This pan seared tilapia with lemon butter sauce is one of the best tilapia recipes! Serve this pan fried whole tilapia with roasted potatoes for an easy dinner win!
My first fish recipe! Hoorah! It’s not that I don’t LIKE fish. I actually love it! I just find I don’t cook it a lot….mainly I don’t really know what to do with it. Fresh fish at a restaurant though? Especially if you’re at a restaurant by the sea (helllloooooo Portugal). Adore it!
Anyway, one recipe I’ve been making for a few years now is this pan seared tilapia with lemon butter sauce. LEMON BUTTER SAUCE! It’s so good! I mean, it’s butter. Drizzle butter over anything and I’ll gobble it up.
Tilapia is a pretty simple, bland fish on it’s own, but what I do like about it is that it cooks super fast and is so versatile thanks to the mild flavor. If you cook it correctly, it’s nice and moist and flaky! Trust me, once you try this crazy easy fish dish (couldn’t help myself) you’ll be buying up alllll the tilapia!
How long does it take to cook tilapia in a pan?
Some tilapia is thicker than others, but cooking tilapia in a pan should take no more than 5-6 minutes per side.
You’ll only need a few simple ingredients for this dish. Flour, lemon, and tilapia. A bit of parsley for extra flavor, and some salt and pepper. I roasted some baby potatoes in the oven while searing the tilapia and they were just the ticket. Drizzle a little lemon butter over those potatoes too and you’ve got yourself a super satisfying meal!
How do you make the lemon butter sauce?
Guys, this sauce is so easy it’s almost laughable! It’s butter…and lemon. That’s it. If you make this fish in a cast iron skillet (which I highly recommend), there will be lovely little brown bits in the bottom of the skillet that add some extra flavor to the sauce.
Once the fish is cooked through, remove it to a paper-towel lined plate and add some butter to the skillet. Once the butter melts, add in the lemon and let it all simmer together, scraping up those aforementioned lovely brown bits!
The sauce only has to simmer for a few minutes before you can drizzle it over the fish and potatoes. Told ya – quick and easy!
I sure hope you guys give this tilapia a try some time. Even if you’re not usually a fish lover, you might be pleasantly surprised!
Flaky, buttery, and slightly crispy. It’s so good!!
Now, tell me. How do we feel about fish? 😉
While I don’t have any other fish dishes to share with you at the moment, I do have a few other favorite QUICK dinners that I think you’ll love!
- Sheet pan sweets and beets
- One pan pork and mushrooms
- Crispy baked chicken wings
- Zesty sausage and white bean skillet
Pan Seared Tilapia with Lemon Butter Sauce
- Total Time: 30 minutes
Description
This pan seared tilapia with lemon butter sauce is one of the best tilapia recipes! Serve this pan fried whole tilapia with roasted potatoes for an easy dinner win!
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- pinch of salt and pepper
- 3–4 large tilapia fillets
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, divided
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (~1 large lemon)
- optional: parsley, roasted potatoes to serve
Instructions
- In a shallow dish, combine the flour, paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper. One side at a time, coat the tilapia fillets in the flour. Set aside.
- In a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, melt 1/4 cup of the butter. Once the butter is melted and beginning to sizzle, add the tilapia fillets side by side in the skillet. Cook the fish for about 5-6 minutes before flipping and cooking for another 5-6 minutes on the other side, or until it flakes easily with a fork*.
- When the fish is cooked, remove it to a plate and keep warm in the oven. Add the remaining butter to the skillet, and once the butter starts sizzling use a spatula to scrape up any brown bits, and squeeze the lemon juice into the pan. Let the sauce simmer for a couple of minutes, then remove from heat. Plate the fish (and any potatoes or rice you may have cooked) and drizzle the lemon butter sauce all over the dish. Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately!
Leftovers may be kept in an airtight container in the fridge, for 1-2 days.
Notes
*If you can’t fish all of the fillets in the skillet at once, cook the fish in batches. You may need to add a bit more butter to the skillet before the second batch.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
Keywords: best tilapia recipes // lemon butter tilapia // pan fried whole tilapia
This looks delicious, Katherine! I rarely make fish at home either; it just seems like too much work. IDK why though because this recipe is so easy! I’ll have to try it for sure!
