Classic Fried Catfish

“This is a great recipe. This one is a keeper. It was absolutly delicious. I added the salt to taste to the coating. We will be making this one for good. Thank you for posting it.”

“I have used this recipe for years!My only modification is that I use 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper and 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper instead of the 1 teaspoon red pepper.Also, because where we live in SE Texas, we are usually cooking fresh catfish, I soak the fish in buttermilk about 30 minutes before frying.This method may be used for catfish filets or frying whole, pansized catfish.Yummy!”

“This recipe was easy & delicious.I have never eaten or prepared catfish before, but I was impressed with this recipe.*** I dipped in milk first.”

“Used this to coat catfish DH and I caught while camping. Took the coating with us in a ziploc, breaded fresh catfish fillets (that I had soaked in buttermilk for a few hours) and cooked them in a cast iron skillet over a fire! Yummy! Thank you for sharing!”

“My husband and I love this recipe! We catch out own catfish and this is our favorite way to prepare it.The only changes that we make are that we increase the Ground Red Pepper to at least 2teaspoons. We like it with a kick! This recipe is way better than any store bought coating you can buy.”

“This classic fried catfish was just delicious.So simple and easy to fix.Thanks for posting.”

“This came out pretty good and husband liked it.When I bread something I usually used only flour but the cornmeal on this gave it a nice crunch.”

“Delicious.I fixed this for our family of 5 and for my sister and brother in law.It was really good.I had to double the recipe, of course.The ground red pepper gives this fish a really nice kick.I think frying it in the cast iron is the trick.Thanks so much for sharing.Made for Zaar Cookbook tag game.”

“This recipe was delicious! Very easy to make and tastes like I bought it from a restaurant.I doubled the red pepper and garlic powder for an extra kick of flavor.We like to eat our fried catfish on French bread with coleslaw and pickles.Thanks for this great recipe!”

“Boy did these hit the spot!The one that made me rub my tummy, smile and go for more :)We loved these and my DS has asked me to make them again soon, so this is headed to our favorites to be made again and again!”

“I use pond-raised catfish. Don’t use red pepper, but what we love in cooking in butter-flavored Crisco.Original one is in Southern Living.”

“I didn’t think the coating would stick to the fish without eggs, but it did.I added a little black pepper instead of red due to allergy and only used a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.Served with homemade tartar sauce and lemon wedges, peas, and scalloped potatoes.In the summer, I would do coleslaw or salad, plus steamed veggies and couscous.This was really simple and good.”

“Made as written with the exception of using 1/2 tsp ground black pepper instead of red pepper and fried in deep fryer. Just the right amount of coating on the fillets with wonderful flavor. This will be my go to recipe for catfish. Served with Recipe #35727. Thanks!”

“We loved this batter!I didn’t add the pepper flakes but otherwise followed the recipe.I will use this often when I make my fish from now on!”

“Who knew it was so easy to fry catfish?!?!?!? And get great results to boot? This was perfect. The coating was light and crispy and beautifully golden!! Loved it! Thanks for posting.***I also used the mixture to fry up some green tomatoes….just sliced the tomatoes, sprinkled a little sugar on them and then dredged them through the cornmeal mixture and fried along with the catfish…..DELICIOUS!!!!”

“Catfish always hits the spot at my house and these turned out great!I added a little lemon over the top of mine, but otherwise made like the recipe states.Very easy to put together and dinner was on the table in no time.Had with sweet cornbread and coleslaw for a delicious meal.”

“We liked it. Very easy and yummy.”

“Everyone in my house loves this!I make catfish probably once per month, but will never use another batter recipe after this one.”

“Southern Living… how can you ever go wrong with a Southern Living recipe??The only substitution I made was to replace the wheat flour with gluten-free flour to suit my gluten sensitivity.The fillets I had from the grocery store were thicker than I usually prefer, and ended up frying them for 10 minutes in my Fry Daddy.Otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly, and they turned out fabulous.My 9 year old said “Mmmm!This tastes just like at a restaurant!”Thanks Bev.”

“Excellent recipe. I added a little extra red pepper for some zing. Made Deely’s Hush Puppies to go along with the fish. I used striper fish because the neighbor had given me a huge bag of filets. Doubled the recipe as I had a lot of fish to fry. Will use again. Thanks, Bev!!!”