Make Popeyes Fish Sandwich at home any day of the week (not just on Friday) with this copycat recipe of the new Cajun fish sandwich. Remember the chicken wars and Popeyes spicy chicken sandwich? Well, for the Lenten season Popeyes has escalated the chicken sandwich wars with a Cajun flounder fish sandwich. Because this sandwich is so good, it doesn’t look like this sandwich is going away anytime soon.
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Popeyes New Fish Sandwich
The Cajun inspired copy of the chicken sandwich is made with flounder fillet, topped with a classic tartar sauce and served with pickle slices on a toasted buttery Brioche sandwich bun.
The simplicity of this sandwich is what makes it so enjoyable. No cheese or lettuce, just a great piece of fish dressed simply and perfectly seasoned with a subtle Cajun spice blend. Wow!
Watch How We Made This Cajun Style Fish Sandwich
Popeyes Fish Sandwich Review
Many fast food restaurants offer up specials during the Lenten season, to give Catholics a meatless Friday. We have McDonald’s to thank for the fish sandwich inspiration. While not the first to make fish sandwiches, they were the first to take the concept nationwide in all their restaurants. This season it’s not a fish sandwich war, but don’t be surprised to see the other chains jumping on the fish sandwich bandwagon this season or next.
The sandwich has a fried flounder filet at it’s core. It appears that the flounder fillet has the same coating as the spicy chicken sandwich. I think flounder was a good choice for the sandwich instead of cod. Cod is a favorite for fish sandwich recipes because it is mild and slightly thicker as a fillet. Flounder on the other hand is even more flaky, and we are going to have to be gentle with this sandwich preparation.
As usual for fast food sandwiches, the Popeyes fish sandwich that is served to us in no way resembles the picture on the menu board. No surprise there. What we pleasantly found was that the Popeyes new Cajun fish sandwich was enjoyable.
The brioche bun brings a lot to the table. The buttery roll is the right bun to fish ratio and toasting the roll adds a nice element of flavor.
The classic tartar sauce is great with the fish, but I think a fresh squeeze of lemon would help this out a good deal. So, we’ll incorporate that touch of lemon in our copycat recipe for Popeyes Cajun fish sandwich.
Popeyes Sauces
Popeyes restaurant has several sauces that are available and designed primarily for the chicken. Bayou Buffalo, Barbecue, Sweet Heat, Mardi Gras Mustard, Buttermilk Ranch, and Blackened Ranch. Stick with the legacy tartar sauce on this sandwich.
The Bayou Buffalo sauce is as expected. It looks like a traditional buffalo sauce and packs a milder Jalapeño style heat than we expected from a Buffalo sauce.
The Sweet Heat sauce and the Mardi Gras sauce are by far and away the most popular sauces from Popeyes. Mardi Gras mustard sauce is powerful. If you like English mustard heat, then this one definitely is on your list of sauces to try. Plenty of mustard and pepper with other herbs to bring it all together. No wonder it’s the favorite!
Right behind it is the Sweet Heat sauce. You got the sweet, you got the heat. Both reminding me of a Korean style BBQ sauce. Plenty of sugar but heat on the back side. Boom!
When we have Popeyes chicken tenders, we usually order the Barbecue sauce. It is mild, with a hickory flavor profile. Something I might make at home by combining Sweet Baby Rays with ketchup.
The Buttermilk Ranch sauce has a good pop of garlic, something we didn’t expect, but it was nice and creamy and compliments the spicy chicken at Popeyes.
Is Popeyes Fish Sandwich Spicy
All in all, Popeyes new Cajun fish sandwich is not too spicy and still an excellent sandwich. The fish is flaky and has texture. The Cajun coating is subtle with some onion, garlic and red pepper. Not too much heat at all. If you want to spice this flounder sandwich up, I would go with the tried and true method of a few dashes of hot sauce on top of the fish fillet.
How To Make Popeyes Fish Sandwich At Home
For this easy to make recipe you’ll need flounder fillets, brioche rolls, all-purpose flour, cornstarch, pickles, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper, black pepper and salt.
For the tartar sauce you’ll need mayonnaise, pickle relish, sugar, lemon juice, horseradish and seasoned salt
Start with The Tartar Sauce
Start this copycat sandwich recipe by making the classic tartar sauce. Combine the mayonnaise (1 cup), sweet pickle relish (¼ cup), sugar (1 tsp), horseradish (½ tsp) seasoned salt (¼ tsp) lemon juice (1 teaspoon) and Cayenne (1 pinch) in a bowl and stir with a fork or whisk. Place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or use immediately if needed.
