Baked Blackened Tilapia is oven-baked with fresh or frozen tilapia filets with a savory and spicy blackened seasoning rub made with pantry spices. A healthy, fast, and easy fish recipe ready in under 20 minutes.
Ingredients
Tilapia fillets—fresh or thawed frozen
Olive oil—or melted butter
Homemade Blackening Seasoning Rub—paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, thyme, oregano, cayenne pepper, salt, black pepper
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Featured Comment from Colleen:
Loved the recipe! …Baking is way better than cooking on the stovetop. Less mess and more reliable (for me at least).
Baked tilapia recipes are generally very easy and quick to make. Even fish haters will like tilapia.
Baking blackened tilapia in the oven on a sheet pan instead of pan-frying tilapia in a cast iron skillet is easier, healthier, and less messy results.
👨🍳How to Make Baked Blackened Tilapia in the Oven—Step-by-Step
1. Preheat oven to 400° convection or 425° conventional.
2. In a small bowl, combine 3 tablespoons paprika, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon black pepper, ¼ to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1 teaspoon dry thyme, one teaspoon dry oregano, and ½ teaspoon garlic powder. This makes more blackened seasoning than you need. Store the extra for later sealed airtight.
3. Line a sheet pan or baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Spray the foil with PAM or add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and brush over the foil.
4. Rinse and pat dry 1 pound of tilapia with paper towels.
5. Brush the tilapia with olive oil or melted butter.
6. Cover the fillets with the spice rub on both sides of the tilapia fillets. You only need about ¼ to ⅓ of the spice mix you made. DO NOT USE ALL THE MIX.
7. Place the fish on the oiled sheet pan and lightly spray it with PAM. Place it in the preheated oven.
8. Cook until nicely brown and flaky. This is 8-9 minutes for big fillets and a minute or two less for small to medium fillets. For safety, fish needs to be cooked to an internal temperature of 145°. Check the cooking a few minutes early.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
Related recipes
Try my other tilapia recipes, like grilled blackened tilapia, baked parmesan tilapia, or lemon butter tilapia.
For other blackening recipes, check out Blackened Chicken Breasts and Homemade Blackened Seasoning, which you can use to make blackened salmon using my garlic butter salmon.
Options, variations, and tips—make it right every time.
Make a hotter baked Cajun tilapia by increasing the cayenne (see discussion below) or using your favorite Cajun seasoning.
For milder heat, adjust or leave out the cayenne or use a Creole seasoning for baked Creole tilapia.
Use fresh or frozen tilapia. I generally recommend thawing frozen tilapia overnight in the refrigerator.
Thawing frozen fish fillets will give more predictable results, but most fish recipes can be cooked with frozen fillets. The cooking time is usually about doubled, but check early and cook to 145° internal temperature.
I use aluminum foil coated with oil or PAM cooking spray to prevent sticking and help clean up, but parchment paper or a silicone baking mat will work.
Do not overcook the tilapia, or it will become very dry rapidly.
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Can I substitute a different fish for the tilapia?
Other fish fillets, like cod or halibut, can be used and typically cook about the same with an easy thickness adjustment. Generally, fish will need about 10 minutes per inch of thickness of the fish fillet. Check for a final internal temperature of 145° with an instant-read thermometer.
🔥Blackening seasoning—adjusting the heat
There are two ways to adjust the heat for this blackening seasoning mix.
First is the paprika. Many people will like to use smoked paprika. Hungarian paprika is generally hot. But most paprikas are just called paprika, which is sweet paprika, which is what I usually prefer.
The second heat adjustment is the amount of cayenne pepper amount.
- 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper will be 9/10 hot
- ½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper will be 7/10 hot
- ¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper will be 3-4/10 hot—my usual
- none-the heat will depend on the paprika
Serving
Serve topped with tartar sauce, lemon or lime juice, or slices of lemon or lime. You can also serve it as a sandwich.
Try hot vegetables, smashed potatoes, scalloped potatoes, low-fat biscuits, Cheddar Bay Biscuits, or cornbread biscuits for side dishes.
