I'm often asked what to serve with fried catfish, as people know we cook it a lot. We catch it often and always have a freezer full. Needless to say, we've done some experimenting when it comes to side dishes for this beautiful and tender, tasty white fish.
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You should check out my list of top 100 best Thanksgiving Side Dishes. It's very thorough.
Why we love a catfish dinner
- There's an abundance of this delicious fish and if you're not catching it yourself it's relatively inexpensive to buy because of this.
- Mild-flavored catfish can be enjoyed by even the pickiest eaters.
Appetizers
It's always good to open up your appetite with an appetizer, make sure you don't eat too much though. Leave room for that delicious southern fried catfish. Following are some classic southern appetizers;
- Shrimp cocktail
- Oysters
- Chargrilled Oysters
- Sliced Bell Peppers and Ranch
- Breaded Mushrooms
- Bloomin' Onion
- Spinach Artichoke Dip
- Boudin Dip
- Crawfish Dip
- Mozzarella Sticks
- Bacon Wrapped Shrimp
- Pretzel Bites
- Cheese Bread
- Crab Soup
- Baked Potato Soup
The Crust
The best oil to fry fish (in our opinion) is in peanut oil. It handles high heat well and imparts a slightly nutty flavor.
The coating people choose, now that may change from home to home. Following is a short list of the different options when it comes to coating your catfish fillets;
- Simple breadcrumb crust
- Simple cornmeal crust
- Combination of the two
- Store bought cornmeal mixture (e.g. Zatarains Fish Fri)
- Egg batter
- Plain flour
Hint: when we are coating our catfish fillets we like to allow the fillets to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes soaking in yellow mustard and a few seasonings. We then go straight to the crust and don't have to worry about dipping it in anything first.
Seasonings
As mentioned earlier, catfish is a mild flavored fish and so you don't want to overpower the delicate nature of its flavor. Following are some seasoning ideas;
- Simple kosher salt and black pepper
- Creole Seasoning
- Cajun Seasoning
- Old Bay Seasoning
- Season All
- Lawrys
- Lemon Pepper
- Cayenne Pepper (if you like the heat)
- Seafood seasoning
- Onion Powder
- Garlic Powder
Sauces and Dips
Now here, there are a handful of your traditional sauces and dips that you would normally serve with any seafood. They are;
- Tartar Sauce
- Seafood Sauce
- Hot Sauce
- Sour Cream
- Creamy mayonnaise
- Roasted Garlic Sauce
- Mustard Cream Sauce
- Remoulade Sauce
- Honey Mustard
- Ketchup
- Marinara
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Potatoes
Well, this is my favorite. If something has potatoes in it, I'm loving it already. If I could eat potatoes with every meal, I would. My waistline wouldn't thank me though! Following are some great potato side dishes to go with fried catfish;
- Mashed Potatoes
- Potato Salad
- Tater Tots
- Potato Wedges
- Crispy French Fries
- Sweet Potato Fries
- Cajun Fries
- Steamed Baby Potatoes
- Scalloped Potatoes
- Baked Potato
- Hasselback Potatoes
- Crispy smashed Potatoes
- Sweet Potatoes
- Potato Casserole
- Potato Cakes
- Duchess Potatoes
- Funeral Potatoes
- Crispy Instant Pot Potatoes
Rice
In Louisiana, rice is a staple side dish. There's an old saying, "Ok, we have the rice cooked. What's for dinner?". There are many ways to serve rice that would pair so well with your fried fish. They are;
- Plain white rice
- Cilantro lime rice
- Jambalaya
- Dirty Rice
- Garlic Parmesan Rice
- Rice Roni (I'm not above this every now and again)
- Sweet coconut rice
- Mexican Rice
- Jasmine Rice
- Rice Pilaf
- Mushroom Risotto
