Blackened Tilapia
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Blackened tilapia makes a super quick and flavorful weeknight meal. You can have it on the table in just 15 minutes!
Tilapia is a flaky, mild-tasting, inexpensive, and readily available white fish that’s super easy to cook and prepare. It is especially good blackened, which doesn’t mean burnt but rather coated in a Cajun-style spice blend that takes on a dark reddish-brown, almost black color when cooked. In this quick and simple recipe, the fish fillets are dusted with a rub made from spices, brown sugar, and salt and then sautéed in olive oil until blackened and flaky.
Serve the blackened tilapia with a vegetable, like roasted asparagus, along with cornbread muffins, cilantro lime rice, hush puppies, or cheddar bay biscuits.
Table of Contents
“First time making tilapia this way. Now, it’s gonna be my only way.”
What You’ll Need To Make Blackened Tilapia
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by making the Cajun spice rub. In a small bowl, combine paprika, brown sugar, oregano, salt, cumin, garlic powder, and cayenne. Don’t worry about the amount of cayenne — the spice rub has a little kick but the dish won’t be too spicy, even for kids.
Mix to combine.
Evenly dust the spice rub evenly all over the tilapia fillets.
Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick pan, then add the tilapia, presentation side down.
Cook a few minutes per side, until crisp and reddish-brown (“blackened”) on the outside and flaky on the inside.
Enjoy!
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Blackened Tilapia
Blackened tilapia makes a super quick and flavorful weeknight meal. You can have it on the table in just 15 minutes!
Ingredients
- 1½ teaspoons paprika
- 1½ teaspoons light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ¾ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 six-ounce tilapia fillets
- 1 lime, cut into wedges (optional, for serving)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, for cooking
Instructions
- Combine the paprika, brown sugar, oregano, garlic powder, cumin, cayenne pepper and salt in a small bowl; mix until well combined (use your fingers to break up the lumps of brown sugar). Sprinkle the spice rub evenly over both sides of the tilapia fillets.
- Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large non-stick pan. Cook the fillets for 2-3 minutes on each side until reddish-brown on the outside and flaky on the inside. Serve immediately with lime wedges.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (4 servings)
- Calories: 236
- Fat: 10g
- Saturated fat: 2g
- Carbohydrates: 3g
- Sugar: 2g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 34g
- Sodium: 672mg
- Cholesterol: 85mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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Jenn — I loved this recipe! I used tilefish — was on sale at Balducci’s — and it was delicious! My picky 10 year old asked for seconds. Thanks so much — keep these great recipes coming!
your blog is so pretty.. love this dish.. my favorite fish is salmon, tilapia is on my list too, love any kind of fish spiced up.
This looks great! I’m not a huge fan of tilapia. Can I substitute another white fish? Any suggestions?
Hi Kristen, You could substitute just about anything here, but snapper, grouper or mahi mahi would work particularly well. Salmon would be good too.
Made this tonight for a quick mid-week supper. This was so delicious and easy, too. I had to double the recipe for my big family and not one bite left! I substituted 1/8 tsp granulated garlic for the 3/4 tsp garlic powder. Served the fish with a basmati rice pilaf and some fresh steamed green beans. Thank you, Jenn, for another simple but unbelievably tasty recipe. My husband and I had forgotten how good fresh tilapia can be!
Glad you all enjoyed it, Liesel!
We loved your recipe. It was quick and easy and I already had everything in my cupboard. Both my two and five year old enjoyed a large portion each. They especially enjoyed squeezing the lime wedges and we all talked about how the juice enhanced the flavor. Thanks for the wonderful and easy recipe.
You’re welcome, Sofia. Glad to know it is kid-friendly!
This recipe was wonderful! I had to use packaged, frozen salmon on hand (which I thawed — salmon is one of our emergency staples) and luckily the fillets were really thin, so they were similar to tilapia in size. The rub was delish!!! It wasn’t overly spicy, so the spice level was perfect. My husband raved and asked me to add it to my recipe collection. Yay!! Thanks again, Jenn, for another winning recipe!
I will most definitely be trying this one!
Thanks.
Teresa
Looks fantastic ~ especially because I don’t have to change anything to make it gluten free! Thanks so much.
Hi Jennifer – I am definitely going to try this recipe.
One of our New Year’s Resolutions is to eat healthier and that includes more fish.
Problem is, my husband firmly BELIEVES that he HATES Tilapia – and I have to agree that most restaurants do a lousy job with it . Still I’ve been afraid to try making it at home because I don’t want him to think I’m making something he doesn’t like just to be mean!
This recipe sounds perfect for a secret test run to see if I can “trick” him into changing his mind. Right now our repertoire is limited to and by his pricey favorites: FRESH Alaskan Halibut, Tuna, Swordfish and Salmon… If this recipe works with him – I’ll feel emboldened and liberated!
Oh and I been meaning to tell you that one of my (OUR) favorite and regular recipes is one of yours from last year:
“Golden Roasted Cauliflower with Pecorino Romano Cheese” (Feb 19)
My Honey/Hubby went from being a confirmed cauliflower hater to sometimes actually preferring this recipe to Mac & Cheese! And THAT is really something!
Thank Jennifer and Happy New Year!
I’ll let you know how Project Tilapia goes!
Hi Jesselyn, Nice to hear from you! I agree with you both — most restaurants do a lousy job with tilapia. It really needs the right preparation to be as good as those pricier options. This would definitely be a good one to try but you might try another recipe on my site first — the Crispy Tilapia Fingers with Lemon-Garlic Mayo — then graduate to this one. Good luck!
hi jenn,
i tried the tilapia fingers with garlic-lemon mayo during christmas eve. it was perfect! those who arent fish lovers become one! no joke. the mayo was so perfect too. but i added 2 more choices of sauce – ready made thai sweet chili and soy-vinegar sauce made from scratch.
thanks for this recipe.
happy new year!
Now that’s a simple and delicious AND quick dinner!
Happy New YEar to you!