Easy Grilled Tilapia

This Grilled Tilapia is perfectly seasoned and easy to make! You’ll be amazed at how much flavor there is in this healthy dinner recipe.

Here is an impressive recipe with little effort: grilled tilapia! This scaly whitefish has made it into our hearts here. We eat a generally plant-based diet, but occasionally buy Mediterranean-style seafood. If you’re looking for a healthy seafood recipe that fits this diet, this is it! Flaky fish is bursting with hearty, smoky flavor from the grill. Top it with sweet and tender cherry tomatoes, and it’s just gorgeous. It’s the perfect summer meal for entertaining or even on a weekday. (Plus, our 3-year-old loved it: double marks.) How to make grilled tilapia!

Ingredients for the grilled tilapia

This Grilled Tilapia Recipe is one of those back-pocket recipes that every home cook needs. Once you’ve done it, remember it and start again! What you need for this easy and healthy recipe:

• Tilapia fillets: You can use it fresh or frozen. Wild Captured is a sustainable choice if you can find it!
• olive oil
• Salt
• Spices: smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, celery seed (more on that below)

More with tilapia recipes? Try baked tilapia with lemon, blackened tilapia, parmesan-crusted tilapia, or tilapia tacos.

How to grill tilapia: main method

Just toss this beautiful fish straight onto the cooking grates – no fiddling with aluminum foil! The best fish is cooked right on the hot grill. You can use this method for other whitefish like cod or even salmon. Here’s what you need to know about heat level and cooking time:

• The temperature of grilled tilapia? Medium heat or 375 to 450 degrees. Medium-high heat results in a perfectly cooked piece of tilapia.
• How long to cook grilled tilapia? Cook skin-side down for 3 to 4 minutes, then skin-side up for 3 to 4 minutes! The fish is ready when it begins to scale when pulled with a fork. Another measurement method is to read 130 degrees Fahrenheit with an indoor thermometer (insert directly into the thickest part of the fish).
• How to prevent fish from sticking to the grill? You don’t even have to oil the grates. Here’s the secret: don’t spin it too soon! Wait until the fish is cooked enough to pull away from the grate. Then go back.

Best seasoning for grilled tilapia

The spice mix we love for grilled tilapia is a twist on our popular magical seafood spice: but simplified! Here are some notes on the ingredients:

• Smoked Peppers: Adding a smoky essence to food, this Spanish take on paprika is one of our secret weapons in the kitchen! You can substitute for the standard bell pepper, but it’s just not the same. Find it at your local grocery store; You may see it as pimentón, Spanish smoked paprika, or sweet smoked paprika. You can also buy it online here.
• Garlic Powder and Onion Powder: These bring big salty notes to this spice blend.
• Celery Seed: It’s unique, but this spice is definitely worth having. It brings an impressive undertone of Old Bay and adds just the right amount of intrigue to the flavors. You can also use it again in our popular chickpea salad sandwich.

More fish spice ideas

Would you like to use a different spice? We have many options. Here are some tasty ways to mix up this grilled tilapia:

Serve with puffed tomatoes to spice it up

Here’s one way to dress up grilled tilapia: topping with blistered tomatoes! What are you? Blown cherry tomatoes are simply tomatoes that are cooked in a hot pan for a few minutes until charred and tender. It’s an incredibly easy method, and they taste sweet and charred. You don’t even need a real “recipe” for this filling. Head over to Blistered Cherry Tomatoes, or you can follow these basic steps:

1. Heat a generous drizzle of olive oil in a large skillet or cast iron casserole dish.
2. Add a handful or two of cherry tomatoes. Cook without touching the pan for 1 minute, then 2 to 3 more minutes, until tomatoes start to bubble, shaking the pan several times to toss the tomatoes.
3. Turn off the heat and drizzle with balsamic vinegar, tossing gently several times to coat well. Add 2 pinches of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

take it up! Add a spritz of this zesty fresh basil vinaigrette for a restaurant-style meal.

Sides to serve with grilled tilapia

This Grilled Tilapia is a great healthy dinner recipe! It’s one of those dishes that lends itself to dinner or a weeknight meal: it’s our style of cooking! (You know, pretty easy.) What to serve with this easy fish recipe? Here are some side dishes that will make for a flavorful Mediterranean-style dish:

• Grilled vegetables : While you’re grilling the fish, add grilled vegetables like zucchini and squash, broccoli, green beans, foil-wrapped potatoes, or peppers and onions.
• Salads: Salads that would go well here: simple rocket salad, tomato basil salad, antipasti salad, classic lamb’s lettuce, apple and celery salad, French lentil salad or creamy cucumber salad.
• Grain: Try it with Mushroom Farro or Pesto Quinoa.

This grilled tilapia recipe is…

Gluten-free, dairy-free and pescetarian.

More grilled fish recipes

In the summertime, grilled seafood is an easy and delicious way to have a healthy dinner! Here are some of our favourites: