Egg-Free Baked Fish Sticks

This recipe was shared with me by my good friend, Angie.  She makes this recipe with regular mayonnaise, but prompted me to try it with our daughter's egg-free mayo.  The results were phenomenal!  Thanks, Angie!

I started with these ingredients:

I really like these Panko breadcrumbs.  The first brand we ever tried was a horrible fail & the meal was a disaster...and I like to eat, so that's saying a lot!  :-)  These are crunchy, crispy, and delicious!  Best of all, they're egg-free!

After thawing 1 lb. of tilapia in cool water (in plastic bags), I used kitchen shears to cut the fillets into smaller strips.  In a small bowl, I combined ~ 3/4 C of the egg-free mayo, the zest of a large lemon & the juice of 1/2 of the lemon.  I preheated the oven to 400 degrees (F), lined a baking sheet with foil & sprayed it with canola oil from my Pampered Chef mister.  I set up an assembly line that went like this, from left to right: plate of fish strips, bowl of mayo/lemon mixture, plate covered in Panko breadcrumbs, and prepared baking sheet.  A few at a time, I coated the fish strips in the mayo/lemon mixture, then coated them with breadcrumbs, and then placed them on the baking sheet.  Once I'd coated all of the fish sticks, I squeezed the juice of the other lemon half all over the fish sticks & sprinkled them with salt.  My friend's recipe calls for kosher salt, but I only had regular table salt. 

Here's what they looked like before going in the oven:

They baked on the first side for about 7 minutes.  I flipped them over, and rotated which side of the baking sheet went into the oven first (for more even baking), and then baked them for 10-11 minutes, as they just looked as though the recommended 7 minutes wouldn't cut it.  I'm sure the baking time varies, depending on the size of your fish sticks & how crammed they are on the pan (ahem!).  :-)

When they came out, they looked & smelled yummy (I wish my pictures could do the food justice, but this is the best picture I was able to take):

I served the fish sticks with natural ketchup & microwave-steamed edamame tonight, as we were running short on time due to soccer practice & an easily-distracted and tired Mommy!  They were so yummy, it was very hard to stop eating!  I highly recommend giving these a try, even with egg-mayo, if you must! :-)  Thanks again, Angie, for sharing your recipe with us!  The girls & I enjoyed them very much!!

Egg-Free Baked Fish Sticks

• 1 lb. tilapia
• ~3/4 C egg-free mayonnaise (we really like to use egg-free & yummy Grapeseed Oil Vegenaise)
• 1 large lemon
• ~2-3 C Panko breadcrumbs
• Kosher salt (I used table salt b/c it's what I had on hand)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Prepare a baking sheet by spraying with cooking oil (& lining with foil first, if you prefer an easier clean-up).  In a small bowl, combine the mayo, zest of the lemon, and juice of half of the lemon. Stir together well.  Cut the tilapia into strips & coat in the mayo & lemon mixture, & then coat in Panko breadcrumbs.  Lay them on the prepared baking sheet.  Squeeze the juice from the remaining lemon half over the fish sticks, and then sprinkle with salt.  Bake on one side for 7 minutes, then turn the fish sticks over, and bake for another 7-10 minutes, or until cooked through. 

These were DELISH!  Finally, a safe way to serve our girls kid-friendly foods!  Thanks, Angie, for sharing your recipe!