- Broccoli and Cheese Rice
- Southwestern Rice
- Wild Rice
Salads
A nice crispy salad make delicious side dishes. It's the healthier alternative (after you've gone and fried your catfish). Following is some great fresh salad ideas;
- Tomato Salad
- Garden Salad
- Caesar Salad
- Kale Salad
- Cucumber Salad
- Coleslaw
- Vegetable Salad
- Greek Salad
- Chickpea Salad
- Spinach Salad
- Arugala Salad
- Spinach and Bacon Salad
- Nicoise Salad
- Endive Salad
- Apple Cranberry Salad
Vegetables
So many to choose from. I'm a big fan of veggies, not my husband so much. Following is a list of some great vegetable side dishes;
- Cajun Green Beans
- Collard Greens
- Fried Onion Rings
- Pan Fried Broccoli
- Old Fashioned Pan Fried Okra
- Roasted Cauliflower
- Smoked Asparagus
- Smoked Mushrooms
- Sauteed Kale
- Garden Peas
- Sweet Corn
- Roasted Vegetables Medly
- Sauteed Zucchini
- Steamed Carrots
- Fried Green Tomatoes (it's a fruit, I know)
Beans
If you haven't tried eating fried fish with white beans you're seriously missing out. They're not the only beans, but personally I feel they're the best side for fried fish. Here's some more;
- Instant Pot White Beans
- Crock Pot Pinto Beans
- Butter Beans
- Southern Baked Beans
- Lima Beans
- Red Beans
- Cowboy Beans
Mel's kitchen notes: By cooking your dried beans in the Instant Pot (if you have one) you can seriously cut the time it takes to cook by about 7 hours.
Pasta
Nice and filling Pasta makes a great side dish. Eaten hot or cold there's quite a diverse bunch to choose from;
- Buttered noodles
- Mac n Cheese
- Mac and Cheese Bites
- Late Summer Pasta Salad
- Fried Bowtie Pasta
- Creamy garlic shells
- Feta Pasta Salad
- Copycat KFC Macaroni Salad
- Garlic Parmesan Pasta
- Pasta Primavera
- Tortellini Pasta
- Pesto Pasta
- Parmesan Orzo
- Fettuccine Alfredo
- Tuna Pasta Salad
Breads
Another downfall of mine. Bread is my nemesis, I can never seem to say no to a delicious hot, fresh, crusty piece of garlic bread. Here are some more options;
- Garlic Bread
- Texas Toast (same thing I know)
- Cheesy bread
- Cajun Cornbread
- Focaccia Bread
- Pull Apart Bread
- Sourdough bread
- Garlic Butter Rolls
- Plain crusty bread rolls
- Italian Cheese Bread
- Hush Puppies
Other Seafood
There's always the option of offering another type of seafood with your fried catfish. A popular option would be fried shrimp. Here are some ideas;
- Fried Shrimp
- Calamari
- Oysters
- Crawfish
- Fried Softshell Crab
- Other Fish
- Alligator
- Bacon Wrapped Shrimp
- Fried Crab Claws
- Stuffed Crab
Garnish
You should always try to pretty it up, especially if you're cooking for visitors. Garnish is not only for visual though they usually tastes good, a lot of the time it's functional;
- Lime Wedges (squeeze some lime juice, or lemon juice)
- Lemon Wedges
- Parsley
- Green Onions
- Dill
- Chives
Mel's kitchen notes
- There's a blood line in the catfish that needs to be removed. If you're not cleaning the fish yourself then you don't need to worry about it.
- The smaller catfish that you can make catfish chips out of are the best.
- There's a few different types of catfish you can find. The most popular for us is the blue cat.
Frying catfish is not too difficult. Watch my video here, in my post for Fried Catfish Nuggets - once you've got that down then the rest is just 'lagniappe' as they say here in Louisiana (extra).
For the most part, the way we fry catfish is still the old fashioned way. If it's not broke, don't fix it right? A fish fry here in the south is a mandatory weekly event that we all look forward to.
If you like catfish - you should try my Catfish Courtbouillon recipe, it's amazing!
