Baked Fish and Chips

By Melissa Clark

Updated March 19, 2025

Baked Fish and Chips
Ghazalle Badiozamani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.
Total Time
1 hour
Rating
5(2,890)
Comments
Read comments

Baking fish and chips is not only easier and less messy than frying, but it also has the distinct advantage of allowing you to cook both fish and potatoes at the same time in your oven. The key to getting the crunchiest fries is to cut them thin (leave the skin on for extra flavor) and spread them out in one layer onto a preheated sheet pan to jump-start the crisping. (If you want to save a few minutes, start the potatoes in the oven while you prepare the fish.) We’ve paired this dish with a piquant horseradish tartar sauce, but ketchup works well, too, particularly for the grade-school set.

Featured in: Fish and Chips, Minus the Fryer

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

    Horseradish Tartar Sauce

    • ½cup mayonnaise
    • 1tablespoon chopped capers
    • 1tablespoon prepared horseradish, more to taste
    • 1tablespoon chopped dill
    • ½teaspoon lemon juice
    • ½teaspoon lemon zest
    • Pinch fine sea salt
    • Black pepper, as needed

    Fish and Chips

    • 6tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, more as needed
    • 1⅓cups panko bread crumbs
    • 1½teaspoons minced thyme
    • 1large garlic clove, grated on a microplane or minced
    • 1teaspoon black pepper, more as needed
    • ¼cup Dijon mustard
    • 2large eggs
    • 1¼cups all-purpose flour
    • 1¼pounds skinless hake, cod or other white fish fillets, cut into 1-inch-thick strips
    • 1½teaspoons kosher salt, more as needed
    • 1½pounds russet potatoes (about 3 large), cut into ¼-inch-thick sticks
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

917 calories; 49 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 22 grams monounsaturated fat; 17 grams polyunsaturated fat; 78 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 42 grams protein; 1096 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Make the horseradish tartar sauce: In a small bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

  2. Step 2

    Prepare the fish and chips: Arrange 2 oven racks in the top and bottom third of the oven. Place a large rimmed baking sheet on the lower rack and heat oven to 500 degrees.

  3. Step 3

    In a large skillet over medium heat, warm 2 tablespoons oil. Stir in panko, thyme, garlic and ½ teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until crumbs are evenly dark golden brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer immediately to a bowl.

  4. Step 4

    In a separate bowl, whisk together mustard and eggs. Place flour in a third bowl.

  5. Step 5

    Grease an oven-safe wire rack with oil and place it over another rimmed baking sheet. Season fish with 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Dredge each piece of fish in the flour, then mustard mixture, then panko mixture, making sure it is well coated with each one before moving to the next. Transfer fish to the wire rack. (You can bread the fish up to 4 hours ahead; store in the refrigerator, uncovered, either on the rack or just on a plate.)

  6. Step 6

    In a large bowl, toss together potatoes, the remaining 4 tablespoons oil, ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Carefully spread potatoes out on the preheated baking sheet and return to oven’s lower rack. Roast until slightly golden and crispy, tossing after 15 minutes.

  7. Step 7

    Reduce oven temperature to 425 degrees and transfer the second pan, with the fish still on the wire rack, to oven’s top rack. Bake until fish is flaky and golden and potatoes are well browned and tender, about 10 to 15 minutes more.

  8. Step 8

    Salt fish and potatoes immediately after removing from oven. Serve hot, with tartar sauce alongside for dipping.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
2,890 user ratings
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Comments

Judy R

An even better way to do crispy potatoes in the oven is first to par boil them for a few minutes in water to which you've added some vinegar and salt, then proceed to toss them with oil and put them in the very hot oven. Check out "ultra crispy" oven potatoes online for a complete description of the technique. Everyone I've served them to loves them. I'll never go back to the old way.

Keiko

This is a baked recipe but there is a cool technique for dredging for frying with panko. Instead of having three separate station of flour, egg, panko, you mix the egg and flour to make loose paste. Dredge your piece of fish or whatever else in the flour-egg batter, then panko. This way panko sticks better and won't fall off during frying.

Carter

Do you rinse the potatoes of their starch before you oil and bake them?

Cate

I toast the panko and season it with either Cajun or Old Bay. I do the same with ½ cup of flour—same seasoning. Then I mix a tablespoon of that seasoned flour into the egg to make a looser egg wash. I dredge the fish (usually cod) in the seasoned flour, dip it in the egg wash, then coat it in the panko. It comes out super crispy every time. Tonight will be the first time I bake the potatoes alongside the fish. I’m using the America’s Test Kitchen method—tossing the fries in a cornstarch slurry before baking. From experience, I know that plain baked fries usually come out limp and mushy.

Tami

Can you do this in an air fryer instead of oven?

Lauren C

Maybe try cooking in the airfryer for a crispier batter

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