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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Comments
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Wow! Just made this and it is delicious! Followed recipe exactly. Thank you, Jenn. Even my husband who doesn’t like fish, loved it!
Delicious! I’ve made blackened recipes before but YOUR recipe for blackening spices is the BEST! It has a balanced spice mix with a hint of sweetness. This recipe is a home run by itself but coupled with the Cheddar Bay Biscuits is a super hitter. Hubby loved it.
We made blackened Mahi Mahi sandwiches with Jen’s Cabbage Slaw and Chipotle Sauce from her Baja Fish Taco recipe on toasted hamburger buns from our local bakery. It was a 10 out of 5 stars. Jen, you make mealtime fun, yummy, and foolproof. You’re the only food blogger we follow. Thank you for being you and doing what you do with passion and excellence. We appreciate you!
💕
Hi Jenn,
Can this be baked instead of pan fried?
Hi Johanna, if you want to prepare this in the oven, I’d suggest broiling it. I’d coat the fish with a little bit of oil (so that they blacken a bit more) and broil for 5 – 10 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillets. Enjoy!
Thank you 😊
I havent made this yet, but I have a question. I bet it will taste good if I follow your recipe! Do you use frozen or fresh halibut? For some reason, I strongly detect the fishy taste in halibut, but I wish I didnt! This is when using frozen boneless fillets. I’ve tried soaking in milk to have the fishy taste bind to proteins in the milk (then rinse it away), but wish it was easier. What do you do, Jenn? Thanks!
Hi Christine, This recipe calls for tilapia. Are you saying that you’d like to substitute halibut?
Hi Jenn
I would like to make this with halibut. Do you think I need to make any changes to the recipe? Thanks Jenn!
Hi Cindy, it should work with no changes. You’ll know it’s done when it’s slightly flaky. Enjoy!
This was the ABSOLUTE BEST tilapia I have ever eaten. It was so quick, easy, and so flavorful! I had to leave a comment so that others could see that it is SO worth trying. I as considering cooking these looms in a cast iron but didn’t want to clean it, so I ultimately decided on a non stick pan and I was so surprised at how they seared and blacked perfectly in minutes! Soft and flaky and the flavor was unmatched. I wrapped them in aluminum foil to let them rest and we ate 20 minutes later. I paired it with white rice, a broccoli & carrots mix, coleslaw and roasted purple sweet potatoes. this is going to be a weekly meal in our house from now on! I promise you will not be let down!
This is soooo good!!! A definite go-to recipe……
I use a lot of recipes online and I rarely comment on them, but this was really really good. I have bookmarked this for the future.
Made this tonight and followed recipe exactly. I loved it. I was a bit concerned about the cumin as I don’t usually use it in blackened seasoning but the flavors all together were great. Couldn’t taste the cayenne at all if your worried about it being spicy. Have added it to my favorite recipes. Served it with Jasmine rice and steamed broccoli. Husband and son said they would ask for it again.