Tilapia - how do you cook it?

[YoungGunsNY]

Just bought tilapia for the first time to substitute for tuna (worried about the mercury) and I'm looking to cook all 2.5 pounds in one shot.

Should I put them in the oven and broil them or should I put them on the bbq wrapped with some aluminum foil?

Also, what do you add to the tilapia for flavor - I'm not the biggest fan of fish so add-ins would be appreciated - and for add-ins: please very low/no sodium choices.

I stopped adding Adoba seasoning to my chicken meals because of the high sodium content.

[gbrice75]

I assume you bought tilapia fillets? I just got through cooking a batch for the next few days, I do it every Sunday. I keep it nice and simple by pan frying them in a bit of olive oil. I season them with salt and fresh cracked black pepper right before they go in the hot pan. You could omit the salt, it's the pepper that really gives them a kick anyway.

There are many ways to season though - I used to sweat some minced fresh garlic in olive oil, then cook the fillets in there, top off with lime juice and even a dash of soy (again, high sodium though) - very good!

Tilapia is an extremely mild flavored fish (think fluke/flounder, mahi mahi, etc) so you pretty much have a blank canvass to work with. Try different things, be creative!

[YoungGunsNY]

Gotcha - thanks, but I'm not a really big fan of frying my meats/fish in a pot. I prefer grilling/oven-cooking them. But is there any calories in lemons (squeeze them on top of the fish) or lemon juice? And, if I did cook in the pan - I wouldn't want to add the olive oil (mainly why I don't cook in the pan) so any further ways to cook like this?

[gbrice75]

Not sure why you would be against cooking in a pan with EVOO - it creates a wonderful protein/fat meal for later in the day. That said, I don't know what your goals are and maybe this doesn't fit your diet.

If you don't want to fry in a pan, you can definitely broil or grill - just make sure you do so on a foil lined baking sheet if using the broiler, or if grilling I like to make a foil tent and sort of steam the fish. In both cases, i'll chop up garlic and put on the top of the fillets, along with some salt, pepper, lemon juice (no calories to worry about btw) and/or lime juice, and you can add the soy here too if you wanted. Broiling will take about 5 minutes but check with a fork to see if the fish flakes easily. The foil tent on the grill will take a little longer, but check it the same way. Good luck!

PS - this section has a sub-section for recipes - you should check it out.

[YoungGunsNY]

Thanks - and yeah I know, but I only saw one tilapia thread with soy sauce (high sodium) and I needed a quick answer since I'm doing the math for my diet now to start tomorrow, so I have to know by tonight when I go shopping. Thanks though man, I have 2 tilapia meals, one about 11:30am and one about 11:00pm, but so far it looks like I could add fat to the first tilapia meal - so I probably will pan-fry them LOL, thanks.

[taiboxa]

eat it frozen and raw.. on a Popsicle stick

[RED26]

eat it frozen and raw.. On a popsicle stick

hahahahaha

[dirtybird]

I bake it in a pan coated with EVOO and use a lemon pepper seasoning. Taste great.

[YoungGunsNY]

Just finished up my diet - can't cook in olive oil, so I guess I'm going with the oven & seasoning with lemon juice & pepper.

[gbrice75]

It'll still be good that way. I would definitely add the garlic too though to really give it some flavor.

[YoungGunsNY]

Yeah I used to do that with my broccoli - olive oil & garlic, but would you use garlic powder or only cloves of garlic? I just get lazier and lazier the more I cook...

[gbrice75]

LoL i'm lazy too - but I would never use garlic powder on a nice piece of fish. Just quickly chop up some garlic, add it raw right on top of the fillet, pepper and lemon juice (I like lime too), throw under the broiler or on the grill and enjoy!

[Igifuno]

Lot's of ways to do it.. my fav is to put some old bay on it and throw it on the grill.. about 4 minutes each side.. I had some today in fact. Tilapia rocks.

[YoungGunsNY]

Lot's of ways to do it.. my fav is to put some old bay on it and throw it on the grill.. about 4 minutes each side.. I had some today in fact. Tilapia rocks.

Hm, old bay has a good amount of sodium though doesn't it? I feel that when I add-in seasonings with sodium - my water retention sky-rockets, could very well be mental, but I still stay away from it.

I was thinking of throwing it on the grill, but I was told they were too thin (about 4oz a slice) to put on the grill (I would use aluminum foil). (I'm fairly new to cooking - I only cook what is required for my diet).

[Igifuno]

Old Bay has 640mg sodium per teaspoon so ya, it does have a good amount of sodium.. good call.

You know another way you can cook tilapia, this is not joke.. The dishwasher... put a couple thin slices of lemon with some cilantro and a dash of salt/pepper.. wrap it tightly in aluminum foil and run it for a cycle. It steams it and it comes out great. Only thing is, if your aluminum foil isn't wrapped tightly and it gets out, your d/w will smell for days.. I have done it several times but only screwed it up once... try it.. Lol.

IG

[gbrice75]

You know another way you can cook tilapia, this is not joke.. The dishwasher... put a couple thin slices of lemon with some cilantro and a dash of salt/pepper.. wrap it tightly in aluminum foil and run it for a cycle. It steams it and it comes out great. Only thing is, if your aluminum foil isn't wrapped tightly and it gets out, your d/w will smell for days.. I have done it several times but only screwed it up once... try it.. Lol.

IG

LoL, creative, but I wouldn't try this - something just seems very unsanitary about it...

[_CrossroadS_]

garlic powder, onion powder, crushed red pepper, chili powder, lime or lemon juice, spray some foil with non stick cooking spray, coat both sides, seal up foil, maybe sprinkle a little water to keep from getting dry, and grill or bake. simple...i use very little of the above ingredients, but then again im the same guy who eats brown rice plain and actually likes it

[gbrice75]

im the same guy who eats brown rice plain and actually likes it

^^^ x2

[awesome1]

bake in the oven @ 450 degrees for 8 minutes then eat it. I eat it plain.