Grilled Tilapia Recipe

Make your dinner exciting and interesting with the perfect Grilled Tilapia recipe!

I’ve cooked many fish recipes before, but tilapia is always one of my top choices. There are different ways to prepare it, and the grilled version is absolutely incredible.

In this recipe, I will show you how you can grill the tilapia while infusing it with the best flavors you can ever imagine. It will have an amazing fusion of sweet, savory, and smoky flavors for a hearty meal.

Bake it to perfection with the right marinade, vegetables, and seasoning to serve in family gatherings, weekends, and celebrations!

How to Make Grilled Tilapia

If you’re looking for a satisfying fish dish you can cook in under an hour, then the Grilled Tilapia recipe is the one for you. It’s easy to cook and enjoyable to eat!

Today, you will learn how to make the best marinade you can pair with it and the right way to cook it for the right flavor and texture from the inside out.

Get ready to be blown away by this fantastic dish! 

Ingredients

Once you taste the Grilled Tilapia, you’ll be surprised to know that it’s made of simple ingredients!

Tilapia

Have you tried tilapia before? It’s a freshwater fish that has black, white, green, or red stripes on its scales. The tilapia is also one of the most widely cultivated fishes in the world!

It is popularly consumed in Asia, Africa, and even in the United States. With its mildly sweet flavor and firm yet flaky texture, there is no wonder that tilapia is a go-to fish for many!

Aside from grilling the tilapia, you can also bake, broil, steam, deep fry, or saute it to bring out its natural flavors. It can be seasoned with just salt and pepper, and it will still taste delicious.

No matter how you cook it, the tilapia is certainly going to give you a great dining experience. I’m sure the Grilled Tilapia is going to be one of the many tilapia recipes you will love!

Bell peppers

Intensify the flavors of the tilapia with bell peppers. In this recipe, you will need red, green, and yellow bell peppers for sweet, earthy, and vegetable flavors.

Once cooked, the bell peppers will add a wonderful fragrance. You can also use bell peppers to cook dishes to pair with the tilapia. I suggest trying Stick Meat, Okra Soup, and Coconut Fried Rice!

Sweet peppers

Where there are bell peppers, there are also sweet peppers. Aside from their sweet flavor, these peppers also add a vibrant red color to the dish.

Just like bell peppers, the sweet peppers are going to give the dish an appetizing aroma. These can also give a slight crunch to the Tilapia.

Scotch bonnet

You can’t go wrong with a hint of spice in your tilapia dish. Whenever I want to taste something hot and spicy, I make sure to use a scotch bonnet.

It also enriches the flavors without overpowering the sweetness of the other ingredients. You will surely get a better experience with the scotch bonnet in your fish.

Herbs

For herbs, use onion, garlic, and ginger. Because of their diverse flavors and fragrances, you can never go wrong with these ingredients. 

Seasonings 

Give the Grilled Tilapia the best flavors with the right aromatics, herbs, and spices. You will need onion, garlic, and ginger to make the dish fragrant, pungent, and sweet.

Meanwhile, I suggest seasoning the dish with mixed herbs, smoked paprika, curry powder, fish stock cube, and sea salt. Every bite will taste absolutely divine!

Oil

This recipe uses two kinds of oil: sunflower oil and coconut oil. The sunflower oil will be used to make the marinade, while the coconut oil is best used for the marinade.

Can you imagine how rich, flavorful, and fragrant the Grilled Tilapia will be? The ingredients are truly the best ones to use for this dish.

Directions

Let’s start grilling tilapia for an excellent meal!

1. Slice the bell peppers, sweet peppers, onion, scotch bonnet, garlic, and ginger with a knife.
2. Mix the chopped ingredients with the fish stock cube, mixed herbs, smoked paprika, curry powder, and sea salt.
3. Puree everything together in a blender with sunflower oil.
4. Fry the mixture in coconut oil in a frying pan for ten minutes.
5. Remove the fish scales and clean the tilapia.
6. Then, use a knife to score it on both sides.
7. Marinate the fish with the sauce.
8. Cover the fish with cling film.
9. Let it marinate for at least one hour or overnight.
10. Grease the oven rack and preheat the oven to 250°C.
11. Baste the fish with the leftover sauce.
12. Cook it in the oven for ten minutes on each side.
13. In a pan, cook the mixed bell peppers in the sauce for three minutes.
14. Pour the bell pepper garnish on the tilapia.
15. Finally, you can now serve the Grilled Tilapia!

Slice into it to reveal the tender, smooth, and aromatic quality of the Oven Grilled Tilapia Fish. Eat each spoonful with the deliciously sweet sauce and devour this dish within minutes! 

