Our flavorful and easy Grilled Tilapia is perfect for an easy dinner on those busy weeknights! This simple white fish, is a healthy protein option that can be enjoyed in so many different ways. Our whole family loves this easy grilled fish recipe!
The Best Grilled Tilapia Recipe
During those warm, summer months we love to bring our cooking outdoors to the grill, smoker, Blackstone, anything to keep from heating up the kitchen. After learning how to grill salmon and how to grill shrimp, we knew that mild white fish was next! We have been enjoying baked tilapia for years and now we will show you how to cook it on your outdoor grill in a matter of minutes. This flavorful fish is definitely a family favorite for busy weeknights!
Looking for More Fish Recipes?
If you love a good fish recipe as much as we do, you definitely need to try our Baked Cod or Pan Seared Halibut + Lemon Beurre Blanc!
What You Will Need
- tilapia fillet – option to pick-up fresh tilapia filets at your local grocery stores or thaw some frozen tilapia out of the freezer.
- sea salt and fresh ground pepper – simple seasonings that are always a must when cooking tilapia!
- butter – the best way to add some great flavor when cooking any type of fish recipe.
- fresh garlic – everything is always better with some garlic cloves in the mix.
How To Make Grilled Tilapia
The first steps to making this easy recipe are to gather all of the simple ingredients.
Now bring your gas grill to a medium-high heat and place a grill mat on the hot grill. Season the fish fillets with salt and pepper on each side of the fish. Give the tin foil a good coating of olive oil cooking spray and place the tilapia on top. After about 2.5 minutes, use a fish spatula to flip and continue to grill fish for another 2 minutes or until fully cooked.
Remove from the heat and enjoy any way you want!
Best Ways To Serve Grilled Tilapia
Our all-time favorite way to enjoy the perfect grilled tilapia recipe is to make some Grilled Fish Tacos. They are light, refreshing and a great summer dinner! Otherwise, you can serve them up by themselves with your favorite side dish to make a delicious meal. We like them with grilled broccolini, grilled potato wedges, or a grilled vegetable salad. Of course, some homemade tartar sauce is a must and if you don’t have the time, a store-bought version would be great too!
Recipe FAQs and Tips
- How do you know when grilled tilapia is done? Simply use a fork to test the fish, it should flake apart easily and be slightly opaque in color.
- Tilapia seasoning options: we kept this flaky white fish simple with some salt, pepper, and garlic butter, but feel free to add even more flavor with old bay seasoning, cajun seasoning, lemon pepper, lime juice, or use lemon wedges to give them a fresh squeeze of lemon juice.
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Grilled Tilapia
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 6 minutes
- Total Time: 16 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Fish
- Method: Grill
- Cuisine: American
Description
A simple, easy and absolutely delicious Grilled Tilapia recipe that is perfect on its own with tartar sauce or for some epic fish tacos!
Ingredients
- 4 tilapia fillets
- kosher salt
- ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons garlic
- for serving: lemon wedges and tartar sauce
Tools Needed:
- heavy duty aluminum foil or a grill mat
- fish spatula
Instructions
- Prep Grill: Ensure grill grates are clean and preheat grill to 400-450 degrees F.
- Prep Foil: If you are using aluminum foil – take a large piece and create a little grill mat out of it by folding up the sides. Ensure it is big enough to hold all of your fish fillets.
- Prep Tilapia: Place tilapia fillets on a plate or baking sheet. Season generously with kosher salt and ground black pepper. Set aside.
- Make Garlic Butter: combine butter and garlic in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Grill Tilapia: Place aluminum foil on the grill and place the fish fillets (flat side up) over direct heat. Close the grill. Let cook approx. 2 minutes 30 seconds. Open the grill and use a fish spatula to gently flip the fish over. Place a dollop of garlic butter on top of each fillet and close the lid again and let the fish cook for approx. 2 minutes or until the fish is fully cooked.
- Serve: Transfer to a large plate and serve immediately with fresh lemon wedges and some tartar sauce.
Notes
- Foil or Grill Mat: with a fish as soft as tilapia you don’t really want to go directly on the grill grates as the fish will most likely fall apart as it cooks.
- Storage: leftover fish can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 fillet
- Calories: 166
- Sugar: 0 g
- Sodium: 139 mg
- Fat: 7.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 0.8 g
- Protein: 23.5 g
- Cholesterol: 73.3 mg
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