This easy spicy lemon garlic baked tilapia is one of the best tilapia recipes you can make at home. It takes all of 5 minutes of preparation time before you pop it in the oven. Pair it with sautéed vegetables and steamed rice for a hearty meal.
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About This Recipe
This Lemon Garlic Baked Tilapia is not even a recipe. You just have to mix a handful of ingredients in a bowl, pour them over the fish fillets, pop the tray in the oven and a healthy dinner is ready.
Yes, that easy 🙂
Also if you don’t have access to Tilapia, feel free to use any other white fish.
It’s mostly about the marinade guys. I like to use Tilapia because it’s not super expensive, does not taste super fishy and I get frozen fillets easily where I live. We loved this dish at home so much that I am going to do it a couple of times this week.
This Lemon Garlic Baked Tilapia is a delicious recipe and is one of the many Oven Baked Tilapia Recipes that you can do in your kitchen. Here are some pointers that you should know before starting to make this dish.
What is Tilapia?
“Tilapia are mainly freshwater fish inhabiting shallow streams, ponds, rivers and lakes and less commonly found living in brackish waters.
Historically, they have been of major importance in artisanal fishing in Africa, and they are of increasing importance in aquaculture and aquaponics.
Tilapia can become a problematic invasive species in new warm-water habitats such as Australia, whether deliberately or accidentally introduced, but generally not in temperate climates due to their inability to survive in cold water.
Tilapia is the fourth most consumed fish in the United States dating back to 2002.
The popularity of tilapia came about due to its low price, easy preparation, and its mild taste.” – Wikipedia
Ingredients
Step By Step Recipe
Line the fillets on a baking tray.
Add the ingredients for marinade in a bowl and mix well.
Drizzle the marinade over the Tilapia fillets.
Bake for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) in a preheated oven.
Frequently Asked Questions
The fillets of Tilapia may vary in size and hence baking time slightly varies for everyone.
I bake the fish until the flesh turns white and flaky, which happens usually between 15-20 minutes at 180 degrees C (350 F).
If you have a candy thermometer, you can check the temperature of the inside of the fish and it should be 62 degrees C or 145 degrees F.
Do check your fish filets after 15 minutes and if the flesh doesn’t look white and flaky, keep it in the oven for some more time.
Do not over bake the fish otherwise, it will become too dry and chewy.
This is a great recipe for BBQ. You can wrap the fillets individually in foil with some sauce on top and pop the foil packets in the BBQ for 15-20 minutes.
Flip it once midway to make sure the fish is cooked from all the sides. If you are going outdoors for BBQ, these packets are very easy to carry along.
Although I would recommend having it just out of the oven, reheating it is definitely an option.
Just pop the bowl in the microwave for a minute or pop the tray back in the oven for 5 minutes at 200 degrees F for reheating the fish.
Butter gives a very delicious taste to this dish but if you are on a healthy regime, you can very well replace it with olive oil.
The taste will be very different but I can assure you it will be delicious.
Serving Suggestions
You can serve this baked tilapia with some boiled white rice or any other grain like quinoa, couscous, etc.
I also like to serve some sautéed vegetables along with it to make it a fulsome meal.
You can also make Tacos using this Baked Tilapia Fillet Recipe.
Pro Tips by Neha
Make sure to dry the fillets after washing them. You can dab them with a kitchen towel to take out the extra water.
Do not overcook the fillets. they will turn a little chewy if overcooked.
You can try swapping the butter with coconut oil, olive oil, etc.
This recipe can be made with chicken as well.
Increase or decrease the amount of red chilli powder to suit your taste. You can totally skip it too if not fond of spicy food.
You can swap tilapia with any white fish to make this recipe.
If you don’t like spicy, you can replace chilli powder with paprika.
You can use lime juice instead of lemon juice if you like it tangier.
Variations
Mexican Style – To make Mexican Style Tilapia, arrange the fillets on a baking tray.
In a pan over stovetop, heat olive oil. Add sliced onion and chopped garlic and fry for 3-4 minutes.
Add sliced tomatoes and cook for another minute. Now add salt, red chilli powder, and black pepper.
Add olives and capers and some brine from the capers. Spread this mixture over the fish fillets and bake until fish is cooked.
Parmesan Crusted – I have a detailed recipe to make Parmesan Crusted Tilapia here. Do check it out.
Some other tilapia recipes that you might like are Pan Fried Tilapia, Roasted Tilapia with Mustard Sauce, Blackened Cajun Tilapia.
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Recipe Card
Lemon Garlic Baked Tilapia Recipe
Ingredients
- 4-6 Tilapia Fillets
- 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
- 3 tbsp Butter (Melted)
- 1 tsp Garlic (Minced)
- ½ tsp Red Chilli Powder
- Salt to taste
- ½ tsp Black pepper (Freshly Cracked)
- 1 lemon (Cut into thin slices)
- 2 tbsp Fresh Parsley (Chopped)
Instructions
- Wash the Tilapia fillets and pat them dry.
- Arrange the fillets in a baking tray.
- Mix lemon juice, butter, garlic, red chilli powder, salt and black pepper in a bowl.
- Pour this mixture over the tilapia.
- Arrange lemon slices in between the fillets.
- Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees C (350 Degrees F).
- Bake the fish for 15-20 minutes.
- Garnish with fresh parsley.
- Serve hot.
