Beer Battered Vegan Fish

5 from 4 votes

This beer-battered vegan fish is made from hearts of palm and seasoned beer batter then fried until golden brown and crispy. Best served with vegan tartar sauce!

Prep Time30

Cook Time10

Total Time40

Course: Main Dish, Snack

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegan

Servings: fish sticks

Calories: 329kcal

Author: Iosune

Ingredients

For the fish:

1 14-ounce cans hearts of palm drained and rinsed
½ cup breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon dried crumbled nori
1 teaspoon Old bay seasoning
½ teaspoon salt

For the batter:

¾ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon Old bay seasoning
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon salt
⅛ tsp ground black pepper
¾ cup beer very cold, or sparkling water as an alcohol-free alternative

For frying:

Canola or vegetable oil

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Add all the fish ingredients to a food processor (hearts of palm, breadcrumbs, nori, Old Bay seasoning, and salt), and pulse until combined. You should easily stick it together and press it into a firm shape, but make sure there is still some texture and even large chunks.
Use your hands to form fish-like shapes, about 2-3 inches long and 1 inch wide. I used about 2 tablespoons of mixture for each stick, to get about 8 fish sticks. Press the sticks firmly together.
Transfer the sticks to a lined baking sheet with parchment paper and refrigerate while you prepare the batter.
Mix all the batter dry ingredients (flour, Old Bay seasoning, garlic powder, salt, and pepper).
Gradually whisk in the beer until a batter forms.
Heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot with a kitchen thermometer, or in a deep fryer until it reaches 350°F (180°C).
Quickly dip the fish sticks into the batter, and take it out shaking any excess batter off.
Carefully lower into the oil, dropping it in away from you, one piece at a time. Don't crowd the pot, fry in batches. Fry for 2-3 minutes, for each side, or until golden brown.
Remove from oil, and place on a wire rack for the extra oil to drip and for the fish sticks to stay crispy.
Serve immediately with vegan tartar sauce, or store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

Notes

Use gluten-free breadcrumbs if needed.
Use store-bought dried crumbled nori or add a nori sheet to a high-speed blender and blend until you get nori flakes. You can also finely chop the nori sheet with a knife.
Use store-bought or homemade Old Bay seasoning. You could also omit this ingredient, or add a little bit of paprika instead. However, the recipe works best with this seasoning.
I’ve only made this recipe using all-purpose flour, but I think it could work if you use another type. However, you may need to add more or less. Use a gluten-free flour blend for a gluten-free version of this recipe.
Garlic powder can be replaced with onion powder.
Sparkling water can be used instead of beer to make this recipe alcohol-free. Double-check if the beer you're using is vegan-friendly. Barnivore is a great resource for that.
Nutritional info has been calculated with 1 cup of canola oil, but your fish sticks may absorb more or less oil.

Nutrition