Southern Fried Catfish Recipe
Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 10 min | Total Time: 20 min
For my family, fried catfish was always like a special treat that came on a random Sunday. I never knew when a fish fry was coming but was always ecstatic to smell the savory aroma of fried fish taking over the kitchen. Welp, fast forward to last week, it was Sunday, and I was getting the craving for fried catfish. So, I decided that this Sunday, I’ll be taking over the fish fry.
And let me just say, I KILLED THAT SH*T. Lol. No, but seriously it was amazing. Check out the recipe below!
Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 10 min |Total Time: 20 min
Ingredients
- Fresh or thawed Catfish
- Creole Seasoning
- Your favorite frying oil. I used Canola Oil ( or Peanuty Oil or Sunflower Oil)
- Black Pepper
- Cayenne Pepper
- Garlic Pepper
- Garlic Powder
- Onion Powder
- 1 Pack of pre-seasoned Fish Fry Mix or 4ish cups of Corn Meal
- All Purpose Flour (optional)
- A bag (or bowl) to bread fish.
Cooking Instructions
Step 1: Get oil preheated. I recommend using a cast-iron skillet, trust me, it’s just necessary. Unless you have a deep fryer, if so, definitely use that instead.
Step 2: Place fish fry mixture or cornmeal in a bag (or bowl) and add about half a cup of flour. I add the flour because I feel like it gives it a more “airy” texture. I also seasoned my ‘already seasoned’ fish fry mixture with onion powder, pepper, cayenne pepper, and garlic powder only.
Step 3: Rinse off your fish and place it down to prepare for seasoning. Don’t dry your fish off or anything, because that will dry out the fish.
Step 4: Season your fish (both) with all of your spices. Remember to be light-handed, fish already naturally have a great flavor, you don’t need to overpower it with seasoning.
Step 5: Test your oil*
Step 6: Lightly place fish in hot oil and allow it to cook on both sides for about 5-7 minutes per side.
Step 7: Place the fish in the bag of cornmeal mixture and allow both sides to get event coated.
Step 8: Place your fish on your drying rack for a couple minutes and enjoy!*
*Presentation tip – Sprinkle a little dried parsley on top to make it look fancy.
Now go grab your hot sauce, tartar sauce, or whatever you like to top it with and enjoy!
*LC’s Helpful Tips
- Don’t over salt. Espcially if you are using all the same ingredients as listed above, be mindful that most of these ingredients/spices include salt. I can’t stand overly salty fish.
- Make sure your oil is hot. Now if you want to be technical, your grease should be between 350-375 F. But, if you want to be like me, test your oil by taking a pinch of corn meal and drop it into the oil. If it immediately bubbles and goldens, it’s ready. If the corn meal just sinks to the bottom, it’s not hot enough. If it damn near burns, it’s too hot fam, lower your heat and let it cool down.
- Don’t over crowd the pan. If I’m cooking a large piece of fish, I may only cook it one by one. If you over crowd a pan it will prevent your food from getting crispy because steam will be released across the food.
- Have some type of wire or meshed drying rack to allow the fish to rest on. This will allow the oil to drip off the fish so it won’t be too greasy, and it will have a nice crunch to it. Let it sit there for like 1-2 minutes. Or, take a take a napkin and lightly dab the oil off.
- Lastly, you should know, I don’t measure my seasoning, ever. If you want a more precise perspective of how much to use, check out my Fried Catish Recipe Youtube Video on my channel Cooked By LC and make sure to subscribe.
If you end up making this delicious Fried Catfish share it by using some of the methods below!
- Tag me on Instagram @Cooked By LC
- Leave a comment and a Like on my Fried Catfish Recipe Youtube Video
- When someone ask how you made this, DON’T BE STINGY, share this recipe page with your family and friends and help my blog grow
Cooked By LC 