air fryer fish fillet tilapia (crispy fried)

Air fryer fish fillet or fillets, a crispy fried fish fillet recipe in an air fryer by using simple ingredients. The fried fish uses a quick coating with minimal ingredients and then dipping in beaten egg to make in an air fryer.

About the recipe

This is an air fryer fish tilapia fillet where we need to use fish fillets that can be freshly bought or can be frozen tilapia. I am using tilapia which have been frozen but before making them I have kept them at room temperature to defrost the fish fillets and then use it for cooking purposes.

The recipe is coated with basic spices with fewer spice flavours and then coated with all-purpose flour, eggs and bread crumbs to give a crispy texture from the outside.

The fillets are then placed in an air fryer, cooked well on both sides and have them as a starter or can be used as a stuffing between sandwiches or rolls or wraps.

Other International recipes to check out are peri peri chicken, stovetop oatmeal, lemon cucumber water, black coffee, starbucks iced vanilla latte.

Ingredients

Fish fillets: I am using tilapia fillet to but one can also use salmon or a catfish to make the same recipe. The fish used can be any fish but the procedure to make the recipe is the same.

Olive oil: Spaying some oil such as olive oil or any oil does not make the fish too dry while cooking. To keep the moisture intact in the fish spraying olive oil at different stages of cooking is essential.

Salt and Spices: Salt a basic spice to use to give a coating to the fish. Along with some salt, other basic spices such as paprika powder and black pepper powder are used to coat the fish.

All-purpose flour: This gives a crispy texture to the fish fillets. This coating is the main coating for the fish.

Eggs: I am using eggs to dip the fish in eggs so that the flour and breadcrumbs stick well to the fish.

Breadcrumbs: Using these give a crispy look to the fish fillets and help to cook well in the air fryer. White or brown breadcrumbs can be used to make them and they give a delicious flavour to the air fryer fish fillet along with flour and egg coating.

Step by step procedure

• Take fish tilapia fillets, wash them well under running water and drain the excess water out. Spray or apply olive oil on all sides of the fish fillet. I have defrosted the fish fillets to infuse the spices into the fish and let the spices coat well.

• Apply or sprinkle salt as per taste, paprika powder and black peppercorn powder to both sides of the fish. Other spices too such as parsley, ginger powder, garlic powder too can be used to apply to the fish.

• Coat the fish fillets with all-purpose flour. Dip the coated flour fillets in beaten eggs. Lastly, coat the fish fillets with breadcrumbs and set them aside.

• Preheat the air fryer at 370° F for 3-4 minutes. Take the basket out of the air fryer, place the coated fish pieces into the air fryer.

• Spray some olive oil on the fish pieces. Insert the basket into the air fryer, cook the fish fillet for 5-6 minutes by setting the timer of an air fryer. Take the basket out, flip the fish pieces, spray some olive oil. Cook the other side too for 5 minutes at the same temperature.
  • If directly placing marinated frozen fish fillets then use the same temperatures but increase the cooking time and cook both the sides by spraying olive oil until both sides turn soft and crispy in texture. It can take anywhere from 9 to 12 minutes for the air fryer frozen fish fillets to cook well.
  • The only difference is the cook time for freshly used tilapia and frozen tilapia.

• Take the fish fillet out from the air fryer.
• Serve the crispy fish tilapia hot with ketchup or sauce or dip. Similar recipe made using air fryer to check out is air fryer boneless skinless chicken thighs.

Recipe

How to make breadcrumbs?

Making bread crumbs is easy if they are not handy at home. Normally, these are easily available in markets which can be bought and stored for months if stored airtight in refrigerator. In case they are not handy, just cut off the ends of the bread slices, dry them out and blend them into a fine powder. This powder can be stored airtight for days if stored well.

These crumbs can be used as coating to make nuggets or fried fish or fried chicken etc...

How to make frozen fish fillets in an air fryer?

In case if the fillets are marinated and frozen, they can be easily done in the air fryer without any hassle. The marinated fish fillets should be kept in an air fryer at 370° F or 180° C to 190° C by spraying olive oil and cook them each side for at least 10 minutes or until they turn crispy texture. It is good to have a check in between.

If one side is cooked well for 10 minutes, flip and cook the other side too by spraying some olive oil for 10 minutes or cook until they are done and turn crispy but make sure to keep a check and avoid turning them black.

Wrong settings and wrong temperature makes the air fryer fish turn too roasted quickly and are not fit for eating.

High temperature setting does not cook well from inside and turns crispy quickly from outside and remains raw inside. Be careful with temperature settings.