• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
101 Cooking For Two
  • 👨‍🍳RECIPES
  • 📋About
  • ❓FAQs/Help
  • 🛒Shop
  • 📮Subscribe
menu icon
go to homepage
  • 👨‍🍳RECIPES
  • 📋About
  • ❓FAQs/Help
  • 🛒Shop
  • 📮Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Pinterest
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • 👨‍🍳RECIPES
    • 📋About
    • ❓FAQs/Help
    • 🛒Shop
    • 📮Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Pinterest
  • ×

    🏠Home » Recipes » Fish Recipes

    Grilled Lemon Butter Tilapia

    Aug 8, 2019 | Last Updated Jul 8, 2021 by Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan

    Recipe Table of Contents    
    4.16 from 50 votes

    Bursting with great flavor, this grilled lemon butter tilapia is flaky and tender. Just follow these easy step by step photo instructions for a great meal.

    grilled lemon butter tilapia

    Table of Contents
    • 🐟Tilapia
    • ♨️The Grill
    • 📖Tilapia Recipes
    • 🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
    • 📖Recipe
    • 💬 Comments

    Blue ribbon divider used for visual effect

    Introduction

    Oh so simple and way up there on the health-o-meter, the taste-o-meter, and the I-really-should-do-this-more-o-meter. This is destined to by one of your go-to recipes.

    There is something classic about any fish with butter, lemon, and garlic. It is just what I would say is the traditional taste. Let's do that on a grill to add a little char, and you have a wonderful healthy main dish.

    My Rating

    My rating system. Great 5 out of 5

    My wife loved it, and so did I.

    🐟Tilapia

    Tilapia is frequently referred to as "the chicken of fish" due to its mild taste and ease of mass production on farms.

    Scientifically, tilapia is a genus, and there are hundreds of different species of tilapia. There are also some similar related species that are generally also referred to as tilapia although technically not quite right.

    Tilapia is native freshwater fish from Africa and the Middle East but been distributed around the world. They’re farmed almost everywhere since they can tolerate a wide range of temperatures and are very hardy.

    On a final note, some internet "health sites" have been attacking tilapia as unhealthy using misleading headlines like "worse than bacon" but the facts still support tilapia as a good source of low-fat protein.

    ❄️Fresh vs. Frozen Tilapia

    Fresh or thawed frozen either should be fine here. But I don't have a great source of fresh.

    A one-pound package of frozen tilapia had six medium fillets that I had moved from the freezer to the frig the night before.

    ♨️The Grill

    This recipe uses a hot grill preheated on high. Preheat a griddle or grill pan also. You may also use a grill basket as long as you can flip the fish.

    The fish is thin, and this is one of the few recipes I do with the grill lid open.

    📖Tilapia Recipes

    Grilled Blackened Tilapia

    Oven Baked Parmesan Crusted Tilapia

    Oven Baked Blackened Tilapia

    Easy Grilled Tilapia with Paprika

    This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.

    Easy Dinner Recipes, Fish Recipes, Grill Recipes
    Blue ribbon divider used for visual effect

    🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions

    preheat the grill on high with griddle in place

    Preheat grill on high with a griddle or grill safe pan in place. Oil well.

    patting dry the fish with a paper towel

    Pat dry fillets.

    mixing the coating in a small bowl

    In a small bowl, put butter, lemon juice, and garlic powder. Microwave for 10 seconds and mix well.

    brushing the fish with butter mixture

    Brush both sides of the fillets with the butter mixture. Do this quickly before the solution firms up.

    adding the salt and pepper to the fish

    Lightly salt and pepper to taste.

    A large plate of Grilled Lemon Butter Tilapia

    Grill for about 4 minutes per side with an open lid. Serve hot off the grill.

    graphic Subscribe to 101 Cooking for Two

    📖Recipe

    grilled lemon butter tilapia

    Grilled Lemon Butter Tilapia

    From Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
    Bursting with great flavor, this grilled lemon butter tilapia is flaky and tender. Just follow these easy step by step photo instructions for a great meal.
    Tap to leave a Rating
    4.16 from 50 votes
    Print Email CollectionCollected
    Prep Time: 3 minutes
    Cook Time: 8 minutes
    Total Time: 11 minutes
    Servings #/Adjust if desired 6 servings

    Ingredients

    US Customary - Convert to Metric
    • 1 lb Tilapia fillets - 6 medium fillets
    • 2 teaspoon butter
    • 2 teaspoon ReaLemon or about the juice of ½ lemon
    • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
    • salt and pepper

    Instructions

    • Preheat grill on high with griddle or grill safe pan in place. Oil well.
    • Pat dry fillets.
    • In a small bowl, put 2 teaspoons butter, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, and ½ teaspoon garlic powder. Microwave for 10 seconds and mix well.
    • Brush both sides of the fillets with the butter mixture. Do this quickly before the solution firms up.
    • Lightly salt and pepper to taste.
    • Grill for about 4 minutes per side with an open lid.
    • Serve hot off grill.
    See the step-by-step photos in the post. Some recipes have an option to display the photos here with a switch above these instructions but the photos DO NOT print.