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I know! It does, but I don’t know why. I hope you give it a try. Let me know what you think!!
You know what? I have a similar situation with fish. I do love it a lot, but I don’t cook it that often (or recipes are very simple and not that interesting for the blog). Also, we don’t go out too often, but I often end up ordering…fish! You’ve got a simple yet delicious recipe here. Needless to say it looks delicious!
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YES I often order fish out at a restaurant too, because they know how to cook it properly and it’s such a rare treat! Thanks Ben! I bet you’d love this one!
This looks like the perfect meal! I love fish but also don’t end up cooking it enough. But my husband and I will absolutely be making your recipe, looks and sounds just wonderful–and I’m so excited about that lemon butter sauce too, yum! 😀
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Thank you Catherine. It’s so yummy and delicious, it’s the only way I like to eat tilapia now!! I hope you love it as much as we do! 🙂
So in love with easy and quick diner recipes; leftovers are great for office lunch next day ! Thank you so much and enjoy your day 🙂
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Such an easy , healthy meal Katherine! And we really enjoy tilapia. I’ll be adding this to our menu soon!
We regularly have tilapia in our freezer and this looks like a delicious weekday dinner! Love that lemony sauce – no going wrong there, my friend! Nice n hearty with those ‘tatos! Happy long weekend!
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This looks perfect for busy weeknights! I don’t often cook fish because the hubs is a bit picky and only likes salmon, but I can totally see making this for myself and enjoying leftovers for lunches! Happy long weekend Katherine!
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We love fish at my house and eat it several times a week. Mostly we grill it, but also oven bake and occasionally we’ll pan fry it. Love the easy recipe!! Hope you get to enjoy the long weekend with your family Katherine!
I love that you eat fish so often. I really wish we did too – mostly I just don’t know what to do with it! Thanks Tasia! Happy long weekend to you too!!
Such a beautiful clean light meal. Lemon butter sauce is my fav and goes so perfectly well with fish. This is perfect for busy nights! Enjoy the long weekend 🙂
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Thanks!! The lemon butter is definitely good here – I love it! Hope you have a terrific long weekend too! 🙂
I want to make this for a date night at home with the hubby! Looks amazing!!
Oooh I love the idea of this for date night! It would be so good with a glass of white wine 🙂
Oh yum! So simple and so delicious! I definitely need to cook fish more often. Especially when it looks this good!
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Thanks Kelly!! I wish I ate fish more often too. It’s so good for you!!
What a fantastic butter sauce! It looks so pretty, soft and delicious. Well done!
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Thank you!! It is fantastic. We’ve been eating it nearly weekly!
Katherine this looks incredible! Tilapia is really common here in the Caribbean but I’ve never eaten it before. This looks like a great recipe for a first timer heh!
xo Ros
Hi Ros! I think this is a fantastic recipe for a first time tilapia-er! 🙂
I always love recipes for white fish! We have so much salmon here, so I cook that all the time, but a fish like tilapia is a great change of pace for us! Thanks for the recipe!
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Salmon will always be my favorite, but you’re right! It’s nice to change things up with some white fish too sometimes 🙂
I always love recipes for white fish! We have so much salmon here, so I cook that all the time, but a fish like tilapia is a great change of pace for us! I love an easy recipe, because this type of fish always seems more difficult to make. Thanks for the recipe!
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Can’t wait to make this! We’ve been eating tons of seafood and this looks amazing and fresh for dinner or on top of a salad. Pinning! xo
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This pan seared tilapia sounds sooo good! I would totally make this and sounds perfect for dinner time!
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It is a fantastic quick and easy dinner time recipe, Christie!! Thank you friend!
This tilapia looks so delicious!
Thanks Josiah!! It’s one of our faves.
Delish! Even my kids gobbled it up. Took your advice with the roasted potatoes. Yum! Tossed some of my garden cherry tomatoes into the skillet while the fish were cooking – they soaked up all the yummy flavors and were the perfect compliment to the fish!
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I’m so happy to hear that Jessica! Thanks for taking the time to leave your review. My family loves this recipe too!