We independently evaluate all of our recommendations. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. What to Buy Kitchen Tools The 4 Best Fish Spatulas, According to Our Expert Testing Our test kitchen flipped fish, pancakes, burgers, and more to find the best-in-show fish spats. By Christa Glennie Christa Glennie Christa Glennie is a former restaurant professional who has logged nearly two decades as a writer and editor covering people and trends in food, drink, dining, and agriculture. She's the food editor of Buffalo Spree magazine and has published work in Food & Wine, USA Today, Feast and Field, and more. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on April 26, 2024 In This Article View All In This Article Our Top Picks Reviews Our Favorite Factors to Consider How We Tested FAQ Others We Tested Our Expertise Photo: Food and Wine / Amazon Cooking fish isn’t easy. Especially on the stovetop, where achieving a fish fillet with crispy skin and moist, flakey flesh is deceptively challenging. Success here is about more than having the proper technique (though that helps a lot); it’s also about having the right tool. Maybe you’ve had the crushing experience of sacrificing half your salmon fillet to the pan or achieving an amazingly crisp skin only to have it stick to your cooking tongs. Have no fear. There’s a tool for that — one that pro chefs swear by. Angled slightly with a semi-flexible, stainless steel blade, the fish spatula (known as a fish spat to its fans) is the patron saint of food-flipping and your new BFF in the kitchen. Despite its name, this tool is not reserved for titular fish fillets alone. We put fish spats of various shapes, materials, and sizes through a rigorous series of tests, including flipping pancakes and burgers. We took note of each spatula’s physical attributes, how comfortable they were to use, and how easy they were to clean up (and clean up after). Side-by-side with the results of our fish, pancake, and burger tests, our experts were able to paint a detailed picture of how each fish spatula might fare in your kitchen. We also spoke to a chef with almost 40 years of professional fish spat use. Whether flipping or serving, prying or scraping, at any level of cooking expertise, we’ve got a fish spatula that’s precisely right for you. Our Top Picks Best Overall: MIU France Large Stainless Steel Turner at Amazon $28 Jump to Review Best Value: Winco Fish Spatula at Amazon $12 Jump to Review Best Splurge: Wusthof Fish Spatula at Amazon $65 Jump to Review Best Silicone: Sur La Table Silicone Edge Slotted Fish Spatula at Amazon $30 Jump to Review Best Overall MIU France Large Stainless Steel Turner PHOTO: Amazon $28 $25 at Amazon Pros Affordable, versatile, and perfectly shaped for the task, this is our ideal fish spatula. Cons Its bent angle is less extreme than other spats, making it just slightly more challenging to wiggle under things like pancakes. Flying through our tests with just-right verdicts across the board, the MIU Stainless Steel Fish Spatula was undisputedly our best overall pick. Its classic design makes it ideal for all tasks at hand, with a comfortably smooth plastic handle and a slightly bent blade ideal for effortlessly sliding under foods of varying levels of delicacy. During testing, we found the spat to be nimble and easy to grip and hold, and the more bent offset made it especially ripe for gliding under fish. We love that it’s dishwasher safe and not too expensive, making it a great pick for anyone seeking out a versatile utensil, regardless of their level of fish-flipping experience. Both sturdy and agile, this fish spat is the best of every world when it comes to turning and serving. Blade Length: 6.5 inches | Material: Plastic and stainless steel | Dishwasher-safe: Yes Best Value Winco Fish Spatula PHOTO: Amazon $12 at Amazon $12 at Walmart View on Katom.com Pros This spatula is comfortable to use and super affordable, making it ideal for a first-time spat buyer or beginner cook. Cons This isn’t the prettiest of the spatulas we tested, but it gets the job done for a low price. Whether you’re looking for your first fish spat, a backup fish spat, or you’re not convinced a fish spat is really going to be an everyday-use tool for your kitchen, a more affordable option may be the catch for you. We highly recommend the Winco Blade Fish Spatula, which flipped and served alongside the best of ‘em while coming in at the low, low price of under $10. We were especially impressed with how well it handled flipping burgers, likely due to its wide diameter. How can we complain? This spatula can fend for itself with its dishwasher-safe caramel-colored