For as long as I recall, I’ve been on the hunt for a genuinely great fish stick. I might have rose colored glasses, but I seem to recall the product of my youth being replete with flaky delicious fish; whereas so many modern versions are reconstituted, mushy and mediocre. I’ve lost count of the number of brands that I consign to the garbage can after just a single tasting.
Enter stage right then, these fish sticks from Trident that claim to be “The Ultimate” example. I picked up this particular sack (the heaving bag is huge) at Costco.
Despite the obvious hyperbole front and center, that can often be a huge red flag, there’s a lot to like here. The fish sticks rely on Alaskan pollock which is a huge plus; I’ve written before on why Alaskan sourced seafood is a winner. As well as that, the product uses panko breading which generally speaking, results in a good crisp finish, and that’s true here – bake these up and the exterior casing does crisp nicely. I don’t own a deep fryer but I bet they’d be great in one of those.
Another plus is that there’s no gummy, mushy “errghhhh what the hell” moment. There’s basically breading and fish and nothing much else, no slimy weirdness. The fish too is relatively decent, visibly resembling flaky pollock.
Overall it’s a solid example, perhaps the best I’ve found to date. The ultimate? Well, I’d like a little more fish than the 65/35 fish to breading ratio used here, but that’s being slightly picky. I might also wish for a slightly more upscale fish than pollock, but again, I’d obviously expect to pay a lot more if that were the case.
On balance given the price, texture, flavor and usability I find these are very good product, and have no problem recommending them. Fish tacos through fish sandwiches, these fish sticks are a quality option for the time pressed.
Trident The Ultimate Fish Stick – what’s in the bag?
In this huge sack of fish sticks from Costco, there are 60 fish sticks in total. Far too many for one shot, here’s a small sampling in their frozen format:
Trident The Ultimate Fish Stick
And here’s the result after cooking in the oven before making their way to a solid ciabatta bun with lettuce, white onion and home made tartar sauce:
One of my favorite ways to use fish sticks is to essentially emulate a fast food fish filet sandwich. I make some home made tartar (mayo, capers, pickle) and find a good hearty ciabatta bun. From there I finish with crisp iceberg lettuce and sharp white onions. It’s a real treat!
Trident The Ultimate Fish Stick cooking instructions
One of the reasons I like these fish sticks so much is the microwave oven option, that’s unusual for most breaded and frozen fish products. I find the oven method results in a slightly crispier finish, but the microwave option isn’t bad at all.
Trident The Ultimate Fish Stick nutrition and ingredients
Three pieces is the recommended serving and I find that plenty for a fish sandwich with appropriate toppings. The sticks are relatively healthy used in such a portion size.
Hi, I’m Stuart, nice to meet you! I’m the founder, writer and wrangler at Gastronomic SLC – Utah’s biggest and oldest online food magazine; I’m also a former restaurant critic of more than five years, working for the Salt Lake Tribune. I’ve worked extensively with multiple local publications from Visit Salt Lake to Salt Lake Magazine, not least helped to consult on national TV shows.
I’m a multiple-award winning journalist and have covered the Utah dining scene for the better part of fifteen years. I’m largely fueled by a critical obsession with rice, alliteration and the use of big words I don’t understand. I started Shop Smart to catalogue my adventures in the grocery store and kitchen. Follow along on Instagram too!
I found the Trident Ultimate Fish Sticks to be the best as well. As a true seafood snob, I have always tried to eat fish sticks in the past and hated them. It’s been years! I recently saw these at Costco and decide to give them a try. Short of frying and breading fresh fish myself, these are really good. I have also found that if you fry some hush puppies before-hand, the oil is sufficiently prepped to get the fish sticks super crispy. I then drain them on a paper towel in a copper basket. My family devours everything!
Glad you love these too! They’re for sure the outlier in this space, head and shoulders above the rest as far as I’m concerned 🙂
One of our kids has reached toddler-hood, which of course means fish sticks. Like you, I remember them fondly as a kid. Only to be severely let down by the offerings at our local grocery store. What on earth happened? Some had bits that weren’t even chewable. Yuck. I went and picked up a giant sack of these at Costco and the search is over. Cooked up in the air fryer, these were what I remembered. Nice chunks of flaky fish, super crunchy exterior. The ingredients are decent and they didn’t go crazy with the salt. They were great alone and served in a taco with slaw, and I don’t feel guilty serving them. As far as your basic Pollock-based fish stick goes? I don’t think they get much better than this. The price per ounce at Costco is cheaper than the minced rubber salt bombs at the grocery store. I’ll take it.
Glad you enjoyed Scott! It’s kinda crazy how pretty much every other brand is so subpar in comparison!
I first had Trident fish sticks in Alaska. They are the best fish sticks I have ever had.
I was thrilled to finally see local-ish (I live in Alaska) seafood in our grocery store! But I was reminded that the pollock is caught by trawling. That method kills our oceans and kills many king salmon as bycatch. I’m currently searching to make sure that that is indeed the case and ran across your article. I am however pretty sure that I am right. So sad.
Thanks for this information Terri, I know I for one am always trying to eat more responsibly and sustainably when I can.
A “sack” of fish?
How about a bag of fish, unless you’re talking potatoes!
Hehe just a little creative license Joe 🙂 The bag is really big on the Costco version of this product, very much reminiscent of a sack of spuds 🙂
Liked fish sticks when I was a kid back in the 50s and early 60s.
All the fish sticks that I have tried since then can not compare.
They taste like mushy garbage now.
But then I got a bag of Trident. They not only remind me of the ones I ate as a child. If I had tried these Tridents back then they would have definetly been my favorite!
Definitely the best I’ve found out there Larry. I agree, there’s so much garbage otherwise out there these days!
Where are these processed? Looking for fish Not processed in China
Info on Trident’s catch and company can be found here: https://www.tridentseafoods.com/our-story/our-catch/
Best fish sticks ever! They’re always in my freezer, thanks to Costco!
Try Trident fish sticks with fresh Tzatziki.
Here’s how to make it
Get a cup of fage plain Yogurt.
Cut a small cucumber into 1/4” chunks.
A table spoon of fresh dill
Two table spoons of lemon juice
Table spoon of olive oil
Pinch of salt
Half a table spoon of powdered garlic
Mix in a small bowl.
Let it sit in the fridge for an hour then take it out and use it as you would tartar sauce.
It adds fresh to the fried.
So good.
Best fish sticks I have ever tasted. The panko is not too much like those other brands with overly crusted fish sticks.
First time I had them was in Alaska.
They have earned a 5 out of 5 rating by consumers.