Baked Parmesan Crusted Tilapia

I love tilapia. It’s a versatile, easy to cook fish, and, there’s literally hundreds of ways to prepare it. I have a few here, with tomatoes in the oven, and in the skillet. It just so happens that the same coating I use for the pan fried tilapia works great in the oven. Crispy baked parmesan crusted tilapia, is just a little healthier too.

Including fish in your diet is healthy. Tilapia is a good choice, and a good source of protein. Due to it’s over abundance, easy to raise, and popularity it’s a cheaper fish, and available fresh or frozen. Nearly all tilapia is farmed, and for some, that is a problem. Not every country has the same rules and regulations. It’s important to do homework regarding any farmed fish. When buying fresh, your fishmonger should have country of origin information. If you buy frozen, it will have the country information on the package. Also there’s a wealth of information available online, take advantage of it

The basic recipe is the same as pan fried tilapia, except, it’s baked. Baking is considered a healthier option. Although, pan frying food is not the monster that it’s made out to be. I have a post about the different cooking oils and fats, please take the opportunity to check it out. There’s obviously a difference between pan fried and baked. And, that’s what I’m looking for here. I have a post about cooking for one, where I talk about how minor differences in preparation or cooking creates a whole different dish. It relieves some of the monotony of cooking every night.

The recipe is extremely simple, a 50/50 mixture of seasoned breadcrumbs and grated parmesan as a coating. My advice here is to use fresh grated parmesan. Fresh grated is more flavorful, because it’s just been grated, it hasn’t had a chance to dry out or for the natural aromas to dissipate. Plus, when cheese is grated and packaged at the factory it is treated with anti caking agents to stop it from clumping, well, that’s corn starch, I don’t want corn starch on my cheese. Some stores sell chunks of parmesan that are cheap and some sell small wedges that are inexpensive, and, I’m sure you have a grater, so use fresh.

When it comes to applying the coating the most important thing to take into consideration, is, the coating has to stick to the fish. There are a few options, but they all start with a dry fish fillet. You can just dip the fish in a beaten egg, then the cheese breadcrumb mixture. However, I’ve found the three part system works better. Dredge the fillet in four, then in egg, and finally the cheese, seasoned breadcrumbs mixture. It seems to stick better.

Lay the fillets in a parchment paper lined baking tray and place in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20 mins, that’s it. The only thing is what to have with it? One of the national dishes in England is fish and chips, I practically grew up on it. Now, that involves deep fried battered cod served with French fries, that, are obviously fried. So my healthier take on the classic recipe is baked parmesan crusted tilapia with oven baked fries. However, you can also serve the fillets on rice pilaf, another delicious combination. Just remember to have everything finish cooking at the same time. Thank you for reading and enjoy dinner.