This easy Halibut Fish and Chips recipe makes perfectly crisp, flaky fish. It’s a great family-friendly meal to make any night of the week.
We first tried fish and chips with halibut during a fishing trip to Alaska. The dish is lightly breaded with panko breadcrumbs and quickly fried for a golden crust over tender fish. On the side, don’t leave out the homemade “chips”, or thick-cut french fries.
I’ve always loved the fish and chips at Market Street Grill, my family’s favorite local seafood restaurant. And I realized that a lot of that had to do with their delicious tartar sauce. So be sure to make your own homemade tartar sauce for dipping the fish and chips.
Update: We’ve updated this post with tips to make fish and chips in an air fryer for a healthier twist on this classic recipe. Cheers!
I came back from my trip to Alaska with 30 pounds of halibut! We had fun catching it, but it might have been even more fun when we got back to my brother’s house and he fried it up for us. My brother coats it in Panko Bread Crumbs, so the fish is extra crispy and delicious.
Then when we got home from Alaska, I fried up another batch with some chips and served it with my favorite homemade tartar sauce from Market Street Grill. Sometimes I think I go to Market Street for the halibut just so I can eat the tartar sauce. (It’s pretty good as a dip for the fries too!)
How to Make Halibut Fish and Chips
The most important thing about this easy fish and chips recipe is choosing fresh halibut. Look for fish that’s bright white, firm and has no smell. From there, this is a straightforward dinner recipe perfect for a mid-week treat.
Making The Chips
First, prepare the potatoes for your chips. One of the secrets to truly crispy fries is to soak the cut potatoes first. This not only keeps the potatoes from turning colors in the open air, it also helps rinse off some of the starch. By rinsing this away, the edges of your chips will turn crisp and golden as they cook.
Secondly, be sure that your oil reaches 325°F for the first fry and 375°F for the second fry. Any cooler, and the potatoes will absorb oil, rather than cook. You should hear sustained sizzling the whole time the potatoes are submerged in the oil.
Finally, double frying your chips is key. It ensures that the potato wedges are cooked all the way through and that they have a firm crust on the outside. The second fry will be hotter and faster than the first.
Dredging & Frying Halibut
The next step in this recipe is, of course, the fish itself. Before you get cooking, dredge the halibut in seasoned flour, eggs and panko breadcrumbs. You only need a light coating to make super crispy, golden colored fried halibut.
Again, be sure the oil is hot enough (but not too hot!) before you start frying the fish. Carefully flip the fish halfway through cooking if the fillets are not fully submerged in the oil. Transfer each piece to a paper towel-lined baking sheet and keep them warm in the oven while you finish frying.
How to Make Air Fryer Fish and Chips
You can easily adapt this recipe to the air fryer. To do so, preheat your air fryer to 360°F. Bread the fish and spray each fillet lightly with vegetable oil. Bake in the preheated air fryer for about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. The fish should reach an internal temperature of 145°F.
You can even make the chips in your air fryer too. Use my recipe for delicious Garlic Parmesan Air Fryer French Fries––I think you’ll love them!
More Easy Weeknight Dinner Recipes
Here are some more of my most popular weeknight meals to try next:
- Air Fryer Pizza Pockets is another fantastic use for your air fryer, this time to make cheesy mini pizzas.
- Thai Chicken Burritos is a slightly spicy, protein-packed and easy to transport dinner recipe.
- Thai-Style Pressure Cooker Fish from Pressure Cooking Today is another healthy and light way to cook fish at home.
- Crispy Baked Salmon from Taste and Tell Blog is another crispy and flavor-packed fish recipe to try.
Halibut Fish and Chips
Equipment
Ingredients
CHIPS
- 4 large baking potatoes
- Canola oil for frying
- Kosher salt
FRIED HALIBUT
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 large eggs beaten
- 2 cups Panko bread crumbs
- 3 pounds halibut cut into cubes
- [Homemade Tartar Sauce] for serving
Instructions
- CHIPS
- Peel and cut the potatoes into ¼ by ¼-inch thick fries. Place in a large bowl of cold water.
