This homemade version of the kid-friendly frozen convenience food is SO much healthier than the kind you’d find in the freezer aisle. They’re coated with almond flour rather than breadcrumbs, cornmeal, or all-purpose flour, making them Whole30 and Paleo compliant. And even if you don’t follow these diets, I have to say: almond flour coats the fish better AND makes your meal much more filling! I may not ever go back to the alternative coating (and fully intend on making Paleo buffalo chicken fingers in the same way this week). PLUS they require only THREE INGREDIENTS. THREE!!! Oh. Did I mention these taste EXACTLY like fried catfish?! But they are baked, NOT fried. Oh boy oh boy oh boy. These are definitely going to become a new favorite make-at-least-once-a-week meals in my house. I’m going to take a quick detour from the world of fish sticks to update you on the Whole30. If you follow my blog, you know I’m doing a Whole30 challenge during the month of January. I started on the first and I’m on day 17 now. Here are a few of the AMAZING things I’ve noticed during these 17 days: I’ll certainly do a more detailed post on how the entire Whole30 goes a little later, but so far, I’m LOVING it. Except for one thing: All. The. Meat. I wasn’t a huge meat eater before this, but without access to legumes to bolster vegetarian meals, I’ve relied a lot on meat as a major source of protein. Which is one of the reasons why I developed this fish stick recipe! And my favorite thing about this is that these fish sticks can be made way in advance, frozen, and cooked DIRECTLY FROM THE FREEZER when you are in a pinch for a meal. Yup- no thawing necessary, just like the kind you buy at the store! Here’s one helpful trick: make sure you use plenty of salt and pepper. I seasoned the fish itself, the eggs, AND the almond flour before I assembled these. Just cut some fish into strips (I used catfish, but you can use cod, haddock, or another kind), dip in some egg, dip to coat in some almond flour, and lay on a parchment covered baking sheet. At this point, you can bake them right away for about 12 minutes, or until the fish is cooked. If you want to freeze them, however, you should flash freeze them first. Flash freezing is when you freeze things that could stick together individually for a short amount of time before putting them all together, so you don’t end up with a solid block. I didn’t flash freeze mine for long enough and I ended up with some stuck together that were hard to pry apart. Keep the fish sticks on the parchment covered baking sheet and place the whole tray in your freezer for at least an hour. Then, you can transfer the fish sticks to a plastic bag or container. Frozen fish sticks can be kept in your freezer for up to six months. When you are ready to bake, just place them on a parchment covered baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, or until fish is cooked (you can double check by using a fork to flake it apart- if it flakes easily, it’s cooked). The tartar sauce is nothing but a mixture of mayo, chopped dill pickles, fresh dill, salt, and pepper. And a little pickle juice thrown in for good measure! I made my own mayonnaise– which, turns out, is the EASIEST THING EVER! Usually, sweet pickle relish is used for tartar sauce, but because the Whole30 does not allow added sugar, I used dill pickles instead. It was tangy and delicious and perfect for dipping not only these fish sticks, but the sweet potato fries I made to go alongside them. (Here’s a tutorial for how to make homemade tartar sauce, a little more traditional version with sweetness from added honey). These fish sticks would also be delicious dipped in homemade honey mustard sauce. Recipe below! Enjoy :-)
