Oven Baked Blackened Tilapia

Tilapia is quite the affordable fish! But you can make it taste like a million bucks with the right ingredients. Just wait until you’ve made yourself some delightful Oven Baked Blackened Tilapia! 

This Blackened Tilapia recipe will give you tasty and flaky tilapia fillets good for three persons. You can eat this with wild rice or quinoa, and even top it on salads. Try to squeeze some lemon on top to give it that fresh taste.

A Quick and Easy Baked Tilapia

One of the best things about blackened tilapia is that it gets you so much flavor and savor without your having to work too hard in the kitchen. Just pick up that apron, make the rub, and get ready to bake! But what exactly is in the rub that makes something as simple as tilapia fillet so delectable? We’ve got a fine mix of powder seasonings and flakes to give your fish a bit of a kick and just enough smoky saltiness.

Ingredients in Oven Baked Blackened Tilapia

If your pantry at home is stacked with seasonings and spices, there is a big chance that you’ve already got everything you need for this Oven Baked Blackened Tilapia aside from, of course, that scrumptious fish. Take a look at our ingredient list for today!

• Tilapia fillets – Fillet really is the convenient choice for this kind of dish as it gets those pesky fish bones out of the way when we eat. And if you’re cooking for kids, this really might be the best option to make sure that you don’t end up with accidents while eating.
• Cooking oil spray – The spray plays a role other than getting your fish to cook well and evenly. We need this because it gets the flavorful rub to stick better to your tilapia. And the “blackened” quality of the tilapia? Our cooking oil spray is a great help in making that come to life!
• Paprika – For a subtle pepper-y taste.
• Salt – We’re working with fish here, and so we’re going to need salt to make the protein taste a lot richer!
• Onion powder – Helps provide some sharpness to the fish.
• Ground black pepper – That simultaneous earthiness and spiciness is something we could only get with the ever popular seasoning that is ground black pepper.
• Garlic powder – Gives us a garlic-y taste that isn’t as strong adding to the savor of the dish.
• Cayenne pepper powder – Gives our tilapia a level up in terms of heat!
• Dried parsley flakes – You may taste notes of earthiness from the dried parsley flakes.

How to Make Oven Baked Blackened Tilapia

The steps to making a beautifully crispy and smoky Oven Baked Blackened Tilapia are not all that complicated. Once you’ve prepared your tilapia with the rub all over, you can simple bake this at the right temperature and for a good amount of time for a perfectly cooked fish.

1. Pat dry the tilapia fillets using a paper towel. Set aside.

2. Combine paprika, Cayenne pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, ground black pepper, and parsley flakes in a bowl. Mix well.

3. Spray cooking oil on each tilapia fillet and then rub with the paprika mixture. Turn the fillet over and rub the remaining mixture on the other side.

4. Lay an aluminum foil over a baking tray. Spray cooking oil on the foil and arrange the fillet on top. Spray some cooking oil on the tilapia fillet.

5. Preheat the oven to 400F. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until the fish is done and flaky.

What to Serve with Oven Baked Blackened Tilapia

In my opinion, wild rice would go perfectly with this tilapia dish. You could even try quinoa for more fiber as well as antioxidants. I also like to squeeze a bit of lemon on my tilapia sometimes for some refreshing sourness from the citrus. Another fitting dish would be a salad of choice. If this sounds like the way to go for you too, you can try this Easy Cucumber Salad, which has a nice dose of sweetness to complement the saltiness of the fish.

Irresistibly crunchy dishes like our Oven Baked Blackened Tilapia also often go perfectly with slightly savory stews like Batangas Bulalo. Made with perfectly soft beef and a tasty broth, bulalo is always a dish you will want on your dining table. And since our main dish is a famous viand, after all, we can’t go wrong with the side dish that’s a favorite among Pinoys– rice! But giving your white rice a bit of an upgrade with some veggies and meat never hurts. Definitely give this Bacon and Egg Fried Rice with Peas and Carrots recipe a shot too!

