced the dill with my favorite seasoning. The batter is quite thick but worked fine with a whole beer and some water. The thickness is easy to adjust according to preference. Just eyeball it.
As for the heat, 375 is super hot so I cook it at 350 and it comes out crisp and nicely browned. If making more than one batch, keep what you have cooked warm in the oven (low heat). Instead of placing on paper towels to drain off the oil I used a metal cooking rack on top of a long plate and just add the cooked fish to this as I make it. Works great!
BRIAN says
Not for a New England boy. Packaged fish??? Frozen fish??? Nope. Thick batter?? Nope. Dill in the batter?? Nope!
jane cooney says
Made it to the recipe but without the dill and I have never tasted batter so good !! Thank you.!
Ginger Valene says
All Highliner seafood is/was frozen…states so right on the package. Lots of stores display it thawed rather than in a freezer compartment. People…some people…think they’re buying fresh fish, never frozen, but it ain’t so.
Joanne says
Excellent loved it! I used half beer and half water. Will make it again for company.
Beautiful batter to work with.
Chris says
very good recipe. batter was nice and crispy.
Franco says
Fantastic batter. I had to add a bit of water to the beer because it was too thick. I also did some shrimp with the same batter. Great. Salt and pepper all before the flour dredge. Even the shrimp. I will for sure make this again. 😀
Claire MacDonald says
I followed this recipe exactly (except for halving the flour mixture and batter because I was cooking only four pieces of haddock). My issue is this: I heated the oil to 375 degrees, using a thermometer But as soon as I put the fish in the oil, it crisped up immediately, resulting in a too-crisp coating. Any suggestions as to where I went wrong? Personally, I think the oil was just too hot. It seems though, from all the comments, that many people had great success . I look forward to your reply.
Jasmine Joyce says
The batter turned out really good even if I used 1cup of very cold water instead of beer. So crispy and tasty. My husband and kids loved it! I cooked spicy fries on the side. Homemade fish and chips 😊Thanks for sharing your recipe. 5 thumbs up!!!
Sharon Churchill says
This is my go-to recipe! Works perfectly!
Kristina says
Can this be made using an air fryer???
Tica says
Everybody loved it, but I didn’t enjoy the combination of this batter with fish. I actually fried some of the batter on its own and liked that bettet
Matt Wall says
Not deep fryer friendly. A lot of the batter floats off of the fish, making a huge mess out of the fryer oil. Held the temperature of the oil throughout cooking process, cooking the fish 3.5 to 4 minutes. Fish came out very dark in color and you could not even see the dill in the batter because of it’s darkness. Fish was very good overall, but it would have been with any other batter as well. This recipe does call out for a pan fry, instead of a deep fryer. So my bad, lesson learned. I like my outside propane deep fryer when cooking, so pan fry recipes are dead to me.
Sima Abenson says
Absolutely delicious!!!
Hard to get Haddock here in NY but we had some today and i wanted to surprise my British My kids fressed it!!
The batter was a little surprising and thick but result was top notch!!!!
derwood says
Ack Puke, I am from new England and the last thing I want to taste with my haddock is Dill YUK
Nancy says
I made this tonight without the dill. Made a side tartar sauce.
Best homemade fish I’ve had!
Cherie says
Recipe is amazing!
Jeff says
Just made this tonight. My wife and daughter loved it. Batter was a little thick. I will just add more beer next time! Thanks….
Karen says
Wondered if adding more beer helps? I thought it was disappointing and so thick it was not suitable. I would not bother w this recipe again. There are plenty of other tastier easier ways to cook haddock. We had to remove most of it to enjoy the fish!
Tarry says
So, the recipe states – do not use frozen haddock. I have, each time I have made this and it is still great! So much better than some restaurants I frequent (and I live on Prince Edward Island!). Not mushy, crisp, not too much batter so the fish shines through! Not a big fan of deep frying so tonight will try to sauté in shortening. This is a great, no fail recipe…to be continued.
sue says
i just made this with fresh haddock, probs the best battered fish i have had in a long long time
Mary Tribble says
The batter was way too thick, added a whole beer and was too thick. I liked the taste of it, but not going to use again.
Diane Cyr says
Made this tonite, along with fresh scallops. AWESOME!!!! Family loved it. This would also make a wonderful batter for chicken fingers. THANKS SO MUCH!!!
Diane Cyr says
This rated a 5 star review. NOT very proficient on computer.
Phil Parent says
Best homemade Haddock I have ever had !
Loved the Dill.
I misinterpreted and dredged after the wet..made it perfect for the deep fryer.
Thank you so much
April says
I had to substitute cornstarch with instant potatoes and beer With gingerale…had to add extra to make it liquid enough. It turned out amazing! I want to post a pic <3
ryan hilton says
did no one actually try this? i followed the recipe to a T and the batter was literally thicker than cookie dough. wouldnt even stick to the fish. not to mention even after adding more than three times the amount of liquid it was STILL too dry to coat the fish. finally after getting even a small amount to coat it all just slipped right off in the oil and the fish disintegrated. what a waste of ingredients
Mr. Kitchen Magpie says
Well, this is our go-to that we (and others we know) have used for years without a single issue. As you can see below, so have others. I’m not sure what happened in your case but thanks for trying it!
Arleen D says
Did you accidentally add the dipping flour to the batter?? This works perfectly for me!
Shawna M Ore says
Sounds yummy, it’s making my mouth water at 316 in the morning. lol
The Kitchen Magpie says
Ouch, working the graveyard shift?
Susy says
Just made this. WOW, Amazing!!
Karlynn Johnston says
Glad you liked it!!
Kelly Galloway says
This recipe is awesome! Entire family loved it! It exceeded my expectations and we also live in Prince Edward Island (Canada) where restaurants know how to cook seafood.
The batter is indeed a bit thick, but that seems to help it stick well to the fish. Well, that and I think the initial flour and cornstarch dredge also helps it stick.
I also used thawed, previously frozen haddock loins which I allowed to drain and squeezed between paper towels to remove excess water.
I omitted the dill because I didn’t have any. I made a delicious dill tartar sauce with chopped up dill pickle that made up for that.
My only question… any suggestions for how to keep the pieces warm once they are cooked until the entire batch has been deep fried? I made a triple batch (feeding 5 hungry people) and placed the cooked pieces in a large bowl with paper towel in the bottom and kept in the oven at medium heat.
40min later when they were all fried and we were ready to eat, a few pieces had gotten a bit soggy, or stuck to each other, ripping the otherwise beautiful, crispy, batter.
I’m thinking I should have spread them out in a single layer on a rack or on paper towels over a cookie sheet and put in the oven to keep warm.
Any suggestions?
Mark Wicklund says
beer batter is excellent. especially if you use a beer like a summer shanty. It has a hint of lemon in the beer itself. what goes with fish? Lemon
The Kitchen Magpie says
Smart man makes for a good cook! \U0001f609