wood handle and nicely angled stainless steel blade. Overall, it’s comfortable to hold and easy to maneuver, which makes it a great choice for wielding. Happy (affordable) flipping! Blade Length: 6.5 inches | Material: Wood and stainless steel | Dishwasher-safe: Yes Best Splurge Wusthof Fish Spatula PHOTO: Amazon $65 at Amazon $15 at Walmart View on Wusthof.com Pros The design of this utensil is sleek and chic, making it a perfect splurge pick (or gift!). Cons This spatula requires hand washing, but to maintain this level of quality, we can’t complain. If you plan to go all-out, especially on a kitchen tool made for something as specific as flipping delicate fish filets, you’ll need something stylish and worthy of the splurge. Never fear; the Wusthof Fish Spatula is here, and we feel it’s the only spat for this job. Know a home cook who is a pescatarian? Need a fish spat for your lakeside cottage? Wusthof’s fish spat is the most beautiful fish spatula on the market. Its modification of a classic design offers a perfectly angled blade, a comfortable polypropylene handle, and a high-quality high-carbon stainless steel head. And its beautiful design is not solely cosmetic: It performed easily in all tasks, and we felt it was strong enough to press down on burgers and flatten but still deft enough to slide under and flip. Whether you’ve been looking for the best fish spatula on the market or seeking an incredibly specific gift, you can’t go wrong with the very best. Blade Length: 6.5 inches | Material: Polypropylene and high-carbon stainless steel | Dishwasher-safe: Hand-washing recommended Best Silicone Sur La Table Silicone Edge Slotted Fish Spatula PHOTO: Sur La Table $30 at Amazon $30 at Sur La Table Pros This silicone-edged spatula is ideal for easy flipping, especially if you’re a fan of stainless steel cookware. Cons This spat’s silicone edge can require extra love when cleaning up after flipping greasy foods, but we love this spatula anyway. A silicone-lined fish spatula is a necessity if you’re particular about your cookware. Easily scratched pans are even harder to maintain when metal cooking utensils are involved. The sleek silicone edging on the blade of this fish spatula saves you and your best pans from certain scuffing, and the Sur La Table Silicone Edge Slotted Fish Spatula performs just as well as its all-metal counterparts. It had no issue when it came to gripping and flipping in all of our tests, dissuading any of our fears that the lined edge might be hard to get under food. Instead, we felt it was particularly sturdy and up for the task of handling heavier foods. We recommend extra hot water when washing this tool to keep the silicone from feeling greasy, but otherwise, this fish spatula is test kitchen-approved and ready to rock on the stovetop. Blade Length: 7 inches | Material: Silicone and stainless steel | Dishwasher-safe: Yes Our Favorite Fish Spatula We loved the MIU Stainless Steel Fish Spatula so much that its best overall status was nearly uncontested. Performing perfectly when lifting fish, flipping burgers, or turning pancakes, it is a suitable tool for anyone’s kitchen. Its functional, comfortable design, ideal level of flexibility, and just-enough blade angle mean even newbies will find it a useful investment. Factors to Consider Blade, Handle, and Cookware Materials It’s important to consider several things before making a fish spatula purchase. Much of your decision will be informed by the material of your preferred cookware. If you prefer to work with non-stick pans, a spat with a sharp metal edge won’t be ideal. Some spatulas have a thin rubber-edged blade that doesn’t damage your cookware's finish without sacrificing flexibility and ‘wedge-ability,” (the ability to get under food and lift it easily). The thickness of the blade material contributes to how flexible the spatula is. For example, a more flexible spatula may be easier to use with lighter foods, like flaky fish or even fried eggs. Additionally, the material of the handle can impact the fish spat experience, as it will impact the comfortability of your grip. Blade Length and Flexibility The blade, or the flat metal head of the spatula, can come in a variety of sizes and shapes. If a blade is too short in comparison to the handle, the spatula may prove too stiff to properly flip and serve food. However, a blade that’s too long may be difficult to handle, whether that be while cooking or washing up. This will depend again on what you’re cooking, but also on what feels comfortable to your grip. Spatula Angle Fish spatulas are angled to ensure lifting and serving food requires little effort. This is particularly