This crispy beer battered fish and chips recipe brings classic pub-style fish and chips home with flaky white fish, golden fries, and a light, crunchy batter. The secret is using very cold beer and sparkling water to create a crisp coating without breadcrumbs.
Fish and chips are a classic pub food found in just about any British or Irish pub. A thick white fish is best used for this recipe, like haddock, cod or pollock.
It’s a very simple recipe with exceptional crunch and flavor.
What makes this recipe so good is the batter. If you just bread and fry fish you will end up with fried fish. There are no breadcrumbs in Fish and chips. It’s the carbonation from the beer in the batter that creates this epic light and crispy coating.
How to Make a Great Fish and Chips Dinner:
This recipe goes rather quickly, so it’s key to prepare your ingredients.
- Make the batter first as the beer and sparkling water need a little bit of time to activate.
- Meanwhile, peel and cut the fries. Pat dry the fish and get the oil up to temperature.
- Begin with the chips first by flash frying them. This simply means the potatoes will get a quick dip in the oil to par cook them. Set them aside on paper towel.
- Next the fish takes its turn. Once the fish has all been cooked, the chips will go back in the oil to crisp up. This ensures both the fish and the chips are hot when served.
Crispy Beer Battered Fish and Chips
- Total Time: 50 min
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
A crispy and flaky beer battered fish and chip recipe that you can make right at home!
Ingredients
- (4) 7 oz fillets of a thick white fish (cod, haddock, pollock)
- 4 large russet potatoes (peeled and sliced)
- High-heat oil or fat for frying, such as avocado oil, refined coconut oil, peanut oil, or lard
For the batter:
- ½ cup flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon each garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and sea salt
- ÂĽ teaspoon black pepper
- â…› teaspoon cayenne pepper
- â…” cup beer (very cold and preferably not a light beer)
- â…” cup sparkling water
Instructions
- Make the batter by combining all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the dry mixture. Add the cold beer and sparkling water to the remaining dry ingredients and stir until you have a thick, smooth batter. Place the batter in the fridge for 15–30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, peel and cut the potatoes into slices of your desired width and length. Set them aside in cold water. Cut each fish fillet into about 4-inch pieces and set aside.
- When ready to fry, add 2 to 3 inches of your chosen high-heat oil or fat to a large, heavy-bottomed pot or deep skillet and heat to 330°F.
- Fry the potatoes, about 1 cup at a time, for about 2 minutes. Do not brown them. Remove with a slotted strainer and drain on a wire rack or paper towels. Repeat until all the potatoes have gone through the first frying cycle.
- Pat the fish very dry. Dredge each piece in the reserved dry flour mixture, shaking off the excess, then dip into the cold batter.
- Heat the oil to 365–370°F before adding the fish. Carefully add the battered fish to the oil and fry in batches for approximately 6–8 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through, turning the fish from time to time. Try to keep the oil around 350–365°F as the fish cooks. Drain on a wire rack or paper towels.
- To finish the chips, heat the oil back to 350°F and cook the chips until golden brown. Season with salt and pepper.
Notes
- For best results, use a high-heat oil or fat. Avocado oil, refined coconut oil, peanut oil, or lard all work. Lard will give the fish more of a classic fish fry flavor, while avocado oil has a more neutral flavor. Avoid extra virgin olive oil here because it is not ideal for this style of deep frying.
- This recipe does not use eggs. The light, crispy batter comes from baking powder, cold beer, and sparkling water.
- Prep Time: 25 min
- Cook Time: 25 min
- Category: Dinner, Lunch
- Method: Frying
- Cuisine: American
I am clearly missing something. After an epic fail , I now see references in the comments to egg as an ingredient, which I do not see in the recipe. Also, can someone tell me how to take the temperature of oil when it is only supposed to coat the pan? I tried to make the recipe without the chips… is that why my batter stuck to the pan, not the fish? Or is it because I didn’t have sparkling water and so tried to use more beer in the batter to make up for it? In any case, I ended up with a soggy, sodden mess. I’d love it if anyone could provide some guidance as to where I went wrong, otherwise I’m going to have to back away.
I’m sorry this gave you trouble, and you’re right that the old instructions were not clear enough. This recipe has been updated over time, and the current version does not use egg. I also updated the frying instructions to clarify that the fish needs to fry in about 2 to 3 inches of high-heat oil or fat, not just a thin coating in the pan. That makes it easier to check the oil temperature and helps the batter crisp properly.
My best guess is that the oil depth/temperature and the sparkling water substitution both played a role. The batter does best when it stays cold, the fish is patted very dry and dredged first in the reserved dry mixture, and the oil is around 365–370°F when the fish goes in. I appreciate you trying the recipe and hope the updated instructions help if you give it another try.
I come from the days of fish sticks, anyone remember those? We used to eat them weekly. This is the grown up version of that and it is nothing short of amazing.
What egg you do not say egg or eggs in the ingredients can you please fix this if you need to add an egg to the batter thank you
step #4
Hey! Did this recipe change? I think I made it a few months ago and it had tapioca flour and an egg in it, and I don’t believe it had the sparkling water. Apologies if I’m mistaken! I was hoping to find and use that old recipe becuase I loved it so much the first time I made it and was hoping to recreate it. Thanks in advance!
this is a terrific batter for fish! i used tapioca flour (1/2 the carbs of wheat) and messed up the first time – forgot to add the egg, duh – and it made gak. GAK! so, now you know how to do THAT, lol! i was hangry and wrote a mean review that the site owner was nice enough to delete. anyways, the batter cooks up beautiful – when you follow the recipe! – very appealing visually and got super crunchy just the way we like it. i used what was left for zuchinni fries and they were great, too. just what i needed. thank you (and sorry again for being mean)!
rose you are too funny! For those who don’t know what Rose is talking about, she left a bad review but then discovered she forgot to add the egg! So she took the time to rewrite her review and we thank you for that! I’m glad you liked the recipe! Regards, Deb
I was skeptical after the other comments, but followed it to a tee and it came out beautiful! We added a side of vinegar slaw for a perfect Ash Wednesday dinner!
so glad you took the chance Chris ! I’m thinking this is going to show up on our dinner plates a lot on Fridays this month
The batter did not stick to the fish in the pan eventhough I patted it dry first. I wound up having to cook it in the oven and it looked nothing like the fish in the photo. Any suggestions?
Use lard instead of olive oil for a “real” fish fry taste and crispyness, Also, 1/2 tsp of baking soda will add extra crispyness.