- Heat 2 inches of oil in a large, straight-sided pan or deep fryer to 325ºF. Drain the fries in batches on paper towels.
- Fry each batch for 3 to 4 minutes until pale blonde and remove to a baking sheet lined with paper towels.
- Just before serving, increase the heat of the oil to 375ºF and fry the potatoes again, in batches, until golden brown. Remove to a sheet pan lined with paper towels and season with kosher salt.
- FRIED HALIBUT
- Preheat the oven to 200°F.
- Heat at least 2 inches of oil to 360ºF in a large skillet.
- In a shallow dish or pie plate, whisk together the flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper. Dredge each piece of halibut in flour, shake off excess, then dip in the eggs, and finally coat evenly with panko.
- Fry the fish batches until golden brown on both sides. Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel-lined plate. Transfer to a baking sheet and keep warm in the oven.
- Serve with chips and homemade tartar sauce.
Betty @ scrambled henfruit
Wow, Barbara, that’s a lot of fish! I’m so glad you enjoyed your vacation. 🙂 Your fish (and tartar sauce too) look great!
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella
Hehe that’s so cute mum! I love how you come back from holidays with 30 pounds of fish! That tartare sauce sounds delicious! 😀 xxx
cakelaw
Glad you had a great vacation! This serve of fish and chips looks so warm and inviting – especially on a cold winters day like it is here.
Sue
That’s a lot of fish, Barbara! Glad you had such a good time, and I know what you mean about far-flung family:( I need to get some of those Panko bread crumbs and make some fish and chips. It looks fantastic!
Claire @ Claire K Creations
I really have to buy some panko crumbs. I’ve seen recipes using them everywhere and my mouth is watering for this crumbed fish!
Mimi
Glad to hear you had a great trip. I hope we see more pictures of it. That tarter sauce sounds delicious.
Mimi
Faith
I’m glad to hear you had such a great trip Barbara…and all that fish is really impressive! Halibut is one of my favorite kinds of fish and it doesn’t get much better than the classic fish and chips — delicious!
Barbara
Thanks! Only 6 of the halibut in the pictures are ours, but after they were filleted that’s still a lot of halibut.
Desserts In My Kitchen
Hi Barbara,
I am so glad you had a nice vacation. Alaska is a place I have always wanted to go, and I suppose I will go one day 🙂 Did you get lots of photos? I hear it’s beautiful over there. The fish & chips looks fantastic as well. I love fish!! Great post my friend 🙂
Barbara
Thanks! It is so beautiful. Unfortunately, it was overcast while we were there and our pictures aren’t great.
Angie's Recipes
mmm…fish and chips ;-)) Look so good!
Rylan Ty
Before I was a vegetarian, I used to LOVE halibut a lot! I also make is very similar to yours! Yum! I’d love to try your tar tar sauce. I’ve never had it with the caper juice. Thanks Barbara for sharing! Will be serving this to my future guests.
Maris (In Good Taste)
Looks so delicious!
Amy
Oh yeah, it’s always lovely to spend time with family. How fun you guys caught all those halibut! Must be the freshest fish and chips you had there. 🙂 Thanks for sharing your vacation and recipe.
Amy
http://utry.it
kelley
This looks amazing! And you can’t beat fresh Alaskan halibut!
Kalyn
This looks so fantastic. And with fresh Alaska halibut it has to be perfect!
anncoo
I love fish and chips and it looks so good with that tartar sauce 🙂
kouky
hummm.. delicious !! Thank you Barbara for your visite and your nice comment!
Maryse
A great way to eat fish!! I’m with you: the part that excites me the most is the tartar sauce! 🙂
April
One of the things on my goal list is to cook more fish. This looks fantastic and think this will be one of the first I try.
Cathy at Wives with Knives
What a great vacation, Barbara. It sounds like you had a wonderful time with family and enjoyed fantastic seafood. Panko breading is my favorite was to prepare fish for frying. I used the same technique last night for razor clams. I know what you mean about the tartar sauce. I’m going to try your recipe.
Rosa
So scrumptious! That is a fish I love.
Cheers,
Rosa