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Quick And Easy Tilapia Recipe




You will need
Tilapia
Zesty Italian salad dressing
Olive oil
Butter
Border blend
The fish
For this recipe, as the title suggests, we're going to use 1 pound of Tilapia. That should of course be enough to feed two people, but if you have a large family or bigger appetites, just simply double or triple this amount.
I buy my fish frozen, in bulk, at Sam's Club. Typically a 3 pound package of fish will cost around $3.00-$3.50 per pound, which is actually a great price considering even Tilapia will run around $5.99 per pound in the regular grocery store. I love fish. I hate paying high prices for it. So the Sam's Club bulk frozen package is great for me. Plus, each piece of fish is individually wrapped. Use what you need and store the rest.
Marinate the fish
To marinate the fish, make sure you've thawed the pieces. Put two or three capfuls of lemon juice concentrate into the bottom of a glass bowl (or freshly squeezed if you have a lemon handy), then place the thawed Tilapia pieces into the bowl. Pour in enough zesty Italian dressing to cover the fish pieces. Let that marinate for about 30-minutes to an hour. My suggestion? Go for the hour if you have the time. You won't be sorry.
Make your Border Blend
If you follow any of my recipes, you'll notice I use a lot of my own stuff. Perhaps I'm creative. The reality is I'm really cheap. Of course, I do like to experiment as well. Whatever the case, if you've never made your own spice blend before, then here's a great one to start with. I call it Border Blend because it uses spices that are commonly found in Mexican dishes.
Find yourself an empty spice container and we'll get started. Here's what you will need:
3 tbsp. ground cumin
4 tbsp. dried cilantro
1 tbsp. onion powder
1 tbsp. salt
1 tbsp. chilies
Combine all of the ingredients into the spice container, pop the cap back on, and shake it up vigorously. Having a good sized container is important if you are going to mix the spices in the container, you want to have enough room for the spices to combine nicely.
One note as well. If you like hot (I don't) add more chilies to this. 1 tbsp. is barely noticeable. 2-3 tbsp. would really heat this up.
Note: If you use a lot of spices, and especially if you like to create your own blends, buying spices in bulk saves a ton of money as well.
Cook the fish
For this, simply put about 1/2 tbsp olive oil and 1/2 tbsp butter or margarine into a large skillet. Once the oil is hot and the butter is melted, add the Tilapia pieces, seasoned on both sides with the Border Blend into the hot pan, and cook on medium heat for about 3-5 minutes per side. When cooking fish like this I like to cook them on lower heat slowly. Fish burns really easy if you're not careful. Plus, this also lets all of the flavors dig nicely into the meat.
Just cook the fish until it's flaky and white.
Serve it all up
I served mine with a homemade rissoto rice dish and a simple vegetable side made with 1 can of French green beans, drained, 1 can of cream of mushroom soup, and about 1 tbsp. of imitation bacon bits.
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Comments
This was a long time ago! lol! great recipe, one for my cook book! thanks!
Great ideas from you and your followers! I am not really a fan of the fish -- but talapia is very versatile. I've been making a Tex-Mex version with a tequlia marinade (which must also start the cooking process). Just think margarita -- and add it to the marinade.
I am so excited about your talapia recipe. I love mexican food and talapia is a favorite of mine. I'm not the most creative cook in the kitchen, so this recipe will be tomorrow nights dinner. Can't wait! A million thanks.
This sounds good! The bacon wrapped tilapia also sounds intriguing. We love fish of all kinds and will have to give these recipes a try. Thanks!
Hmmm sounds very yummmy to me SB, hehehe there are also some tilapia in the Philippines and it originated from Africa...
Oh, yum! I have some tilapia fillets in the freezer, along with all your other ingredients. Thanks!
Tilapia is one of my favorite seafoods and that says a lot considering I barely eat any! This sounds really good, springboard, and not too hard! A plus for sure. Going to bookmark it!
Another awesome recipe you whipped up here...I bet your one awesome cook! Thanks for sharing...
I love fish and the recipe sounds good so I will try it. Good hub.
Mmmm, I love fish, and your spice mixture sounds good. I'll try it.
Springboard...Precook the bacon just before it crisps, then wrap the fish and hold with toothpicks...otherwise you will end up over-baking the fish while waiting for the bacon to crisp...oven at 375 about 10 min...turn, and another 5 min...
I'm looking forward to trying your scrumptious recipe Friday...Now, back to watching Tiger come from behind at the Masters...Thanks, Larry
I will try this recipe as soon as I can locate my stove! I am in the middle of a renovation, but it does sound delicious.
Awesome hub great recipe I love Tilapia.
Have to admit fish is not my favorite dish but your recipe sounds delish.
Great Hub and great recipe....I usually just wrap tilapia in bacon with lemon pepper and bake in an oven till the bacon is crisp...I'm trying this one next friday ( our fish night )...Thanks for this...Larry
Spring, Looks good I just never could get too excited about tilapia,,
Thanks
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