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 baked salmon recipe.
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.
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, healthy low-fat biscuits, Cheddar Bay Biscuits, or cornmeal 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.
📖 Recipe
Baked Blackened Tilapia
Video Slideshow
Ingredients
- 1 pound Tilapia fillets - fresh or thawed frozen
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil - or melted butter
Blackening Rub- More than you need - Keep sealed for future use.
- 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
Simple Tartar Sauce - optional
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon sweet pickle relish
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
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.
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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 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
© 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.
Inspired by an Aaron MaCorgo Jr (Food Networks "Big Daddy") recipe. The big change was going from a frying pan to an oven.
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.
Nancy says
I made this in the oven, and we loved it. I decided to try it in the Air Fryer, and the fish was equally good - dinner was ready a little faster and with fewer dishes to clean. Thanks for a great recipe!
Katie Snuckums says
Thank you very much for this amazing recipe! As much as myself & my family enjoyed this unusual, but great recipe, I had trouble getting the top layer to form a crust. That was disappointing, but other than that, it was greatly flavorful!
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Katie,
Welcome to the blog.
You won't get a crust so you can stop trying unless you want to modify the recipe. What you see in the pictures is just spices
Dan
Graham says
Hello DrDan:
I am a baby boomer from Canadian Maritimes and I appreciate your publicity for my homeland. I have used your method for cooking fish many times since I discovered your recipe, and it gives wonderful results with tilapia and every other type of fish I've tried.
I have a favour to ask. I would like to get my millenial daughter hooked on your recipe to get her to eat more healthy but text and photos are not her style. Is there any chance of you adding a small video to your page for this recipe?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Graham,
Welcome to the blog.
Update and old discussion removed—Added slideshow video in recipe card on Jan 24, 2024.
Dan
Asraf abid says
I never cook telapia fish like that, But i think it will be so delicious.
I must try it .
Alexis Gore says
Beautiful
Ellie says
Thank you! Excellent!
I forgot about Pam, omitted cayenne (don't like it),halved dry ingredients, baked at 425 convection and was totally surprised how moist and tasty the pieces of tilapia turned out.
Who knew :-)
P.S. Beautiful pictures of your dog. My dog got baked tilapia too minus all the spices. He's still licking his chops lol. Thank you again :-)
Samantha Chase says
Love love!!! I added coriander, slap your momma, and magic shrimp seasoning. I also soaked my tilapia in butter for about 30 minutes before seasoning/cooking. Turned out AMAZING ( I always tweak recipes and I never really measure, just how I was taught ) but the base you have posted is wonderful, and I will be making this again. Btw kids loved it too. Also I added dill weed and Dijon mustard to the tarter sauce.
Laura says
Excellent recipe. Cooked on grill at 425.next time I'll leave it on a bit longer for the blackening effect, but the spices were perfect. We used the full amt of cayenne because we love spicy!!
Thank you!
Pat Dougherty says
Sounds great. I've tried cast iron on the stove, but the smoke alarm was not happy.
A couple of questions: Can I use un-oiled silicone baking pads instead of foil? If I'm doing a smaller quantity of fish, does the cooking time change?
Thanks!
DrDan says
Hi Pat,
Welcome to the blog.
So your questions. The silicon mat. Yes, but I think it needs a bit of oil. So a light spray of PAM in both sides of the fish would probably be better. But you can try without.
Cooking time would be unchanged for smaller quantities.
Dan
Krystal Alley says
Dr.Dan, will the recipe be messed up if I don't use the Cayenne pepper at all? My husband is allergic to it.
DrDan says
Hi Krystal,
Welcome to the blog.
There is a lot of tastes other than the cayenne so go ahead. Of course, there will be no heat.
Dan
Colleen says
Loved the recipe! I like seafood and I'm always looking for new fish recipes. Baking is way better than cooking on the stovetop. Less mess and more reliable (for me at least).
DrDan says
Hi Colleen,
Welcome to the blog.
I do love this recipe. The seasoning is just right. I have issues with stovetop fish, it is always fried, makes a mess and I always break the fish somehow. Plus I don't seem to get it done correctly. Baking or grill are much more reliable for me.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Elizabeth G. says
Ohhh I'm excited to eat this blackened tilapia again tonight. It is VERY good! I've made your tartar sauce as well and it's just as good. My question is if I double the tartar sauce how long will it keep in the fridge?
DrDan says
I would only keep it for about 3 days just like most leftovers.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Tammy says
I usually make our tilapia with fresh lemon and pepper, but didn't have any lemons. So I did a quick google search for recipes with Tilapia, and found yours. Very very good. Happy to not only stumble upon this recipie, but will notlw check out your others. Thanks!
Idriceanu says
Thank you ! Lots of great ideas, love it !!
Judy Uhl says
Made for dinner tonight and it smells delicious! Yummy. Used 1/4 tsp. Cayenne. Just right!
Donna says
I'm new to your cooking for 2 recipes (you had me at the oven baked Iowa pork tenderloin recipe a week or so ago! Will be trying that soon!). I haven't searched a lot, but this blackened tilapia recipe made me wonder if you had an oven baked blackened salmon recipe? I'm all about oven baking, too, as it's so much easier than standing over a stove and then cleaning up the grease spatters. Glad to have found a (former) Iowan providing recipes! (I'm nestled halfway between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. Born and raised an Iowan... GO HAWKS! LOL!)
DrDan says
Hi Donna,
I do love the baked pork tenderloin. I always get disappointed anymore with the Iowa restaurant versions. They seemed better years ago. Also, I try to bake and not fry if I can. It probably helps that I use real tenderloin and HyVee "tenderloin" is really loin.
I don’t have much seafood on the blog. I'm from deep in farm country (Chariton) and if it didn’t moo, oink or cluck, you didn’t eat it. Having said that, I’m learning to love less “fishy” things like this recipe. About blackened salmon, no I have never done it but if you find “The 10-Minute Rule for Cooking Fish” which should help adapt this to salmon.
Nice to hear from somebody from Iowa. GO CYCLONES ;)
Kenneth says
Dr. Dan, I am not sure what to say other than excellent. I was looking for a fish recipe for fish tacos and found your blackened tilapia on a grill. However it was 1*F and my gill was covered in snow so I when noticed a link to the oven baked blackened tilapia I had to give it a try as my wife does not like me to blacken things on the stove top due to the mess and the smoke.
I had 1 lb of halibut fillets (3) just over an inch thick. I used your recipe as written with one change. I was out of cayenne powder so I sub'd 1 teas of NM chili powder. I cooked 6 minutes per side and it came out great. Cooked but still moist and flaky. We made fish tacos with flour tortillas, cole slaw, and your easy tarter sauce. My wife was suitably impressed. This is another recipe that goes in the "do it again" stack. Thanks from Alaska.
Teresa C says
Question: do I need to defrost the fish first?
DrDan says
Hi Teresa,
A general role is to double cooking time for frozen fish. I think that is a bit much for something this thin. I would thaw mainly since I don't think the seasoning would penetrate the fish well. Froze is usually vacuum packed so it won't take long in a pan of cool water.
Dan