Pan Fried Catfish Filets

I really liked the taste! What I didn’t like is that the breading did not stay on. What can I do to make it stick? I followed the instructions, but there must be some trick. Help!

Simple and easy. Nice crispy coating.

I substituted the cornmeal with bread crumbs + added a egg to the milk mixture, Oregano and a Garlic Herb Seasoning but did not use the minced garlic in the pan. Turned out wonderful!

I would have liked these to be a bit saltier, so I will make sure to be really generous with the salt next time (salt isn’t listed as an ingredient, by the way, but it’s definitely necessary as the instructions suggest). Otherwise, though, this recipe was great. I followed one of the other reviewer’s instructions and dipped my fillets in a coating of flour before I dipped them into the milk and then the cornmeal mix, and the coating adhered to the fish! I put an exclamation mark because normally I cannot get fried coatings to stay in place to save my life. Overall I was really pleased with how these came out. I served them with roasted red pepper tartar sauce and a side of steamed broccoli with a bit of butter and everyone was happy.

Excellent crunch and flavor. Passed my mother’s “really good” test and I will definitely do this again!

Excellent! This is a great recipe, although I made a few changes, based on reviews (BNLeuck was VERY helpful). I left out the garlic, used canola oil instead, used half cornmeal and half flour and substituted a Cajun spice mix for the cayenne pepper. Delicious. And for all of those who mentioned they had to finish it in the oven, just a suggestion: In any fish, meat or chicken dish, cooking time generally varies a bit with the thickness of the cut or filet. I’m curious though – how long and what temp did you use to finish this in the oven?

A lightly seasoned coating with nice texture. The only change I made was that I replaced the catfish with Swai. Cooking the garlic in the oil was a nice touch and gave the fish another layer without being overpowering. HOWEVER, even though my fish fillets were rather thin, they were under cooked at the 7 minute max cooking. Not the fault of the recipe, but the cook. Chunk up the fish after cooking and this would be great in fish tacos!

I reduced cayenne to 1 teaspoon fearing fish would become too spicy for my family. The fish turned out very good. I like cooking with olive oil, the next time I will reduce the heat to prevent fish getting too dark on outside before done on inside.

Absolutely delicious! I only eat fish if its fried and I always pan fry with EVOO. This was wonderful. I love garlic and added about a teaspoon or so of powder to my italian bread crumbs (which I prefer over cornmeal on my fish). It was a touch spicy so I may add slightly less cayenne next time. I’ve never made spicy fish before but will definitely be making this again. I used this on Tilapia since that is what I usually buy.

Delicious!

I made this for dinner tonight and enjoyed it.

i made this exactly by the directions and it was easy and really tasty. i’d actually never made catfish before and i think it came out perfect.

As written, it isn’t terrible, but there are some issues. The garlic tends to burn easily, and the fish really doesn’t need it; but if you want that flavor, use some garlic powder in the seasoning. The seasonings listed aren’t bad at all, but cajun seasoning is even better. Whatever seasoning you use, use it directly on the fish. It gives it awesome flavor. Lightly coat the fish in flour before dipping in milk, too. It helps attach the crust to the fish a little better. And as a matter of personal taste, split the cornmeal with half flour. I think it makes for a more cohesive crust. The salt is not listed on the ingredients list, but it is essential. Make sure not to miss it!

Great recipe. And I want to reply to the guy who made the mercury remark. Sometimes mercury can also be a problem in rivers and lakes as well. You should check you state’s game & parks website. They usually have reports on such things. I live in Kansas and there are parts of the Arkansas River that they recommend only eating a certain amount of the fish in a certain time span.

A little spicier than I wanted it to be, so I will cut back on the cayenne a little next time, but it was very good.

Great recipe! I’ve always preferred the all cornmeal batter to the ones with flour. These had just the right amount of spice for us. I did fry mine longer than instructed because we like ours very golden brown. This is a keeper and one I will make often once the catfish start biting again.

i too made some adjustments to this recipe, but with pretty tasty results. i substituted 1sp of garlic powder for the fresh garlic, used vegetable oil for frying, and lessened the cornmeal so i could add some flour as well. i thought it was awesome, but then again i’m a sucker for any fried catfish.

I am giving this 4 stars bec my whole family enjoyed it although I did change the recipe a lot. I just used seasoned breadcrumbs like one person suggested. it was really good. easy to just dip in milk, dip in bread crumbs and fry. no measuring invovled. try it this way and you will enjoy. serve with white rice and tartar sauce.

The fish itself had NO flavor and had to finish in the oven like some others wrote.

I can’t stand catfish tbh but Husband loves it. The only thing I did differently was to omit the fresh garlic and use garlic powder instead. It’s a shame that frying catfish completely stinks out my house, or I would make it more often (Husband loves it fried but is kinda “meh” when it’s oven-baked). Served it with fresh green beans, store-bought biscuits and homemade sausage gravy. Not bad at all. Thanks!

I followed the recipe for the batter but used whiting instead. It was very good.