Name: Lemon Garlic Tilapia
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 4 tilapia filets; Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste); ¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter; 2 tablespoon finely grated Parmesan; 2 teaspoons minced garlic; ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes; 1 lemon ((zested and juiced)); Chopped fresh parsley

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Baked Tilapia

When you get your hands on a super simple fish recipe, a recipe that is essentially foolproof, that’s cause for happiness. It’s also cause for a fish dinner, any night of the week.

Lemon Butter Sauce for Tilapia

The butter sauce cooks along with the fish resulting in a browned butter sauce that is fragrant with garlic and brightened by the lemon juice and lemon zest. If you like a spicier sauce, add a bit more red pepper flakes. Make sure to serve some nice crusty bread with the fish to sop up all of the delicious sauce. Or serve the fish with its sauce over rice or another starch or grain like polenta or grits so that not a drop gets wasted.

Lemon Garlic Tilapia: This is the simplest baked fish recipe with a butter sauce that is bright with garlic, lemon juice and lemon zest.
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What Is Tilapia?

Tilapia is a very firm, mild-tasting white fish. There are several species available, and Seafood Watch (the respected seafood sustainability agency run by the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California) has information about which are the most healthful and least impactful on the environment.

They say that Blue Tilapia (also known as Izumidai or Saint Peter Fish) from Peru is the most sustainable. Hybrid Red Tilapia from Ecuador is also a best choice, as is Mozambique tilapia from various sources. If you want to dig deeper and find out where the most eco-friendly tilapia is from, and what the best farming methods for tilapia are, click here.

Lemon Garlic Tilapia topped with fresh parsley

Substitutions for Tilapia

You can make this with any firm, flaky fish filet, such as catfish, red bream, flounder, red snapper, branzino, trout, and striped bass. Frankly, this recipe is so straightforward that other fish not all that close to tilapia would also be great; it’s really about baking the fish in a lemon garlic butter, which, as far as I know, is a perfect companion to any fish or shellfish on the planet. Try salmon or perhaps a swordfish steak.

How to Bake Tilapia

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Season tilapia with salt and pepper and place in a shallow baking pan in a single layer.

In the microwave or a small pot, melt the butter until it turns a light golden brown. In the same small bowl or pot, mix together the melted butter, garlic, red pepper flakes, lemon juice, and zest, then pour over the fish.

Pouring lemon garlic sauce over tilapia fillets

Bake the tilapia for 10 to 12 minutes or until the fish is cooked through. You can tell that it’s cooked through when it is opaque and flaky.

Sprinkle with the parsley and serve hot.

Sprinkling parsley over Lemon Garlic Tilapia

What to Serve With Baked Tilapia

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