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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Great and fast recipe and it was delicious! My family really liked it.
It is incredible that just a few ingredients could make this dish taste so delicious. I did not have garlic powder so I used fresh garlic, it worked fine, but I think powder would have blended in much better with the taste of the other spices for this dish. I usually leave out sugar for most recipes, but it is a must for this dish. Once the sugar caramelized and fused with the spices, OMG the taste is incredible.
Absolutely love this recipe! It is my go-to recipe for tilapia. I have served this dish several times when we’ve had guests and it is always a hit. Even my son, who is picky about spices, enjoys this dish! I have yet to find a recipe of Jenn’s that we haven’t liked! Even so, this is definitely one of our favorites!
Made this and then broke it up to put in tacos with cabbage and avocado dressing. Delish!
Loved this quick, easy, delicious recipe! It will be a staple for sure. Thank you!!
My husband was not happy about having fish for dinner but he had seconds. It was delicious. I was scared of the cayenne pepper but Jen said not to be and I’m glad I listened. I served it with Jen’s Mexican rice.
In case anyone wants to know how this turns out on Mahi it’s very good. I had the skin taken off so I could season both sides. My husband and I did agree that it’s better on tilapia. I think because mahi is thicker the seasoning to fish ratio is better on the talapia (and the mahi has to be cooked longer) but my MIL loves mahi and she thought it was great. Hope this helps those who asked.
Soo quick and easy. If you need dinner in 10 minutes, this is it!
Great flavor & very easy! Talipia never tasted so good!
This spice mix is perfect as written. I’ve made it twice in 2 weeks. The 2nd time we used the blackened tilapia for fish tacos. I made your chipotle sauce to top the tacos. So delicious & fresh. Both times, I served your Mexican rice as the side. Thanks again, Jenn!
I use this recipe for my fish tacos. It’s so good!