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Whether you’re a life-long fish fry fan or brand new to the tradition, you can create your own fish fry at home any day of the week. Start with beer-battered cod and round out the menu with soup or salad, your choice of potato, a bread basket, dessert, and more!
Even if you’re not religious, tradition of a Friday night fish fry is probably one you’ve experienced if you have lived in the Midwest.
Normally celebrated as part of Lent in February and March, when Catholics typically abstain from meat on Fridays and holy days, communities gather to savor fish fry feasts. Family-owned restaurants, bars, and breweries alike all share their take on the menu.
It’s truly an institution, and now you can learn how to bring the best of a Midwestern fish fry into your home any time, anywhere.
Table of Contents
Beer Battered Cod
Beer-battered cod (or sometimes perch) is very popular. You can also ordered baked cod (often served with lemon and butter).
1
Beer Battered Cod
Fish and Seafood Recipes
Baked Cod
Fish and Seafood Recipes
Baked Salmon
Fish and Seafood Recipes
Shrimp Scampi
Fish and Seafood Recipes
Crab Cakes with Remoulade
Clam Chowder
The server’s interrogation continues with: “Soup or salad?” On Fridays during Lent, you usually can pick between Clam Chowder and “the house salad.” Your choice of dressing on the side!
2
New England Clam Chowder
Soup and Stew Recipes
Manhattan Clam Chowder
Soup and Stew Recipes
Sweet Potato Chili with Black Beans
Soup and Stew Recipes
Minestrone Soup
Soup and Stew Recipes
Chicken Noodle Soup
3
Easy Garden Salad
Salad Dressing Recipes
Ranch Dressing Recipe
Salad Dressing Recipes
French Dressing Recipe
Salad Dressing Recipes
Thousand Island Dressing Recipe
Salad Dressing Recipes
Italian Dressing
Marble Rye Bread
Along with your soup or salad, you often get a bread basket: A literal basket of rolls or slices of rye bread, saltine crackers, sesame sticks, and individual packets of butter. It’s extra touches like these that make fish fries feel like such a special event.
4
Marble Rye Bread
Bread Recipes
Soft Yeast Dinner Rolls
Bread Recipes
Homemade Crescent Rolls
Bread Recipes
No-Knead Bread
Bread Recipes
3-Ingredient Homemade Biscuits
Potato Latkes
My sister and I used to be waitresses together, and we still play a game where we try to rattle off all the ways you could order a potato with your fish fry. There are so many ways!
5
Crispy Potato Latkes
Side Dish Recipes
Homemade French Fries
Side Dish Recipes
How to Bake Potatoes
Side Dish Recipes
The Best Mashed Potatoes
Vegetable Recipes
Greek Roasted Potatoes
Tartar Sauce
Beer-battered cod comes with tartar, always. Baked cod is normally prepared with lemon and butter. Latkes come with applesauce or maybe sour cream and chives. And every plate has the tiniest paper cup of coleslaw.
6
Tartar Sauce
Stock, Sauce, and Spread Recipes
Lemon Butter Sauce
Side Dish Recipes
Applesauce
Salad Recipes
Easy Coleslaw
Side Dish Recipes
Apple Coleslaw
Cheesecake Bars
Not all fish fries come with dessert, but when they do, you’ve got options: chocolate cake, cheesecake (with or without strawberry topping), red JELL-O, tapioca pudding, rice pudding, chocolate pudding, ice cream (vanilla, chocolate, or butter pecan), rainbow sherbet, maybe even eclairs. And if you’re already full, you just take it to-go.
7
Cheesecake Bars
Frosting, Sauce, and Pudding Recipes
Tapioca Pudding
Frosting, Sauce, and Pudding Recipes
Rice Pudding
Chocolate Recipes
Easy Chocolate Mousse
Cake Recipes
Easy Chocolate Eclair Cake
Brandy Old Fashioned
Your meal might also come with a mug of beer or a glass of house wine (red or white). But if it doesn’t, or even if it does, consider a Brandy Old-Fashioned, THE classic Wisconsin cocktail for a fish fry.
8
Brandy Old Fashioned
Cocktail Recipes
Whiskey Sour
Cocktail Recipes
Manhattan
Cocktail Recipes
Gin and Tonic
Cocktail Recipes
Old Fashioned
I hope this fish fry brings back wonderful memories of communal dinners gone by! And I hope, if you can’t go out for a fish fry, you can create one in your own home.
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
Living in Georgia, Friday Night Fish Fries are a mystery to most southerners, so I must resort to making my own. I’ve used your recipes for the beer batter cod filets and the potato pancakes, absolutely wonderful! I did resort to my mom’s coleslaw, shredded cabbage with Miracle Whip, a dash of sugar and milk, still a winner for me. And then top it all off with a nice cold beer! Thanks for sharing all your great recipes. I teach cooking classes to clients from The Real Life Center in Tyrone, GA, and my clients have become very familiar with your recipes as I use them often! A fellow cheese head… Lori
Dear Meggan,
Your Fish Fry post was a delightful read! I’m 72 and reading it brought back wonderful memories of my childhood in Wisconsin. Although I no longer live there, it is still “home” in my heart. Whether we were eating our catch of perch from Lake Mendota or eating at a local restaurant, tender fried fish with coleslaw was something to look forward to.
Thank you for this recipe. I’m sure it’s terrific because all of your recipes are so well written and produce delicious results. You definitely write a blog I enjoy following!
Steeped in tradition – rooted in basics. Can’t go wrong here. :-)