The great African oven grilled tilapia! Moist, spicy, with awesome flavors, this oven grilled fish is so tasty!

Read on to learn my technique for ensuring that seasoning gets right to the bone of the fish; Plus my insanely good technique for ensuring that the fish remains moist after cooking.

Grilled fish is a West African delicacy. On the roadside in my country, Cameroon, you can often spot women, mostly at night, laying mackerel fish on rustic grills.

As they dip their basting brushes into spice-filled bowls and brush spices over the fish, the smoke from the coal beneath the fish makes its way past the fish into the air.

It is a pure delight to inhale the smoky spicy aroma of the fish. It is even better when you get a chance to munch on one. Pure epicness! This oven grilled tilapia reminds me of the roadside grilled fish experience in my country.

The best part is that all of this can be made in your oven! And I make a really tasty green sauce to go with it.

You can purchase whole tilapia from Asian or African stores. Africans love whole fish!

It is so easy to grill fish in your oven, and it turns out dry, so chewy, and so undesirable. Been there, done that.

So to ensure that the fish doesn’t dry out, I first cover the fish with foil and let it cook, then I take off the foil and broil the fish to give it some color. You can watch the video to see how I do this.

Some Tips for Making Perfect Oven Grilled Tilapia

• Use fresh herbs and spices for best flavor, but if you are short on time, use dry spices like garlic powder, lemon pepper, and old bay seasoning, and herbs mixed with olive oil.
• If you are using a gas oven, rotate your tray while broiling because gas ovens heat unevenly and will cause some portions of the fish to burn while other parts don’t gain any color.
• For a great tasting fish, marinate the fish and keep covered in an airtight container the fridge to absorb all the flavors overnight. You can then take it out and proceed with grilling the next day.
• Squeeze fresh lemon juice over the fish before serving for freshness.
• Serve with creamy lemon sauce or this African pepper sauce.
• To ensure the fish is done, insert an instant-read thermometer into the thickest part of the fish. It should register 145°F to be considered done.
• Don’t have whole fish? Feel free to use any white fish fillets or tilapia fillets and cook them in a baking dish.

Watch how to make oven grilled tilapia:

Read this post to learn more about grilling fish: 3 awesome ways to grill fish.

Serving

Hope you enjoy this oven grilled tilapia recipe! Serve it with:

• Grilled Plantains
• Mango Avocado Salsa
• Cucumber Tomato and Onion Salad
• Lettuce Salad
• Sweet Fried Plantains

More Grilled Fish Recipes

• Grilled Whole Red Snapper (Oven Grilled)
• Pan Grilled Salmon
• Grilled Sockeye Salmon
• Cameroonian Roasted Fish

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