    My Private Notes

    Click here to save your own private notes only you will see. These will print and be saved for your next visit.
    Blue ribbon divider used for visual effect
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Recipe Notes

    Pro Tips:

    1. Any grill pan, griddle, or even a grill basket will work as long as you can flip the fish.
    2. Preheat a griddle or grill pan with the grill on high. A grill basket does not need to be preheated.
    3. If frozen, the tilapia needs to be completely thawed. Just moving the frozen tilapia from the freezer to the refrigerator overnight will do.
    4. This is one of the few recipes that I grill with an open lid

    To adjust the recipe size:

    You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.

    Nutrition Estimate

    Serving : 1 filet | Calories : 85 kcal (4%) | Carbohydrates : 1 g | Protein : 15 g (30%) | Fat : 3 g (5%) | Saturated Fat : 1 g (5%) | Cholesterol : 41 mg (14%) | Sodium : 51 mg (2%) | Potassium : 228 mg (7%) | Sugar : 1 g (1%) | Vitamin A : 42 IU (1%) | Calcium : 8 mg (1%) | Iron : 1 mg (6%)
    Serving size is my estimate of a normal size unless stated otherwise. The number of servings per recipe is stated above. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.
    Course : Fish
    Cuisine : American

    © 101 Cooking for Two, LLC. All content and photographs are copyright protected by us or our vendors. While we appreciate your sharing our recipes, please realize copying, pasting, or duplicating full recipes to any social media, website, or electronic/printed media is strictly prohibited and a violation of our copyrights.

    Originally Published August 17, 2010. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.

    Molly running in a green yard
    Lilly walking in a green yard
    « Strawberry Muffins
    Easy Blueberry Cake »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Corey Anderson

      August 24, 2019 at 9:01 am

      5 stars
      I've made this incredibly easy and delicious fish twice in the past 2 weeks, with plans to make it again this weekend. I spiked a couple of pieces with Cumin and flaked to meal prep myself Fish Taco Salads = HAPPY taste buds!! Even my pickiest of eaters -- my husband, loved it. Thanks for sharing another simple technique/recipe that is easy to tweak with other flavors!

      Reply
      • Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan

        August 24, 2019 at 4:59 pm

        Hi Corey
        I always want to just do a basic recipe that is easy to adapt to your needs. If you want some kicked up fish tacos, try the grilled blackened tilapia.
        Thanks for the note and rating. Glad it worked well for you.
        Dan

    2. Stephanie

      September 09, 2018 at 10:35 pm

      Made this tonight! Amazing! Added cilantro!

      Reply
    3. Marms

      August 19, 2017 at 8:25 pm

      Of course I know you would remove because I am really just talking to you.

      They do not have 'free trials' of "things". Free trials of videos and access to meal plans. Nothing to sell.
      Andreas E. is board certified in Sweden.
      No one on that site tells them to fiddle with their insulin. If that changes it's done by their own doctor who has to do it to respond to their diabetes disease "numbers" changing as a result of low carb. (Not a diabetic myself so I don't know the name of those tests. I am hypercholesterolemic, not diabetic.)
      The diet is not high-protein but high fat.
      Even Joslin is advising their patients to low carb diets. And...
      The original Banting diabetic treatment was no carb, before insulin was used.

      But I just wanted to know if you had examined such diets. Thanks for responding.

      Reply
    4. marms

      August 19, 2017 at 5:40 pm

      I will be doing this several times in the coming month as I must use up the frozen fish in my freezer, but tell me:What's a Tilapia? I have Red Snapper, Halibut, cod and pink salmon. I have not seen TIlapia here.

      Dan you may want to take this out REMOVED. See my reply. Dan

      Reply
      • DrDan

        August 19, 2017 at 7:36 pm

        Let's address the tilapia first. It is a specific type of fish. It is a thin white fish, usually about 1/2 inch thick. While most fish will cook about the same manor, those you mentioned are thicker so although I suspect they can cook similar but just a little longer, I have not done those types.

        On to the medical stuff, I have to remove it. Although the site is run by a doctor (Family doctor with no indication of board certification, not endocrinologist nor internist.) I don't have the time or expertise to evaluate the whole site. But in my prime, I read thousands of articles in medical journals per year so well read on this sort of thing. Their references are laughable medically speaking. This is just a low carb, high fat and protein diet like Adkins/South Beach. Nothing magic. Very well studied and thousands of articles out there.