important for lighter, more delicate foods. Struggling to dislodge fish from a pan is no good. With an angled spatula, the design does a lot of the work for you. A spatula that’s too angled (closer to 90 degrees) may slip under the food easily but isn’t helpful when it comes to lifting it from the surface comfortably. Choose a spatula that offers a happy, easy-to-handle medium. How We Tested Fish Spatulas Our experts surveyed each utensil for its material makeup, weight, and dimensions. From there, we evaluated performance while flipping flaky fish and pancakes. Those that did well moved into another round of testing, where we flipped crispy, heavy burger patties in a cast iron skillet. The variety of tests we conducted was an attempt to ascertain a full understanding of each spatula’s unique capabilities and weaknesses. We also factored in whether each spatula was bendy and nimble, an important detail when it comes to ease of use. We also considered whether the design was conducive to simple flipping and serving. Balance, grip feel, blade length, and sharpness of the spatula’s edge are also major factors we weighed before coming to our final conclusions. Frequently Asked Questions What is a fish spatula used for? “Fish! No, really, it's a very versatile kitchen gadget. I use it for any kind of protein, sauté work, gentle grill moves, and even scraping the burnt stuff off your pan when you screw up,” says chef Mike Andrzejewski, three-time James Beard semi-finalist and fish cookery aficionado. Andrzejewski has been using fish spatulas for decades and recalls that his first one was a “cheapy” he used so long he named it “Bill” and even kept the pieces after it finally broke, “out of respect.” Currently, he swears by our Best Value pick, the Winco Blade Fish Spatula. “It pretty much fits the bill for what I do, both at the restaurant and home cooking. It's a good size, short, has a wooden handle, and isn't too flimsy or too stiff. What is the best material for a fish spatula? A fish spatula should be flexible, but not too flimsy, and sturdy enough to handle anything from doughy pancakes and flaky fish to hearty meats. Most often, they come in stainless steel. If you wish to protect your cookware, a silicone edge is a great option. Andrzejewski prefers wood-handled spatulas because wood doesn’t transfer heat as quickly. What are the slats in a fish spatula for? “Generally, they allow the cook to drain cooking fat off the food. The slots leave the oils in your pan or plancha, but they also make the tool lighter and more flexible,” says Andrzejewski. Is an angled fish spatula better than a flat one? The beauty of an angled fish spatula is that it offers extra leverage for sliding under foods, allowing for easier flipping and serving. Other Fish Spatulas We Tested Strong Contenders Misen Fish Spatula ($12 at Amazon) We preferred the Sur La Table when it comes to silicone linings because its blade edge was thin but much sturdier. However, this fish spatula performed relatively well and is a more affordable silicone option. Lamson Flexible Slotted Spatula ($40 at Amazon) We loved the flexibility of the blade, but the gentle angle and rough handle weren’t our favorite given the price. OXO Good Grips Fish Spatula ($16 at Amazon) This spat had a pleasant grip and was functional to a point, but it was simply too big to be a contender for our best categories. What Didn’t Make the List While a handful of spatulas impressed us, others simply did not perform up to snuff, including spatulas from Mercer, All-Clad, KitchenAid, and Sabatier. Some proved not to be very workable options in different-sized pans, limiting their versatility, while others were too flimsy or stiff, felt cheap, or simply could not slide under food well enough. Our previous pick for "Best Flexible," the Victorinox Flexible Slotted Spatula, wowed us with its limber and graceful hand feel. However, this model is currently unavailable, so we had to remove it from our list of favorites for now. Our Expertise Christa Glennie has been a freelance writer and food editor for nearly 20 years. She is also the author of two cookbooks and specializes in food and drink trends, agriculture, the regional foodways of Western New York, and the restaurant business. Her respect for simplicity and uncluttered counters in the kitchen ultimately fuels a desire to find and own well-designed, multi-purpose, best-in-class kitchen tools. For this piece, she used insights from our expert team of testers and spoke to a three-time James Beard semi-finalist and chef. The 8 Best Wooden Spoons, According to Our Tests Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit