Mrs. Paul’s Xtra Large Crunchy Fish Sticks Review

I tested a 23-ounce box of these Mrs. Paul’s Xtra Large Crunchy Fish Sticks today, and was quite satisfied with the product. They taste like the other Mrs. Paul’s breaded fish products, which is to say, that they taste quite good, particularly with a smattering of hot sauce applied. This product is indeed crunchier, and comes with thiery breaded fish sticks per box. The breading is thick enough to yield a substantial crunch for each bite without seeming too thickly floured. With their mild spices, four of these sticks weigh 3.0 ounces; just a bit more than a typical breaded fish fillet. For me, eight of these on a plate make for a hearty and filling main course. They brown up well in the oven, and accept lots of hot sauce without becoming too soggy. I liked them.

Benefits, Pros, Advantages, and Features

These are 25% larger than the typical fish stick.
Due to this larger size, the fish-to-breading ratio is higher (more fish, less breading).
There is an inner plastic bag to help keep the fish from becoming freezer burned. This bag keeps the fish very fresh until the consumer opens it. However, once opened, this bag cannot be resealed easily. So if you’re going to keep an opened box of this product in the freezer for a while, replace the included “freshness pouch” with a zipper lock or other resealable bag.
These breaded, crunchy fish sticks fit well on bread slices especially.
They have a seductive yet not-too-fishy taste, which makes them mild, yet satisfying also.
You can be re-close the box with the built-in tabs that fit into slots on the top flap. This prevents the sticks from rolling out unexpectedly while handling the box.
Consisting of Alaska Pollock fish, you can feel good about your health by making this product a twice-weekly part of your meal plans.
No mention of either bleached flour or monosodium glutamate in the ingredients list.
170 milligrams of the heart-healthy Omega 3 fatty acids per serving.
This Pollock fish is not minced. So you get more of a chewy experience.
While baking, this food gives off a pleasing, mouth-watering aroma, so that when finally finished, I’m quite eager to gobble it up
Tapatio hot sauce adds a gentle yet stingy and delicious red pepper flavor to these sticks.
I pretty much follow the baking instructions on the box that, in my oven at least, consistently yield hot and very crunchy, golden brown fish sticks.
The best-if-used-by date is approximately ten months into the future. So you can stock your freezer with this product without worries that it will go bad in the next year.

Disadvantages, Cons, Problems, and Concerns

This product contains added sugars and preservatives.
They do not heat up well in the microwave. In fact, the box recommends against microwave preparation. But an ability to “nuke” this product would shorten the time-to-table from freezer considerably. I’m not sure though, how the crunchiness would hold up in a microwave however.
Though an inner bag is included, once you cut it open, there’s no way to reseal it. So I usually just end up rolling the bag up underneath itself and put a small bag clip on it before putting the unused portions back in the freezer.
Be sure to attend this product while baking. If you let it in the oven for just a couple minutes more than the advertised bake time, it will burn (in my experience).
You must rotate each stick in the oven, half-way through baking, to avoid over-cooking on one side. This can be a pain, when you’re baking an entire box of these Xtra Large sticks.

Cooking Directions

Position one of your conventional oven racks in the middle set of holders in the oven. The rack should be neither too close to the top, nor too close to the bottom of the oven.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
While waiting for the oven to heat up, line a shallow baking pan with aluminum foil to minimize cleanup.
Remove the desired number of Mrs. Paul’s fish sticks from the box and plastic inner pouch, and place them in this foil-lined baking pan.
Then, once the oven reaches 425 degrees, place pan, uncovered, in oven, in the center of the middle rack.
Bake for 26 to 28 minutes total time, or until crunchy and browned.
Flip fish sticks over after 14 minutes.
Once baking is done, remove the fish sticks from oven. Note that fish is not completely cooked until its internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F or higher.
Turn off the oven.
Let the sticks stand for three minutes. I do not remove them from the baking pan until the sizzling has stopped, which takes approximately three minutes.
Finally, eat fish quickly, as it will cool quickly given the low mass of each stick.

Do not refreeze raw fish or prepare in a toaster oven or microwave, Promptly refrigerate any unused cooked fish.

Ingredients List

Alaska Pollock (fish, sodium tripolyphosphate to retain fish moisture), bread crumbs (wheat flour, sugar, salt, yeast), water, vegetable oil (cottonseed and / or canola and / or sunflower and / or soybean with TBHQ and citric acid as preservatives), wheat flour. Contains 2% or less of wheat flour (enriched with niacin, ferrous sulphate, 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 (Pollock), wheat.

Manufactured on equipment that also processes other white fish.

Nutrition Facts

Serving size: 4 sticks (84 grams). Servings per container: about 8.
Calories: 190. Calories from fat: 80.
Total fat: 9 grams, 14% DV.
Saturated fat: 2 grams, 10% DV.
Trans fat: 0 grams.
Polyunsaturated fat: 5 grams.
Monounsaturated fat: 1.5 grams.
Cholesterol: 30 milligrams, 10% DV.
Sodium: 370 milligrams, 15% DV.
Total carbohydrate: 18 grams, 6% DV.
Dietary Fiber: less than 1 gram, 0% DV.
Sugars: less than 1 gram.
Protein: 10 grams., 20% DV.
Vitamin A: 0% DV.
Calcium: 0% DV.
Vitamin C: 0% DV.
Iron: 2% DV.

Product Rating

Though they could be better without sugar, Mrs. Paul’s Xtra Large Fish Sticks are still near-excellent eating. Just don’t eat the whole box in one sitting too often. Over all, I find the aroma and flavor of this product appetizing and satisfying. They are inexpensive, are easy to bake, taste delicious, and a healthy food. So I’d highly recommend them to anyone hungry for fish. If you love fish like me , you’ll indeed love these fish sticks. I’d rate them at 96 out of 100.

Where To Buy Mrs. Paul’s Xtra Large Crunchy Fish Sticks

Look for the bright green box with a picture of an enlarged pile of the sticks on the front and the dark-green and while Mrs. Paul’s logo, at most any larger grocery store.

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.
2012-06-13: Originally published.