Blackened Tilapia
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.
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!
You May Also Like
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
Powered by 
- 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.
See more recipes:
Comments
Add a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
To do a proper backened fish of any type, you MUST use a cast iron skillet and the spice mix is only pressed to one side.
You recipe is great – I am not debunking it – but it is not blackened by definition.
I LOVE this recipe!! I made the tilapia exactly as you suggest, and used it in fish tacos (after eating a bite or 5 of the fish). This seasoning rocks. Would love to see more easy fish recipes 🙂
I feel a bit embarassed, but what do you serve this with beside the lime wedges? Fries or mashed potatoes? Any suggestion would appreciated. Thank you.
I like to serve this with roasted sweet potatoes, but roasted potatoes or buttered rice would also work well. And any simply prepared vegetable would be good too…check out my recipes for roasted carrots or garlicky roasted broccoli.
A delicious go-to dinner! I’ve made this dish numerous times and shared it with many friends and family who also give it rave reviews. If you are sensitive to heat you can leave out the cayenne or just use less. So good…a must try!
We loved the tilapia recipe. My kids don’t like a lot of spice so I used 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper instead of 1/4 and it was just as good with a little less”spice” for them
We use this spice combination on tilapia, haddock, flounder and halibut. It makes any fish taste delicious! I sometimes bake the fish in parchment paper in the oven to avoid using oil. It’s still moist and delicious!!
Loved this recipe. Have used it with shrimp as well.
It was the first receipe I tried from you and got me to follow you and “Like” you on Facebook.
Love this recipe. It even got a non fish eater to eat fish.
I have cooked this recipe for my family three times since I discovered it on your site. I reduce the cayenne pepper to 1/8 of a tsp, as I am cooking for young children. After seasoning with the spice blend, I use a light dusting of a seafood breading mix. My family loves this dish.
Another fantastic dish!! I have gone from not cooking at all to cooking 5 nights a week, and everything is from your blog!