Cheesy fish pie with a crispy topping

This is my tried and tested recipe for fish pie! Succulent fillets of fish and seafood in a cheesy sauce, covered with creamy mashed potatoes and a special crispy topping make this cheesy fish pie rank head and shoulders above the rest. It never fails to deliver on both taste and flavour.

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The only fish pie recipe you will ever need

Seriously, this is the best fish pie recipe I’ve ever tried, and I think you will love it.

I’ve been making this cheesy fish pie for years, ever since my children were small, and now that they’ve grown up and have families of their own, they are making it too. This recipe for fish pie (some people call it a fisherman’s pie) is truly a dish that has stood the test of time.

• It’s made with succulent fish fillets, a mixture of prawns, calamari and mussels, and chopped hard-boiled eggs and cheese in a deliciously cheesy creamy sauce.
• The potatoes on top are mixed with cream and butter to make them luxuriously soft and creamy.
• And the topping of grated cheese is mixed with a packet of cheese and onion crisps to give a crispy, crusty finish to the whole dish.
• I like to add peas or sweetcorn to this fish pie to provide little pops of colour and sweetness, but you could leave these out and serve on the side if you prefer.

This cheesy fish pie is definitely a meal you will want to make over and over again.

Ingredients you will need

**Get the complete list of ingredients and full instructions for making this fish pie on the printable recipe card at the end of this post.**

The ingredients given in the recipe are sufficient for a fish pie that will feed 4 people. You can easily scale the recipe up or down to feed more or less.

Seafood – you can use pre-cooked frozen seafood mix, readily available in the freezer section of your local supermarket. If you prefer you could substitute this for fresh or frozen prawns. If you don’t like mixed seafood, just leave it out and add an extra piece of fish.

Fish – I’ve used fillets of cod and salmon. You can substitute these with any firm filleted fish of your choice. Do make sure it’s filleted though – you don’t want anyone choking on a fish bone.

Potatoes – these are for the mash on top of the fish pie. You can use any floury potato that mashes well.

Cream – this is for mashing with the potatoes to give an extra creamy taste. If you prefer you can use a mixture of half milk and cream, or if you are watching your weight, use plain milk instead.

Grated cheese – used for mixing with the sauce to for extra flavour, and also used for sprinkling on top of the pie before baking. I used cheddar – you can use any cheese that grates well.

Cheese and onion crisps – I like to crush these and combine with the grated cheese before sprinkling it over the fish pie. They add a great crunch to the topping. Leave them out if you prefer.

Butter – some of the butter is used for mashing with the potatoes. The rest is used for making the sauce.

Milk – used for poaching the fish. Once the fish is poached, the milk is reserved for making the sauce. This way you don’t lose any of the delicious fishy flavour.

Flour – used for thickening the sauce. You can substitute this with cornflour (or cornstarch).

Eggs (not pictued) – I like to add chopped hard boiled eggs to the fish pie, but this is totally optional.

Peas (not pictued) – I think fish and peas go so well together so I always add a handful of frozen peas. If you prefer you can leave these out too, and perhaps serve the fish pie with a helping of peas on the side. If you are not a lover of peas, you could swap these out for sweetcorn kernels.

Salt and freshly ground black pepper – for seasoning.

How do I make the fish pie?

• Preparation time : about 20 minutes – assuming you poach the fish while the potatoes are boiling.
• Cooking time : 25 minutes
• Yield : this pie will serve 4 people.
• Calories : 675 per serving

Making the pie is easy. There are only a few steps.

Make the mashed potatoes

• Peel the potatoes and cut them into large evenly-sized chunks. Place them in a saucepan of salted cold water and bring them to the boil.
• Add the eggs so that they can boil in the same pan (save on washing up 🙂 ).
• Cover with a lid and allow to boil for 8 to 10 minutes until the potatoes are soft enough to mash.
• Drain through a colander then return to the saucepan pan and add butter and cream.
• Mash with a potato masher, or use a potato ricer, until the potatoes are free from lumps. Then set the potatoes aside until you are ready to use them.
• Put the boiled eggs into a dish of cold water to cool.

Fish and cheese sauce

• Start off by poaching the fish in the milk seasoned with salt and pepper, in a saucepan or a frying pan (image 1 above). This will take about 5 minutes. You will see the fish is done when it starts to flake. Don’t worry if it is not quite cooked – it will finish off cooking in the oven.
• Once the fish is poached, transfer to a plate and pour the poaching liquid into a measuring jug. Top up the milk to make 1 and a half cups.
• Flake the fish with a fork and remove any skin (if there is any) (image 2 above).
• Using the same pan the fish was cooked in, melt the butter and then stir in the flour (image 3 above).
• Add the milk that the fish was cooked in and continue to stir over a low heat until the mixture thickens and a spoon leaves a trail when drawn through it (image 4 above).
• The consistency of the sauce should be that of thickish custard.
• Now stir the cheese through the sauce and allow it to melt. Add a little extra milk if the sauce seems too thick.

Assemble and bake

• Add the fish and seafood into the sauce. Peel the hard-boiled eggs and chop them coarsely. Add the peas. Mix to combine (image 1 above).
• Taste for seasoning at this point and add more salt and/or black pepper according to your taste.
• Transfer the fish mixture to a casserole dish.
• Spoon the mashed potato carefully on top and spread it gently with a fork. Run the fork over the mashed potato to create little ridges.
• Crush the cheese and onion crisps and mix with the remaining grated cheese.
• Sprinkle the cheese mixture on top of the potatoes (image 2 above).
• Place the fish pie into a pre-heated oven (200C / 400F) and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the cheese is melted and starting to brown.
• Remove from the oven and serve with vegetables of your choice, or with a fresh garden salad.

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Can I freeze this fish pie?

Yes, you can freeze the assembled pie for up to 3 months.

I would be inclined to assemble it in a disposable aluminium baking tray so as not to have to tie up my casserole dish in the oven.

Bake in a hot oven (200C/400F) from frozen for about 30 minutes until bubbling and golden.

Make in advance

Assemble the dish and then cover with tinfoil or plastic wrap and leave in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

When you are ready to use it place it in a hot oven (200C / 400F) and bake for about 25 minutes until bubbling and golden.

Additional resources

Don’t forget to check out my handy Cookery Conversion Calculator if you want to convert any of your recipe measurements from grams to cups, ounces, tablespoons or millilitres and vice versa. You can also use the calculator for converting oven temperatures between Fahrenheit, Celsius and Gas marks.

If you live at a high altitude you may find you need to adjust your baking recipes to compensate for this. You can read all about it in this post on baking at high altitudes.

Fish pie recipe

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