Air Fryer Fish and Chips

August 12, 2024

Air Fryer Fish and Chips

Fish and chips, done in the air fryer: thick-cut potatoes tossed in a little oil until golden and crisp, and white-fish fillets breaded in flour, egg and panko, cooked until the crust is deep golden and the fish flakes apart easily. Both halves cook in the same machine, one after the other, with no deep-fryer and a fraction of the oil.

The one thing an air fryer can’t do is a proper chip-shop batter — a wet beer batter just drips off the fish and never sets without oil to fry it in. Every source lands on the same fix: a dry coating instead, either the classic three-stage flour-egg-panko breading or a simpler cornflour dredge. It’s a fair trade for a lighter, faster version, but it’s worth being honest that this is a breaded fish, not a literal copy of the deep-fried original.

Dry surfaces matter more than usual here. Pat the fish fillets bone-dry before breading and rinse-and-dry the potatoes before they go anywhere near the oil — any lingering moisture steams instead of crisping. A generous spray or drizzle of oil on the coating is what actually browns it; skip that step and the crumb stays pale and floury no matter how long it cooks.

Serve it hot, straight out of the basket, with the classic sides: tartar sauce, lemon wedges, malt vinegar, and a bowl of mushy peas. The peas here are the quick home version — just frozen peas simmered and mashed with butter — rather than the traditional soaked marrowfat peas, which suits a weeknight plate fine.

Ingredients

Serves 4

The chips

800 g floury potatoes (Maris Piper or King Edward), cut into ~1 cm thick chips
2 tbsp neutral oil (rapeseed or sunflower)
1 tbsp cornflour, optional, for extra crisp
1 tsp fine salt
½ tsp black pepper

The fish

4 skinless white-fish fillets (cod or haddock), about 150 g each
75 g plain flour (or half plain flour, half cornflour, for extra crunch)
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp fine salt
½ tsp black pepper
2 large eggs, beaten
120 g panko breadcrumbs
oil, for spraying (cooking spray or oil in a mister)

The mushy peas

200 g frozen peas
15 g butter (a knob)
salt and pepper, to taste

To serve

tartar sauce
lemon wedges
malt vinegar
flaky sea salt

Directions

The chips

Cut the potatoes into chips about 1 cm (½ inch) thick. Rinse them in cold water to wash off surface starch, then pat them completely dry — a dry chip crisps, a damp one steams. Toss with the cornflour, if using, then with the oil, salt, and pepper until every piece is evenly coated.

Cook the chips first, since they take the longest and hold up well while everything else comes together. Air-fry at 375–400°F (190–200°C) for 20–25 minutes, shaking the basket every 5–10 minutes, until golden and crisp. Tip into a bowl, cover loosely, and keep warm; a 2–3 minute re-crisp right before serving brings them back if they’ve softened.

The mushy peas

While the chips cook, make the mushy peas. Simmer the frozen peas in a little water until tender, drain well, then mash roughly with the butter and season with salt and pepper. Cover and keep warm.

The fish

Set up three shallow bowls for the fish: one with the flour mixed with the smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper; one with the beaten eggs; and one with the panko.

Pat the fish fillets thoroughly dry, then coat each one in the seasoned flour, tapping off the excess, then in the egg, then in the panko, pressing the crumbs on firmly so they stick.

Lightly oil the air fryer basket and lay the fillets in a single layer with space between them, then spray the tops generously with oil. Air-fry at 375–400°F (190–200°C) for 10–12 minutes, flipping and spraying the second side halfway through, until the crust is deep golden and the fish flakes easily — internal temperature about 145°F (63°C). Cook in batches if all four fillets won’t fit at once without touching.

To serve

Serve immediately, while everything is hot, with the reheated chips, mushy peas, tartar sauce, lemon wedges, and plenty of malt vinegar and flaky sea salt at the table.

Notes

No wet batter in an air fryer: it drips off and never sets. A dry coating — panko or a cornflour dredge — is the correct technique here.
Dry everything first: surface moisture on either the fish or the potatoes is the main enemy of a crisp result.
Oil the coating: a spray or drizzle over the crumb is what actually browns it; a dry crumb stays pale.
Gluten-free or lighter version: skip the egg and panko and use a dry cornflour dredge instead — cornflour mixed with smoked paprika and herbs, pressed onto the fish and sprayed with oil.
Small air fryer: cook the chips first and keep them warm, then cook the fish, and give the chips a final few minutes to re-crisp once the fish is done.