Also, it makes terrific fish tacos. Serve with Mexican rice, guacamole, nacho corn chips, and pineapple or avocado salsa.
Homemade Tartar Sauce
Quick and Easy Tartar Sauce uses only four ingredients you already have in your kitchen. A small homemade version that is better than the store-bought version.
❓FAQs
By FDA rules, bake to an internal temperature of 145° in the thickest part. It should also flake easily with a fork. It will take 7-8 minutes in a 425° oven. Always check the fish a minute or two early.
Yes. An air fryer is a small convection oven. Just follow the instructions baking at 400° for about 8 minutes to 145° and flakey.
Blackening, Cajun, and Creole seasonings all have a base of paprika, pepper, garlic, and onion powder.
But Creole seasoning tends to add more herbs and is milder, while Cajun seasoning is generally very hot. So, depending on how you vary your spice choices, make them all with this seasoning or use a commercial seasoning.
🐟Is tilapia healthy?
Tilapia is a healthy, mild-tasting fish that even non-fish eaters will love when appropriately seasoned. It has much less of that "fishy" smell and taste many people don't like.
Tilapia is a good source of low-fat protein. It is also low in sodium, low in calories, low carb, and, of course, gluten-free. It fits nicely in a healthy diet, even if a few "health" sites have attacked tilapia with click-bate headlines.
Most tilapia is farm-raised around the world. While farm-raised tilapia is slightly lower in omega-3 fatty acids than some wild fish, it is also lower in mercury.
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
Have you tried this recipe, or have a question? Join the community discussion in the comments.
📖The Recipe Card
Baked Blackened Tilapia
Video Slideshow
Ingredients
- 1 pound Tilapia fillets - fresh or thawed frozen
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil - or melted butter
- 3 tablespoons paprika - of your choice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoons onion powder
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper - to taste
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon sweet pickle relish
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° convection or 425° conventional.
- In a small bowl, combine 3 tablespoons paprika, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon black pepper, ¼ to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1 teaspoon dry thyme, one teaspoon dry oregano, and ½ teaspoon garlic powder. This makes more blackened seasoning than you need. Store the extra for later sealed airtight.
- Line a sheet pan or baking sheet with foil. Spray the foil with PAM or add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and brush over the foil. You may also use parchment paper.
- Rinse and pat dry 1 pound of tilapia with paper towels.
- Brush the tilapia with olive oil or melted butter.
- Cover the fillets with the spice rub on both sides of the tilapia fillets. You only need about ¼ to ⅓ of the spice mix you made. DO NOT USE ALL THE MIX.
- Place the fish on the prepared sheet pan and lightly spray it with PAM. Place it in the preheated oven.
- Cook until nicely brown and flaky. This is 8-9 minutes for big fillets and a minute or two less for small to medium fillets. For safety, fish needs to be cooked to an internal temperature of 145°. Check the cooking a few minutes early.
- If you want a homemade tartar sauce, combine ⅓ cup mayo, 2 teaspoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon sweet pickle relish, and ¼ teaspoon onion powder. Mix well.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- The spice mix makes more than you need. You only need ¼ to ⅓ of the mix for one pound of fish. Save the unused rub sealed tightly for another cooking.
- The cayenne heat level will be 9/10 at 1 teaspoon, 7/10 at ½ teaspoon, and 3-4/10 at ¼ teaspoon. Or skip it if you want.
- Use a cajun seasoning or any other seasoning you want.
- Remember, you can cook fish with different seasonings on the same tray.
- Generally, there will be about four filets of tilapia per pound.
- You may use other fish or frozen tilapia—discussed in the recipe post.
- Fish needs to reach 145° for safety and should be flaky when done.
- Cooking time is about 5 minutes per half-inch thickness of the fish.
- The oven temperature should be 400° to 450°. I like 425° convection, which gives a better texture.
- A light spray of oil (PAM) helps prevent a dry surface.
