Recipe for Oven Baked Fish Sticks at Life's Ambrosia

Fish sticks were probably one of my childhood favorites. We didn’t eat them that often so whenever I sat down to a wonderful plate of fish sticks, french fries and some green stuff, usually broccoli, I felt like it was a special treat. Between that and the fact I spent many recesses in the library for fun, I’m beginning to think I was a weird kid. But weird kid-ness aside, I must admit that it has been a long long time since I have had fish sticks. To my surprise I was craving them lately. Instead of running to the frozen aisle, I decided to make my own from scratch. It was surprisingly easy.

The first obstacle to tackle was what kind of fish that I wanted to use. I knew I wanted a white fish, and immediately thought cod. However, when I got to the store, surprise, surprise, they didn’t have any and I was left with halibut. Now I say left with halibut not because halibut is not delicious, because it is. I say left with halibut because it is super expensive, at least in my neck of the woods anyway. But I decided to bite the bullet and pay the extra. If you can’t get your hands on any halibut fillets you can substitute cod or even tilapia. Keep in mind, you may have to adjust the cooking time slightly.

The second obstacle was what kind of breading I wanted to use. Did I want to do a batter? Or would it be better to do a simple bread crumb coating? I decided on my old standby, a combo of bread crumbs and panko. It worked quite nicely.

The third and final obstacle was to bake or to fry. I knew frying would produce the golden brown color I am accustomed to with fish sticks. But after scarfing down a few plates of Creamy Herb Fettuccine earlier this week, I decided baking would be a better option. They may not have been as golden as they would’ve been had they been fried, but they were scrumptious nonetheless.

Oven Baked Fish Sticks Recipe

Crispy baked fish sticks. No more need to stop by the frozen aisle.

Serves 4

Prep time: 15 min

Cook time: 25 min

Ingredients:

1 pound halibut fillet, skin removed if present, cut into 1/2 inch sticks
1/3 cup milk
2/3 cup plain bread crumbs
2/3 cup panko bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
non-stick spray
1 lemon cut into wedges

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Pour milk into one bowl.
In another bowl combine plain bread crumbs, panko bread crumbs, kosher salt and pepper.
Season fish sticks with salt and pepper. Dip the fish sticks into milk and then dredge in bread crumb mixture to coat completely. Place on plate. Let stand 5 minutes.
Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray. Place in oven for 3 minutes to warm.
Remove prepared baking sheet from oven, place fish sticks on sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Turn. Bake for another 10 minutes or until fish flakes easily.
Turn on the broiler and broil for 2-3 minutes or until fish browns.
Transfer to serving platter with lemon wedges. Serve.

To me no fish stick dinner is complete with out tartar sauce. Check back tomorrow and I will share the recipe for the homemade tartar sauce that I made for these. Enjoy!

Responses to "Oven Baked Fish Sticks"

“
i would have to use tilapia if I’m going to cook this..
”

- peachkins

“
Looks very good! I like the idea of cooking them in the oven, I often just deep fry things because its quicker.
”

- Angelia McGowan

“
Oh, I love fish sticks too! And I have had them for a very very long time either! AND we happen to have 50 pounds of it in the freezer. (My hubby is a fisherman and we live at the Oregon Coast) So you can bet your sweet boopie that I am going to make these! Thanks
Dana ♥
”

- Dana Zia

“
Hi Des,
I’m very much in favor of baking than frying and the fish sticks here do look golden enough. Thanks for sharing a simple yet delicious way of cooking fish from scratch, i heart it.
”

- TasteHongKong

“
My kids enjoy fish sticks, but I rarely buy them because of the high fat, high sodium, high preservative nature of the ones in the freezer section. These will be great to be able to enjoy fish sticks again without the food-product angst.
”

- MadisonHouseChef

“
Im really going to this it looks like its mad easy to bake and prepare…it doesn’t take that long to cook anyways
”

- Jose

“
I have made this recipe twice. IT IS AWESOME! I didn’t have to tweak it at all. The tartar is the total bomb and actually makes me wanna eat MORE fish! Thanks for an awesome recipe!
”

- Lisa Wear

“
You’re welcome Lisa! And thank you for the nice comments about this recipe and the tartar sauce recipe. It is nice to hear that you enjoy them both so much :)
”

- Deseree