This beer battered fish ‘n’ chips recipe creates the lightest and crispiest fish you will ever have. The outside crispy batter reveals a tender, white flaky fish on the inside!
Fish ‘n 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 ‘n 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 ‘n 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 chips are hot when served.
Crispy Fish ‘n Chips
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)
- Light, flavorless oil for frying
For the batter:
- ½ Cup Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ tsp each Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Paprika and Sea Salt
- ÂĽ tsp Black Pepper
- â…› tsp 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. Add the cold beer and sparkling water. 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 desired width and length. Set aside in cold water.  Cut each fish fillet into about 4″ pieces and set aside.
- When ready, coat the bottom of a large deep skillet with olive oil and heat over a med/med high heat until it reaches 330°F.
- Carefully, fry the potatoes, about 1 cup at a time, in the hot oil for about 2 minutes. Do NOT brown them. Remove with a slotted strainer and drain over paper towels.  Repeat until all potatoes have gone through the 1st frying cycle.
- Increase the oil temperature to 370°F.
- Quickly dredge the fish in the reserved flour and dip into the beer batter, coating the entire fillet. Carefully add the fish and fry for approximately 6-8 minutes or until golden brown, turning the fish from time to time.  Drain over paper towels.
- To finish the chips, check that oil temperature has risen back up to 350°F and cook the chips until golden brown.  Season with salt and pepper.
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.