Crispy, pan fried tilapia are extremely flavorful, tasty and light. A family favorite, kid friendly quick recipe for those busy weeknight dinners.
Tilapia fillets with crispy, salty skin and flaky flesh is a pleasure to have on your dinner table. With a side of rice or vegetables, dinner is ready in no time.
This tilapia recipe along with the simple baked salmon are two of our family favorite fish recipes.
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❤️ Why You'll Love It
- Very easy tilapia recipe qualifies to be called a "no recipe" kind of recipe.
- Tilapia is a tasty fish with a mild flavor suitable for the whole family.
- Foolproof and a very forgiving recipe.
- 5 minutes of prep time, and in less than 30 minutes, dinner is ready. pan frying makes it healthier than deep frying.
- This recipe can be used for whole fish, too.
This is a kid-friendly recipe that helps me feed my family more fish. If eating more fish is one of your goals, you are in the right place. I was brought up on this recipe, and I've made it countless times, so it's pretty much tested for more than half a century.
📝 Recipe Ingredients
- Tilapia fillets, you can also use whole tilapia in this recipe.
- Garlic.
- Salt and cumin for spices. Some people also use ground black pepper
- Flour.
- Lemon Juice.
- Oil for frying.
🥄 Instructions
Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.
- In a deep bowl, combine marinade ingredients, garlic, salt, cumin, lemon juice and oil.
- Mix the marinade well and adjust it to your taste.
- Add tilapia fillets and coat well, cover, and marinate for 30 minutes.
- In a non-stick pan over medium-high heat, heat oil to cover half the fillet. Dredge fish on both sides with flour and shake the excess flour off.
- Pan-fry each fillet on each side until it reaches the desired color. Usually, this takes about 5-6 minutes for the first side and less when you flip it. Serve garnished with lemon slices and parsley.
💡 Tips
- Do not use bottled lemon juice. Always use fresh lemon juice.
- Cumin adds much flavor to this recipe so do not skip it.
- Place flour in a large shallow dish for easy dipping.
💬 Recipe FAQs
It is common for me to serve tilapia fillets with browned rice, fries and big bowl of green salad. A simple salad of greens, cucumber, tomatoes and red onion is a must for my kids with this type of fish.
Fish are considered one of the healthiest foods on earth. Tilapia is a lean source of protein and provides lots of vitamins, minerals and rich in B12. Source. Concerns have been raised about farmed tilapia in China. I sometimes, can get a hold of wild caught tilapia and almost always find farmed tilapia from trusted locations such as USA and Canada. So just to be safe consuming tilapia, it is better to avoid the brands farmed in China.
I like using neutral oils such as vegetables and canola when frying tilapia. If you prefer to use olive oil then go for the light olive oil and not extra virgin.
👩🍳 Variations
- Add some shakes of old bay seasoning or Italian seasoning to the flour for a different flavor.
- For a more kid-friendly fried tilapia, my aunt makes tilapia this way for her grandchildren. I've tried this recipe and it was well received by my kids. Anyways, she makes them exactly like fried chicken. meaning flour, eggs then bread crumbs.
- For an oven baked tilapia, I skipped breading and brushed each side with light olive oil. Bake for 15 minutes turning once in between.
- For pan seared fried tilapia, heat 2 Tablespoons of oil in a skillet and fry fish for 3-4 minutes each side on medium-low. Watch out as fish can burn easily.
- For a low carb/ keto option, coat with almond flour generously. Heat two tablespoons of butter and fry on medium on both sides. Also watch out for the fish to burn. Do not skip dipping in eggs as this will cause the coat to fall off as you can see in the third photo below.
So, which pan fried tilapia recipe is the best? It depends greatly on your preference. My husband likes the almond flour and the oven-baked. I liked the traditional and the pan seared more. So you see, it is really a matter of personal preferences.
Serve with
- Serve fried fish with a squeeze of lemon juice and white rice. Try this recipe for Instant Pot Basmati Rice.
- We also love serving tilapia with some bread, especially Lebanese Pita Bread or Whole Wheat Pita Bread.
- Tahini sauce and Baba Ghanouj are two of the most loved sides to fish.
Storage
Refrigerate- leftover tilapia can be placed in an airtight container and refrigerated for 3-4 days.
Reheat - in a 300F oven or an air fryer until thoroughly heated and to crisp up the skin again.
📣 More Recipes From the Blog
- Easy baked fish fillet with a delicious creamy sauce.
- Here is one of the best recipes for sea bass with a stunning, flavorful vegetable mix.
- Fried calamari rings is the best seafood appetizer.
- Air Fryer Salmon recipe with a wonderful Middle Eastern spice mix will be your next favorite.
If you love this recipe, please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating! Thank you.
Pan Fried Tilapia
Ingredients
- 1 pounds tilapia fillets
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 3 Large garlic cloves 2-3 teaspoons minced garlic.
- 2 Tablespoons lemon or lime juice freshly squeezed
- ¾ - 1 cup all purpose flour seasoned with more salt, black pepper and a dash of cumin powder
- Oil for frying
Instructions
- In a deep bowl add garlic, oil, lemon juice , cumin and salt. Mix well.
- Add fish fillets and toss to cover with marinade.
- Cover and let it set for 30 minutes.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, fill the skillet with almost 1 inch frying oil.
- Bread the fish both sides with flour mixture and shake excess flour off.
- Fry fillets in oil 5-8 minutes per side until golden brown or to your liking. Note1
- Take them out on paper towel.
- Serve garnished with lemon wedges.
Video
Notes
- Note1: Here are some other ways to fry/cook the tilapia, the one stated above is our favorite though.
- 1- Dip tilapia in flour then a beaten egg then bread crumbs and fry, it is still tastes very delicious especially for little kiddos who do not like fish as this way it makes it more like breaded chicken.
- 2- You can shallow fry the fish if you do not like deep frying. Just heat 2 Tablespoons of oil in a skillet and fry fish for 3-4 minutes each side on medium-low. Watch out as fish can burn easily.
- 3- Skip the breeding altogether and brush each side with olive oil then broil for 15 minutes turning once in between.
- 4- Low carb recipe: Dip tilapia in a beaten egg then coat with almond flour generously. Heat two tablespoons of butter and fry on medium on both sides.
- You can use garlic powder although fresh garlic gives more flavor.
- Some people use onion powder as well.
- This recipe works great with any flaky white fish.
- Serve with: rice, lemon wedges, tartar sauce or hot sauce.
Nutrition
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Diana Thompson
I tried the chickpea salad and now hooked on it my family has some issues with gluten and it’s perfect for that.
Amira
Thank you Diana for your feedback, glad you liked it.
Sarah
Can I use avocado oil or coconut oil for frying ?
Amira
Sarah, I think avocado oil will be better, coconut oil might change the taste unless you like it of course.
Rachel
Just made this for Iftar, was so delicious and easy!
Amira
Rachel, thank you so much for your feedback.. this is awesome!
John @ Kitchen Riffs
Love cooking fish this way! Easy, quick, and really tasty. This looks terrific -- thanks.