Ingredients

Scale

6 –12 raw fish fillets, deboned, no more than 1/2 inch thick
Salt & pepper
1 cup crushed Rice Chex or Rice Krispies cereal
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon EACH: onion powder, granulated garlic, lemon pepper, dill (plus optional 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning)
3 eggs
3 Tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon prepared mustard (optional)
Avocado oil in air fryer sprayer (or pressure based 100% avocado oil spray)

Instructions

Pat dry both sides of the fish fillets on a paper towel or clean kitchen towel. Sprinkle both sides with salt & pepper.
In a large, flat bowl, stir together the crumbs, cornmeal and seasonings. Then, in a small smoothie-sized blender cup (or in a bowl with a whisk or hand mixer), blend together the eggs, mayonnaise and mustard until fluffy. Pour into a second flat bowl.
Spray a large plate with avocado oil (or simply oil it well). This plate is for your raw breaded fish- the oil on the bottom will eliminate the need to flip the fish again. Arrange your workstation: fish on the left, next the egg mixture, then the crumbs and the large plate on the right. Preheat the air fryer to 370 F – 375 F.
Take a fillet and dunk it in the egg mixture to completely coat. Using your left hand, move the fish to the crumb bowl. Use your right hand to sprinkle the top with coating, then flip the fillet over and make sure the bottom is completely coated as well.
Gently set the fish fillet back in the egg bowl and then carefully flip it over with your left hand. Don’t worry if your fillet isn’t completely re-coated. Take your left hand and carefully lift it to the crumb bowl. Use your right hand to again sprinkle the breading over top, flip and sprinkle the bottom. Set on the oiled plate.
Repeat until you have 4 – 5 fillets breaded (enough to almost fill your air fryer). Gently spritz the tops with avocado oil. Set them in the hot air fryer, leaving little gaps between fillets for air flow. Cook the fillets for 8 – 15 minutes or until golden brown, checking halfway. While you are waiting, you can start on the next batch. You may need to re-oil the “raw fish” plate before doing the next batch.
When the fillets are cooked, set them on a clean plate. You can keep them in the oven at the lowest temp to keep them warm until the rest of the fish is done. Or if you are lucky enough to have an oven with air fryer setting, you can cook a big batch of fish all at once.

Notes

You do NOT need to flip the fillets while cooking. Flipping in the air fryer adds one more risky step of scraping off the breading from the fish. The air from the air fryer should cook both sides evenly.

If you do happen to accidentally scrape off some of the breading while setting the fish in the air fryer, just put it back on. It should stick to the fish as it cooks.

You can use tongs or a long pokey fork to do the dunking in the egg to keep your left hand from getting full of eggs.

Leftovers can be re-heated for just a couple minutes in the air fryer, just enough to warm them up. You can also freeze the cooked fish, then thaw it and air fry it again briefly to re-crisp the coating and warm the cooked fish.

RECIPE SOURCE: Sumptuous Spoonfuls – https://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/ … © Copyright 2022, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.