This Pan Seared Tilapia is a super easy 25-minute dinner that is perfect for busy moms like me. The fish is lightly crusty on the inside and flaky on the inside. Serve this with my Mango Avocado Salsa and you will be in heaven!
I am totally having fun with looking for meal ideas that I can execute in about 30 minutes! As a busy mama, it is my goal to make family-friendly meals that do that require hours and hours of cooking!
So this Pan Seared Tilapia is right up my alley! You do not need to coat the tilapia in flour before frying and you only need a few easy healthy ingredients.
How to Make Pan Seared Tilapia
All you need is some fillets (they should be completely defrosted), garlic powder, basil, paprika, black pepper, salt, and olive oil. This combination of seasoning makes the fish taste so good!
I always keep a lot of dry ingredients at home and you totally should do the same. They make life so easy!
Step 1. Rub the spices all over the fish. Be sure that the spices get to every nook and cranny of the fish. There is no need to let the fish marinate first.
Step 2: Heat up some oil in a skillet. Preferably use a cast iron skillet if you have one but any other skillet will do. Once the oil is hot, place two fillets in at a time. Cook for about 4 minutes on each side. Sprinkle with some chopped parsley as a garnish if you want to be a little extra!
Also add some lime wedges on the side for squeezing over and enjoying. So good!
Two easy steps and you have insanely good Pan Seared Tilapia!
I could eat all of this fish in one sitting, I tell you. It is super flavorful. The blend of ingredients I use on them transforms boring tilapia to a restaurant quality dish.
My whole family goes crazy for this! I strongly suggest you double the recipe if cooking for 4 or more people. In the unlikely event that you have leftovers, place them into a bowl with a tight fitting lid and store in the fridge for an easy grab-and-warm lunch or dinner.
This Pan Seared Tilapia goes so well with my Mango Avocado Salsa! I enjoyed the fish and salsa with some corn chips on the side and I loved it! Serve it with some boiled rice, couscous, some fried plantains, some potato fries, break up the fish and serve in tacos or serve with any side dish you enjoy!
Hope this recipe brightens your life in the kitchen as it did to mine!
Watch How To Make Pan Seared Tilapia
Watch me making Pan Seared Tilapia in the video below. Also, SUBSCRIBE to my YouTube Channel so you do not miss any of my videos!
This Pan Seared Tilapia is a great way to cook tilapia fillets to taste really good! Trust me, you will want to double this recipe. I tested the recipe using 1 pound of fillets but my family of 2 adults and 3 kids finished 2 pounds at one go! The fish is out-of-this-world good!
- 1 pound tilapia fillets 4 fillets
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
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Place fillets on a large plate then rub the salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, dried basil and olive oil all over them.
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In a skillet (preferably cast iron) heat 1 tablespoon of oil on high heat for about 3 minutes. Turn down the heat to medium then add two fillets to the pan. Let them cook on one side for about 4 minutes then flip to the other side and let them cook for another 3-4 minutes.
Repeat the process with the remaining fillets and oil.
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Serve warm with some lime wedges on the side for squeezing over the fish as needed. I love to serve this fish with my Mango Avocado Salsa on the side! You could also break it up and use in tacos or serve with any side dish you like. Enjoy, friends!
Use completely defrosted fillets for this recipe. I defrosted my fish in the fridge for 24 hours but you can all place the fish fillets in a Ziploc bag then place in a bowl of water to quickly defrost. Defrosting the fish completely ensures that the fillets cook evenly.
This is so yummy!
Yes it is, darling.
I absolutely love all your recipes!! Keep them coming! (and THANK YOU!)
Thanks so much, Connie!
So delicious I Wii try this for family
Thank you. Please let me know how it goes.
Great pictures and most importantly, the recipe is very easy to follow.
Awww, thank you so much, Ajoke. I really appreciate your comment.
Everyone loved this recipe...even my children that don’t really like fish. I don’t need to keep looking for the perfect tilapia recipe, I found it! Thank you, and welcome to Minnesota. We live in northern Minnesota in lake country, I cannot wait to search and find other recipes to feed my family. Diane
Diane, reading this made me so happy! Thank you so much for the feedback! My family moved from MN one year ago. Minnesota is special to us because it was our first home in the United States. Hope you find other recipes you love here.
The yummiest tilapia I've ever made using this recipe and cook time. Thank you. Will be my go to from now on
This warms my heart, Suzanne. Thanks for the feedback.
This seared Tilapia is ABSOLUTELY the Best recipe ever! I don’t leave comments and I usually don’t eat fish unless it is fried. My husband fell asleep while I was cooking and he is lucky he got any! LOL. We might have it again tonight. Thank you so much!! It’s a keeper.
This makes me so happy, Anna! Thank you for taking time to let me know.
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We made this tonight using flounder. My family loved it! Thank you for this recipe.
So glad you loved it, Amy!
I found this recipe and had my teenage daughter use it for our dinner. I also made the mango salsa. Delicious! It's simple and not time consuming. Thank you and will look for more of your recipes.
So glad you loved it! Thank you for coming back to let me know. Hope you find other recipes here that you enjoy.
I'm a busy son taking care of my parents its hard work cooking meals for them and this was excellent and not hard to cook my family loves it thank you.
You are so welcome, Joshua.
Oh my stars! So easy and DELICIOUS! Thank you for this wonderful recipe... We will add this to our weekly rotation for sure!
So glad you loved it Stacey! Thank you for the feedback!
made this tonight and it was delicious!!! thanks
So glad to hear that, Fran! Thanks for the feedback!
This was just perfect. I had this as fillets and as fish tacos - tasted great. Thank you!
So glad you loved it, Lisa! Thanks for the feedback!
The recipe says to add the oil and spices to the uncooked fillets but then says to add 2 tbsp to pan to cook. So is this a total of 4 tbsp for the recipe?
Hi Jennifer, you need 2 tablespoons of oil for this recipe. You either add to the fillets or you add to the pan to cook. Thanks for pointing that out.
Thank you. It’s a yummy easy recipe!
You're welcome! Glad you loved it!
I’m 61 years old, and have never cooked a proper meal. I followed your instructions & made dinner for my daughter & myself & it came out great! Thank you, this inspires me to try other recipes. -Erik
You are so welcome, Erik. This makes me so happy!
Best tasting and quick fish recipe
Thanks for the recipe
God bless you
Thank you Latha! So glad you loved it!