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.
“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 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
Ingredients
- 1½ teaspoons paprika
- 1½ teaspoons light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ¾ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 (6-oz) 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 to 3 minutes on each side until reddish-brown on the outside and flaky on the inside. Serve immediately with lime wedges.
Nutrition Information
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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My family requests this recipe at least every other week. I have served this fish with the Grilled Shrimp Tacos with Avocado Salsa for guests. The meal has received rave reviews every time. Thank you for another wonderfully tasty and easy recipe.
Quick and easy weeknight dinner! Made with rice and a green salad, the only fish my kid’s will eat!
I love fish so thanks for the quick and easy recipe for a weeknight meal! Flavors are great and this fish recipe is good in fish tacos.
Hi Jennifer – I love all your recipes and I like the new website. Can you tell me if there’s a way to tell on the website if a recipe I’m interested in is in the book?
Hi Debbie, So glad you like the new site! Yes, there is a way – there is a “cookbook recipe” stamp on the cookbook recipes. It is in the bottom left corner of the main photo (see my Peruvian chicken to see what I mean).
THIS was AMAZING!!! I added a littlse season salt because I like it a little saltier and cooked it in a iron skillet! It was the BEST and I am NOT a fish lover!!! HIGHLY recommend!
I love this seasoning. I use it all the time and it’s extremely flavorful! I use a little less cayenne pepper because I don’t like spiciness, and will sometimes use lemon juice afterwards as well. But for me this recipe only makes enough seasoning for two fish filets.
What is a good dessert with this dish?
Because they have a tiny bit of a kick, these would be nice with a fruity dessert, like this Key Lime Pie Ice Cream or these Strawberry Shortcakes. Hope that helps!
I’ve made this tilapia for dinner a couple of times over the past few months. It’s incredibly delicious and quick to prepare. This has become a go to recipe for blackened tilapia.
The genius of this recipe is its simplicity and perfect compliment of spices that turns an inexpensive dish into something you would certainly have again. Thank you for this recipe.
This recipe makes the most delicious tilapia you will ever taste! I followed the recipe exactly as written and the flavor was outstanding!!