Looking for a healthier twist on a traditional fish fry? This air fryer mahi mahi with a panko breading turns out so crispy and delicious!
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My family loves fried fish, but I’m not crazy about all the calories, fat, and oil you get with traditional deep frying methods. That’s why I prefer to make this delicious air fryer mahi mahi with panko breading!
The outside has that satisfying crunch while the fish fillets turn out perfectly flaky. It’s a healthy dinner that’s always a crowd-pleaser.
I also love how quick and easy it is to whip up this recipe.
Just coat the mahi mahi fillets in oil, dredge in a mixture of panko bread crumbs and spices, then let the air fryer work it’s magic! The entire dish can be ready in about 30 minutes.
Here’s what I’m going to teach you in this post:
- How to cook mahi mahi in the air fryer
- How to know when mahi mahi is done cooking
- Why I recommend spritzing your fish with oil while cooking
- How to make this recipe with frozen mahi mahi
- How to reheat air fryer breaded mahi mahi
Whether you cook with mahi mahi all the time or you just discovered a bag of fillets hiding at the back of your freezer, this is a perfect recipe to try out.
Don’t forget to check out my collection of the best air fryer fish recipes for even more delicious inspiration!
How To Make Air Fryer Mahi Mahi
STEP ONE: Preheat your air fryer to 400 degrees.
STEP TWO: Place the fillets on a large plate and drizzle with olive oil.
STEP THREE: In a shallow dish, mix the panko bread crumbs with the paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and black pepper.
STEP FOUR: One at a time, dip each fillet in the panko mixture, then place in a single layer in the air fryer basket. Spritz with cooking oil using an oil sprayer.
Please do NOT use PAM — you can read more using PAM here.
STEP FIVE: Cook for 12-15 minutes, flipping the fillets halfway through the cook time.
STEP SIX: Serve with lemon wedges, if desired.
How Do You Know When Mahi Mahi is Done Cooking?
The fish fillets should flake easily with a fork once they’re done. If the fish doesn’t flake easily, let it cook for another 2 minutes and try again.
Mahi mahi only needs to cook to 137 degrees to be considered safe to eat. But personally, I want my fish to be nice and flaky, so I prefer to check and keep cooking if it isn’t quite the texture I want yet.
Do I Really Need to Spritz the Fish with Oil While Cooking?
Spritzing the panko breading with oil keeps it from drying out while in the air fryer. So, although this step isn’t absolutely necessary, I think it gives you the best results.
I recommend using an EVO Oil Mister to easily spray the mahi mahi while it’s in the basket. That way, you won’t need to use too much oil, which keeps the recipe much healthier than deep fried fish.
How to Cook Frozen Mahi Mahi in the Air Fryer
You can absolutely make frozen fish of all kinds in the air fryer. However, because it’s hard to bread frozen fillets, I would recommend breading the fish prior to freezing it. It’s a great way to meal prep!
- Prepare the fish as usual until you’ve breaded the fillets in the panko mixture.
- Instead of placing them in the air fryer, seal the breaded mahi mahi in plastic zipper bags. Wrap the bags in foil, then store them in the freezer until ready to cook.
- Preheat the air fryer to 400 degrees.
- Place the fillets in a single layer, spritz with cooking oil, and cook for 13-14 minutes until heated through.
- Flip the fillets halfway through the cooking time, spraying the other side with cooking oil.
How to Reheat Mahi Mahi in the Air Fryer
If you ask me, the air fryer is the best way to reheat anything breaded! If you try reheating in the microwave, stove, or oven, you risk ending up with a soggy outside and a cold center. But with the air fryer, leftovers taste as good as the original meal.
Here’s how to easily reheat your air fryer breaded mahi mahi.
- Preheat the air fryer to 400 degrees.
- Place the fillets in a single layer.
- Cook for 4 minutes until heated through.
