Your favorite McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish burger got even better with this homemade version. It’s better because it’s healthier as it’s BAKED! It’s made of real fresh ingredients with no fillers or artificial flavors.
Jump to:
Why does this recipe work?
- It’s baked!
- It’s a hearty and satisfying meal.
- Kids love it.
Ingredients
Homemade tartare sauce
For baked fish
Step-by-step instructions
Tartare sauce-
In a bowl whisk together full-fat mayonnaise, gherkins/cornichons, capers, parsley, lemon juice, sugar, salt, and pepper.
Keep the bowl covered in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes or until chilled.
Baked fish-
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Make the wet crumb by mixing in a bowl egg, mayonnaise, flour, paprika, garlic powder, pepper, and salt. Whisk well into lump lump-free mix. Keep aside.
- On a plate spread panko breadcrumbs and keep aside.
- Note – if you want to even golden brown panko crust on the fish fillet, you can roast panko bread crumbs first in a baking tray at 350 Fahrenheit for about 3 minutes. Roasting will turn white crumbs into golden brown crumbs, resulting in evenly browned baked fillets.
- Cut cod fillets into square fillets of a size slightly bigger than your buns. Remember fillets will shrink after cooking.
- Dip a fillet in a wet crumb first on both sides to ensure it coats the fillets evenly. Remove it from the bowl using tongs and gently shake off the excess crumb coating.
- Place the coated fillet on panko bread crumbs. Using your fingers, pick up dry breadcrumbs from the sides of the plate and sprinkle them on the top of the fillet first to avoid sticky/cakey fingers. Then gently press the breadcrumbs on the fillets on both sides.
- Remove and place it on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
- Repeat the above step for all the remaining fillets.
- Arrange fillets with a 1-inch gap between them.
- Spray oil generously on all the fillets.
- Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 12 to 14 minutes or until the fish is cooked and the crumb begins to brown. Important Note – Since I did not toast panko breadcrumbs before baking the crumb coating will not be golden brown on all sides. To get a golden brown crumb crust, toast the panko bread crumbs in the oven before applying it to the fish fillet.
- Just before removing the fish from the oven, place ½ a slice of cheese on top of each fillet and let it remain in the oven for a minute or two until the cheese slice begins to melt. Note– I did not add cheese at this stage. I added cheese to the burger while assembling it.
- Remove the tray from the oven and let it cool down slightly before you remove the fish from the tray.
Assemble
Cut burger buns into half using a sharp serrated knife.
Place a fish fillet on the bottom half of the burger. Spread 1 tablespoon of chilled tartare sauce on top, and cover with the top half of the bun. Serve immediately.
Tips
- You can use any white flatfish to make Filet-O-Fish. Cod or haddock are best. Tilapia, pollock or basa fish fillets can also be used.
- Make tartare sauce beforehand and chill in the fridge. They taste great chilled. Note – I added milk to the tartare sauce. You won’t be using the whole bowl of tartare sauce and will have leftovers. Skip adding milk if you plan to store it for a few days.
- Brioche buns are best, you can also use white hamburger buns or other burger buns. Note – place your burger buns in the microwave for 10 seconds to turn them into softer buns.
- Use good quality cheese. I prefer to use ½ slice of cheese to enjoy the delicious taste of fish without overpowering it with cheese. Feel free to use more cheese if you prefer.
- You can follow the same recipe and fry the fillets instead of baking. Use canola oil or vegetable oil for frying.
Other recipes to try-
- Baked Tilapia Recipe
- Tilapia Fish Tacos
- Bonefish Grill Copycat Bang Bang Shrimp
- Chipotle’s Copycat Cilantro Lime Rice
- Bonefish Grill Copycat Bang Bang Shrimp Sauce
- Starbucks Copycat Pumpkin Spice Latte
- Panera Copycat Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Don’t forget to Subscribe to CurryTrail Recipes below to get our newest recipes delivered straight to your inbox.
If you love this recipe, keep in touch, and don’t miss out on any of Currytrail recipes. Follow me on Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram.
Healthy Homemade Filet-O-Fish Copycat Mcdonald’s
Your favorite McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish burger got even better with this homemade version. It’s better because it’s healthier as it’s BAKED! It’s made of real fresh ingredients with no fillers or artificial flavors.
Ingredients
- 1 12 oz cod fillet, cut into 3 equal sized square fillets
- Canola Oil – for spray/brush
Wet Crumb-
- 1 whole egg
- 1 tablespoon full fat mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon flour
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Dry Crumb-
- 1 ½ cups Panko Breadcrumbs
Homemade Tartare Sauce
- 1 cup mayonnaise pick the full fat good quality ones. It’s makes a world of difference. Trust me low fat mayo will not do justice here.
