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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Awesome recipe! My family loved it 🙂
These were delicious !! And SO easy to make! Ill definitely be making again! Im not a big fan of cumin so I only used half the amount, but everything else I did as said and they turned out great !
Very good fish. I also use this mixture on chicken and shrimp. Great on anything!
This was delicious!! Will definitely make again. I may decrease the cayenne to 1/8 tsp. for my 6 year old, who said it was too spicy (I ate her piece!) I even made a 2nd piece for my husband who came home late, knowing he would love it too – and he did!
This is great! I had a salt free Cajun spice rub on hand so I used that, but the cooking method was just what I was looking for. This recipe is quick and easy and will become part of my routine.
Absolute winner! I wanted something very different from Old Bay seasoning for tilapia and finding this recipe was incredible! The aroma was insane, the fish turned out great, and the splash of lemon took it to a whole new level! I can still smell the spices…long after dinner. Highly recommend trying this recipe!!
Quick & easy. You could have dinner on the table in 30 minutes including side dishes. A fish hater had the fish tonight and really liked it and asked me to make it again. Winner! I served it with balsamic roasted beets, green garden salad, and rice pilaf.
How many tilapia fillets–and how many ounces per serving?
Hi Linda, The recipe calls for four 6-ounce fillets, so one fillet per serving.
We loved it. Thanks for a great recipe. I changed nothing on it. And it turned out great. Made the seasoning in the morning and a salad. And it made a quick meal at dinner time.
The Cajun spice rub from the blackened Tilapia is a definite winner, better than offered by Penzys.
The proof is my wife who is one of the world’s most picky eater where fish is concerned ate her entire serving.
Thank you Jennifer! We plan to eat more fish because we loved the rub so much! Everything I’ve tried from your website has been delicious.