Spice you life up a little. Grilled tilapia with paprika is an easy and quick weeknight dinner recipe in under 20 minutes. It’s time to eat more fish, and this favorable healthy dish fits that need.
Introduction
My wife is always asking for fish, but I just don't seem to think of it very often. I'm from Iowa, and if it doesn't moo or oink, you don't eat it. But it is time to break out of those old habits, and this is a great way to start.
Start with economical tilapia, add simple spices, and a few minutes on the grill. In under 20 minutes, you will have a healthy dinner with great taste.
The inspiration recipe was a Cooking Light recipe. It looked a bit bland, so I upped the flavor in the coating and now depend on your choice of the type of paprika for the taste you want.
My Rating
A very nice higher four but could be a lower five if you're not from Iowa.
🐟 Tilapia
Tilapia is a mild-tasting fish that is easy of mass to production on farms. So it is a widely available, healthy protein source.
They are generally freshwater inhabiting shallow streams, ponds, rivers, and lakes. They are native to Africa and the Middle East. However, they’ve been distributed around the world, and they’re farmed almost everywhere. They can tolerate a wide range of temperatures and are very hardy. Due to these characteristics, they can act as an invasive species at times.
Some internet "health sites" have been attacking tilapia as unhealthy using misleading headlines like "worse than bacon." While you can attack any farm-raised fish for the method, or any farm product for that matter, the facts still support tilapia as a good source of low-fat protein.
Tilapia is lower in omega-3 than some wild fish but also lower in mercury. You can have that whole discussion about the impact of over-fishing of oceans. It goes on and on. If you want to debate this whole issue, do not comment here. This is a cooking site. I'm sure I know more nutrition and medicine than you, and I will delete any comment about this issue.
Can I use frozen tilapia?
Yes. Either fresh or frozen will be fine. I suggest thawing the frozen tilapia before starting, but some will cook with unthawed frozen fish. My experience with that is the seasoning washes off while cooking some. So please thaw first.
🌶️ Paprika
The main seasoning is paprika. It comes in an infinite variety, but I generally like nice sweet paprika. But I'm a wimp. Here is a summary of some classifications that may be useful, but these are just some guidelines that help. But they come from nature, so the variety is wide.
Types of Paprika
Sweet Paprikas are the most common types and are usually just labeled as paprika. They will generally have some sweetness, bright color, and usually only a little heat.
Hot Paprikas are commonly called Hungarian and will add spiciness and a lot more flavor than the sweet version. Some versions will be quite hot. So know what your variation brings to the party.
Smoked Paprikas known as Spanish and are made with oak-smoked peppers. They can run from mild to very hot in spiciness. Many will users like the deep smoky flavor, but to me, it oakiness gets in the way usually.
♨️ Grilling
You need a hot griddle or an enclosed grill basket you can flip. They will need a nice coat of a higher temperature oil - so not olive oil.
The grill temperature should be medium to medium-high so 450°-500° degree range - not 650°, which is high on my grill.
This is one of the few recipes to grill with the lid open since the fish is thin.
📖 Tilapia Recipes
Oven Baked Parmesan Crusted Tilapia
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
Pat dry the tilapia. If frozen, thaw completely.
Preheat grill with a griddle on medium heat with a grill surface temperature of 450°-500° and hood open. Spray griddle with grill rated Pam or brush with oil (Not EV olive oil).
In a small bowl mix 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, 2 teaspoons paprika, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper.
Brush oil/spice mixture on both sides of the fillets and place on griddle.
Cook about 4 minutes per side with lid or closed.
📖Recipe
Easy Grilled Tilapia with Paprika
Ingredients
- 1 lb Tilapia - about 4-6 medium fillets
- 3 tablespoons oil - not EV olive oil
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Pat dry the tilapia. If frozen, thaw completely.
- Preheat grill with a griddle on medium heat with a grill surface temperature of 450°-500° and hood open. Spray griddle with grill rated Pam or brush with oil (Not EV olive oil).
- In a small bowl mix 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, 2 teaspoons paprika, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper.
- Brush oil/spice mixture on both sides of the fillets and place on griddle.
- Cook about 4 minutes per side with lid OPEN.
My Private Notes
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- You may use frozen or fresh tilapia. If frozen, it must be completely thawed,
- Be sure to thaw the tilapia completely if frozen.
- Use the type of paprika you want. If just labeled as paprika, it is usually sweet paprika and will only have a little heat.
- Some Hungarian paprika is very hot.
- Use a medium grill surface temperature of about 450°. Not much hotter.
- Can be grilled with the hood open or closed.
- Thinner fish in a grill basket is generally done in about 5 to 6 minutes total time, thicker fish will take about 8 minutes or more—Cook to good color and 145° minimum temperature.
- If you use a grill basket, the cooking time may decrease a little.
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
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Originally published June 25, 2010. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Karen
Searched for grilling tilapia and thrilled to get this recipe to pop up because it is awesome! I followed the recipe exactly but put the fish on our Traeger smoker at 375, grilled each side for 8 minutes and it came out perfectly. My husband was super impressed and I might be a fish person now. Thank you!
Sharon
Trying this today for Sunday dinner along with homemade mac n cheese and some veggies. Thanks for the recipe that sounded the best. If it sounds good, I can make it good and tastes great!
Leanna
I always use EVOO........ just wondering why you specifically state not to use it in this particular recipe? Thank you. Sounds like a fantastic recipe and can't wait to try it.
DrDan
The smoke point of a really good EVOO can be as low as 320.
Kim Latta
This is the best fish recipe ever! My husband who will only eat what moo's or oinks & bulb-blub's can only be battered & deep fried ....said....THAT RECIPE IS DELICIOUS! Yay...so happy to find something he likes! We have had this 2 times this week! I cooked it on a griddle on the stove....next time it's hitting the grill! Thank you!
Dan Mikesell
Hi Kim, Thanks for the note. Hit him with the grilled blackened tilapia.
Russ
Teaspoons or Tablespoons?
DrDan
Hi Russ
The older recipes on this site use the old convention of t=teaspoon and T=tablespoons. It is covered in the FAQ's but this is my most common question. I may re-edit but there are over 300 recipes.
DrDan
Deborah Wilkerson
i cook a lot of fish love it i am wondering where i can buy the grill pan in your picture i just bought a new Traeger grill and want to try out your recipe for grilled paprika tilapia. Thank-You
DrDan
It came from William Sonoma years ago. They don't carry it anymore I think. Try Google for San Miguel Cast Iron BBQ Plancha. I don't think it is made anymore but similar things are available.
Dan
Karina Ordaz
My husband and I really enjoyed this recipe. Thank you very much. I would love to save this to my "recipes I've tried" pintrest board. Would you please add a pintrest link to this recipe? Thanks!
DrDan
Fixed. This is one of the early posts and it may have taken several months to get to it to fix the formatting from Blogger.
Pin away and thanks for the comment.
DrDan
Dr Dan
To Chris thanks, I really did like it to the point of having several other recipes planned.
Christine... Your mother said Mexican is not fish. I will do some fajita's when your here to go with the rice but it needs to moo, oink or cluck not blub blub.
Christine
Oooh, that looks really good. We should make fish tacos like this together when I come over next week. I will make lime cilantro rice. If I can stay awake. Think that would be too crazy?
Chris
I don't make much fish either. But for someone who doesn't make it often, it sure looks like you do it very well. Flaky, white, and moist, great job!