        For a site on the internet, they are giving advice on adjusting insulin etc that I and most doctors would consider unethical and down right dangerous. Those things should only be done by your doctor. There are a few vague call your doctor but then they give very specific medical advice. VERY BAD IDEA.

        Next the diet. These sorts of diets can stress things like kidneys and livers and once damaged always damaged and at our age, many people have marginal renal function already. So no marked changes in diet without your doctor and a RD (Registered Dietitian) not a “nationalist” or other nice sounding terms.

        And lastly, they want to promote the "we just want to help our patients" and no ads. Yet they seem to have "free trials" of things I suspect they want to sell. I don't buy the "we are just looking out for our patients" thing.

        Final words. Let's be careful out there.

        Dan

    5. Ellen

      June 04, 2016 at 10:43 am

      Thank you,, we will be trying ALL your perfect easy recipies!,
      I love this blog!, ?

      Reply
    6. phargeaux

      June 23, 2015 at 8:55 pm

      5 stars
      -sorry thought I rated 5 star but didn't see. Trying again.

      Reply
    7. phargeaux

      June 23, 2015 at 8:53 pm

      Yuuuumy! Will make again for sure! Was the butter on 2 tsp - or 2 tbsp? I used 2T, so maybe made unhealthier version but sure was a hit at my house tonite! Added some fresh dill to the butter as I'm all about that dill this time of year especially. Thanks Dr Dan!!

      Reply
      • DrDan

        June 23, 2015 at 10:28 pm

        That is t for teaspoon but more butter is never bad.
        Thanks for the note and rating.
        DrDan

    8. Mike McClellan

      July 06, 2014 at 7:45 pm

      4 stars
      Hi Dan,
      I really like the recipe and you mentioned sour cream biscuit, but I couldn't find therecipe for them, even by a search. Was that one removed?
      Thanks,
      Mike

      Reply
      • DrDan

        July 06, 2014 at 8:01 pm

        Yep removed last fall. When I moved the site from Blogger to WordPress, I did some weeding to clean up the site. About 5 - 10 recipes just didn't do it for me. Try the Cheddar Bay Biscuits ( they are great but not very healthy. For healthy I have Zero Fat Biscuits (https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/zero-fat-biscuits/) which are much much better than the sour cream ones were.
        Thanks for note and rating
        DrDan

    9. Rebecca

      May 08, 2014 at 5:19 pm

      This recipe was simple and delicious! My husband and I both enjoyed it (and I don't even like fish!).

      Reply
      • DrDan

        May 09, 2014 at 9:31 pm

        Thanks... I try to do this one several times every grilling season
        DrDan

    10. Dr Dan

      August 19, 2010 at 5:21 pm

      Welcome and thanks. I don't do the nutritional analysis very often but plan to do a lot more. The step by step with lots of pictures is what I want to be... cooking that is simple for the learner. Hence the 101 meaning a beginning course.

      Reply
    11. tracy

      August 19, 2010 at 9:23 am

      Hi Dr Dan, I stumbled upon your blog and thought it was a fantastic website!

      I love how you show all the steps of your cooking, as well as how you show the amount of fats/ calories in the food you cook. :)

      Thank you for all your wonderful recipes! I will definitely be coming to your website often! (It's on my favourite's bar!)

      Reply

    Leave a Comment (Policy Link in Footer) Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    DrDan image Hi, I’m DrDan and welcome to 101 Cooking for Two, the home of great everyday recipes with easy-to-follow step-by-step photo instructions. About DrDan

    Popular Recipes

    • Pan Seared Oven Roasted Filet Mignon
    • Pan Seared Oven Baked Chicken Breast
    • Oven Baked Chicken Legs - The Art of Drummies
    • Oven Baked Chicken Thighs
    • How To Cook Sausage in the Oven
    • How to Cook Bacon in the Oven - Step by Step
    • Oven Pulled Pork - Low & Slow Pork Butt
    • Pan Seared Oven Roasted Strip Steak

    kitchen reference sheet graphic wide blue
    graphic of sites that I work with or have had recipes featured or referenced.
    SITES THAT I WORK WITH OR HAVE HAD RECIPES FEATURED OR REFERENCED.

    Footer

    ↑ back to top ↑

    About

    • About DrDan
    • Sign up for Emails
    • Contact Me
    • The Shop
    • Links, Ads, and Guest Posts
    • Helpful Reader Links

    Top Content

    • Saved Recipes Collections
    • 101's Best Recipes
    • Recipe Index

    Policies

    • Comment Policy
    • Accessibility Policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Copyright Policy

    Educational

    • Food FAQ
    • Kitchen Reference Sheets
    • Guide To Cooking for Two

    dogs by the pond

    COPYRIGHT © 2010-2022 101 COOKING FOR TWO. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | BASED ON FOODIE PRO THEME