The ultimate kid friendly fish prep! Crispy, flavorful and gluten free!
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Puddles and fish sticks.
No seriously. My kids are drawn to both like moths to a flame. It never fails – the instant it rains my bigger girls are at the window waiting for their favorite puddle spots to fill up! And while I love my sunshine time, my garden could use the extra water, and I know that those puddles make for happy, occupied, and engaged kiddos once they fill up!
Just like my girls are glued to the window waiting for their puddles to fill up, they have this sense for fish stick action in the kitchen! Fish stick night is always easy prep and makes for an easy but nourishing dinner for a busy weeknight.
I like to set up a quick batter station so the dredging and breading is quick and easy. My 7 year old can do this herself now which is really nice. You can also bread the strips of fish and freeze them on the tray, then pop them into a freezer bag for an even faster dinner in the future too.
The simple French dipping sauce is so fun too. Mildly sweet and kid friendly in taste, it makes for a nice change up to tarter sauce if you like to make fish often and want something different. (I like to make tarter sauce as well and my recipe will be published in my new book coming out this fall!)
There are rarely leftovers around these days when I make these, but sometimes I’ll double batch so I can pack them up in the lunchboxes the next day – the dip packs up into a condiment container, and my girls love the fish sticks just as good cold as they do out of the oven.
Don’t forget that you can dredge and bread the fish and then freeze them flat on the trays for later use. I pop them off the trays into a freezer bag once they freeze and it makes for a nice, quick dinner on a busy night
Quick and Easy Gluten Free Fish Sticks with Kid Friendly French Dipping Sauce
Ingredients
FISH STICKS:
- 3 wild caught cod fillets sliced into strips (I use Costco's wild caught cod)
- 1/4 cup potato starch
and 1/4 cup white rice flour coconut flour if you are grain free whisked in a small bowl for the dredge - 1 egg whisked in a small bowl for the egg wash
- 1/4 cup potato starch 1/4 cup white rice flour (coconut flour if you are grain free), and 1/4 cup blanched almond flour whisked in a bowl for the breading
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp paprika
and 1/4 cup 
if you are grain free whisked in a small bowl for the dredge
whisked in a bowl for the breadingCREAMY FRENCH DIPPING SAUCE:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 TB white wine vinegar
- 3 TB organic ketchup
- 2 TB whole sour cream or yogurt if you are dairy free just leave this out and it is still really good! Coconut yogurt would work too
- 1 TB raw honey
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees.
- Place the bowls to prep the fish sticks in a row. Put the dredge first, then the egg wash, and then the breading bowl. Add the seasonings to the breading bowl and whisk in.
- Dip a fish strip in the dredge, coating it on all sides with the flour, then into the egg wash, and then into the breading mixture. Place the fish strip on a Silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheet. Do this with all of the fish strips.
- Bake the coated fish sticks in a 450 degree oven for 10 minutes. Then take them out, flip them over, and bake another 12 minutes until they are golden and the fish is cooked/flaky on the inside.
- While the fish is baking, you can make the dipping sauce. Simply put all the ingredients for the sauce in a pint jar and use an immersion blender to emulsify the oil into the dip - it will get nice and creamy. If you don't have an immersion blender you can whisk the oil in to emulsify, or use the drip spout on your food processor to slowly add the oil in.
For more real food dinner ideas, you can follow my Dinner Ideas Board on Pinterest!
More real food recipes you might like:
15 Minute Chicken Tortilla Soup with Kid Friendly Guacamole
Sweet & Sour Sauce for Chinese Night!
I really wish I had this for dinner tonight. These look so good! Your sauce sounds awesome too!
Do you have to thaw the fish before dredging?
I have never tried it frozen Sarah! I am not sure the coating would stick well?
Any thoughts for making these without eggs?
Made these last night with a few changes for Bella’s allergies. Used 1tbsp flax meal mixed with 1/3 cup water in place of the egg and used oat flour in place of the almond meal. They were great!
Oh great Amy! Thank you for the subbing ideas!
You are welcome! Will be making them again this week, kids loved them!
Just made these and I think we have another family favorite. Thanks!
Oh gosh you are on a roll Sarah! Awesome – so glad they were a hit!
Made these tonight. Have made them multiple times using the flax meal and oat flour. Changed it up a bit tonight and dredged in plain yogurt and used cornmeal in place of almond meal. Was a hit!
Ohh I bet those were nice and crunchy/crispy! Great idea! I’m so glad you have been able to get them to work with your egg allergies!
I made this for dinner and it was so good, even my picky toddler liked it (especially the sauce)! I made it a little different than the recipe, with the ingredients I had on hand. I used cornmeal in place of almond flour, tilapia instead of cod, and melted coconut oil in the sauce in place of olive oil. I am going to be freezing some for easy lunches also! Will definately be making this again and again!!