This Air Fryer Tilapia recipe with frozen or fresh fish is the perfect easy, fast, and healthy dinner. Made with just 3 ingredients including Homemade Blackening Seasoning, in less than 10 minutes, your family will love this tasty, flavorful fish dinner.
Love Tilapia? Also try my Tilapia Veracruz and Lemon Pepper Parmesan Tilapia.
Air Fryer Tilapia Frozen or Fresh
This Air Fryer Tilapia with frozen or fresh fish is such a great fast, healthy weeknight dinner. This tender, flaky, mild-tasting fish is perfectly seasoned with my rich Blackening Seasoning to make a flavorful fish dinner anyone will love. You can't beat this weeknight staple that can be made with just three ingredients in less than 10 minutes with minimal cleanup.
Serve with with a green vegetable like Roasted Green Beans, Lemon Parmesan Broccoli, and a starch like Herb and Garlic Baby Roasted Potatoes and you can a dinner you can serve again and again.
Tilapia isn't a flashy fish, but it tastes great, is widely available in stores, and is great for you! It's a tender white fish that's mild enough that even those who don't love fish can eat it. It's low-calorie and still filled with a lot of vitamins. This recipe includes directions on how to make it from a frozen fillet, or one that's fresh or thawed out.
The air fryer is also the perfect way to cook this fish for an easy, fuss-free meal! It gives food a crispiness without using a bunch of oil. Plus, it cooks faster than the oven. Cooking tilapia has never been easier.
If you want to add more fish to your diet, this is the perfect place to start.
Air Fryer Tilapia from fresh or frozen fillets! Share on X
Why You'll Love this Air Fryer Tilapia Frozen or Fresh...
- This Air Fryer Tilapia is so quick and easy! It can be prepped AND cooked in just 10 minutes.
- Tilapia is economical, making it a great fish for weeknight dinners.
- It's a great way to get more fish into your diet! It's healthy a great lean source of protein.
- You can make this with fresh or frozen tilapia.
- This is a super versatile recipe.
- This recipe is for Blackened Tilapia, but I've included instructions below to also make Air Fryer Tilapia with lots of other spice blends, depending on the type of meal you are making and the taste you are looking for.
Ingredients:
Here's an overview of what you'll need to make this Air Fryer Tilapia Frozen or Fresh recipe, but keep scrolling for the full recipe amounts.
- Tilapia Fillets: This Blackened Air Fryer Tilapia recipe calls for two fillets that are 4-6 ounces. You can easily double this recipe for a family of 4. You can use fresh fillets, frozen fillets, or fillets thawed out from frozen. It takes slightly longer to cook frozen fillets, so I've included the two sets of directions below. When buying fish, look for ones that don't have a fishy smell. It should be pinkish-white in color and has shiny flesh.
- Blackening Seasoning: You'll need blackening seasoning to give the fish a lot of flavor, without much fuss. I like to use my Homemade Blackened Seasoning with smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and oregano. This recipe is for Blackened Tilapia, but you can easily mix up the seasoning to give it different flavors. I've included several different variations below.
- Butter or Oil: You can use either melted butter or olive oil depending on your preference. You can also use a spray of olive oil if you are watching calories. I like the way the Blackening Seasoning pairs with the melted butter, but you can also use olive oil or avocado oil.
- Salt & Pepper: Often, Blackening Seasoning has salt and pepper in it, so you will want to add this carefully if it does.
Instructions:
This is an overview of the instructions to make this Air Fryer Tilapia with fresh fish and frozen fish, but the full detailed printable recipe is below in the recipe card.
Air Fryer Tilapia Fresh
- Preheat the air fryer to 400 degrees. Spray the basket with cooking spray. I love this one and suggest you try it if you haven't yet.
- Pat the fresh tilapia fillets dry with a paper towel and season both sides of the tilapia with salt and pepper.
- Put the tilapia fillets in the basket. Brush the butter or olive oil. Generously season with the blackening seasoning.
- Cook for about 7 minutes, or until the fish is flaky.
- Serve warm with fresh lemon wedges and fresh lemon juice.
Air Fryer Tilapia Frozen
I do find that the fish tastes slightly best cooked fresh, or cooked from thawed-out frozen fillets, BUT you absolutely can cook it from frozen if you are in a rush or a pinch and don't have the thawed-out fish. Or just don't want to mess with it! It's not the best, but still tastes good and works.
- Start by preheating the air fryer to 400 degrees. Spray the basket with cooking spray.
- Season both sides of the tilapia with salt and pepper.
- Put the tilapia fish fillets in the basket. Brush the butter or olive oil. Generously season with the blackening seasoning.
- Cook for about 10 minutes, or until the fish is flaky. This is about 3 minutes longer than cooking the fresh fillets.
- Serve warm with fresh lemon wedges.
