Pan-Seared Tilapia
Pan-Seared Tilapia cooks up quickly and easily in a skillet on the stove. This delicious fish recipe is a fast and healthy option for dinner.
Pan searing the tilapia forms a delicious crust that is perfect for any flaky white fish. To sear the tilapia, preheat a tablespoon of olive oil on medium to medium-high heat in a non-stick pan. Rise and pat dry your fillets and season with salt and pepper. Place the tilapia in the preheated pan. Cook time will depend on the thickness of your tilapia but should take between 3-5 minutes per side. You want to brown the outside without overcooking the tilapia. Tilapia is cooked when it reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees F.
Pan searing is a delicious and easy way to cook fish, try it with other flaky white fish or even salmon. I like tilapia because it’s affordable and cooks really quickly. You might also enjoy my baked tilapia recipe. Serve with a side of brown rice and vegetables like zucchini, broccoli, carrots or your favorite vegetable.
On warm summer days, a fresh melon salsa transforms this tilapia into the perfect and refreshing summer dinner. The sweet melon satisfies my sweet tooth, at least temporarily. Maybe I can resist dessert and keep this strictly a healthy dinner or not.
Enjoy!
Pan-Seared Tilapia with Melon Salsa
Ingredients
For the Fruit Salsa
- 1 cup chopped cantaloupe
- 1 cup chopped honeydew melon
- ¼ cup finely minced red onion
- ¼ cup minced fresh cilantro
- 1 juice of one lime
- 1 pinch salt and pepper
Tilapia
- 1 ½ pounds tilapia fillets
- 1 pinch salt and pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
For the Melon Salsa
- In a medium bowl, combine cantaloupe, honeydew melon, red onion, cilantro, lime juice, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Stir gently to evenly distribute everything. Set aside.
Pan Searing
- Rise the fillets and pat dry. Season tilapia with salt and pepper.
- Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.
- Working in batches if necessary, place tilapia in the heated skillet and cook until browned on both sides and cooked through (145 degrees F), about 3-5 minutes per side depending on thickness.
- Divide tilapia between 4 plates, spoon the melon salsa on top, and serve with your favorite sides.
What an intriguing salsa! I totally second the healthy eating balancing out the pumpkin baking!
We’ve been eating lots of melon around here lately, since it’s easy to prep at the beginning of the week and then it’s ready for meals and snacks over the next few days. It seemed like the natural way to top this tilapia!
I know what you mean, Kristine! The weather by me has been all over the place! Only in the 50s today, but in the upper 70s by the end of the week. Crazy! 🙂 This talapia look incredible! It’s one of my favorite fishes to prepare, and I’m loving the salsa on top. Such a creative dish!
Thank you, Gayle! I love fruit salsas with fish. It’s so easy to vary the fruits you use, too.
We love tilapia here, too! I love how not fishy it is. I am so sorry you are dealing with those hot temps, what a bummer!
Thanks, Kelly! We also love to make fish tacos with tilapia. So good!
I am feeling you about the heat. I am just dying for it to cool off! I’m so sick of being hot. I want to start baking and making soups! But this is the perfect dinner recipe for these end of summer warm days. I love that you did a melon salsa! Cool and refreshing. Yum!
At least we can try to make ourselves feel better by making light “summery” meals like this one for the time being. 🙂
I love talapia!! this plateful looks so delicious!! melon salsa sounds incredible!! 😀
Thank you, Arpita! Now that the fresh peaches aren’t as good as they were a few weeks ago, we are enjoying melons instead!
Made this tonight. It was fabulous! As it is just 2 of us I am going to add large cooked shrimp to the remaining melon salsa to have over greens or rice.