Is air fryer good for fish?

Name: Air Fryer Fish
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 11 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 3 fillets cod (1-1.5 lbs. of cod was used); 3 tbsp butter; 3 slices lemon; 1 tsp salt; 1/2 tsp pepper

Air Fryer Fish (No Breading)

A plate of air fryer fish fillets seasoned with herbs and black pepper, topped with slices of grilled lemon. In the background, there are fresh parsley and halved lemons.

Have you given airfry fish a whirl yet?? It’s pretty much a game changer for us. Whether you want to cook salmon, tilapia or cod it’s going to come out perfect every time with the right temperature and timing. Easy air fryer recipes to the rescue here.

Now let’s talk what the possibilities might be, there are a lot. If you like a very light flavor I might go for a fillet of cod or tilapia. Catfish is popular in the South with a cornmeal breading but air fryer salmon might be our all time favorite. A dark pink color so it’s so pretty it is great with rice or veggies.

There are many ways to “fry” seafood in this hot air machine. You can of course load it up with coating too like air fryer fish and chips with french fries cooked quick and easy together but typically those are laden with calories.

Air Fryer Fish with Frozen Fish

It’s not just how to cook fresh fish though, we have gone a step further with frozen salmon in air fryer too. Why? Because I happen to be forgetful and dinner doesn’t always get defrosted in time. It’s a great way of how to cook frozen scallops in must minutes or in this case this variety would need to follow our air fryer frozen cod directions. It is a very slight variation in timing between the different varieties.

If you live in a smaller town like we do, you may need to buy frozen fish and thaw it out on your own. On the coast, the choices are limitless year-round. You really don’t need much. This time, we didn’t use any breading at all for our air fried fish fillets. Below, I will share with you how to use a light layer of bread crumbs too.

We are speaking about defrosted cod specifically in this post. The printable recipe card at the bottom of this post speaks to this. There isn’t a huge difference though if you chose a different variety.

Three raw fish fillets are placed on a white plate, perfect for preparing air fryer fish. Beside the fillets are three whole lemons, one half lemon, a pile of fresh parsley, and a small dish containing brown and white spices. The image is set on a light-colored wooden surface.

An air fryer basket containing three pieces of seasoned fish fillets topped with lemon slices. The air fryer fish sits in a sleek black exterior unit with a visible latch. The interior of the basket shows some cooking marks and residue, evidence of its recent culinary success.

Ingredient Notes

Fish fillets of your choice but they should be about the same size and thickness. Fresh or store bought with skin on is preferred just to keep them as tender as possible but not required. They shouldn’t overlap either so keep in mind the size of your basket.

Butter is nice for moisture and flavor, you could use olive oil instead, but salted butter is so much better. We have used a dairy free product too and that works great.

With all of our air fryer fish recipes you’ll want to add a bit of tartar sauce and/or squeeze of fresh lemon juice at the end for moisture with this.

Salt and Pepper are just basic seasonings. Many times I will add Lawry’s, garlic powder and/or Old bay on top too. Non stick cooking spray in air fryer basket is helpful too.

If you wanted a crunchy layer like you get with air fryer frozen fish sticks you could do that with an egg whisked and then pressed into crumbs. Breadcrumbs, crushed crackers or even cornflakes or cornmeal works too.

How Long to Cook Fish in Air Fryer

This is going to take about 12 minutes once it is set inside. First, preheat air fryer to 400 degrees F for 5 minutes. Just like how to smoke salmon, you always want to make sure that the heat is even the whole time when it comes to getting the outsides as crunchy as possible.

Remember, you’re probably going to serve this with other items on the side too. You can go comfort food style with fries, or sweet potato chips too. Make it fun if you do by using hot dog baskets or thick paper as cones. We will share a few other side dishes below too. Need this done quicker? Make air fryer fish nuggets!

How to serve

This is good as is with a side of Instant Pot or air fryer vegetable, OR make a po’ boy sandwich with hoagie rolls! You can serve any of these inside an air fryer fish tacos which is what we love to do. Stuffed with shredded cabbage, white sauce and avocado is the perfect meal.

With cauliflower florets makes for a super healthy with just some olive oil and seasoning. NO breading and no need for it either I swear. Here are a few pressure cooker fish recipes you can try as well. They’re great, tender, and flavorful without any crispiness on the outside.

Absolutely! We have successfully made air fryer cod fish recipes, tilapia, and air fryer salmon too. Some dishes feature light breading, while this one is a low-carb keto meal idea with no breading
A rectangular white plate holds a cooked piece of glazed salmon, crisped to perfection in an air fryer and garnished with chopped herbs. The salmon is surrounded by sprigs of fresh parsley and two lemon slices. The plate is positioned on a white wooden surface.

Other Air Fryer Fish Recipes You’ll Love

These pictures feature cod fillets, but any white fish would cook similarly with the 12-minute cooking time. The biggest difference is the thickness of the fillets. Follow the directions on our air fryer tilapia and air fryer catfishposts and see which way you like the best.

Want to try some other type of seafood? I’m sure you do if you have already made and enjoyed all of these above. The next would be as crunchy as deep fried but without submerging it in oil. That is…..”fried” air fryer oysters. Our naked tuna steak air fryer and/or air fryer scallops are amazing too.