Catfish substitutes

The other cheap farmed white fillet, thinner and milder than catfish.

Best for

cornmeal-fried fish, blackened catfish, baked fillets, fish tacos, po boys, sheet-pan dinners

The swap most people will actually make, and a good one. It takes the same cornmeal dredge and the same hot oil, and it is even milder than catfish, which makes it the right answer if the earthy note was the problem. What changes is body: a tilapia fillet is thinner and softer, so the fried piece is smaller and flakier and does not have that satisfying dense bite, and it is more likely to break when you turn it. Blot it very dry, since tilapia carries a lot of water, and pull it two or three minutes sooner than the recipe says.

Farmed Southeast Asian catfish relatives, sold frozen as boneless fillets.

Best for

fried fish, baked fillets, curries and stews, fish sandwiches, any catfish recipe

Genuinely the closest thing on a shelf, because these are catfish in the broad sense, farmed the same way and sold for the same money. The fillets are thinner than American channel catfish and a little softer and slightly oilier, so they stay moist when baked but need a firm hand when frying. They are also blander, without much of the sweetness or earthiness catfish carries, so season a touch more heavily. Press them very dry after thawing.

Lean cod-family ocean fish, sold fresh or frozen almost everywhere.

Best for

fried fish, baked fish, chowder, fish sandwiches, fish tacos, blackened fillets

Very good fish and a clear flavor change: cleaner, sweeter and unmistakably of the sea, with none of catfish's freshwater earthiness. The flake is much larger and looser, which looks handsome on a plate but makes them fragile, so a piece of battered cod is more likely to break in the fryer or fall apart when lifted out. Chill the fillet, blot it dry and dredge firmly in flour before the cornmeal or batter. In a stew they will flake apart much sooner than catfish, so add them in the last five to eight minutes.

Firm-fleshed fish that keep their shape in liquid and on a grill.

Best for

etouffee, court bouillon, gumbo, grilled fillets, blackened fish, fried fish sandwiches

The right choice whenever the fish has to survive being simmered or turned, which is where catfish's density is doing the real work. All four hold in cubes without collapsing and take blackening seasoning beautifully, and redfish and drum are the traditional Louisiana choices for exactly these dishes. They cost more than catfish, sometimes a great deal more in the case of grouper, and they are cleaner and sweeter tasting, so a court bouillon made with them is brighter and less earthy.

Other freshwater fish, matched to catfish on flavor rather than on price.

Best for

pan-fried fish, cornmeal-crusted fillets, fish fry, baked fillets, shore lunches

Choose these if you want catfish's specific freshwater character and cannot get catfish. All three share that slightly sweet, faintly earthy, non-oceanic taste, and perch and walleye in particular are classic fish-fry material. They are considerably more delicate and thinner, so they cook in three or four minutes rather than six or seven and will fall apart if you fuss with them. Trout is oilier and richer than catfish, which makes it excellent pan-fried in butter and less suited to a deep fry.

Non-fish proteins that fit the same regional recipes.

Best for

etouffee, gumbo, court bouillon, fried appetizers, sauce piquante

Worth knowing because in Louisiana cooking the sauce is the dish and the protein is interchangeable. Shrimp and crawfish belong in every one of these recipes already, are sweeter than catfish, and cook in two or three minutes, so add them at the very end. Cubed alligator tail gives you a firm springy bite and almost no flavor of its own, so it leans entirely on the seasoning. None of these will work in a cornmeal-fried fish plate where the point is a fillet, although fried shrimp is a fine substitute plate in its own right.