Keto Fish Sticks (air fryer)

If you are looking for some low carb fried fish recipes, try keto fish sticks recipe! Tastes so much better than frozen fish you buy at the grocery store plus they are gluten free too! Baking them in the air fryer makes them crispy in minutes and they each has just 0.1g net carbs and 8.2 grams of protein.

Check out this popular air fryer keto chicken nuggets recipe. 

It’s so easy to make low carb recipes with the air fryer especially when you know a few tricks. Not only does it take less time but it also seems less messy. And best of all you get really crispy fried food. These air fryer keto fish sticks are the perfect example.  All you need are a few ingredients and you can have these crunchy, gluten free fish sticks in about 15 – 20 minutes.

My family loved them and they was so easy that I will be making them more and more. If you are looking for an easy keto fried fish recipe, this is the one. And these are not only low carb with only 1g net carbs in 10 pieces but they are high protein with 8.2 grams of protein in just 1.

The secret to low carb keto breading.

When frying fish, you want a crunchy tasty breading. My first secret is pork rinds. I discovered pork rind breading awhile back and LOVE it. Even though I’m not a fan of pork rinds as a snack, when it comes to breading it’s great.

My second secret to tasty breading is to use mayo before you add the breading. It makes it much more crispier than eggs in my opinion. I also mix the pork rinds with grated parmesan cheese and spices for extra flavor. Today I even went a step further and used flavored pork rinds which were great.

Recipe ingredients and substitutions.

The simple ingredients I used were frozen tilapia, mayonnaise, garlic powder, paprika, pork rinds and parmesan cheese.

• tilapia – I like to use tilapia loins to make this dish. However these are a little harder to find than the filets which are much thinner and I used those today. You can try cod if you want or any mild white fish that is thick and not flat. But I prefer the taste of tilapia loins personally.
• garlic powder, paprika and parmesan cheese – I use all of these for seasoning. I especially like the parmesan cheese but you can eliminate it if you want. You can also substitute with nutritional yeast if you are dairy free.
• mayonnaise – This is used instead of an egg wash because it helps the breading to stick and add more richness. You could use an egg wash instead if you prefer but maybe give it a try once just to see the difference.
• pork rinds – Today I tried spicy pork rinds and really liked it! However you can use regular or plain pork rinds too. That is what I originally used. If you can’t eat pork you can try the breading from this post or make these keto croutons and crush them into bread crumbs. I will be writing a post about this soon.

TIP: If you don’t want to make your own pork rind crumbs you can always buy these Pork Panko breading crumbs on Amazon!

How to make keto fish sticks in the air fryer.

Step 1: Originally I use tilapia loins that are shown below. Today I used the filets so they were less thick. Either will work but I forgot to get a picture of them as I cut them so I’m using the picture below. I got about 20 fish sticks out of 3 loins which was the 12 ounces of fish in the recipe.

Step 2: To make the breading, add the pork rinds to a food processor, pulse to grind the pork rinds and then add in the parmesan cheese and seasonings. Pour the breading mix into a shallow bowl. 

Step 3: Next you put the raw fish sticks into a baggie along with ¼ cup of mayonnaise. Gently squish the fish around in the bag to get the mayo to fully coat them with no mess to your hands.

Step 4: Take the mayo covered fish sticks out of the baggie and one by one coat in the pork rind mixture and then lay on a sprayed air fryer basket.

Step 5: Bake at 380°F for 15 minutes. Note it may take you longer or shorter depending on how big and thick your fish sticks are.

So check them the last 5 minutes to make sure they are not getting too brown. If after 15 minutes they don’t look brown enough for you, then you should put them in for a few more minutes. 

 When done, place on a plate and enjoy. You can serve with homemade tartar sauce if you are low carb. I just mixed mayonnaise with chopped dill pickles. But here is a post with 38 keto dipping sauces.

Store leftovers in an airtight container. You can reheat them in the air fryer for a few minutes until heated through. Please scroll down to view the printable recipe card.

Recipe Notes & FAQs

• What type of fish should I use for fish sticks? You need a thicker mild white fish. I  recommend using tilapia loins (not filets) or cod. 
• How do you make gluten free, keto breading? Pork rinds are the answer. Crush them in a food processor. I like to also add parmesan cheese and spices for more flavor.
• How long do you cook fish sticks in the air fryer? Since these are not frozen, you will cook them for 15 minutes at 380°F. 
• Note about the breading: I also like to first coat the fish sticks in mayonnaise instead of a beaten egg because it gives it more flavor and makes it crispier.

More low carb seafood recipes to try.

I have lots of keto seafood recipes on this blog with everything like shrimp (28 recipes), salmon, tuna and cod. Fish is great on a low carb or keto diet because most types have no carbs. They also cook quickly.  

I like to keep tilapia and shrimp in my freezer for quick recipes and I often buy fresh salmon at Aldi at least once a month. If you are looking to add more seafood to your diet, my two most popular keto seafood recipes are tuna steak with lemon dijon sauce and shrimp & basil spaghetti squash.

Well I hope you give these easy and tasty keto fish sticks made in the air fryer. They are crispy and tasty and a great source of protein. I hope you like them as much as we did.

The nutritional information for 1 fish stick based on 20 is: 75 calories / 4.7g fat / 0.1g carbs / 8.2g protein = 0.1g net carbs.