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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I made this tonight for dinner in a cast iron skillet. It was excellent! Perfect recipe. Thank you!
Jen do you think I could do them in the barbecue? If yes should I use the cedar as the recipe for the salmon? Thank you
PS: I looove your recipes. I have both books and seriously I just cook recipes from you no matter what I do is a success!!!!
So glad you like the recipes! yes, I think this would work nicely on a cedar plank on the grill. I’d love to hear how it turns out if you try it!
This was really a good recipe. Not only did it taste good, my whole house smelled great as well! Thanks for the recipe, it’s a keeper for other fish as well. Take care.
I’m not a big fan of fish but I’m trying to eat healthier and decided to try something different. This recipe was a great decision and I’m happy I found it! Easy to follow and very helpful
Can this be baked? My fish always sticks and falls apart on the stove.
Sure, Gladys, that’s fine – enjoy!
Hi Jenn – I have made this a hundred times and I love it. I have a question though: In a recipe like this one, what is the rationale for starting with olive oil as opposed to unsalted butter? I defer to the expert chef!
Hi Chad, glad you like it! When I developed the recipe, I think I went with the olive oil just to make it a bit healthier, but feel free to use butter if you’d prefer.
So I tried this recipe with tilapia (which I usually find to be flavourless and boring) and ZING! This recipe was the exact ka-pow that it needed! I definitely saved this to my favourites and will be using this recipe again and again!! Turned out delicious, and not too spicy even with the cayenne pepper. I love it, thanks!!
Excellent and easy recipe! Thank you for a new staple in my house.
P.S my family doesn’t like spicy so I left the cayenne pepper out.
Tilapia always looks kind of sad and gray to me, but I decided to give this a try. I sort of reluctantly took my package from the fish monger and headed home with my pathetic dinner. HUGE hit! So cheap, easy, fast, and delicious! Truly a revelation. Thanks, Jenn! 🙂
Easy and Delicious. My favorite for blackened fish. Thank you!