Extra Crispy Fish and Chips with Homemade Tartar Sauce

Extra crispy fish and chips with homemade tartar sauce is a classic pub favorite with an upgrade. Ultra-crispy, golden-brown fish fillets are fried to perfection in a light, shatteringly crisp batter. Served alongside hot, fluffy-on-the-inside fries, it’s comfort food at its crunchiest. The real star? A bright, tangy homemade tartar sauce, packed with chopped pickles, capers, lemon, and herbs for the perfect creamy contrast. Every bite is hot, savory, and deeply satisfying—exactly how fish and chips should be.

This recipe is my take on the Serious Eats version. I love the recipes on Serious Eats, especially Kenji’s. This one did not disappoint as far as the crispiness factor. The batter uses both beer and vodka. The vodka evaporates very quickly helping to make the coating super crispy and light. This is the same method used to make my favorite pie crust so flaky.

I also loved the idea of salting the fish hours before frying, which helps reduce excess moisture and ensures nicely seasoned fish. I typically make double fried french fries, but this version has an additional step of par boiling the fries first. This definitely created a very fluffy interior to the fries. I could honestly eat buckets of this homemade tartar sauce, and I highly recommend making it as it takes 2 minutes and is a big step up from bottled sauce. I also highly recommend serving this with a good malt vinegar.

Extra Crispy Fish and Chips with Homemade Tartar Sauce

Crispy and delicious fish and chips with homemade tartar sauce

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 4 hours hrs

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 4 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Course Lunch, Main Course

Servings 6 servings

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

For the fish:

• 24 oz white fish (I used cod) cut into 3×4 inch pieces and rubbed all over with kosher salt
• 1 1/2 cups AP flour Divided 1/2 cup in a shallow bowl and 1 cup in another bowl for the batter
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup light, crisp lager beer
• 1/4 cup vodka
• oil for frying
• malt vinegar for serving

For the chips:

• 2 lbs russet potatoes peeled and cut into fries
• 3 tbsp distilled white vinegar
• kosher salt
• oil for frying

For the tartar sauce:

• 1/2 cup mayo
• 6 tsp sweet relish
• 2 tbsp capers
• 2 tsp dijon mustard
• 2 tsp sugar

Instructions

 

For the tartar sauce:

• Mix ingredients and store in the fridge until serving.

For the fries:

• Peel and cut the potatoes and add them to a stock pot with 3 quarts of water, 3 tbsp kosher salt, and 3 tbsp distilled white vinegar. Bring to a boil and cook at a simmer for 10-12 minutes, depending on the thickness of the pieces, until they are tender but not falling apart.
• Drain on paper towels and pat dry, then freeze for 3 hours or overnight.
• Heat a large pot of oil to 265 degrees and fry the frozen fries for about 3 minutes in batches, until they start to form a crust. Do a few batches so you don't lower the oil temp too much. Drain on paper towels and freeze again for 3 hours or overnight.
• When ready to serve, heat your oil to 400 and fry small batches of frozen fries until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with salt. Keep warm in a 200 degree oven until you serve.

For the fish:

• Rub the fish pieces all over with kosher salt and then place them on a rack over a baking sheet uncovered in the fridge for 4-8 hours. This allows them to purge extra moisture which results in a lovely flaky fish that is well seasoned. When ready to cook, heat a large pot of oil to 350.
• Mix the batter ingredients, reserving the 1/2 cup of flour in a shallow bowl for dipping the fish. Dip fish in the flour and then in the batter, allowing the excess to drip off, then add a few pieces at a time to the hot oil and fry until deeply golden brown, about 5 minutes total, keeping the oil around 350. Drain on paper towels and serve immediately with malt vinegar and homemade tartar sauce.

Keyword Lunch, Main Dish, Sauce, Seafood

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!