Homemade McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish burger! An epic fish burger that tastes remarkably similar to the real deal with the added bonus that it’s bigger, you know what goes in it, and it’s healthier ’cause it’s BAKED!! (Though you can totally fry it)

Homemade Filet O Fish Burger

Skip the Drive Through of Shame. It’s incredibly quick and easy to make Filet-O-Fish at home, and you don’t even need to fry!

Plus, you can make bigger ones at home. Ever notice how small the Maccers Filet-O-Fish are? Those teeny fish burgers barely scrape the bottom of my stomach.

At least we can make proper meal-size ones at home!

A homemade fish burger with a crunchy crumb that tastes just like McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish!

Baked Crumbed Fish Patties

I’ve been making faux oven-fried things most of my adult life, and for most of that time was disappointed by how the crumb came out all splotchy with white & burnt bits no matter how brutally I doused with oil spray.

So this is how I make all things crumbed in the oven: toast the breadcrumbs + one seasoned dredge batter with stronger glueing powers + oil spray = guaranteed golden, crunchy baked crumbed anything (baked crumbed fish, in this case). 🙂

I just recently shared a baked crumbed Chicken Tenders recipe using this same method where I wrote more about the logic so if you’re so inclined, pop over there for a read. It’s all driven by love of fried food vs waist and bottom expansion. The bonus is clean hands – no marshmallow fingers!

Yes, your fish will come out warped. They won’t be perfectly square and flat, like the boxed ones in the frozen section of the supermarket. We’re using fresh fish here, so warpage is the price we pay for true fish flavour and texture.

I’m totally cool with that!

Copycat McDonald’s Tartare Sauce

A quick inspection of the Filet-O-Fish ingredients followed by a taste test (yes, I did the Drive Through of Shame for this recipe!) is all it took to ascertain that the Tartare Sauce is pretty standard. Mayo, pickles / gherkins, capers, lemon juice, salt, sugar, parsley.

It’s just my basic Tartare Sauce recipe, minus dill plus a touch extra sugar (surprise, surprise 😂).

I make my homemade Filet-O-Fish burger using brioche buns because they are the closest to the super soft, super sweet buns used by McDonald’s. Though…. not as sweet and not quite as soft… but close enough!

And as for the cheese, in the spirit of copy-catting, I used this smoked processed cheese that I found at Coles (Aussie supermarket) with the signature Maccers orange hue but strangely lacking in smoked flavour. 🤔 So it’s perfect!

But any processed cheese will do. Or you could be a real rebel and use real cheese. 😳 – Nagi x