Making fish for dinner on short notice is easy when you can cook frozen fish fillets in the air fryer!
With just a few seasonings and your favorite white fish fillets, you can enjoy perfectly flaky, super-tasty fish in minutes!
If you want to make breaded fish in the air fryer (from frozen), follow these instructions.
Recipe Tips and Substitutions
Before you set out to make frozen fish fillets in your air fryer, be sure to read through these recipe tips and substitutions so that you know how to make them!
- Any white fish you have/prefer will work for this recipe. We like to use wild pollock, but you can also use frozen cod or tilapia.
- The thickness of the fish fillet will dictate the cooking time and whether or not you flip the fish fillets at the halfway through cooking. If the fillets are on the thinner end, they will cook faster and you won’t need to flip them. If they’re thicker, they’ll take a little bit longer and it would be a good a idea to give them a flip in the air fryer.
- If you have longer fish fillets that won’t fit in your air fryer, just cut them in half (we often do this).
- Our fish fillets were a little smaller overall, so if you have larger fish fillets with a lot of surface area, you may need a little bit more of the seasoning mixture to cover the fish.
- If you don’t have fine herbs seasoning, you can use Italian seasoning, dried parsley, or other herbs of your choice.
- Make sure the fish is cooked through – it should be flaky with an internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit – but don’t overcook it, as this can make the fish rubbery.
We use this air fryer for our recipes and it has been great.
Step by Step Instructions
To make frozen fish in the air fryer, you can follow the steps in this section. We have included process photos so you can see exactly how we made ours.
If you want to skip down to the cooking times and temperatures without the visuals, you can skip to the detailed recipe card at the bottom of this post.
First, rinse the frozen fish under cold water, then pat them dry and place them on a large plate. Also, preheat the air fryer to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
While waiting for the air fryer to heat up, mix the salt, fine herbs, garlic powder, and pepper in a small bowl.
Next, either lightly spray the fish with oil or rub the oil into it (on both sides).
Then sprinkle the spice mixture over the fish – on both sides if the fish doesn’t have a skin and only on the flesh side if there is a skin.
Drizzle a little bit of lemon juice over each fillet as well.
When the air fryer is hot, add the frozen fish fillets into the air fryer tray. Make sure the fillets do not overlap.
Cook the fillets for 12-17 minutes or until fully cooked through.
The fillets are cooked when they are flaky – you can test this with a fork. Alternatively, the internal temperature should be 145 degrees Fahrenheit.
If your fish fillet is pretty thin, there is no need to flip it during cooking. However, if your fillet is thicker, flip it after about 8 minutes of cooking.
Make sure that the fish is cooked but not overcooked or it will become rubbery.
Cooking times may vary depending on the thickness of the fillets and your air fryer so use these as guidelines only!
Once the fish is cooked, remove the fillets from the air fryer and serve them with lemon wedges.
We like to eat fish with peeled potatoes boiled in salted water and a little bit of melted butter.
A side of vegetables such as air fryer asparagus or brussels sprouts also go well with it.
Storage Tips
We would recommend eating the fish hot and fresh out of the air fryer. If you have any leftovers fillets, store them in a sealed container in the fridge.
They will keep for 2-3 days – but eat them sooner rather than later.
To reheat these fish fillets, you can microwave them but they can get rubbery so watch the time! Alternatively, you can also put them back in the air fryer for a few minutes.
Of course, you can also eat the leftover fish fillets cold.
Related Recipes
For more air fryer seafood recipes, you can check out these:
- Frozen Shrimp in the Air Fryer
- Air Fryer Frozen Breaded Fish Fillets
- Air Fried Honey Garlic Salmon
- Frozen Calamari in the Air Fryer
- Frozen Salmon or Fresh Salmon Fillets
Air Fryer Frozen Fish Fillets
Ingredients
- 4 frozen fish fillets, any white fish (see notes)
- 2 teaspoons avocado oil or oil spray
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, more or less to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon fine herbs seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, optional
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper, more to taste
- a drizzle of lemon juice
- lemon wedges for serving, optional
Instructions
- Rinse the frozen fish under cold water, then pat them dry and place them on a large plate.4 frozen fish fillets
- Preheat the air fryer to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- While you wait for the air fryer to heat, mix the salt, fine herbs, garlic powder, and pepper in a small bowl.1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon fine herbs seasoning, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- Next, either lightly spray the fish with oil or rub the oil into it (on both sides). Then sprinkle the spice mixture onto the fish – on both sides if the fish doesn’t have skin and only on the flesh side if there is skin. Drizzle a little bit of lemon juice on each fillet as well.2 teaspoons avocado oil or oil spray, a drizzle of lemon juice
- When the air fryer is hot, add the frozen fish fillets into the air fryer tray. There should not be any overlap of the fillets.
- Cook the fillets for 12-17 minutes until fully cooked. The fillets are cooked when they are flaky – you can test this with a fork. Alternatively, the internal temperature should be 145 degrees Fahrenheit. If your fish fillet is pretty thin, there is no need to flip it during cooking. However, if your fillet is thicker, flip it after around 8 minutes of cooking. Make sure that the fish is cooked but not overcooked because then the fish will be rubbery. Cook times can vary depending on the thickness of the fillets and your air fryer so use them as guidelines only!
- Once the fish is cooked, remove the fillets from the air fryer and serve them with lemon wedges. We like eating fish with peeled potatoes boiled in salted water and a little bit of butter melted on the stovetop or in the microwave.lemon wedges for serving
Notes
- You can use any white fish you have on hand. We like using wild pollock, cod, or tilapia.
- If you have big (long) fish fillets, cut them in half so that they easily fit in the air fryer. Our fish fillets were also on the smaller side. If yours are a lot bigger, you might need a little bit more spices to cover all the fish.
- If you don’t have fine herbs seasoning, you can use Italian seasoning, dried parsley, or other herbs of your choice.
Nutrition
This nutritional information has been estimated by an online nutrition calculator. It should only be seen as a rough calculation and not a replacement for professional dietary advice.
The air fryer makes a big difference of cooking in a skillet