For many years I was intimidated by cooking fish. My idea of having fish for dinner was to pick up a package of frozen fish sticks. Thankfully I progressed a little bit beyond that option and we now have several homemade recipes for baked fish at our house that we really enjoy. One of the methods I often use is to make my own quick crumb coating for the fish fillets.
My crumb coating is a simple method of combining some crackers with a bit of parmesan and spices in the food processor. It’s quick, easy, and I almost always have the ingredients for the crumb coating on hand because it doesn’t require anything fancy. I have a mini food processor that’s an oldie but still a goodie that I always use for this recipe. Once everything’s dumped in the food processor it only takes a few seconds of processing and your crumb coating is ready to go.
To use the cracker crumb coating on the fish, you dip both sides of each fish fillet in some melted butter, then press the fillet into the crumb coating (again, do both sides), and then place the fillet in a greased baking dish. I usually use tilapia when I make this recipe. If I have any leftover melted butter once all the fillets are prepared, I like to drizzle it over the fillets one more time in the pan before baking.
Then it’s just a matter of baking your breaded fillets in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes and you’ve got an easy homemade dinner option that looks and tastes just as delicious as something you’d have to pay big money for in the restaurant.
If you’d like to break away from the frozen fish stick routine too, this is a perfect recipe to try. It’s simple for beginning cooks and it’s one of those recipes that you really can’t mess up!
Here’s the complete recipe:
Cracker Crumb Coating for Fish
Ingredients:
- 14 Ritz Crackers
- 2 Tbl Grated Parmesan Cheese
- 2 tsp Paprika
- 1 tsp Garlic Salt
- 1/2 tsp Dried Oregano
- 1/2 tsp Dried Basil
To use the coating on fish you will also need:
- 3 – 4 Tbl Metled Butter
- 4 – 6 Fish Fillets (I usually use tilapia)
Instructions:
- Place the crackers, parmesan, and spices in a food processor and process for about 10 seconds until mixture is fine crumbs. Then spread the mixture out on a plate.
- For each of your fish fillets, first dip both sides in the metled butter, then press both sides of the fillet into the crumb mixture. Then place into a greased baking dish. Repeat for the remaining fish fillets.
- Bake the breaded fish fillets in a 400 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes.
Notes:
Related Reading:
- Homemade BBQ Sauce for Meatballs in the Crockpot
- How To Dry Herbs in the Microwave
- Parmesan Bites Appetizer Recipe
This post was originally published February, 2012 and updated October, 2019.
Wow! I thought eating fish at home was medicinal, but this is the best fish I’ve ever had! I substituted extra virgin olive oil for the butter and it came out perfectly. I will be making this several times per week now.
Glad you enjoyed the recipe Ed! It’s a favorite at our house too. 🙂
Yum! Hubby and I are going to make this tonight! 🙂 Thanks for sharing! Hoping Miss 22 months likes it too! x Newest follower here from Just For Daisy – come say hi sometime! 🙂 Can't wait to have a better look around you lovely blog
I'm going make a triple batch of this and store it in my new mason jar container with Parmesan cheese lid! Love the ideas!