Oven Baked Parmesan Crusted Tilapia

This easy oven-baked Parmesan-crusted tilapia is just wonderful with a crispy, flavorful Parmesan crust from only a few everyday ingredients.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• 🐟Tilapia
• ❄️Fresh vs. Frozen Tilapia
• 🧀The Parmesan Cheese
• ♨️Cooking Other Fish
• 📖Tilapia Recipes.
• 🖼️Step-by-Step Instructions
• 📖 Recipe

Introduction

A quick and easy weeknight recipe with a weekend appeal. This has become a standard in our home. It is also a great fit for any low-carb or keto diet.

It's time to eat more fish. I need to and so do you. But easier said than done. This is a slight modification of a Rachel Ray recipe.

My Rating

A 5 for a fish person. Absolutely wonderful.

🐟Tilapia

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

So if you remember Biology 101, genus and species are used to name plants and animals (the taxonomic classification). For example, humans are homo sapiens. "Homo" is the genus and sapiens is the species.

That little discussion is needed to define tilapia because tilapia is a genus and there are hundreds of different species of tilapia.

With recent DNA analysis, two genera have been split out of the tilapia genus, but all are still commonly referred to as tilapia. But the overall point is lots of variation in tilapia but here are some generalized.

They are generally freshwater inhabiting shallow streams, ponds, rivers, and lakes. Tilapia is 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 like an invasive species at times.

On a final note, 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 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.

❄️Fresh vs. Frozen Tilapia

Fresh tilapia would work fine but here in the mid-west, frozen is the fish of choice usually. Think of transportation times. In larger cities, fresh would be a great choice.

If frozen, be sure the fish is thawed completely. I try to toss the package of frozen fish in the refrigerator the day before, and that always works great.

🧀The Parmesan Cheese

You need a good Parmesan since so much of the flavor is the cheese. I like to get a nice wedge of Parmigiano-Reggiano from Sam's Club and shred or grate as needed. I use lots of Parmesan, and it will last me for at least six months.

♨️Cooking Other Fish

The 10-Minute Rule for Cooking Fish

Originally published in the “Canadian Fish Cook Book” 1959 from the Canadian Department of Fisheries, the 10-minute rule is not perfect, but it is very good. It works for any cooking method – frying, baking and sautéing.

• Measure the fish at its thickest point. If the fish is stuffed or rolled, measure it after stuffing or rolling and then time it accordingly.
• Cook fish 10 minutes per inch, turning it halfway through the cooking time. For example, a one-inch fish steak should be cooked 5 minutes on each side for a total of 10 minutes. Pieces of fish less than ½-inch thick do not need to be turned over.
• Add 5 minutes to the total cooking time if you are cooking the fish in foil, or if the fish is cooked in a sauce.
•  Double the cooking time for frozen fish that has not been defrosted.

📖Tilapia Recipes.

Grilled Blackened Tilapia

Oven Baked Blackened Tilapia

Easy Grilled Tilapia with Paprika

Grilled Lemon Butter Tilapia

🖼️Step-by-Step Instructions

Preheat oven to 400° convection.  Wash and pat dry tilapia.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and brush foil with oil.

Grate Parmesan if needed.

Mix Parmesan, paprika, parsley, salt and pepper in a shallow pan.

Brush tilapia with oil on both sides and then dredge in the Parmesan mixture patting the coating on. Place on the baking sheet. Take some of the remaining Parmesan mixture and pat on top of the already coated fish.

Bake for about 10-12 minutes until flaky.

📖 Recipe

Oven Baked Parmesan Crusted Tilapia

From Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan

This easy oven baked Parmesan crusted tilapia is just wonderful with a crispy flavorful Parmesan crust from only a few everyday ingredients.

Tap to leave a Rating

4.24 from 258 votes

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Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Total Time: 22 minutes

Servings #/Adjust if desired 4 servings

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Ingredients

US Customary - Convert to Metric

• ▢ 1 pound Tilapia
• ▢ 1 cup Parmesan cheese - grated fresh if possible
• ▢ 1 tablespoon paprika
• ▢ 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
• ▢ ½ teaspoon pepper

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400° convection. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Brush with oil.
• Wash and pat dry tilapia.
• Mix Parmesan, paprika, parsley, salt, and pepper in a shallow pan.
• Brush tilapia with oil on both sides and then dredge in the parmesan mixture patting the coating on. Place on the baking sheet.
• Place on the baking sheet. Take the remaining Parmesan mixture and pat it on top of the already coated fish.
• Bake for about 10-12 minutes until flaky.

Recipe Notes

Pro Tips:

1. You can use fresh or frozen tilapia that is completely thawed.
2. The quality of the Parmesan cheese matters a lot in this recipe.
3. I like to add a little extra topping just before going into the oven.

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

Calories : 267 kcalCarbohydrates : 1 gProtein : 32 gFat : 13 gSaturated Fat : 5 gPolyunsaturated Fat : 1 gMonounsaturated Fat : 5 gCholesterol : 79 mgSodium : 685 mgPotassium : 386 mgFiber : 0.2 gSugar : 0.2 gVitamin A : 1750 IUVitamin C : 0.8 mgCalcium : 290 mgIron : 1.3 mg

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 :Main Course

Cuisine :American

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Editor's Note: Originally Published December 18, 2010, which was the first year of the blog. The blog has grown 1000X since that time. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.