Southern Fried Catfish (2024)

Call me a “purist,” but this Southern fried catfish recipe is perfect. The simplicity of the recipe makes it no trouble at all to prepare, and the result is light, flavorful fried catfish that pairs perfectly with slaw and whatever other accoutrements, such as fries or hush puppies, that you serve with it. A pound of fish will serve 2 to 3 quite nicely. To make an adequate serving for a party of 4, I’d use the 1 1/2 pounds.The timing in the recipe is perfect. I fried the presentation side (bone side) first and cooked the fish with that side down in the pan, allowing it most of the 5 minutes (3 minutes bone side, 2 minutes skin side.) To avoid overcrowding in the skillet, I split the fish into a couple batches. The fish cooks so quickly that I simply covered the first batch lightly with foil while I fried the second batch. You could also hold the pieces in the oven at 200°F or so, but I really don’t think it’s necessary to turn on the oven unless you’re already using it for another purpose. I wasn’t in the mood to buy or make tartar sauce, so I bought a jar of Kelchner’s Spicy Sriracha Sauce, which turned out to be a great accompaniment.

Absolutely, simply puristic—and so good ! The Southern fried catfish came out fantastic. Frying time was about 4 minutes per side and the fish was crisp on the outside, moist and tender inside. I served it with a preserved lemon and tomato relish on a bed of lentils. Yum!

I really like fried catfish and this Southern fried catfish recipe is exactly how I like to make it—with a good cornmeal crust, a crisp fry, lots of lemons, hot sauce, and, if I’m feeling fancy, some tartar sauce! I know that you can add a lot of spices and seasoning to the cornmeal to jazz up the fish, but it’s not really necessary. The fresh lemon and hot sauce are really a nice complement to the simply seasoned fish. My favorite hot sauce to eat with catfish is Franks Red Hot; it has a strong vinegar base, which is nice with the lemon. The cook time is spot on for a medium size fillet, 6 minutes, about 4 minutes for the top part of the filet (which I tend to put down first and then 2 minutes for the back made for a beautifully browned fish. I have had larger fillets and I’m certain that it would take a bit longer to cook, so the cook time is dependent on the size of the fillet. My pan was able to accommodate all the fillets, however I do think that keeping the fish warmed in a low oven, like 250 degrees would work just fine. I think catfish is best eaten fried and definitely think that this recipe will provide a great fried catfish experience!

Sometimes simple just works. This Southern fried catfish recipe taught me that I can skip the triple-dipping, buttermilk-soaking, and ingredient-assembling and just fry the darn thing and eat it already. Granted, this recipe makes a plain, simple result, but a good one. It’s perfect when the fish is the base for something else that’s flavor-packed—zippy homemade tartar sauce (my choice), modern coleslaw, spicy salsa, or a dressed po’boy. My total time was less than 20 minutes, active time 10 minutes. I actually had to stop my timer and stand around the kitchen as my household wasn’t ready to eat yet. The longest thing was heating the oil in the pan, this took about 10 minutes. A pound of catfish fillets was sold as 2 fillets at our grocery. I didn’t cut them down further and they both fit in my skillet, so no need to batch-fry. I heated the oven to 200°F and used a paper towel-lined sheet pan to keep the fried fillets warm. Cooking time was only 3 1/2 minutes total before both sides were golden, crisp, and the fish was cooked through. I served it with tartar sauce and found it to be excellent. Some coleslaw, too. And I used some of the dredging cornmeal to make hush puppies and fried them in the oil after the fish was out—a great use for something I’d otherwise throw away and it only took a couple minutes.

For a simple and basic preparation for Southern fried catfish, this is a good one. The basic preparation produced a crisp and delicious fried catfish. This is great for a weeknight meal with tartar sauce (homemade or store-bought) and tangy cabbage slaw. My fillets took 7 to 8 minutes total time to brown properly and I did all 4 fillets at the same time in the same skillet. This is a basic recipe, but I’ll make it again. I think next time I’ll add some cayenne pepper to the cornmeal mixture.