Whitebait fritters

Name: Whitebait fritters
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 250 g whitebait; 2 eggs; 1 tbsp all-purpose flour (optional); ½ tsp salt; ¼ tsp black pepper; 30 g butter; 4 slices white bread (optional); 1 lemon, in wedges (optional)

Non-vegetarian

New Zealand's seasonal delicacy: tiny whitebait bound with just enough egg to hold them together, fried in butter and served on buttered white bread with lemon.

Whitebait fritters is a New Zealand main course, ready in about 15 minutes and made with whitebait and egg. It serves 2 and is rated beginner to cook.

Start cooking

Plate of golden whitebait fritters — Photo: Wikimedia Commons contributor / Wikimedia Commons · public-domain

Prep: 5 min
Cook: 10 min
Total: 15 min
Serves: 2
Level: Beginner
Calories: 301

Ingredients

2 servings

250 g Whitebait (opens in a new tab)Fresh or thawed. Outside New Zealand use tiny whitebait or picked smelt; finely chopped white fish makes a different but pleasant fritter.Swap: White fish fillet (Finely chopped; not the same delicacy.)Contains fish
2 (100 g) Eggs (opens in a new tab)West Coast purists use only the whites.Contains eggs
1 tbsp (8 g) All-purpose flour (opens in a new tab) (optional)Purists leave it out.Contains wheat, gluten
½ tsp (3 g) Salt (opens in a new tab)
¼ tsp (0.5 g) Black pepper (opens in a new tab)
30 g Butter (opens in a new tab)For frying.Contains milk
4 slices (110 g) White bread (opens in a new tab) (optional)Buttered, for serving.Contains wheat, gluten
1 (85 g) Lemon (opens in a new tab), in wedges (optional)

Equipment

Frying pan / skillet (opens in a new tab)

Method

1
Step 1
Rinse and drain the whitebait (opens in a new tab) well. Beat the eggs (opens in a new tab) with the flour (if using), salt and pepper (opens in a new tab), then fold in the whitebait — there should be far more fish than egg.
- 4 min
How it looks · Photo: Kampus Production on Pexels
2
Step 2
Melt the butter (opens in a new tab) in a frying pan over medium heat. Spoon in four fritters and cook until set and golden, about 2 minutes per side.
- 8 min
- medium heat
- Frying pan / skillet (opens in a new tab)
Food safety: Cook until the egg is fully set and the fish opaque.
How it looks · Photo: Riya Roy on Pexels
3
Step 3
Serve at once on buttered white bread (opens in a new tab) with a squeeze of lemon (opens in a new tab).
- 1 min
How it looks · Photo: Willians Huerta on Pexels

About this dish

Origin: West Coast, New Zealand · Well documentedWhitebait (juvenile native fish) are caught in spring, especially on the West Coast of the South Island. They are expensive and some species are threatened, so use a sustainable source.More food from New Zealand
Dish: Lunch · Breakfast · Main courses · Sandwiches
Cooking method: Pan-fried
Taste: savoury, buttery, mild
Diet: Pescatarian · No nut ingredients · Low-carb · High-protein
All labels
Pescatarian · Non-vegetarian · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · Low-carb · High-protein · Calorie-conscious
Without the optional extras: Whole-food focused, No gluten ingredientsWorked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for: One-pan
Cook more with: Egg · Butter
Techniques: Pan-frying

Allergens

Contains: Milkfrom butter, white bread
Contains: Eggsfrom egg, white bread
Contains: Fishfrom whitebait
Contains, can be adapted: Wheatfrom all-purpose flour, white bread
Contains, can be adapted: Glutenfrom all-purpose flour, white bread
May contain: Soyfrom white bread
May contain: Sesamefrom white bread

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

301 kcal per serving

Estimated

1 serving ≈ 192 g · recipe makes 2

Where the energy comes from

Protein 38%
Carbohydrate 1%
Fat 61%

Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
Nutrient	Per serving	Per 100 g*
Energy	301 kcal	157 kcal
Protein	28.5 g	14.8 g
Carbohydrate	0.6 g	0.3 g
Net carbohydrate	0.5 g	0.3 g
Sugars	0.2 g	0.1 g
Added sugars	0 g	0 g
Fibre	0.1 g	0 g
Fat	20 g	10.4 g
Saturated fat	9.8 g	5.1 g
Trans fat	—	—
Cholesterol	306 mg	159 mg
Sodium	825 mg	430 mg
Salt equivalent	2.1 g	1.1 g

Vitamins & minerals per serving

Potassium: 439 mg
Calcium: 108 mg
Iron: 2 mg
Magnesium: 44 mg
Vitamin A (RAE): 201 µg
Vitamin C: 0 mg
Vitamin D: 2 µg
Vitamin B12: 4.8 µg
Folate (DFE): 29 µg

How these numbers were made

Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
*Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
Optional ingredients are not included: all-purpose flour, white bread, lemon.
Whitebait: Raw rainbow smelt (FDC 175146) used as a stand-in for whitebait (juvenile galaxiid fish in New Zealand), which has no USDA entry.
“—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

Keep the seasoning simple so the delicate fish shines.

Storage

Eat straight away.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added 27 Oct 2026 · Updated 8 Nov 2026

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Compare with

Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

Whitebait250 g
Egg2 piece · 100 g
All-purpose flour (optional)1 tbsp · 7.8 g
Butter30 g
White bread (optional)4 slice · 112 g

Used in steps 1, 2, 3

Reviews & corrections

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