Parmesan Crusted Cajun Tilapia
Summer weather = this Parmesan Crusted Cajun Tilapia. Light, fresh and flavourful, there is nothing better on a beautiful warm evening. This recipe is effortless and comes together in less than 20 minutes, all in one pan. The end result with minimum work…amazing!
Tilapia Misconceptions
Okay, we know you’re probably thinking Tilapia, really? We will be the first to admit Tilapia is a bit boring. It’s a pretty flavourless white fish, that doesn’t have a great reputation. So, are you wondering why we cook with it?
We’d like to note, this information is based on our own opinions and thoughts based off of some simple research we have done about Tilapia. In the end, if you’re not comfortable eating Tilapia, you can easily substitute another white fish for this recipe! We would recommend using cod, haddock or orange roughy, however, cooking time may be a little different depending on the thickness.
Tilapia is extremely popular all over the world and as demand has gone up, farming Tilapia has significantly increased. If you aren’t generally aware of where your tilapia is coming from, chances are you are eating farmed – and that’s OK! It’s actually pretty difficult to find wild caught tilapia and that’s because tilapia farming methods are cost-effective, which in turn allows us, the consumers, a relatively inexpensive fish! Sustainable and affordable. A win-win for everyone.
Our Opinion on Farmed Tilapia
Now, in our opinion there is nothing wrong with eating farmed-tilapia, IF it comes from the right place. There have been several reports over the concern about farmed tilapia including chemicals being used which may cause cancer, tilapia being fed livestock feces (yes, gross), and more. However, this is not the case in the majority of places tilapia is fished or farmed.
We came across the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program, which helps consumers and businesses make choices based on sustainability. A super cool resource you can use to make proper, sustainable choices when buying fish and seafood! Here you can find which countries they recommend buying Tilapia from (and which countries to avoid)!
If you take away anything from this, just remember to ask the seafood counter where the fish came from, or look on the package and see where it was fished or farmed. If your Tilapia is coming from North or South America – you should be good to go!
We will leave it at that, however we do plan to do a larger and more informative post about where you should be buying fish from, sustainability and more, so stay tuned! Let us know what other information you’d enjoy learning about!
Back to the Good Stuff
As stated above, Tilapia is relatively affordable when compared to other fish and seafood, so it has easily become a staple fish to buy for us! Given that it is a white fish, it is also VERSATILE (one of our favourite words when talking about any white fish)! It easily takes on the delicious flavours you use when cooking with it and becomes super light and flakey, creating a total melt-in-your-mouth meal.
This Parmesan Crusted Cajun Tilapia has a bit of a kick to it, but that can totally be adapted based on how much cayenne you choose to add. The parmesan balances it all out, adding a richness that this simple white fish needs.
Using Emril’s Essence Spice Blend
In this recipe, we use Emril’s Essence Spice Blend. Although you can purchase a pre-made version, making this spice blend is extremely easy. We use the recipe found here.
The spice blend includes; paprika, salt, garlic powder, black pepper, onion powder, cayenne powder, dried oregano, dried thyme. This spice combination is an EXCELLENT addition to the parmesan and truly creates a delicious tilapia dish.
If you are in a time crunch and don’t want to make your own Emril’s Spice blend, simply add all the listed spices over the fish in desired amounts!
Parmesan Crusted Cajun Tilapia has become our go-to quick and easy weeknight recipe.
This can come together in less than 20 minutes – including bake time! But don’t let the “quick and easy” fool you. This tastes just as good as a dish that would take 2 hours! We guarantee everyone will think you worked extra hard all day.
Skål,
Parmesan Crusted Cajun Tilapia
Ingredients
- 1½ lbs. tilapia fillets
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 7 tablespoons parmesan
- 1 tablespoon Emeril's Essence Spice Blend see notes
- pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F
- Melt 3 tbsp of butter in a large oven proof baking dish that is large enough to fit your tilapia fillets.
- In the baking dish with the melted butter, add 5 tablespoons of parmesan and pepper, to taste. Combine.
- Place the tilapia fillets evenly spaced on top of the mixture.
- Sprinkle the Emeril's spice evenly over the fish, and then do the same for the additional 3 tablespoons of parmesan.
- Break the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter into small chunks. Evenly place the chunks over the tilapia fillets. Add more pepper, if desired.
- Place in the oven, and let cook for 10 minutes (If you have 5-7 oz fillets). For larger fillets (7-9 oz), cook for approximately 12 minutes)
- Use a fork to take a chunk out of the thickest fillet. If the fish flakes apart, it is done.
- Serve over rice and enjoy!
One of the best tilapia dishes I’ve ever had. My husband agreed we will definitely be saving this recipe. We were wanting to try something different from the typical lemon-butter recipes and I’m so glad I stumbled upon this one. I even added a little Emeril’s blend into my rice with butter and that was delicious too. Thanks for sharing!
Wife made this and it was delicious!