Other Air Fryer Seafood Recipes You’ll Love:
- Air Fryer Fish Sticks From Frozen
- Air Fryer Tuna Melt Sandwich
- Air Fryer Haddock
- Air Fryer Flounder
- Air Fryer Fish Tacos
- Air Fryer Fried Fish
- Air Fryer Catfish Nuggets
- Air Fryer Cod With Lemon And Dill
- Air Fryer Catfish
- Air Fryer Frozen Popcorn Shrimp
- Air Fryer Calamari
More recipes to try
Air Fryer Mahi Mahi (Fresh & Frozen)
Ingredients
- 1 to 1 1/2 pounds mahi mahi fillets
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cups panko breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
Optional
- Lemon wedges for serving
Instructions
- Preheat your air fryer to 400 degrees.
- Place the mahi mahi fillets on a large plate and drizzle or baste with olive oil.
- In a shallow dish, mix the panko breadcrumbs, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper.
- Dip each mahi mahi fillet into the panko mixture then place in a single layer in the air fryer basket. Spritz with cooking oil.
- Cook for 12 to 15 minutes, flipping the mahi mahi halfway through cooking.
- Remove them from the air fryer, serve with lemon wedges, and enjoy!
Video
Notes
How to Reheat Mahi Mahi in the Air Fryer
1. Preheat your air fryer to 350 degrees. 2. Place the leftover mahi mahi in the air fryer and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes until heated thoroughly.How to Cook Frozen Mahi Mahi in the Air Fryer
1. Preheat your air fryer to 400 degrees. 2. Place the fillets in a single layer and cook for 13 to 14 minutes until heated thoroughly. Flip the mahi mahi halfway through cooking. If the fish is breaded, spritz with oil once at the beginning and once halfway through.Nutrition
This nutrition information is based on the exact products I used in this recipe. Brands and sizes of products could alter exact nutrition and should always be calculated independently.
I loved how crispy the mahi mahi breading came out in the air fryer. Delicious!
my kids loved these!
What a lovely fish dinner. SO healthy and delicious. I will make this again for sure.
Just what I was looking for. I buy the frozen mahi mahi at Costco and was looking for a new way to prepare it as we have fallen into a rut lately. (By the time dinner rolls around I am hungry and tired and not wanting to fuss too much on weeknights.) This was so easy and flavorful. I followed the directions exactly with my Ninja Foodi, and voila, picture food! I second the author’s recommendation for the evoo mister, it really comes in handy and eliminates the need for purchasing aerosol sprays. Thanks so much!
Only use half the amount of panko breadcrumbs.
Yes, how many breadcrumbs are used will depend on the surface area of the mahi mahi.
100% amazing! I may add some Cajun or creole next time to spice it up a bit! The whole family loves this one!
Made this recipe tonight. It was perfectly delicious. Because of the size of my mahi-mahi pieces, one cup of panko crumbs would have been more than enough. I did make the recipe amount and stored the extra in the frig. I will be using it to make this recipe again very soon.
I made this tonight! Flavor was great but my breadcrumbs weren’t sticking very well. Some did but once I transferred it and began eating it, it got kind of mushy and they slid off. Any idea where I could have went wrong? I was thinking maybe too much olive oil before dipping or the fresh caught Mahi filet I used was a little more fatty. Perhaps longer cook time? They were definitely cooked through and I hate tough fish, but wondering if for this method it would have been okay if I let in longer. Look forward to your advice. But breadcrumbs on or off it was delicious and easy.
Hi Laura,
Did you happen to spray the breadcrumbs with an oil sprayer in the air fryer when cooking? I find that that is the best way to really crisp up the breading. The excess olive oil could do it as well, but cooking longer would not be the culprit. I hope that helps!
I’ve made this twice now and it’s delicious but my panko isn’t sticking. I have more crumbs in the bottom of my air fryer than on my fish. Yes, I sprayed it with oil after putting in and half way.. Wondering if an egg would do better than the oil.
Hi Lisa, it’s super important to make sure the fish is patted dry before coating it with oil or the oil and breadcrumbs will not stick, but you can definitely use egg instead if you would like!
This looks delicious! Thank you. Question: How is it that you would cook frozen mahi mahi for less time? Is that an error in the directions?
Hi Michelle, I find the mahi mahi cooks in about the same amount of time because you can cook it at a higher temperature when it’s cooked from frozen.
What a fabulous recipe! Very delicious! I used 1 cup of Panko, and it turned out perfect! Thanks for the great recipe!!
Great recipe!
I used fresh mahi-mahi steaks and used olive oil spray and it came out perfectly!