Easy Gluten Free Fish and Chips

An easy Gluten Free Fish and Chips recipe where the chips are oven baked for ease. This recipe for fish and chips is perfect for people with gluten intolerance and is easily made for a tasty family supper.

An easy Gluten Free Fish and Chips recipe where the chips are oven baked for ease. This recipe for fish and chips is perfect for people with gluten intolerance and is easily made for a tasty family supper. Serve the fish and chips with mushy peas or garden peas, and don’t forget the bread and butter for that ubiquitous chip butty! (Make sure the bread is GF for those who can’t tolerate gluten)

Fish and chips, the nation’s favourite take away and still popular even in these days of pizza, Chinese and Indian food; even during WW2, fish and chips were never rationed, as it was thought it might affect moral too much! It’s still my favourite take away meal and fish and chips were always a treat on Friday night when I was growing up, served with sliced bread and butter as well as the ubiquitous salt and malt vinegar.

However, if you are gluten intolerant, it’s hard to find a chippy that offers a gluten free alternative, as most fish is either fried in a batter made with flour, or coated in breadcrumbs. But, fear not, for very little effort and with bags of that special “chippy flavour”, you can make your own fish and chips at home, and they will be gluten free. Just serve them with some mushy or marrowfat peas and you have a fish supper treat to enjoy at home.

My recipe for Easy Gluten Free Fish and Chips is easy and fairly fuss free – whilst you pan fry your fish in a frying pan on top of the stove, your chunky chips are cooking in the oven, with the minimum of mess. I find this a less stressful way of preparing fish and chips at home, and you also save on a few calories too. Make sure you use sustainable British fish, British potatoes and a good home-grown rapeseed oil and you’ll be rewarded with a meal of the highest quality

The gluten free coating I have used this time are the very handy rice crumbs, which are very easy to find in most supermarkets, independent shops and I have even seen them in some farm shops too. You can also use cornflake crumbs too – just crush them in a plastic bag and they are ready for coating your fish. Other gluten free crumbs that are suitable are cornmeal, cornflour and also gluten-free bread crumbs of course.

We Brits love Fish & Chips so much that we even have a day dedicated to to this iconic dish. This year it’s being celebrated on Friday 4th September, 2020. It’s all in a good cause too, as well as promoting fabulous British fish, The Fishermen’s Mission charity is a beneficiary of many fundraising events run on National Fish & Chip Day. They say, “National Fish & Chip day is a fantastic event which brings together the very best of the industry. Hear hear, I wholeheartedly agree.

Fishing continues to be the most dangerous peacetime occupation with a one in fourteen chance of being killed at work, the funds generated through National Fish & Chip day allow the Fishermen’s Mission to continue to provide Welfare and Emergency services to our Fishermen and their families, so on behalf of the Fishermen’s Mission team, and on behalf of all our beneficiaries, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all your incredible support during this event.

• Fish and chips played a part in the D-Day Landings. British soldiers identified each other by crying out ‘fish’ and waiting for the response of ‘chips’.
• During the Second World War Winston Churchill recognised the crucial role of fish and chips, referring to them as “good companions”. Fish and chips were two of the few foods not subject to rationing because the government feared the dish was so embedded in the nation’s culture that any limit would damage morale.
•  There is a long tradition of funny chip shop names – our favourites are The Cod’s Scallops and mobile fish and chip shop Star Chip Enterprise.
• Fish and chips were first served together as a dish around 1860 – although their origin is contested. In London, the Malin family claims to be first, as do the Lee family in Manchester.
• Fish and chips were served in newspaper until the 1980’s.

I hope you enjoy today’s recipe for Easy Gluten Free Fish and Chips. The recipe is shared below, along with many other fish recipes that you may fancy trying. Please do let me know if you try it and if you and your family enjoyed them, Karen

You’ll find the full and printable recipe at the end of this post.

• Pre-heat oven to 220C/450F/Gas Mark 7.
• Place the cut chips into a large bag and season generously with sea salt and black pepper. Add the oil and shake the potato chips in the bag so they are evenly coated on the seasoning and oil.

• Place a large roasting tray in the hot oven to heat up for about 5 minutes and then tip the potato chips in and move them around, making sure they are in a single layer. Bake them for about 45 to 50 minutes; it depends on the type of potatoes you use. You can turn them around after 20 minutes or so to brown evenly.
• 10 to 15 minutes before the chips are cooked, fry your fish; coat the fish fillets or fish steaks in the rice crumbs or cornflakes and fry them gently in the vegetable/rapeseed oil in a large frying pan. Turn them over half way through cooking and cook until the fish is cooked and looks opaque.

• Serve the freshly fried fish with the chips; mushy peas are a traditional accompaniment as are slices of lemon, salt, malt vinegar and bread and butter.