- Check the fish a minute or two early.
- Nutritional information does not include the tarter sauce.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You can adjust the number of servings above; however, only the amount in the ingredient list is adjusted, not the instructions.
Nutrition Estimate (may vary)
Editor note: This article was originally published on August 3, 2012. It has been updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help with navigation.
theresa says
Will try it today, thanks. I like my meat kinda blackened anyway
Dawn Jerzyk says
Found your recipe while googling baked talapia. I am making it for Christmas Eve for 33 people. I am making 12 tilapia this way, I am thinking to triple your spice measurements to ensure I have enough for 12 good sized filets. Question...can I pan fry them vs bake to make sure they crisp up I am worried about them not being crisp.
DrDan says
Hi Dawn, The answer is of course it can be pan fried. Check my inspiration recipe from Aaron McCargo at Food Network link near the top of this post. His version is pan fried and is way too spicy for me. I adapted to oven baked and decreased the heat some.
The amount of spice you will need is more personal taste. I use a little more than half the spice mix for 4 filets. so I would just double.
About the crispness. You are right that it will be more crispy pan fried.
DrDan
Christina says
This was fabulous and so easy. Had it tonight for dinner. My husband and I both loved it. Will be using this one a lot. Thanks so much.
Tracy says
This is my new go to favorite for talapia. Easy peasy for work nights too.
Jen says
This looks awesome but I only have some salmon...do you think it would work for salmon? ?
DrDan says
The spice is definitely good on salmon but the cooking technique is wrong. I have done it but I don't remember the technique I used.
DrDan
katie says
Great recipe! Made it tonight for my husband and I - nice and spicy just the way I like it! I would like to share this recipe on my blog if that's alright, I will link back to your post here :)
DrDan says
Hi Katie, Thanks for the note and so glad like it. My guidelines for use of recipes are at https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/information-for-publishers/ so have at it.
Dan
Colby says
I made this last night ... It was so Easy and delicious !!
Thank you for sharing the recipe,
I can't wait to make it again?
DrDan says
Thanks so much for the comment Colby.
DrDan
Jessica says
I made this tonight and it was delicious. My husband and daughter loved it. Thanks!
DrDan says
Thanks for the note.
DrDan
Dee says
I made this recipe using 1 tsp of cayenne pepper. It wasn't too spicy (I'm from south Texas). It was a decent but lacked the crispness you want with blackened fish. All in all it was a good recipe but tastes like it's missing something.
Holly Jackson says
I just made this tonight and it was absolutely wonderful! My family and my neighbor loved it. Thanks
DeAundre Cherry says
It took longer to make than it did for dinner to disappear. This recipe was easy to follow and had great results. I will definitely use this one again. Awesome meal!! 10 points for momma. Lol!
Sharon says
This was outstanding!!!! I made my own spice blend because there is not much that is too spicy for me. I used all the ground pepper spices in my pantry(fresh ground black peppercorns, cayenne, ancho chili powder, ground red peppers and more.
Bob says
Great recipe. I like cayenne pepper but some may find that to hot. So I substituted 1/2 t chili powder instead of using cayenne pepper. I lightly rubbed the mixture on one side my girlfriends fillet and fully did mine on one side. Still gave it some kick but definitely not as hot. My girlfriend saved the recipe wants me to make it again.
Arledu says
Delicious---I cut back the cayenne and it was still hot enough to satisfy our desire for blackened fish. After spraying with Pam I covered with slivered almonds I purchased at Richland WA farmers market. This recipe is the best tilapia I have found.
Thanks for ahRing.
DrDan says
The cayenne can get out of head in this recipe for me. I love the almond idea.
Thanks for the note.
DrDan
Ashley says
They look amazing! The tilapia can be cooked frozen. Correct?
DrDan says
Frozen is fine but thaw first.
DrDan
Chelsea says
I'm so glad I found this recipe and that the comments are for the best lol excited to try this in 3...2...1 :-)
DrDan says
Give it a try. But be a little careful with the heat.
DrDan