Tips

Tilapia

Buying tilapia

• According to the United States Food and Drug Administration, the fish should smell fresh.
• It should also have clear and shiny eyes and firm flesh.
• Buy whole fresh tilapia for better texture and taste.

Storing tilapia

• Eat Pallet suggests wrapping the tilapia in cling film and storing it in a container.
• Keep it in the fridge only if you will use it within two days.
• Do not mix it with other seafood.

Cleaning tilapia

1. Clean the tilapia with cold water.
2. Then, use a knife to scrape the scales from the tail toward the head.
3. Slice about ⅛ inch along both sides of the fins.
4. Then, hold and pull out the fins.
5. Cut the tilapia’s belly and stop once you reach the gills. 
6. Pull out as many of the innards as you can.
7. Rinse the tilapia again. 

At this point, it is ready to use for the recipe!

Peppers

Buying peppers

• The Produce Moms suggests buying peppers with vibrant and shiny skin color and a fragrance near the stem.
• It should not have any bruises or soft spots.
• The stem should also be green in color, and the peppers should feel heavy for their size. 

Storing peppers

• Place the peppers in resealable bags and refrigerate them for up to a week. 

How to Make the Marinade Without a Blender

Instead of a blender, you can use a food processor, an immersion blender, a chopper, or a grinder. You can also grate the ingredients and cook them in a pan to soften. 

Grilled Tilapia Variations

Aside from tilapia, you can also cook this dish using catfish, bass, red snapper, trout, or mullet. Moreover, tilapia pairs well with broccoli, brussels sprouts, asparagus, and carrots. 

Tilapia can be pan-seared, grilled, smoked, steamed, air fried, poached, stir-fried, sauteed, or braised. You can use different ingredients to marinate the fish. It will taste delicious even if you season it with salt and pepper!

In addition to the herbs and spices suggested in this recipe, you may also use oregano, lemon, tabasco sauce, honey, butter, and more.

No-Oven Grilled Tilapia

There are plenty of ways to cook this dish; you won’t need an oven! 

Pan

1. Heat oil in a killer over a high fire.
2. Cook the fish on both sides for up to ten minutes.
3. Then, shake it a bit so that it won’t stick to the pan.
4. Drizzle some oil on the other side of the fish to cook. 

Griller

1. Wrap the seasoned tilapia in foil.
2. Grill it for 12 minutes on each side.
3. Once done, remove it from the grill and serve! 

Steamer

1. Pour water into the steamer pot.
2. Place the tilapia in a heat-resistant bowl or plate.
3. Drizzle the sauce and marinate all over the tilapia.
4. Then, steam it for up to 20 minutes.
5. It can be served immediately for a hot meal.

Air fryer

1. Preheat the air fryer to 205°C.
2. Then, cook the fish for ten minutes on each side.
3. Let it cook until the fish becomes opaque and the flesh is soft. 

Recommended Tools

• Oven: Cook the Grilled Tilapia in the oven.
• Blender: Use a blender to convert ingredients into a sauce or marinade. 
• Frying pan: Make the marinade and garnish in a pan.
• Knife: Slice the ingredients and fish using a knife. 
• Cling film: Wrap the fish in cling film.

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How to Serve Grilled Tilapia

You can serve Grilled Tilapia for lunch or dinner for a hearty meal. Make it a more enjoyable meal by pairing it with vegetables like broccoli, asparagus, carrots, brussels sprouts, beans, and more.

Here are also more side dishes you will love with the fish:

• Fried Rice
• Jollof Rice
• Roasted Plantain
• Plantain Chips
• Couscous

For drinks, you may opt for:

• Iced Tea
• Pineapple Pomegranate Juice
• Zobo Drink
• Orange Juice
• Beet Juice

In an article by Live Strong, two servings of tilapia each week will be safe for people in high-risk groups. People without health restrictions can have one tilapia every other day.

Note that people in high-risk groups include pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers. 

Storage Tips for Tilapia

• At room temperature: According to Recipe Tips, cooked fish should not be left for longer than two hours. 

Frequently Asked Question

How do you grill tilapia without sticking?

Wait until you see touches of brown at the bottom of the fish before flipping it over. Otherwise, wrap the tilapia in aluminum foil to seal in the flavors.

Can I eat Grilled Tilapia?

You can certainly eat Grilled Tilapia. In fact, it is one of the best fish recipes you can make at home. The fish will have a crispy yet moist texture from the garnish.

Once you eat the flesh, you will taste how sweet, rich, savory, and smoky it is!

How do you know when tilapia is done on the grill?

Check the tilapia for its flaky quality on the griller. You can also use a thermometer to check for doneness. Slice into the fish and remove it from heat once white and opaque.

How do you clean tilapia on the grill?

Rinse the tilapia with water. Then, remove the scales with a knife and pull out the innards. Rinse it again to get rid of any residue.