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Pan-fried smelt is a quick and easy meal, snack, or crispy appetizer that you can make in just 5 minutes. With only three ingredients, these Norwegian treats have been enjoyed for centuries across Scandinavia!
These small fish are flaky, soft, and perfect finger food with seasonal salad and beer. Make it a meal by serving them with warm potato salad!
The easiest, and best way to cook smelts in 5 minutes is to shallow-fry them! The Norwegian recipe for "pan-fried" has been secretively passed down through generations. Try it today, and you'll be hooked too!
Table of Contents
1) 📃 Why it Works
2) 🛒 Ingredients and Notes
3) Buying Smelt
4) How to Clean Smelt?
5) 🔪 Instructions
6) 👉 Variations
7) 🍽 How To Serve It
8) ❓ Frequently Asked Questions
9) 💪🏻 Healthy Options
10) Norwegian Pan-Fried Smelt Recipe
In Norway, these tinysilver-colored fish are often the target of small 'fishing shack' villages that spring up along frozen rivers or in "schools" along the saltwater coastline during spring migration to their spawning streams.
📝 NOTE: Looking for the FULL recipe to print? You can find it below in the recipe card!
Smelt (also known as whitebait, sprat, and whitefish) is such a delicious seafood appetizer or quick dinner with a side!
The texture of crispy fried smelt is so delightfully different than any other fish I've tried. It's really simple to prepare and only takes 5 minutes from start to finish, but the amazing flavor makes it worth every second!
They have delicate flesh and are eaten whole; coated in flour and cornmeal and then fried for a wonderfully crispy bite.
📃 Why it Works
- Quick: It only takes 5 minutes to cook a batch of these pan-fried smelt and they are easy to prep. They make for a great spring meal and dinner party appetizer.
- Easy to make gluten-free: If you or someone in your family has an allergy, simply replace the all purpose flour with a 1:1 GF brand.
- Budget friendly: With just a few simple ingredients needed, this fried smelt recipe is a great affordable appetizer that everyone will love!
🛒 Ingredients and Notes
This recipe is not only affordable but also delicious and rich in Omega3. You will need:
- Smelt fish- see instructions below on buying smelt.
- All-purpose flour- gluten-free flour will also work.
- Cornmeal- I use coarse yellow cornmeal for makingpolenta. You can sub cornmeal with bread crumbs.
- Oil for frying- I used olive oil, but any high-heat oils (such as sunflower, canola, vegetable, avocado, and peanut oil) will work.
For the Norwegian sauce:
- Olive oil- do not substitute
- Lemon juice- freshly squeezed
- Garlic- fresh garlic clove
- Fresh parsley- do not substitute
Buying Smelt
You can’t beat fish you caught yourself, but if you don't go fishing, get them from your local fishmonger.
Frozen smelt is also widely available in supermarkets and you can find them already cleaned with heads removed.
When you're buying smelt, look for the smallest in size. They should not be much longer than your finger because bigger tend to have a little harder bones.
The smaller, the better, as you'll be eating these fish whole - tail, bone, and all.
How to Clean Smelt?
To clean the smelt or not is something everyone decides for themselves. If you want to enjoy your fish without the hassle of cleaning it, eat smaller smelts; just like sardines, you should eat them whole.
No need to debone small smelt. You should only clean fish bigger than 6 inches because they can be bitter and have tough bones.
Remove their spine after frying; simply grab the rib cage with your fingers and then pull outwards - super easy!
Either way, if eating heads, guts, and tails is disturbing, here's how to clean it:
- Cut off their heads, slit the belly all the way to the fin, and remove the entrails.
- Or, gently pry open the head and slowly pull the gills along with the entrails.
- Rinse the cavity under cold running water and drain well.
🔪 Instructions
How to pan fry smelt
- In a bowl or a shallow dish, combine flour, cornmeal, salt, and pepper.
- Coat the whole fish on both sides with the flour mixture. Heat oil in a large pan; cook both sides of the coated smelt for 2-3 minutes each.
- Let the fried fish drain its excess oil on a wire rack. Serve imideately drizzled with lemon sauce.
Make the sauce
- In a small bowl, combine the oil, lemon juice, garlic, and parsley.
👉 Variations
You can season the smelt to suit your taste. Here are some of my favorite ways to change up the flavor:
- Season with garlic powder and Italian seasonings or create an entirely new flavor combination!
- You might want to add some chili powder or smoked paprika for added heat!
- Try New Orleans blackening seasoning.
- Top it with herbs: dill, chives, green onions, or parsley.
- Rub it with ginger, turmeric, or cumin.
- Drizzle with herbed butter.
- The possibilities for flavoring are literally endless. Change it to suit whatever flavors and seasonings that you like best.
- You can use fresh or frozen smelt in the recipe, and frozen is more widely available. If using frozen, thaw in the fridge before dredging and frying.
- If serving as an appetizer, aim for six to seven per person and twice that for the main course.
- Shake excess flour off of the fish before cooking.
- For the best texture, fry smelts until crispy.
- Make sure not to crowd the fish. Fry in batches, if necessary.
- Let the pan-fried smelt drain its excess oil on a wire rack set over a baking sheet or line with paper towels.
To fry the fish, use a heavy non-stick pan or cast-iron skillet. It makes cooking and especially frying so much easier and will make this recipe easy for you too.
