The 5 Best Fish Spatulas, According to Our Tests

Factors to Consider

Blade and Handle Material

During my test, I preferred fish spatulas with natural wooden handles. They just felt better in hand and had more give. Caswell also agrees that a wooden handle is best and has a wooden fish spatula in his chef kit. “I just love to feel the wood in my hands, or it's like a personal thing,” he says. Most fish spats I tested also had stainless steel blades, which are standard and best for flexibility. It’s also easy to maintain. Some fish spatulas are coated in silicone so you can safely use them in a nonstick pan; you don't want to use metal in a nonstick pan, as it will likely scratch the surface.

Blade Length and Width

Caswell says anything over seven inches is overkill and more complicated to manage. “If I need a spatula that long, it's easy because I'm trying to put two burgers on it, move fast ike Denny's or Waffle,” he says. “Or if, like Benihana's, I've got two of them chopping and flipping and stuff.” The chef also says he doesn't like a fish spatula that is too wide because it's hard to manage. Caswell pinpoints the angle of the blade as a crucial factor, stating his preference for something in the "low 70s" in degrees, and has even modified some of his own.

Spatula Blade Slots 

The wider the blade slots, the more likely the fish is to fall through, especially if it is a delicate variety. “You don't want them too fat,” says Caswell. “Those slats must be a half-inch wide because certain fish flakes more than others, and can get caught in between. So you don't want those gaps to be too wide." 

Blade Flexibility

A good fish spatula should have a flexible and thin blade. If the blade is too thick, you won’t be able to maneuver fish around the pan without damaging it. Since these blades are so flexible, they aren’t the best for applications like grilled cheese, where you must push down to compress the bread and cheese.

How We Tested Fish Spatulas

I used a variety of fish spatulas to cook fish, but that wasn’t all. After evaluating the construction and care instructions, I rotated them through basic cooking tasks such as removing fried eggs from the pan, cooking hamburgers, flipping pancakes, and lifting fish. Fish spatulas need a sharp, thin blade that can easily shimmy under proteins and pancakes. They also needed to be nimble enough to flex and bend based on their weight while maintaining their integrity. So we put them to the test.

Fish: I cooked marinated miso cod in a cast iron skillet to test these spatulas. I wanted to ensure they were thin enough to slip under fragile fish fillets without tearing them. Because they are so flexible, I wanted to make sure I could scoop the protein, and it would move with the spatula rather than molding to it.  

Eggs: I also used the fish spatulas to lift fried eggs out of cast iron and aluminum skillets. Eggs are also super delicate, so the flexibility and thickness of the spatula blade made a big difference here. We also used them to make quick scrambled eggs and omelets. 

Burgers: Since fish spatulas have slots (slats), they can drain fat effectively before you pull something out of the pan. So, burgers were a great dish to cook. I evaluated how much they left in the skillet and how well they handled hefty burgers, since some spatulas are almost too bendy. That’s not ideal for heavier proteins like steak.

Finally, we evaluated how they fared after multiple uses and washes, since some utensils don’t hold up. 

Other Fish Spatulas We Tested

Hedley & Bennett Fish Spatula ($29 at Hedley & Bennett)

I liked the cushy silicone handle. However, I don't love that the metal part is square at the end rather than angled. It felt awkward not to have more of an angled blade.

OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Fish Turner ($16 at Amazon)

I didn't like how large this is for most pans. However, I do like how comfortable the handle is to hold. OXO typically makes nice handles. Still, this felt a little overkill and cheaper in quality.

Misen Fish Spatula, Stainless Steel ($19 at Amazon)
I appreciate the design of Misen fish spatulas. However, I prefer the silicone-tipped model because it is safe for most pans.

Our Expertise 

• As Food & Wine's Testing Editor, Jennifer Zyman's work focuses on finding the best new products for all sorts of cooks. She's vetted hundreds of products, including side-by-side testing of essential kitchen gadgets like can openers, salad spinners, potato mashers, and tortilla presses. She's written about food and restaurants for over 15 years and is a proficient home cook with a culinary school degree who is always on the hunt for the latest and greatest kitchen technique, trick, or tool.
• For this piece, Zyman interviewed James Beard-nominated chef Bryan Caswell for his expert opinion on fish spatulas. Caswell, a lifelong fisherman, has extensive experience cooking seafood. He is currently in the process of opening a new seafood restaurant in Houston. In 2009, Food and Wine named him a Best New Chef.