Hot honey catfish biscuits, with crispy fried catfish drenched in hot honey sauce on fluffy buttermilk biscuits, will be your new obsession! Better than anything you'd find at a restaurant, these sandwiches are perfect for brunch, picnics, and parties.
If you saw catfish in the recipe name and immediately thought "ehhh I don't know...", let me stop you right there! Catfish is a surprisingly mild and sweet flavored fish with a delicate texture that lends itself beautifully to frying. The cornmeal breading in this recipe is light and adds a delicious crunchy texture to the catfish.
All the comforting Southern flavors you can handle are piled in this flavor bomb of a recipe. Try our southern salmon croquettes and southern hush puppies next for more comforting Southern recipes!
Important Ingredient Notes
A complete list of ingredients, measurements, and detailed printable recipe instructions can be found in the recipe card located at the bottom of this post.
- Catfish. I recommend fresh U.S. Farm-Raised or Delacatta-style catfish for this recipe to ensure you use real catfish and not an imposter, like swai. Rinse your catfish and pat it dry with paper towels before you begin. Catfish lovers, try our blackened catfish and cheese grits, buffalo catfish sliders, and sweet potato waffles with fried catfish and spicy honey butter next!
- Buttermilk. The buttermilk brine is an important step in this catfish recipe to eliminate any unwanted flavors and to permeate the fish with extra moisture and flavor. Buttermilk is used similarly for our southern fried okra.
- Hot sauce. I love adding a small amount of vinegar-based hot sauce such as Crystal or Frank's to the buttermilk brine for added flavor.
- Cornmeal. Yellow, fine-ground cornmeal works best for this recipe. Don't forget to check out our southern buttermilk cornbread.
- Oil. Use a neutral-tasting oil with a high smoke point for frying the catfish like peanut, canola, or vegetable oil.
- Honey. Any brand of honey works fine for this recipe but I recommend raw, organic honey if feasible.
- Sriracha. Sriracha is a spicy pepper sauce that adds the perfect touch of heat to the hot honey sauce. Use as little or as much as you like.
- Biscuits. For our buttermilk biscuits, we will be using our homemade buttermilk biscuit recipe. See the blog post for important tips and tricks for the best buttermilk biscuits. If you love biscuits, you will want to check out our jalapeno cheddar biscuits.
Variations and Substitutions
- If you can't muster up the courage to try catfish yet or cannot find it in your area, make these sandwiches with fried cod, perch, bass, or redfish!
- If you don't have any buttermilk on hand, you can make your phone by combining whole milk with vinegar or lemon juice.
- Feel free to substitute the Sriracha for your favorite brand of hot pepper sauce.
How to Make This Recipe
Step 1. Combine the buttermilk, hot sauce, and salt in a shallow dish and place the catfish in the dish, being sure to coat all sides. Cover the dish in plastic wrap and set it in the refrigerator.
Step 2. Follow the step-by-step instructions in our Southern buttermilk biscuit recipe to make the biscuits. Set them aside while you prepare the catfish.
Step 3. Combine the cornmeal and spices in a large zip-top bag. Take the catfish pieces out of the buttermilk brine, remove excess liquid with your fingers, and place them two at a time in the bag. Gently toss the fish in the bag to coat it with the breading.
Step 4. Place the breaded fish on a baking sheet lined with a wire cooling rack while you heat the oil to allow the breading to set.
Step 5. Fry the catfish pieces in hot oil for 3 to 4 minutes until crispy and golden brown. Carefully remove the catfish pieces from the oil with a spider strainer or slotted spoon and transfer them to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.
Step 6. Melt the butter for the hot honey sauce in a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the remaining ingredients, and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes until smooth.
Step 7. Assemble the sandwiches by splitting open a biscuit and placing a piece of fish on top of the bottom half. Drizzle a generous amount of the hot honey sauce on top of the fish, add a dill pickle if desired, and place the biscuit's top half over it all!
Recipe FAQs
Catfish are known for having a muddy flavor since they are bottom-feeder fish in freshwater ponds and lakes. However, they are surprisingly mild-flavored, slightly sweet-tasting fish that take on the flavor of however you prepare them easily.
Catfish cook very quickly when deep-fried in hot oil. Fried catfish are done after 3 to 5 minutes when the crust is golden brown and crispy. Make sure your oil is heated to 350°F before frying to ensure the fish cooks properly.
Just about any mild-flavored white fish is a good substitute in this recipe. I recommend tilapia, Seabass, redfish, freshwater perch, or red snapper.
How to Store Leftovers
Store leftover catfish pieces, biscuits, and hot honey sauce separately in airtight containers in the refrigerator. Leftover catfish will keep for up to three days, biscuits for up to five days, and hot honey sauce for up to a week.
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📖 Recipe
Hot Honey Catfish Biscuits
Equipment
Ingredients
Catfish Brine
- 4 catfish filets - 3 to 4 ounces each, rinsed, patted dry, and cut in half
- ¾ cup buttermilk - whole or low fat
- 2 teaspoons hot sauce - such as Crystal
- 1 teaspoon salt
Catfish Breading
- 1 ¼ cups fine yellow cornmeal
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon celery salt
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Peanut oil - or canola or vegetable oil, for frying
Hot Honey Sauce
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ cup raw honey
- 1 - 2 tablespoons sriracha - or hot sauce
- 2 cloves garlic - minced
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Sliced dill pickles - for serving, optional
Instructions
- Combine the buttermilk, hot sauce, and salt in a shallow baking dish or pie plate and place the catfish pieces in the dish, being sure to coat all sides. Cover the dish in plastic wrap and transfer it in the refrigerator.
- Follow the step-by-step instructions in our Southern buttermilk biscuit recipe to make the biscuits. Set the biscuits aside while you prepare the catfish.
- Combine the cornmeal, paprika, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, celery salt, and cayenne pepper in a large zip-top bag. Take the catfish pieces out of the buttermilk brine, remove excess liquid by dangling the fish over the dish with one hand and running your fingers down the sides each piece of fish with other hand, and place them two at a time in the zip-top bag. Gently toss the fish in the bag to coat it with the breading.
- Place the breaded fish on a baking sheet lined with a wire cooling rack while you heat the oil to allow the breading to set.
- Fry the catfish pieces in hot oil for 3 to 4 minutes until crispy and golden brown. Carefully remove the catfish pieces from the oil with a spider strainer or slotted spoon and transfer them to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.
- Melt the butter for the hot honey sauce in a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the honey, sriracha, garlic, red pepper, and salt, and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes until smooth.Assemble the sandwiches by splitting open a biscuit and placing a piece of fish on top of the bottom half.
- Drizzle a generous amount of the hot honey sauce on top of the fish, add a dill pickle if desired, and place the biscuit's top half over it all!
Notes
- Almost any mild-flavored white fish is a good substitute for catfish in this recipe. I recommend tilapia, Seabass, redfish, freshwater perch, or red snapper.
- Store leftover catfish pieces, biscuits, and hot honey sauce separately in airtight containers in the refrigerator. Leftover catfish will keep for up to three days, biscuits for up to five days, and hot honey sauce for up to a week.
Ashley
Delicious combination of flavors!