Got any more recipes you would like to learn? I’d love to hear your suggestions! Just leave them alongside any questions in the comments section!

How to store Oven Baked Blackened Tilapia:

For storage, you should decide whether you would want to consume your cooked fish within the next few days, or more towards the distant future. Should you be looking for just a short period of storage, refrigerating would be the way to go.

Refrigerating your cooked tilapia:

Firstly, let your Oven Baked Blackened Tilapia cool down to room temperature. It is important that you don’t store this while it is piping hot so we can avoid quicker spoilage. Keep in mind that tossing hot food in the fridge puts it at greater risk of having bacteria grow quickly. And so once we have our fish nice and cool, we should place this inside an airtight container. 

A reminder not to keep the fish out at room temperature for over two hours. The dish may also go bad if we don’t store it in the fridge by then. When your fish is in the container, you can place this in the refrigerator. You can expect your baked tilapia to be good for two to three days in the fridge.

Freezing your cooked tilapia:

Now for a longer shelf life, your best option would be to freeze your dish. You can use a freezer bag, but make sure that you have let go of all the excess air from inside. You could also opt for an airtight container. And if you have plastic wrap, you could wrap your dish in two layers of this, and then some aluminum foil. Then just put this inside the freezer.

If you used plastic wrap and aluminum foil, it would be best to keep some distance among the pieces of fish inside the freezer. This will aid in freezing them as fast as possible. And then once you have succeeded in getting them frozen, you could stack them together. 

And how about creating more recipes with our versatile, yummy hero ingredient— the famous tilapia? I have a few I would like to introduce to you, some of which are also baked. Let’s dive right in then!

More fish recipes to try

Baked Lemon Butter Tilapia

Do you prefer your tilapia with a hint of exciting sourness and lemon-y flavor? What about making the fillet smoother than ever with a satisfying, buttery taste? Should you want something that ticks all of those boxes, you are about to be really happy with this recipe of ours. Baked Lemon Butter Tilapia is made with melted butter, some garlic, chopped parsley, and of course, the rich, zesty lemon. 

Despite the fact that we don’t use a lot of ingredients for this dish, you can count on it to be very flavorful. This is because we truly mix in all of those spices— from ground black pepper to garlic— into our fish. And because this is, once again, a recipe involving baking instead of frying, it is a healthier way of having your tilapia. The lack of oil really keeps all of our nutrients more intact once it’s baked. And we get to reduce the amount of saturated fat in our meal.

Baked Parmesan Garlic Crusted Tilapia

Now what about making a dish that’s easy, speedy, but also graciously savory enough to impress a group of guests? Our Baked Parmesan Garlic Crusted Tilapia takes less than a half hour to make, and is absolutely delicious. It has a mildly salty flavor from the crust made of our parmesan cheese, garlic powder and more. 

Plus, our baking method gives us that nice, light crisp outside while making the interior of the tilapia beautifully tender. I would recommend preparing some quinoa or couscous salad to have this with if you want a side dish as well. But you could also have it alone. The flavor definitely stands nicely flying solo because it is not too overpowering, nor is it too light.    

Sweet and Sour Fish

Who doesn’t enjoy a great Sweet and Sour Fish dish? This is definitely a favorite in various cuisines, and is something you can find in many restaurants as well. That’s because the duo of dominant flavors really is irresistible, and luckily for us, it is not all too hard to recreate. For my recipe, I utilize white vinegar, tomato ketchup and white sugar to achieve that blend of sweetness and sourness.

Another advantage to this dish is that it doesn’t just work well with tilapia. You can try plenty of other types of fish to cook with that will complement our velvety orange sauce. But when it comes to sweet and sour fish that comes from Filipino establishments, dalagang bukid is a fish you will often see paired with our mix of bell peppers and carrots.

Share your thoughts about this Oven Baked Blackened Tilapia. Go ahead, and give your feedback on the comments section below!