- 1 tablespoon gherkins/cornichons chopped fine
- 1 teaspoon capers finely chopped
- 1 ½ tablespoon lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 1 teaspoon parsley finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- 2 teaspoon milk optional
For Burger-
- 3 brioche burger buns if you can’t get brioche buns, use ordinary burger buns
- 3 yellow American cheese
Instructions
- First thing to prep is the tartare sauce. It has to be chilled before you serve it with the burger. Tartare sauce tastes great once chilled.
How To Make Tartare Sauce?
- In a bowl whisk together full fat mayonnaise, gherkins/cornichons, capers, parsley, lemon juice, sugar, salt and pepper.
- Keep the bowl covered in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes or until chilled.
How To Bake Fish Fillet?
- Prep Work:Pre heat oven at 350 degree Fahrenheit.
- Make the wet crumb by mixing in a bowl egg, mayonnaise, flour, paprika, garlic powder, pepper and salt. Whisk well into lump free mix. Keep aside.
- In a plate spread panko breadcrumbs and keep aside.
- Note – if you want to even golden brown panko crust on the fish fillet, you can roast panko bread crumbs first in a baking tray at 350 Fahrenheit for about 3 minutes. Roasting will turn white crumbs into golden brown crumbs, resulting in evenly browned baked fillets.
- Crumb Coating:Cut cod fillet into square fillet of size slightly bigger than your buns. Remember fillets will shrink after cooking.
- Dip a fillet in wet crumb first on both sides to ensure it coats the fillets evenly. Remove it from the bowl using tongs and gently shake off the excess crumb coating.
- Place the coated fillet on panko bread crumbs. Using your fingers, pick up dry breadcrumbs from the sides of the plate and sprinkle it on the top of fillet first to avoid sticky/cakey fingers. Then gently press the breadcrumbs on the fillets of both sides.
- Remove and place it on baking tray lined with parchment paper.
- Repeat the above step for all the remaining fillets.
- Bake Fillets:Arrange fillets with 1 inch gap between them.
- Spray oil generously on all the fillets.
- Bake in pre heated oven at 350 degree Fahrenheit for 12 to 14 minutes or until fish is cooked and crumb begins to brown.Important Note – Since I did not toast panko breadcrumbs before baking the crumb coating will not be golden brown on all sides. To get golden brown crumb crust, toast the panko bread crumbs in oven before applying it on fish fillet.
- Just before removing fish from the oven, place ½ a slice of cheese on top of each fillet and let it remain in oven for a minute or two until cheese slice begins to melt.Note– I did not add cheese at this stage. Cheese went in only during assembling the burger, because my kids love it that way.
- Remove the tray from oven and let it cool down slightly before you remove the fish from the tray.
Assemble Filet-O-Fish:
- Cut burger buns into half using sharp serrated knife.
- Place a fish fillet on the bottom half of the burger. Spread 1 tablespoon of chilled tartare sauce on top, cover with top half of the bun. Serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- Fish – You can use any white flat fish to make Filet-O-Fish. Fish that has less fishy taste is what you want to choose. Buy large fish fillets so you can cut them into square-ish fillets so your copycat will look like the original. Cod or haddock are best. Tilapia, pollock or basa fish fillets can also be used.
- Tartare Sauce – Your sauce will taste as good as your ingredients. Definitely use good quality full fat mayonnaise to make the sauce. Also make sauce before you start baking the fish fillets and chill in fridge. They taste great chilled. Note – I added milk to tartare sauce. You won’t be using the whole bowl of tartare sauce, and will have leftovers. Skip adding milk if you plan to store for few days.
- Burger Buns – if you can get your hands on brioche burger buns, you them. Else pick white hamburger buns or other burger buns. Note – place your burger buns in microwave for 10 seconds to turn into softer buns.
- Cheese – McDonald’s uses pasteurized processed American cheese on the Filet-O-Fish. Yellow American cheese slices is what you need to make it look and taste like the original. Never use the cheaper cheese, it tastes terrible! Go for good quality cheese like Kraft American Deluxe.
- The real reason to use ½ slice of cheese on Fish burger is to avoid over powering the fish patty with cheese. Adding ½ slice is believed to allow you to enjoy the delicious taste of fish without overpowering with cheese.
- You can follow the same recipe and fry the fillets instead of baking. Use canola oil or vegetables oil for frying.
Nutrition
Calories: 1145kcalCarbohydrates: 49gProtein: 69gFat: 73gSaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 238mgSodium: 1940mgPotassium: 1415mgFiber: 2gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 610IUVitamin C: 6mgCalcium: 415mgIron: 5mg
Did you make this recipe?Follow @CurryTrail and tag #CurryTrail to share your creation!
Leave A Reply!