Next, in a bowl mix the flour (1 cup), cornstarch (3 tbsp) paprika (2 tsp), garlic powder (2 tsp), onion powder (2 tsp), red pepper (½ tsp), black pepper (½ tsp) and salt (1 tsp). This will be our coating for the copycat Popeyes fish sandwich.
Trim The Flounder
Trim the flounder fillet from the bottom so that the fish fillet is even. If the fish fillet is even it will cook evenly. Make sense? You can save the trims for Scooby snacks. Season the fish fillets with salt and pepper. Set them aside while the oil heats up.
Heat canola oil (1 cup) in a cast iron frying pan to medium high heat, 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). The oil should cover the entire bottom of the pan.
Now, take the fish and coat the fillets in the Cajun spiced flour, pressing the flour onto the fish.
Cook Hot and Fast with Cast Iron
Lay the fish into the hot oil and cook for 3 minutes. Shake the pan gently and spoon a little of the hot oil over the top of the fillets. Basting the Cajun flounder before you turn it over. Turn the fish fillet gently and cook for another 3 minutes until the fish is golden brown. Remove from the oil and set aside on paper towels in a warm place.
Butter and toast the brioche rolls. Heat a griddle or pan to medium heat. Lightly butter (1 tbsp) the Brioche rolls and grill them until golden brown. They will only take a minute per side.
Assemble this version of a Popeyes Cajun fish sandwich by spreading tartar sauce on the top and bottom brioche sandwich buns. Next lay the fried Cajun fish fillet onto the roll. Put 2 slices of pickle on top of the fish and place the sauced brioche bun on top. Serve immediately. Enjoy!
For the full fast food copycat experience, wrap the sandwich in foil for 1 to 2 minutes before eating and enjoying. The sandwich gets happy while steaming for a minute or two in the foil wrap.
Equipment
- Frying pan or deep fryer
Ingredients
Cajun Flounder Sandwich
- 4 Flounder Fillets
- 1 cup Canola oil for frying
- 1 cup All purpose flour
- 3 tbsp Corn starch
- 2 tsp Garlic powder
- 2 tsp Onion powder
- 2 tsp Paprika
- 1/2 tsp Red pepper
- 1/2 tsp Black pepper
- 1/2 tsp Accent optional
- 4 Brioche rolls
- 2 tbsp Butter
- 8 Slices Pickles
Tartar Sauce
- 1 cup Mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup Pickle relish sweet
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Horseradish
- 1/4 tsp Seasoned salt
- 1 tsp Lemon juice
- 1/8 tsp Cayenne optional
Instructions
- Start this copycat Popeyes fish sandwich recipe by making the tartar sauce. Combine the mayonnaise (1 cup), sweet pickle relish (¼ cup), sugar (1 tsp), horseradish (½ tsp) seasoned salt (¼ tsp) lemon juice (1 teaspoon) and Cayenne (1 pinch) in a bowl and stir with a fork or whisk. Place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or use immediately if needed.
- In a bowl mix the flour (1 cup), paprika (2 tsp), garlic powder (2 tsp), onion powder (2 tsp), red pepper (½ tsp), black pepper (½ tsp) and salt (1 tsp). This will be our coating for the copycat Popeyes fish sandwich.
- Trim the flounder fillet from the top and bottom so that the fish fillet is even. If the fish fillet is even it will cook evenly. Season the fish fillets with salt and pepper. Set them aside while the oil heats up.
- Heat canola oil (1 cup) in a cast iron frying pan to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- Now, coat the fillets in the Cajun spiced flour. Pressing the flounder slightly to make sure that it is coated all over. Shake any excess off the fish.
- Lay the fish into the hot oil and cook for 3 minutes. Shake the pan gently and spoon a little of the hot oil over the top of the fillets. Basting the Cajun flounder before you turn it over. Turn the fish fillet gently and cook for another 3 minutes until the fish is golden brown. Remove from the oil and set aside on paper towels in a warm place.
- Butter and toast the brioche rolls. Heat a griddle or pan to medium heat. Lightly butter the Brioche roll faces and grill them until golden brown. They will only take a minute per side.
- Assemble this version of a Popeyes Cajun fish sandwich by spreading tartar sauce on the top and bottom brioche sandwich buns. Next lay the fried Cajun fish fillet onto the roll. Put 2 slices of pickle on top of the fish and place the sauced brioche bun on top. Serve immediately. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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Have you tried this Popeyes new Cajun fish sandwich copycat recipe? Feel free to leave a 5-star rating, and I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
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