Southern Fried Catfish is an iconic southern fish recipe. Made of a few simple ingredients, fried catfish makes a family favorite tradition!
Growing up, I loved to go fishing with my Daddy. We spent summers on Lake Martin in Alabama and I’d love to be the first one up in the mornings to fish off the side of our houseboat or take the fishing boat out until lunch or so. In the afternoon, he’d prepare the fish and then cook it for a big supper with coleslaw, tartar sauce, and hushpuppies. Yum!
When I married, my husband told me of similar summers with his parents and grandparents spent on lakes fishing with days ending with fish fries. Lately, we’ve been trying to pass the same along to our son, even going so far as teaching him how to fry catfish the same way our parents taught us to do.
Here’s our family’s recipe for Southern Fried Catfish. It just doesn’t get much better.
Southern Fried Catfish Recipe
Ingredients
- 4-6 whole catfish or catfish filets, or catfish filets, cleaned
- 1 quart peanut oil
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Rinse catfish and pat dry with paper towels. Pour peanut oil into 5-quart Dutch oven and heat to 350º F on a deep fry thermometer. While peanut oil is heating, whisk together flour, cornmeal, cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper until well-combined. Lightly coat both sides of catfish into flour mixture and then carefully place into Dutch oven, frying only two at a time, until lightly browned, about 5-8 minutes. Remove from Dutch oven and place onto a paper towel lined plate to drain. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Enjoy!
Robyn xo
This is perfect! Growing up my family had a catfish restaurant and fried catfish is still my favorite! Peanut oil is the key, love this post.
How cool! I couldn’t agree more about the peanut oil. It is definitely key!
Sounds like amazing comfort food!
As a Florida native, I grew up on catfish & other fresh water fish.I must admit that over the years I have not fried my own. I have found a seafood restaurant that serves : Salt and Pepper catfish fillets Rhey are perfectly fried and delicious !!
Hi,
GOOD Catfish restaurant in FLORIDA? I have been looking for one, besides the Catfish Place, which is too far away. Tell me where and the name.
dick
Dewy’s, Fort Lauderdale. All you can eat.
Every time I make catfish, it never looks this good. For tomorrows diner I will be using this recipe to feed my family! My mouth is already watering.
I hope you enjoy it, Lucy. Catfish is definitely a favorite from my childhood. I can’t wait to hear how it turns out for you!
This sound so good! I never had catfish fried like this, but when I was growing up in Rio de Janeiro, my mother use to make fried whole fresh sardines that the entire family would salivate about, while waiting for the meal. She would season the sardines with salt, pepper, fresh garlic and fresh squeezed lime juice, coat it with corn meal and fry on cotton oil or soy oil. I’m salivating right now, just thinking about it! Lol…
Thanks for the recipe!
OMG!! Your catfish looks sooooo good! I wanna gobble it up thru the screen. Your recipes is very simple and I have all the ingredients. But do I have to use 1 quart of the oil? I’m only frying no more than 2-3 pieces of catfish fillets. So can I use less oil? Thanx for your recipe and response.
I like catfish but haven’t found a suitable recipe. But this recipe seems delicious
My family comes from many generations of hunters and fishermen in Texas back through Arkansas,
Miss., Ala. and back up the east coast. This is exactly how they taught me to cook fish. So many people want to over think this. There is no need to do it. It is a great recipe as is. My family makes sure the oil is very hot. They would throw in a match that had the white tip on the end and when it is hot enough it lights up in the oil right then. Use a new match each time you check.
I do leave a little moisture on my fish for the mix to stick better. Do not pre batter until you are ready to drop it in oil. Comes out with more of that crunchy mix on them. Also, make sure the catfish are more than covered when you put them in the oil. Not enough oil and they are not the same. Delicious Robyn.
We have a restaurant in downtown Austin, Texas. I have trained maybe a hundred cooks to do our catfish with this recipe. Robyn, you are” right on” with your recipes. Thank you for taking your time to share with others. You cannot beat good southern cooking in my humble opinion. P.S. For safety, please don’t allow children to be around while cooking with the hot oil.
I love reading this, Brenda! Simple southern food is as good as it gets in my opinion as well! I bet you’ve made a lot of delicious catfish! Thanks again for your kind words and your thoughts! xo
Question, on small 10 to 12 inch catfish do you skin them or leave the skin On?
Hi Yvonne,
I always take the skin off the fish. Hope you enjoy!
Perfect! Thanks for sharing. And Yes!, Rafi. Catfish Dewey’s in Ft. Lauderdale has delicious catfish and everything else on their menu.