Mrs. Paul’s Lightly Breaded Flounder Fillets Review

I had these Mrs. Paul’s Lightly Breaded Flounder Fillets for lunch yesterday. As per ususl with the Mrs. Paul’s extensive line of frozen fish products, I was not disappointed. The breading was not excessive, and like the haddock and pollock fish found in other Mrs. Paul.s products, the flounder here is a mild-smelling and mild tasting seafood that does not overpower the senses either while in the box, while baking in the oven, or while steaming on your plate. You get just enough fishy taste to know that you’re definitely eating fish, but only just enough.

Benefits, Pros, Advantages, and Features

The flounder fish fillets themselves are packed in a plastic bag for freshness, and this bag keeps them from picking up odors of, and then assuming the flavor of other foods in the freezer. This bag however, is not re-closable.
These fillets are 100% whole flounder fillets. As mentioned, flounder is a mild-tasting yet full-bodied fish. So it accommodates flavoring spices well, and does not overly dominating the entire meal. Therefore, flounder compliments plays nice on the plate with other foods.
These fish fillets fit nicely on hamburger rolls or sandwich thins.
The breading is indeed light (thin coating) yet creates a pleasing crunch when baked according to the box instructions.
You can be re-close the box with built-in tabs that fit into slots on the top flap. Actually both ends of the box are equipped with these flaps so that it matters not when end of the box you initially open.
While baking, the fish fillets give off a mouth-watering aroma, so that when they’re finally ready to eat, I’m really chomping at the bit to chomp on them. This aromatic prelude makes actually eating them even more of a joyous experience. Frank’s hot sauce goes well with Mrs. Paul’s flounder fillets; my favorite topping to put on them.
I follow the twenty-eight to thirty minutes in the oven at 400 degrees instructions on the box that in my oven at least, predictably yields very hot, quite crunchy, and golden brown fish.
This best-if-used-by date on this product is roughly eight months out. So it will keep well in your freezer for at least that long.

Disadvantages, Cons, Problems, and Concerns

There’s no indication on the box that this fish has been tested for mercury. Doing that would comfort consumers, given the concern today about heavy metals in our food. But I’ve eaten these for long enough now without problems, that I’m not worried about mercury.
Each serving (one fillet) has 150 calories. Yet I must eat three or four servings to really feel satisfied. The breading no doubt add lots of extra calories. But on the good side, the coating is made from wheat flower.
However, Mrs. Paul’s makes the breading from enriched flour. I’d prefer that they use all whole grains in their seasoned coatings.
They also have added sugar and preservatives. So this flounder fish definitely qualifies as one of those “dreaded” processed dishes.
These fillets do not heat well in the microwave. In fact, the box recommends against microwave preparation. But microwaving them would shorten preparation time significantly. So perhaps they should work out a means of microwaving them with the same crispy results you get from a conventional oven.

Ingredients

Flounder (fish, sodium tripolyphosphate to retain moisture), bread crumbs (wheat flour, sugar, salt, yeast), vegetable oil (cottonseed, and / or canola, and / or sunflower, and or soybean with TBHQ and citric acid as preservatives), water, wheat flour. Contains 2% or less of wheat flour (enriched with niacin, ferrous sulfate, niacin, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), salt, soybean oil, modified food starch, salt, sugar, wheat flour, extractives of paprika (color), dextrose, leavening (sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate, monocalcium phosphate), garlic powder, onion powder, spice.

Contains fish (flounder), wheat.

Manufactured on equipment that also process other white fish.

Nutrition Facts

Serving size: 1 fillet (76 grams). Servings per container: 3.
Calories per serving: 150. Calories from fat: 60.
Total fat: 7 grams, 11% DV.
Saturated fat: 3.5 grams, 18% DV.
Trans fat: 0 grams.
Cholesterol: 25 milligrams, 8% DV.
Sodium: 290 milligrams, 12% DV.
Total carbohydrate: 12 grams, 4% DV.
Dietary fiber: 1 gram, 4% DV.
Sugars: 3 grams.
Protein: 8 grams.

Cooking Instructions

Preheat your conventional oven to 400 degrees F.
Line a shallow baking pan with aluminum foil to minimize cleanup.
Remove the flounder fillets from the plastic bag, and place them in this lined baking pan.
Place pan, uncovered, in oven, in the middle of the rack.
Bake for 28 to 30 minutes total time, or until crunchy and browned.
Turn fillets over after 14 minutes (half-way though the baking process).
Once baking is done, remove the pan with the fillets from the oven, and let stand for 3 minutes.

Do not refreeze or prepare in a toaster oven, and promptly refrigerate any unused cooked fillets.

Product Rating

Though they could be better if prepared with whole grain flour and without sugar, Mr’s Paul’s fish sandwich fillets are good eating however, so long as you don’t consume them too often or have excessive portions. Over all, I love the flavor of Mrs. Paul’s breaded flounder fillets. They cost a reasonable amount, are easy to bake, taste delicious, and are on the whole pretty healthful. So I’d highly recommend them to anyone hungry for flounder. I’d rate these at 93 out of 100.

Where To Buy Mrs. Paul’s Lightly Breaded Flounder Fillets

Look for this product with its dark green and avocado green box with pictures of the fillets on the front, in your larger grocer’s frozen foods aisle. I got mine at Walmart.

References

Revision History

2015-02-07: Moved this post to the Tom’s Diet Quest blog, added whitespace, adjusted ad placement, and tweaked the content.
2012-05-20: Originally published.