🐟 Fish

Good fish, good sauce, good Lord, let's eat.

← Meats Next: Sides →
Papa Lanc's Skillet Tilapia

Papa Lanc's Skillet Tilapia with Cherry Tomatoes

Simple skillet fish that tastes a lot fancier than the effort required.

Ingredients

  • 2 tilapia fillets
  • 1 can cherry tomatoes (hard to find, but worth it)
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 T butter
  • 1 T olive oil
  • ½ tsp smoked paprika (more if you like smoky)
  • 1 heaping T capers
  • Salt to taste
  • Fresh ground black pepper (not the stale bottle stuff)
  • ¼–½ cup water
  • A tad of tomato paste or splash of tomato sauce
  • Lemon juice 🍋 (fresh if you've got it)
  • Parsley 🌿 (fresh chopped or dried flakes)
  • Serve over long-grain parboiled rice 🍚 (not instant — spend the 20 minutes)

Instructions

Pat the tilapia fillets dry with a paper towel. Salt and pepper them with fresh ground pepper and let them sit a few minutes while you make the sauce.

Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Add the butter and olive oil, then sauté the onion until soft. Add the garlic and cook about 30 seconds until it smells good.

Pour in the can of cherry tomatoes and use a slotted spatula to gently mash about ¼ of the tomatoes to start building the sauce.

Stir in the smoked paprika, capers, and a little fresh ground black pepper.

👉 Add a little water so you've got plenty of sauce for the rice. If it gets too thin, add a tad of tomato paste or a splash of tomato sauce until it looks right.

Lay the tilapia fillets right on top of the sauce. If you've got a lid for your skillet, put it on.

Cook about 3 minutes, then flip the fillets and cook about 3 minutes more, until the fish flakes easily.

👉 Don't overcook the fish. Tilapia cooks fast.

Drizzle 1–2 teaspoons of lemon juice over the fish and sauce and sprinkle with parsley.

Right before serving, add one small knob of butter and gently swirl the pan until the sauce turns glossy.

Serve the fish and sauce over the parboiled rice and spoon plenty of sauce on top.

Papa Lanc Notes:
  • Use fresh ground pepper. That dusty bottle stuff doesn't count.
  • You want plenty of sauce for the rice.
  • Don't overcook the fish. Tilapia cooks fast.
  • If the sauce tastes good enough to eat with a spoon… you did it right.

— Recipe by Grey "Papa Lanc" Lancaster