You'll definitely need to pick one up because it's inexpensive and makes the perfect cookware.
I hesitated too long before buying a cast iron skillet, but now I have many pans and pots and couldn't imagine my kitchen without it.
🍽 How To Serve It
Pan-fried smelt fry is good on its own with lemon wedges, but it's absolutely amazing with Norwegian aromatic dressing of oil, lemon juice, garlic, and parsley. For a full meal serve it with:
- Garlic Swiss chard and potatoes
- French Fries or sweet potato fries
- Fresh salad greens or creamy cucumber salad
- Roasted vegetables and rice
- Chips and beer
- Hush puppies
- Dipping sauces (omit the Norwegian sauce in the recipe): tartar, mustard, aioli, co*cktail, or hot sauce
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
What does smelt taste like?
They have a mild flavor, similar to trout, and a soft texture that's hard to beat!
Can I deep-fry the smelt?
Yes, they can be deep-fried, however, be sure not to cook them for too long as they will dry out.
How do I store them?
Refrigerate the leftovers for up to 3 days.
How do you get rid of the fish smell after cooking?
Frying any fish in a pan (smelt included) will leave an odor that is hard to eliminate. To prevent, or at least minimize it, try these tips:
· Soak the fish in milk for at least half an hour before cooking; it cuts down on odor when the fish is cooked without changing the flavor of the fish.
Soak your fish in water mixed with ¼ cup of vinegar or ¼ cup of lemon juice before cooking.
· Try to prevent the odor by using a splatter screen, a vent fan, or an air purifier. Run the exhaust fan for an hour after cooking fish. If you can remove the exhaust filter, wash it.
· Take a few whole cloves (the prickly thing you stick in a ham) and simmer it in a bit of water; cinnamon, citrus peel, and rosemary work as well too.
Stick a fan in the kitchen window while cooking fish and leave it on for a while afterward. Or keep the windows open while you cook if it's a nice day out.
· As soon as your meal is over, wrap and refrigerate leftovers, wash the dishes, and remove the trash. Getting the odor source cleaned up and out of your home as quickly as possible will reduce the smell in your home.
· Light a candle. Lemon and peppermint scents work exceptionally well to combat food smells in your home. Light your candle before you start cooking, and let it burn well beyond your meal and kitchen clean-up time.
💪🏻 Healthy Options
If you prefer baking the smelt in theoveninstead, you can do that too.
Just make sure to grease your baking sheet well. Bake in 350 degrees F preheated oven for 10 minutes, flipping the fish over halfway through the baking.
Another healthy option is to cook them in an air fryer. Check the manufacturer manual for cooking temperature and time.
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Norwegian Pan-Fried Smelt Recipe
By Jas
Norwegian-style pan-fried smelt fish is the perfect finger-food, snack, and a quick meal cooked in 5 minutes.
4.8 from 6 votes
Rate this Recipe Pin Recipe Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 5 minutes mins
Total Time 15 minutes mins
Course Appetizer, Main Course, Snack
Cuisine Norwegian
Yields 4 servings
Calories 306 kcal
EQUIPMENT
Cast-iron or a large non-stick skillet
Wire rack
Ingredients
US Customary - Metric
For the fried smelt
- 1 pound small smelt fish
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons cornmeal, or matzo meal
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- Olive oil for frying
For the lemon sauce
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
Sauce
In a small bowl, combine the 2 tablespoon of olive oil, juice of one lemon, 1 minced garlic clove, and 2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley; refrigerate.
Fried fish
In a bowl, or a shallow dish, combine 1 cup flour, 2 tablespoon cornmeal, 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper.
Place fish in batches into the bowl, coat with the seasoned flour mixture on both sides of the smelt, and then shake off excess flour (see notes below).
Heat the oil (about 1-inch deep) in a large frying pan or cast-iron skillet over medium heat.
Once the oil is hot, add enough smelt to cover the bottom of the pan without crowding (cook in batches). Cook for 2-3 minutes, then flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until golden brown, crispy, and thoroughly cooked.
Repeat the process to cook the remaining smelt; drain on a wire rack or paper towels.
Transfer to a serving plate and serve hot, drizzled with the lemon sauce.
Notes
- Thaw your frozen smelt in the fridge.
- If serving as an appetizer, aim for six to seven per person and twice that for the main course.
- To clean smelt, gently pry open the head of the fish and slowly pull the gills along with the entrails. Rinse under cold water and pat dry.
- Shake excess flour off of the fish before cooking.
- For the best texture, fry smelts until crispy.
- Make sure not to crowd the fish. Fry in batches, if necessary.
- Let the fried smelt drain its excess oil on a wire rack set over a baking sheet or line with paper towels.
- For the best results, read additional tips in the post above.
- Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
Storage:
Refrigerate leftover fried smelt for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
Calories: 306kcal (15%) | Carbohydrates: 28g (9%) | Protein: 27g (54%) | Fat: 10g (15%) | Saturated Fat: 2g (10%) | Cholesterol: 57mg (19%) | Sodium: 643mg (27%) | Potassium: 403mg (12%) | Fiber: 1g (4%) | Sugar: 1g (1%) | Vitamin A: 168IU (3%) | Vitamin C: 3mg (4%) | Calcium: 19mg (2%) | Iron: 2mg (11%)
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Update Notes: This recipe was originally published in June 2018 and updated in November 2020 with new photos and recipe tips.
