Baked Tilapia is a great weeknight dinner or a date night dinner too! It's very effortless to prepare, and you can make it in various different ways by changing the spices and flavor you want that day. Baked Tilapia in Tomato sauce is my family favorite!
Tilapia is one of my go-to seafood for busy weeknights. Tilapia En Papillote makes a fantastic date night meal. Fish En Papillote is yet another favorite of ours, where I make it three different ways with different kind of sauce.
We paired the Baked Tilapia in Tomato Sauce with artisan bread, but it is amazing with rice, noodles and even pasta.
The fish was baked to the perfect flaky texture and the sauce had a beautiful balance of sweet and sour taste.
Ingredients needed
Tilapia fillet - You can use any other variety of white fish or salmon too. The dish works great even with shrimp. The cooking time will change based on the kind of fish you are using.
Cherry Tomatoes - I will highly recommend using cherry tomatoes instead of big ones, as cherry tomatoes are sweeter.
Garlic - Fresh garlic would be best, but I ran out, and so I used garlic powder.
Capers - Capers add a refreshing, sour taste to the sauce. If you don't have capers, use lemon slices while baking the fish.
Cilantro Leaves - Fresh herbs are always great and if you are not a fan of cilantro leaves, you parsley.
Butter - A small of butter adds a richness to the sauce as it bakes in the oven. You can choose to use just oil too or vegan butter.
The exact measurements of the ingredients is mentioned in the recipe card below.
Steps to prepare Baked Tilapia in Tomato Sauce
- Place the washed cherry tomatoes in an ovenproof bowl. Drizzle oil, sprinkle salt and garlic powder or grated fresh garlic. Bake in a preheated oven.
- The roasted tomatoes can be made in advance as a meal prep and used in various different dishes.
3. Finely chop few sprigs of cilantro leaves or parsley. You can use dried herbs too, but fresh herb will add a refreshing flavor to the sauce. Also, finely chop the capers.
4. In a bowl, mix the chopped cilantro and capers with butter.
5. Marinate the tilapia with salt, garlic powder and paprika. Then layer it on the bed of roasted tomatoes. And brush the butter cilantro caper mixture on top.
6. Bake until the fish is cooked through and enjoy warm.
We love to pair it with my no knead bread, so it would soak up all that sauce. But it will be great even with rice or any other grains of your choice.
FAQs
You can try Salmon, Swai fish, basa fish will work great too. The dish also works great with shell fish too.
A black of feta cheese instead of tilapia would make a great indulging appetizer. You can definitely try tofu too. Just score the tofu slab on top and then add the butter herb mixture.
You can roast the tomatoes in advance as part of meal prep and then bake the Tilapia just before serving.
It takes roughly 15 to 20 minutes to bake Tilapia to that perfect flaky texture.
Here are some bread recipes you can try to pair with this delicious seafood dish
Pumpkin Shaped Bread with caramelized onion
Roasted Garlic and Cilantro Bread
Baked Tilapia in Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 lb Cherry tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon Garlic powder or freshly grated garlic cloves (Plus extra to marinate the fish fillets)
- 2 Tablepsoon Paprika powder
- Salt to tase
- 3 Tilapia fillet
- 4 sprigs Fresh cilantro leaves
- 1 tablespoon capers
- 2 tablespoon Butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 F
- Layer the washed tomatoes in an ovenproof bowl and sprinkle garlic powder, salt, and oil. Give a mix and roast for 30 minutes.
- In the meantime marinate the fish fillet with salt, paprika powder and garlic powder. Leave it aside.
- Once the tomatoes are done, make a mixture of butter along with chopped capers and cilantro leaves
- Preheat the oven to 420 F
- Layer the marinated fish on the bed of cherry tomatoes. And brush the butter mixture on the fish fillet.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- Serve the baked tilapia warm with your choice of bread on the side.
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