One of our favorite tilapia recipes! This quick and easy one-pan meal is cooks the tilapia with onions, garlic, diced tomatoes, mushrooms, and olives.
Tilapia Filets
Tilapia, a tasty farm-raised fish originally from Africa, has become more and more popular here in the States. Tilapia recipes are abundant, and the fish is easy to prepare as long as you buy filets.
I recently brought home a whole tilapia from our local Asian fish market and made quite a mess of trying to fillet it myself. Dad pitched in, with no more luck than I, and we ended up throwing the pieces (you couldn’t quite call them fillets anymore) into a fish stew.
Now we know better. Just buy the straight fillets.
Fresh Tilapia Recipe
Tilapia are mild tasting, and fresh vegetables can really shine and highlight this relatively inexpensive fish. Here is a quick and easy way of cooking tilapia, a one-pan way of preparing this versatile fish that we found years ago from Better Homes and Gardens.
The preparation is similar to Veracruz-style in this tilapia recipe, shallow poached on top of a bed of sliced onions, tomatoes, green olives, and mushrooms. It’s fresh, easy, and delicious.
What to Serve with Tilapia
This tilapia is practically a meal unto itself! This said, a piece of crusty bread or a scoop of rice would go quite well alongside.
Want more Easy Fish Recipes?
- Halibut with Fennel, Peppers, and Tomatoes
- Salmon with Lemon Cream Sauce
- Sole Piccata
- Foil-Baked Salmon with Leeks and Bell Peppers
- Fish Taco Salad Bowl
Tilapia with Olives, Mushrooms, and Tomatoes Recipe
- Prep time: 10 minutes
- Cook time: 25 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4
Feel free to use any tender white fish fillet with this recipe, for example cod or red snapper.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small onion, 1/4 inch slices, sliced lengthwise
- 1 clove garlic, minced (1 teaspoon)
- 1 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes, undrained
- 1 cup sliced cremini or button mushrooms
- 3/4 cup green pimento-stuffed olives, coarsely chopped
- 1 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 4 tilapia fillets (6 to 8 ounces each)
Method
1 Cook the onions and garlic: Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced onions and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook a minute more.
3 Make the sauce: Add the canned tomatoes and their juices. Add the sliced mushrooms, chopped olives, oregano, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer.
4 Add the fish: Lay the fish fillets gently on top of the onion tomato olive mixture and spread a little sauce over the fish.
Return to a simmer (it’s just the juices from the tomatoes that are simmering). Lower the heat to low and cover the pan.
Cook or 8 to 10 minutes or until the fish easily flakes when tested with a fork.
4 Serve: Use a wide spatula to lift the fillets from the pan to a serving plate. Spoon sauce over fish.
Serve with rice, and/or crusty bread.
Original recipe from Better Homes and Gardens.
