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Overhead photo of a plate of catfish made in the air fryer with french fries, lemon wedges, and hush puppies.

Air Fryer Catfish

Jennifer
This easy Air Fryer Catfish recipe is made with just a handful of ingredients and skips the oil! You'll love how quick and easy it is to make catfish in the Air Fryer. Perfectly crispy and tasty!
4.20 from 30 votes
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 22 minutes
Total Time 27 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 4
Calories 175 kcal

Equipment

  • Air Fryer

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb catfish fillets
  • 1 cup fish fry breading
  • 1 lemon cut into wedges
  • olive oil

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the Air Fryer to 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 5 minutes.
  • Rinse and dry the catfish with paper towels before coating. Add the seasoned breading to a shallow bowl and then dip each fish filet until they are completely coated. Spray each filet lightly with olive oil cooking spray.
  • Place fillets in the prepared Air Fryer basket in a single layer. Cook on 400 for 10 minutes, then carefully flip the catfish filets and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Flip once more and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes to get them extra crispy is needed.
  • Serve with air fryer french fries, air fryer hush puppies, coleslaw, and tartar sauce. Squeeze fresh lemon juice over the filets just before serving.

Notes

  1. If you are looking for other mildly flavored and quick-cooking air fryer fish recipes, consider other types of white fish such as tilapia, bass, haddock, grouper, and snapper fish.
  2. I love to use the Louisiana brand fish fry, but you can always make your own homemade version. Season them up with cornmeal, flour, cajun seasoning, salt and pepper, and seafood seasoning such as Old Bay. Dredge the fish in the cornmeal mixture before frying. I love to use Louisiana Cajun Catfish fry - but it has a kick! So if you don't mind spicy, give that one a try, too.
  3. I love to leave the catfish fillets whole and rarely cut them into strips. I will make my catfish fillets with a 22 minute total cooking time. The extra two minutes is for that extra crispy crust on the catfish.
  4. I can fit two whole catfish fillets into my smaller air fryer basket. If you have a larger basket or oven with the air fryer option, you can possibly fit all of your fillets at once.

Nutrition

Calories: 175kcalCarbohydrates: 13gProtein: 21gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 66mgSodium: 159mgPotassium: 473mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 63IUVitamin C: 15mgCalcium: 50mgIron: 1mg

*Nutritional information is a calculated guesstimate. Please note that this can change with different brands and modifications you may make to the recipe. For the most accurate information, use a nutritional calculator with the exact brands and measurements you're using with each recipe.

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