The Best Fish Nuggets

We have the best family friendly recipe for you – homemade fish nuggets! They are a regular in our house and are so easy to make. We are huge fans of fish and wanted to come up with a recipe that my kiddos would be extra-excited about! The ingredients are pretty minimal and feel free to use frozen fish if that is what you have on hand. They can be served with just about any easy side dish and can even be tossed in the air fryer, if you want.

Have you ever tried grilling fish!? Our Grilled Red Snapper recipe is another easy recipe that is so good – you have to try it!

What You Will Need

• fresh cod fillets – we love grabbing some fresh cod fillets from the local grocery store, but frozen cod fish works too!
• raw egg & almondmilk – together they make the perfect egg wash for the breading to adhere to.
• almond flour – a nice base for the breading that is also Whole30/Paleo compliant, plus gluten-free.
• tapioca starch – just a little to help everything bind together during the cooking process.
• Old Bay seasoning, kosher salt, & ground black pepper – simple seasonings that add so much flavor!

How To Make Fish Nuggets

The first steps are to set-up your prep area. This is done by whisking the egg and almond milk in one shallow bowl.  And the almond flour, Old Bay seasoning, tapioca starch, salt, and pepper in another shallow bowl. Then you will want to pat the thawed fish dry with clean paper towels and cut them into large chunks.

Best Type Of Fish To Use For Fish Nuggets

We typically use cod fish fillets for this easy recipe (shown in the photos), but any flaky white fish should work just fine.  Here is a nice article on How to Choose the Best White Fish for your Recipe that might be helpful.  Also, when using frozen fish make sure that it is fully thawed and dry!

Best Ways To Serve Fish Nuggets

We love to keep this meal super simple and serve these baked fish nuggets with some homemade tartar sauce or pick-up your favorite store-bought tartar sauce. For an easy side dish, we usually go with some easy herbed potatoes, steamed green beans, or air fryer broccolini.

Recipe FAQ

• Pat dry: we cannot recommend this enough – make sure you fully pat dry all sides of your fish! This helps the breading to stick and results in a more crisp exterior to your fish nuggets.
• Frozen fish fillets: you can absolutely use frozen fish for this recipe, we love to keep some in the freezer. Just make sure you thaw each fish fillet and then pat them dry.
• Other flour options: feel free to use all-purpose flour, oat flour, or another flour option. Just be aware that it will no longer be Whole30/Paleo compliant. If you want it to be gluten-free you will need to make sure the oat flour is certified gluten-free.
• Seasoning: option to adjust any of the seasoning levels in the breading mixture, just be aware that Old Bay Seasoning is fairly salty so don’t increase that too much. We also love adding some garlic powder, onion powder, or a squeeze of lemon juice after they are done cooking.
• Freezing: you can freeze these fish nuggets before baking, if you want to save them for another time or prep ahead of time. Make sure you use fresh fish (not frozen), fully coat all pieces in the breading, then place them in a single layer in an airtight container, and freeze for up to 3 months. When you bake them, the frozen fish nuggets will need about 4-5 more minutes before they are done.

Made this recipe and loved it?! We would love it if you would take a minute and leave a star rating and review – it is also helpful if you made any substitutions or changes to the recipe to share that as well. THANK YOU!

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Other Easy Recipes You Might Like

• Easy Tilapia Fish Tacos
• Fish Taco Bowls
• Healthy Homemade Chicken Nuggets
• Almond Flour Chicken Tenders