Oven baked tilapia is a delicious and affordable meal that brings fresh tasting fish to the table in a simple and tasty way.
You’re going to love being able to make your own seafood dinners with this awesome meal idea. Serve it up with some steamed or oven roasted veggies and a side of wild rice or mashed potatoes and you’re in for a wonderful meal that has everyone asking for seconds.
Baking tilapia is always an easy way to get dinner on the table with little to no effort. The fish fillets come frozen in the grocery store or you can buy them fresh from your grocery’s deli. You can make baked tilapia from frozen or use fresh and it will turn out the same either way.
If you’re wondering how long to bake tilapia at 400 degrees F, then know that it only takes about 20 minutes. So while the oven is preheating prep your fishy fillets and while they bake, make a few side dishes as desired. By the time that the fish is done, everything else could be too. Start to finish should take about 30 minutes (including the preheating and prepping). Perfect for a faster dinner that won’t keep you on your feet all night!
To make baked tilapia you will need:
- Tilapia fillets: As I stated earlier, you can use fresh or frozen and both can be found at your local grocery store.
- Salt: This helps to season the fish and draw out a little moisture helping them to cook perfectly.
- Pepper: Adding a little black pepper will give our fish a nice savory flavor.
- Butter: Butter goes incredibly well with fish because the rich fatty flavors work well with the light flaky meats.
- Parsley: Fresh minced parsley will make your fish look well garnished and help to give a fresh taste at the end.
- Lemon: Adding a little lemon juice over the top of the fish will help to give a nice acidity and freshness so that the flavor of the tilapia is well balanced.
How to make baked tilapia fillets
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
- Line your baking sheet with aluminum foil or spray it well with cooking spray to avoid sticking.
- Place your tilapia fillets down on the sheet tray.
- Season well with salt and pepper.
- Place one tablespoon of butter on the top of each fillet.
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until the center of the fish reaches 165 degrees F. Fresh fish may cook a little faster. The skin will flake with a fork when done.
- Once finished, squeeze a little lemon juice over the tops of the fish and garnish with some fresh chopped parsley sprinkled over the top.
FAQs and Recipe Tips
Tilapia is actually pretty good for you! It’s low calorie and high in protein and nutrients making it a great fish for serving up for dinner. It’s also very low in mercury unlike other fish so you can eat more of it too.
You want to go low and slow to reheat fish so that it doesn’t dry out. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F and add your fish to a baking sheet with a splash of water. Cover the dish with some aluminum foil to help hold the moisture in. Bake for about 10-15 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 125-130 degrees F.
Baked tilapia goes well with just about anything. Mashed potatoes, oven roasted red potatoes, oven roasted broccoli, green beans, scalloped potatoes, or any rice side dishes are always an easy option too. Tilapia doesn’t have a strong fishy flavor so it can go great with just about anything.
Oven Baked Tilapia
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4-6 tilapia fillets
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 6 tablespoons butter one for each fillet
- 2 tablespoons parsley minced, fresh
- 1 lemon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400ºF.
- Line sheet tray with parchment or spray with cooking spary.
- Place the tilapia fillets on the sheet tray.
- Season them wtih salt and pepper.
- Place a tablespoon of butter on each fillet.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until the center reaches 165ºF.
- Once finished, squeeze the fresh lemon over the tops and sprinkle with chopped parsley.
Nutrition
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