This Beer Battered Fish is made with cod that has been dipped in a batter seasoned with Old Bay Seasoning and beer. It is then deep-fried until golden brown and crispy on the outside and moist and deliciously flaky white fish inside.
This is a great recipe to serve with homemade coleslaw and homemade tartar sauce. Beer Battered Fish is delicious on its own or as a full-sized sandwich, or as sliders (as seen in the photos here).
Making Beer Battered Fish at home
We love beer-battered fish, but because it is a deep-fried recipe, I only make it occasionally. However, those occasions are special and everyone that is at the dinner table is happy and excited to eat it! Most of the time, we would only get beer-battered fish if we went out to a restaurant. But, I decided that one in a while would be ok to make this at home and save our money from going out.
While I do not love the mess of frying any kind of food, the end result is always worth it. I will admit, I maybe fry something like this fish only 2-3 times a year, and that is more than I ever would 20 years ago!
What is beer-battered fish?
If you have never had beer battered fish before, then you are in for an amazing treat. Beer is added to flour and seasoning, creating a light, aerated batter. This batter fries up nice and crisp, forming a shell around the fish leaving the fish tender and flaky on the inside.
My experience is the beer that you use can be any beer you have on hand in your home. If you love dark beer, you will have a richer flavored batter. We are not big fans of dark beer so we don't normally have it on hand. I will buy a light-colored beer for our batter and it turns out delicious!
This recipe calls for 1 cup of beer. Whatever you do, do not add the whole bottle of beer. That is usually a 12-ounce bottle. It will be too much liquid for the flour and will make the batter way too thin. My suggestion is to measure out the 1 cup of beer, then drink the rest 🙂
Frying fish perfectly without making (too much of) a hot mess
The biggest deterrent for me in making any fried food recipe was the mess. I hate grease spattered all over my cooktop. While I don't get away from it totally, I do have tips to follow that help me keep the mess down to a minimum and get the best Beer Battered Fish recipe results.
- Use a wide pan and make sure to leave about 4 inches from the top of the oil to the top of the pan.
- Use a thermometer and don't let the oil go over 350 degrees. The hotter the oil, the more chance of burning the batter and leaving raw fish inside.
- Carefully place the fish in the oil, don't just drop it.
- Use a spatter screen! A spatter screen keeps the oil from popping and crackling outside of the pot and yet keeps the food from steaming instead of frying.
- Don't overcrowd the grease. Cook only a few pieces of fish at a time.
- Use paper towels OR a paper bag to drain the fish on. I prefer a paper bag, but I don't always have them on hand. The oil from the fish will soak into the paper rather than the fish.
What to serve with Beer Battered Fish
Make Beer Battered Fish sliders! As you can see from the photos, I made slider sandwiches. I used mini rolls that I toasted on the stovetop and topped them with homemade tartar sauce.
It's always a great idea to serve fries with your beer-battered fish. We love to make sweet potato shoestring fries. I will also make sweet potato fries in my air fryer.
Add a side of homemade coleslaw. Pasta Salad with Creamy Parmesan Dressing is another great recipe, as well as potato salad.
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Beer Battered Fish
Ingredients
- 1 large cod filet about 1 pound
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup beer
- 1-½ teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- Peanut Oil for Frying
Instructions
- Heat oil in a deep frying pan until 350 degrees.
- Place the flour, old bay seasoning, garlic powder, salt, and pepper in a medium-sized bowl, whisking to combine the dry ingredients.
- Stir in the beer until all dry ingredients have been combined.
- Cut the fish into desired portion sizes and dip a piece of fish into the beer batter. Then place it in the hot oil and fry fish, turning once the fish is golden brown on the bottom side, about 2 minutes. Cook another 2-3 minutes more or until batter is browned and fish is cooked through.
- Remove the fish from the oil and drain on paper towels.
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