Tortilla Crusted Tilapia
on Feb 04, 2022, Updated Aug 07, 2024
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A salty, flaky crunchy coating and a slightly spicy, creamy sauce turns fish filets into a family-friendly dinner.
I rarely make promises about fish recipes, because I know that if someone is fish-resistant (especially a kid), there are no guarantees in life, or at dinner. But if I were going to go out on a limb for a fish dish in terms of money back offers, I might pick this pan-fried tortilla crusted tilapia recipe
Rarely, RARELY, have I experienced such immediate success with a fish dish in my house than this Tortilla Crusted Tilapia served with sriracha sauce. Seconds were requested. It was requested for later that week. This is such a good example of how when you match a food that kids like (e.g., tortilla chips) with a food that needs a bit of support (e.g., fish), sometimes brilliant things happen.
Tortilla-Crusted Tilapia: A salty, flaky crunchy coating and a slightly spicy, creamy sauce turns fish filets into a family friendly dinner.
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Tortilla Chip Crust
Panko crumbs are usually my go-to for crusting up things like chicken breasts, fish, or pork chops. But the birth of this dish was just a bag of tortilla chips that had been pummeled a bit, and held more broken bits than whole chips. I decided to keep going and pulverize all of them in the food processor. And then I decided to use them to coat filets of tilapia, which is very readily available — make sure to look for fish that is farmed sustainably. And then I served it up with Sriracha Mayo and the case of the fish dish that everyone loves was closed.
What to Serve With Tortilla-Crusted Tilapia:
The Sriracha sauce is divine, but this would also be fantastic with Tropical Fruit Salsa, Peach and Roasted Pepper Salsa, Citrusy Mango Ginger Salsa, or Horseradish Sauce.
More Fish Recipes
- Fried Fish Sandwich
- New England Baked Haddock
- Blackened Swordfish
- 5-Ingredient Honey Ginger Salmon
- Greek Fish Tacos
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Tortilla Crusted Tilapia
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 bag tortilla chips
- 4 (8-ounce) pieces tilapia
- 4 tablespoons vegetable oil (olive oil or canola oil)
- 4 large eggs
- Freshly ground pepper (to taste)
- Sriracha Mayo
Instructions
- Place the chips in a food processor and pulse until they are finely crushed but not ground to a powder. You still want a bit of texture. You can also place them in a large sturdy zipper top bag and use either a rolling pin, a bottle of wine, or some other heavy, blunt item to gently whack away at the bag until the tortillas are well crushed. Cut each fillet down the middle (you will see a dividing line).
- Heat half the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. In a wide shallow bowl, beat the eggs with the pepper. In another wide shallow bowl, place the tortilla crumbs.
- Dredge each filet, starting with the larger, thicker halves, in the egg mixture, making sure each piece is completely coated. Then dredge in the tortilla crumbs, making sure each piece is well coated. When the oil is hot, add the filets, and cook for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, until the outside is golden brown and the fish is cooked throughout, adjusting the heat as necessary. Transfer them to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Heat the remaining oil and cook the smaller fillets, which will probably only take 5 minutes per side at most. Drain those on paper towels as well.
- Serve hot with the Sriracha Sauce.
I made this last night and it was a big hit with hubby and daughter! It will definitely become one of the regulars in my rotation.
So nice to hear. It will be on the menu in our house this week– we have several half bags of tortillas left over from last night’s superbowl festival!
I did something very similar to this recently using cod. I added guacamole and coleslaw for kind of a deconstructed fish taco. It’s one of my favorite meals recently.
that sounds awesome!