In my experience, I find that kids either love fish or stay away from it. Never one to give up upon hearing my kids’ first “no” to any food they’re introduced to, I feel it’s important to try and make whatever it is that might seem less appealing to them into something that becomes a heartfelt “yes”!
Sometimes just adding an outer crust to a food — like fish — makes it not only look more exciting, but also changes the texture into something fun_ crunchy on the outside and smooth on the inside. These Nut Crusted Fish Strips are easy to prepare and can change even the biggest fish avoider into a total seafood convert. Trust the crust!
Nut Crusted Fish Strips
Ingredients
- 1 Lb Fish (Cod, Tilapia or other boneless white fish), rinsed & patted dry
- 1/2 Cup Pecan Halves or Walnuts
- 1/2 Cup bread crumbs
- 1/2 Tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 Cup flour
- 1 egg, whisked
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- Cut the cod into 3 x 1 inch strips.
- Place the nuts, bread crumbs and salt in a food processor and pulse until nuts are coarsely chopped).
- Place the flour in a bowl.
- Whisk the egg in a second bowl.
- Place the pecan mixture in a third bowl.
- Lightly coat the cod strips in the flour and gently tap to remove excess flour.
- Dip the flour coated cod strips in the egg and then roll in the nut mixture to coat.
- Place the cod strips on a rack sprayed or greased with oil over a cookie sheet and when all the cod strips are on the tray, lightly coat with cooking oil spray.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden.
- Serve.
- * To Freeze: After step 8, place nut coated sticks onto a baking sheet and freeze for 30 minutes. Remove and place in a ziploc bag, label and freeze up to 3 months. When ready, defrost in the fridge over night and follow steps 9-11.
[…] check out this recipe, head over to Weelicious and print. You’ll want this for your recipe file! The only change I made was with the bread crumbs. I […]
These were fantastic! We had open bags of walnuts, almonds and pecans in the refrigerator, so I used a combination of the nuts and pulsed them in the food processor. I served this with a lime cilantro sauce and it was gobbled up by meat eater of a 25-month old daughter, almost vegetarian 25-month old son and it’s steak or chicken husband. Thank you for a truly delicious and easy dinner.
What’s a good side for this or a sauce to dip it in? Tartar obviously but wondering if theres something else…
I was also confused by the instructions regarding the rack/sheet. I used a big glass baking pan (the kind used for lasagna) and buttered it. I turned the sticks after about 12 minutes and also cooked them a bit longer (total of 20 minutes) to make sure the fish was totally cooked through, and had a nice crust. I used Haddock (was on sale at Whole Foods and raised sustainably). It is low in mercury, so ok during pregnancy/lactation. Oh, and I added a little bit of ground black pepper to the nut breading. My husband, our two girls (2 and almost 4) loved it!