Can You Reheat Fish Fingers? – The Best Way
Do you have young kids at home and constantly need a quick fix for meals? Or maybe there are no little ones but you still prefer quick and easy meals. Whether you’re just not much of a chef or time eludes you, these quick essentials are so important to many people.
One of the meals we often remember most from our childhood are fish sticks or fish fingers. Maybe served with a side of peas or some macaroni and cheese. Maybe you even had French fries or potato chips on the side with your fish fingers.
No matter how you previously enjoyed or currently enjoy your fish fingers, it always seems like you make far more than you need.
So can you reheat fish fingers? The good news is yes, you can reheat fish fingers. The best reheating method is the oven and it only takes about 10 minutes.
In this guide, we will walk you through all of the steps to properly reheat your fish fingers. Whether you are using store-bought fish fingers or you made them from scratch at home, these methods will help you properly store and reheat your fish fingers to enjoy again.
Keep reading to learn everything you should know about reheating fish fingers and more.
Your Guide to Reheating Fish Fingers
What type of fish fingers do you typically enjoy at home? Do you make them from scratch with your own breading or do you buy your favorite brand from the frozen section at your local grocery store?
No matter which method it is that you use, they are delicious.
You can serve them with any number of sides or you can eat them by themselves. You can also serve them with a variety of dips like ketchup, tartar sauce, cocktail sauce or any other type of dipping sauce you prefer.
Fish Fingers Explained
If you’re new to fish fingers, you’re in for a treat. They are a simple product but they can certainly bring a smile to many faces. These breaded fish treats are tasty and easy to work with.
Fish fingers, also known as fish sticks, are made with various types of whitefish. Sometimes it is a mixture of several fish.
These whitefish meats include haddock, cod, Pollock, and hake. There are more possibilities but these are the most common types of fish used in fish fingers.
These formed sticks of fish are then breaded or battered and cooked to perfection. Cooking fish fingers also have a lot of options.
They can be fried, grilled, or baked to cook and serve. There is not necessarily one method that is best. The most common method is probably baking them in the oven.
How Fish Fingers Are Made
The most common way to enjoy fish fingers is to purchase them from the frozen section at the supermarket. However, the companies that produce them this way had to get their ideas from somewhere.
It is quite common to also make your own fish fingers at home.
We wanted to provide you with a simple set of instructions for homemade fish fingers simply to give you an idea of what we’re working with as we proceed to discuss storage methods and reheating your fish fingers.
Here is a simple recipe for homemade fish fingers. Keep in mind this is just a point of reference and there are many recipes and ways to make fish fingers from scratch.
- You will need flour, eggs, breadcrumbs of some sort, whitefish fillets, oil, salt, and pepper.
- Cut your fish meat to appropriate size for breading and cooking.
- Place breadcrumbs in a shallow dish. Beat the eggs and place in a separate shallow dish.
- Put flour, salt, and pepper (and any other seasoning you prefer) into a heavy-duty bag and shake up to mix well.
- Start by tossing fish in seasoning/flour to coat evenly.
- Dip coated fish into egg. Then proceed to dip and coat in the breadcrumbs.
- Place on a plate or in a pan depending on how you plan to cook them.
When you make homemade fish fingers like this, the best initial cooking method is to fry them. You can deep fry them if you have a deep fryer available or you can use a frying pan.
You would simply heat oil, dip in the fish fingers, and fry for 5-6 minutes or until crisp and golden brown.
Then you would set the fish fingers aside on paper towels to drain or soak up some of the grease. Serve and enjoy from there! Don’t forget your side of peas with your freshly made fish fingers.
Proper Storage of Fish Fingers
If you want to reach the point of reheating your fish fingers, you must first properly store your fish fingers.
Storing fish fingers is relatively simple. You just want to be sure you store them properly so they don’t get soggy when you try to reheat them.
The biggest challenge to reheating fish fingers is keeping the breading intact and not having to worry about soggy fish fingers.
Storing Fish Fingers in the Fridge
- If you plan to reheat fish fingers within 4 days, store them in the refrigerator.
- Place fish fingers into an airtight container or a storage bag.
- Label and date.
- Seal well and place in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Storing Fish Fingers in the Freezer
- If you are freezing homemade fish fingers, you should complete a pre-freeze process. Lay your fish fingers flat on a baking sheet and allow to freeze for 2 hours. Then proceed to remaining freezing instructions.
- Place fish sticks into a heavy-duty freezer bag or an airtight container.
- Label, date, and seal the fish fingers well.
- Place in the freezer for up to 6 months.
The pre-freezing portion of the process can be done for frozen and cooked fish fingers as well. However, it’s not required and can easily be skipped. Do not skip that step if you are freezing homemade fish fingers as it will help hold them together.
Reheating Fish Fingers
Now that you’ve successfully cooked your fish fingers and successfully stored them, let’s get down to business.
You can reheat your fish fingers in the oven or on the stovetop. We prefer the oven method because it’s simple and only takes a few minutes.
You don’t have to work with any oil or heating a skillet, you just pop them in the oven and they are done before you even have time to get bored waiting on them.
Reheating them this way is not time-consuming and it is certainly not challenging.
We do NOT recommend reheating fish fingers in the microwave. While it is perfectly safe to do so, your fish fingers just won’t be the same if you do. They are more likely to be soggy or crumbly if you use the microwave.
That being said, if the microwave is your only option, you can reheat them that way. Wrap them in a paper towel to try to prevent them from becoming soggy.
You do not need to thaw out your fish fingers prior to reheating them.
Reheating Fish Fingers in the Oven
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Lay fish sticks out on a baking sheet in a single layer.
- Cover baking sheet with foil to help prevent sogginess.
- Bake in the oven 5-7 minutes.
- Remove foil and continue to make for 5 more minutes.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.
- Serve and enjoy!
Reheating Fish Fingers On the Stovetop
- Heat your skillet on medium heat.
- Add butter or oil and allow it to heat.
- Add fish fingers to the pan in a single layer.
- Allow the fish fingers to heat completely on one side. This takes 2-4 minutes.
- Turn the fish fingers over and heat on the other side for the same amount of time.
- Drain grease, allow to cool slightly, serve, and enjoy!
Related Questions
We hope that you have found this guide to reheating fish fingers to be quite helpful for you. It’s a simple process but there are some basic things you should be aware of to keep your fish fingers from getting soggy.
We invite you to take a look at the following question and answer section to see if there is any further information that may be helpful to you.
What Are Some Things You Can Make with Fish Fingers?
You can eat fish fingers as they are with a side of some sort and some dipping sauce. However, if you want to switch it up there are some other options. Here are a few for you.
- Fish finger tacos
- Cut or crunch small and add to soups
- Turn into a casserole
- Make fish finger sushi
- Fish finger sandwiches
Can I Use Fish Fingers That Are a Year Old?
If your fish fingers have been properly frozen, they are most likely fine to use after 12 months. Just smell them and look them over first to be safe.
