Gorton's Southern Fried Fish Fillets Are Full of Crispy Goodness

Shopping the other day for supper meant I had to make sure I picked up a fish dinner. However, without much if any time to prepare and bake a fresh fish fillet, prepare batter for fried fish fillets, or do any of the other things people typically have to do to if they want a simple piece of baked fish or fried fish, I decided to go into the frozen aisle.

I thought it was time to try something a little different than ordinary fish sticks. I perused the variety of boxed fish entrees from the major national brands. That's when I stumbled upon Gorton's Southern Fried Fish Fillets. Gorton's Southern Fried Fish Fillets were new to me, so I without question picked up a nice, cold box and put it in my shopping cart.

Enjoying My Fried Fish

I decided to make Gorton's Southern Fried Fish Fillets that evening, because they just looked too good to store in the freezer any longer. As you might expect, preparation was a cinch. Placing the fish fillets on a cookie sheet for 20 minutes in an oven heated to 425 degrees seemed pretty standard. The only thing I had to do during those 20 minutes was take the fried fish fillets out around 12 minutes in and turn each fillet over. After 20 minutes of total baking time, out came the fried fish fillets, and they were promptly enjoyed right after.

These Gorton's Southern Fried Fish Fillets were probably the crispiest of the frozen fish fillets I have had in a while. This was a pleasant surprise, because despite my best attempts to cook a really crispy and flaky frozen fish fillet, my efforts usually come up short, often with wet and somewhat limp results. I have even tried cooking the fish a little longer, with the risk of drying them out too much.

The breading on the fish is a solid layer of seasoned batter. The batter reminds me of something in between the "smooth" fried batters seen on many frozen fish products and Shake 'N Bake. What is impressive though is something about the batter not only makes the fish feel crispier -- the fish inside actually seems to bake up with a drier, flakier texture. That's something I'm rarely ever able to achieve with frozen fish.

Was it a lucky night with the oven? Was it the fish? I believe it was the fish, because the french fries which I also cooked that evening at the same time in the same oven came out as they always did at that temperature.

So What About The Food Label?

You've probably already been wondering about what the nutritional value is of Gorton's Southern Fried Fish Fillets. I know, the words "southern" and "fried" don't necessarily inspire most of us to think that the meal is without slightly less-than-healthy aspects.

You might be delighted to know that a 2-fillet serving carried only 230 calories and just 120 calories from fat. With 0 grams of trans fat, your only fat worries will be found in the 13 grams of total fat and 3 grams of saturated fat.

A small 25 mg of cholesterol comes along for the ride, and just 3 grams of sugar.

The big eye-opener with Gorton's Southern Fried fish fillets comes in the sodium. With 780 mg of sodium it accounts for a third of the average person's daily intake. But a lot of frozen products contain high amounts of sodium. Not many frozen fish products taste as good or seem to possess the same level of quality as this fried fish does.

The 6-fillet, 11-ounce box of Gorton's Southern Fried fish fillets cost $3.39 in Central Florida in mid-December 2009. Be sure to check out your grocer's frozen food aisle where they sell fish and seafood products.

Resources

Gorton's Southern Fried Fish Fillet carton

Personal experience and first-hand knowledge