Fish is one of my favorite meals to both eat and make! Not only do I like to eat fish, but I also like fishing for fish! Eating fish can provide you with some great health benefits and it tastes delicious. One of my favorite types of fish to eat is perch, especially when I make these breaded perch fillets. My recipe for breaded perch fillets uses grain-free flours and has been rated by my family as the best breaded fish fillets they have ever had!

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Pioneer Recipe

I consider this pan-fried fish to be a pioneer recipe! The early pioneers would have fished in pristine streams, lakes, and rivers to supplement their food source as much as possible. While fire-roasting or broiling the fish was probably the most common method of cooking fish, I’m sure a few pioneers broke out their cast iron skillets, some beef lard, and some cornmeal to make some pan-fried fish over the fire!

While this recipe doesn’t use cornmeal (got to keep it allergy-friendly for modern pioneers), it does use a grain-free batter to coat the breaded perch fillets in prior to frying. We also don’t use beef lard either, instead we use organic butter or bacon fat as a healthier fat for frying the fish.

Nevertheless, this heritage pioneer recipe is turned into a delicious and nutritious dinner option that modern pioneers can make in the homestead kitchen! It uses simple, wholesome ingredients and is allergy-friendly! My family loves it when pan-fried perch fillets are on the menu!

These pan-fried breaded perch fillets are…

• gluten-free
• grain-free
• corn free
• nut free
• dairy-free option
• sugar free

Pioneer Life Skill: Fishing

These grain-free breaded perch fillets offer you the perfect opportunity to practice a pioneer life skill! Of course, the details of fishing extend way beyond what I could include in section, but I at least want to give you a glimpse into how I catch fresh perch for making these fillets!

Location, Location, Location…

My dad, sister, and I all love to fish. The most common and practical spot for us to fish at is on Higgins Lake where our family has a cabin. Lake fishing is fun, both during the summer and during the winter! In the summer, we use my grandpa’s speed boat to fish some favorite hot spots on the lake. During the winter, we love to make day trips and go ice fishing for perch.

My dad also likes to take fishing trips up north with his dad and brothers. They fish for walleye on Munuscong Bay. He has even taken Anna and I on a salmon fishing trip on Lake Michigan! We loved the salmon that we came home with! Whenever we go on family vacations, we sometimes get an out-of-state fishing license and fish on the lakes and streams in the place where we are camping.

No matter where you fish, you will want to make sure you have the right kind of fishing pole, legal lures and hooks, and proper bait if it applies.

Cleaning Time…

After the fish are caught, it’s time for the cleaning part! Each kind of fish needs to be cleaned differently. For perch, we basically have to de-skin and de-bone the fillets. We get two fillets off of each perch, one from each side. My dad, sister, and I all tag-team the filleting of fresh perch. Once the fillets have been de-boned, we rinse them with cold water and store them in just enough water to cover the fillets.

If we are going to cook the fillets within 2-3 days, we keep them in an airtight container in the fridge. If we have extra fillets, we freeze them for later!

To properly clean fish, you will need a sharp knife and the knowledge of how to clean each species of fish you catch.

Benefits of Fresh Water Fish

I like to eat mostly lake or river caught fish, which includes perch, rainbow trout, rock bass, walleye, and Great Lake king salmon. Freshwater fish often taste less fishy then their saltwater cousins and they are less likely to contain great amounts of mercury. 

Freshwater fish contain some amazing nutritional benefits that may not be found in other types of foods:

• high in omega-3 fatty acids
• excellent source of vitamin D
• contain other essential nutrients like iodine, vitamins, and minerals
• good source of protein
• trout are a good fatty-fish that provide fat-based nutrients
• fish aids with brain health, my mom would tell me to eat fish before I have to take a test!
• is a great anti-inflammatory food

Benefits of Omega-3s

Omega-3’s are essential nutrients that aid many functions of the body. In fact, they are so important that many studies have been done on what role they play in our health. Fish is an excellent source of omega-3s. Here are just a few benefits that omega-3s provide:

• Omega-3 fatty acids help improve heart health and eye health.
• They help improve your metabolism and are good for liver health.
• Omega-3s help fight against depression and are good for people who struggle with anxiety.
• They help promote brain health and development!
• Fish is anti-inflammatory and the omega-3s that fish contains help fight inflammation too!
• Consuming enough omega-3s will help fight auto-immune disorders.

Ways to Cook Fish

There are several different ways that you can cook fish. The way you cook fish may depend on what kind of fish you are dealing with.

Here are the most common ways of cooking fish:

• Bake: You can bake any fish in your oven! Generally, you bake fish at a high temperature, like around 400°F. Baking fish is a healthy option because you don’t have to use as much fat or oil.
• Fry: This is the method I use for the breaded perch fillets. Even fried fish can be made healthy when you use grass-fed butter, organic ghee, bacon fat, or coconut oil! I also like to pan fry walleye using this recipe too.
• Broil: Fish can be pan broiled as well. Typically, thicker fillets of fish are better for broiling.
• Grill: I love grilled fish! My favorite types of fish to grill are walleye and salmon. Check out this recipe for grilled salmon and trout!
• Fire-Roasted: The classic pioneer cooking method that I have tried is cooking my fish over the coals from a campfire. This works well for trout and is delicious!

I like to prepare certain fish in different ways. My favorite way to have walleye or salmon is when it is grilled. For trout, I like to cook it over hot coals from a campfire. I like to have rock bass and perch breaded and fried.

This breaded perch fillet recipe is my favorite way to cook both perch and rock bass!

Recipe Tips

These breaded perch fillets are super easy to make, although they are a bit time consuming because you have to batter them before frying them.

Here are a few tips to make this recipe turn out perfectly!

• To speed up the process, you can have the flour mixture already mixed up and stored in the fridge until it is needed!
• Make sure your pan is hot before you start frying the fish. You should be able to see steam rising from the pan. However, you don’t want to burn your fish either! I typically pre-heat my cast iron skillet over medium heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low while I’m cooking the fish.
• Start off with a good amount of butter or coconut oil in the pan. The coconut flour in the breading mixture absorbs the oil quickly and you don’t want the fillets sticking to the pan.
• Generously add the butter or coconut oil as the fish fry. You will notice that you will need to continually be adding some butter or oil to the fish as the breading mixture absorbs it.
• To use up extra beaten egg and flour mixture, I make pan bread once the fish has been cooked. Just combine the leftover flour with the leftover egg. You may need to add some more water to the mixture. Pour it into a hot pan and allow it to cook, flipping once one side is browned. Pan bread is delicious!

Breaded perch fillets are easy to make and healthy for you! I like to serve these fish fillets with either a salad or stir-fried veggies. Grain-free rolls such as these bread rolls or cheese rolls go nicely with the fish fillets as well!

Where to Find the Ingredients:

• Nutiva coconut flour
• Bob’s Red Mill tapioca flour
• Bragg herbs and spices seasoning
• Supplies: 10″ cast iron skillet

This fish recipe is the perfect opportunity to practice pioneer life skills like fishing, cooking with cast iron, and making meals from scratch! These grain-free breaded perch fillets are a heritage pioneer recipe and modern pioneer friendly. When you eat these breaded perch fillets, you can rest assured that they have not been fried in unhealthy fats or oils and have been breaded in grain-free flours instead of corn. Enjoy a delicious homestead meal that uses wholesome and natural ingredients!

Don’t miss any other pioneer recipes or tips for building pioneer life skills when you join our modern pioneer newsletter community! You can even check some tasks off of the Modern Pioneer Checklist Challenge when you make these grain-free breaded perch fillets!

by Alexa