Air Fryer Cooking Tips:
- Don't crowd the fish: Make sure the fish is spaced out in the air fryer and is no overlapping. If you make more than a few servings of it, you might need to work in batches.
- Don't Flip It: Some air fryer tilapia recipes have you flip the fish, but I don't think that is necessary and you risk breaking the fish by doing that. Since this fish is pretty thin, it cooks quickly and pretty evening.
- How is it done?: The fish is done when it turns white and easily flakes with a fork. Cooking time can vary due to different air fryers and the thickness of the fish. The FDA recommends cooking fish until the internal temperature is 145 degrees Fahrenheit using a meat thermometer. I pull mine out a bit before then so it doesn't get tough, but do that with caution.
Variations
I love this Air Fryer Tilapia Frozen or Fresh recipe as written, but here are some fun variations.
Make it Crusty: To give it a crust pat parmesan cheese and panko breadcrumbs on it.
Make it Spicy: Add some cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes.
Mix up the Seasoning: You can easily change the seasoning mix to give the fish a different flavor, depending on the meal you are trying to make. Here are some ideas from my collection of homemade spice blends.
- Mexican Spice Mix
- Cajun Seasoning
- Italian Seasoning
- Herbs de Provence
- Everything But the Bagel Seasoning
- Ranch Seasoning Mix
FAQ
Storage & Leftovers
Fish is best enjoyed fresh, but you can store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in the air fryer for best results.
Freezing
I don't recommend re-freezing the fish after cooking it. It will thaw out soggy.
How long should you air fry tilapia?
Tilapia is a thin fish that cooks quickly! I recommend cooking it for around 7 minutes at 400 degrees.
How long does frozen tilapia take to air fry?
Frozen tilapia takes about 3 minutes longer than fresh tilapia to cook. Cook for about 10 minutes at 400 degrees.
What is the best air fryer temp for fish?
I use 400 degrees to get a nice crust on the fish. It also allows the middle of the fish to cook without overcooking the outside.
Can you cook raw fish in an air fryer?
YES! If you aren't that great with cooking raw fish, the air fryer is such a foolproof way to make your fish dinner.
This Air Fryer Tilapia is the Perfect Way to Cook Fish
I just love this Air Fryer Tilapia recipe which lets you cook fish without much fuss. This is hands-down one of the simplest, tastiest dinners you can make. It's healthy AND it tastes good.
I know you will love it as much as I do. You can easily turn this into a salad, pasta dish, fish bowl, tilapia fish tacos, or wrap or serve it with a few sides are a traditional dinner plate. Here are a few ideas to round out your meal.
Serving Suggestions:
- Oven Baked Parmesan Garlic Potato Wedges
- Roasted Garlic Parmesan Asparagus
- Roasted Garlic Green Beans
- Healthy Broccoli Slaw
- Cheesy Grilled Potatoes in Foil
- Cottage Cheese Alfredo
- Oven Roasted Mushrooms and Broccoli
- Cilantro Lime Rice
- Roasted Baby Red Potatoes
- Parmesan Ranch Cauliflower
- Roasted Lemon Garlic Broccoli
- Roasted Potatoes and Broccoli
- Kale Caesar Salad
- Healthy Cole Slaw
- Lemon Garlic Kale
More Healthy Fish Recipes:
- Baked Blackened Cod
- Blackened Swordfish
- Blackened Mahi Mahi
- Blackened Salmon
- Lemon Pepper Tilapia
- Panko Parmesan Crusted Halibut
- Tilapia Veracruz
- Seared Ahi Tuna Tacos
- Healthy Mahi Mahi Fish Tacos
- Teriyaki Salmon Bowls
- Pesto Salmon
- Foil Packet Fish
- Salmon with Greek Yogurt Dill Sauce
- Everything But the Bagel Salmon
If you make this Air Fryer Tilapia recipe, I’d love to hear what you think! Leave a comment and a star rating ★ below. Make sure to follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook too!
Air Fryer Tilapia - Frozen or Fresh
Ingredients
- 2 tilapia fillets, 4-6 ounces
- 2 teaspoons melted butter or olive oil
- 2 teaspoons blackening seasoning
- sea salt & black ground pepper
- optional garnish: lemon wedges
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 400 degrees. Spray the basket with cooking spray.
- Pat the tilapia fillets dry and season both sides of the tilapia with salt and pepper.
- Put the tilapia fillets in the basket. Brush the butter or olive oil. Generously season with the blackening seasoning.
- Cook for about 7 minutes, or until the fish is flaky. For frozen fillets, cook the fish for about 3 minutes longer.
- Serve warm with fresh lemon wedges.
Notes
- Don't crowd the fish: Make sure the fish is spaced out in the air fryer and is no overlapping. If you make more than a few servings of it, you might need to
- How is it done?: The fish is done when it turns white and easily flakes with a fork. Cooking time can vary due to different air fryers and the thickness of the fish. The FDA recommends cooking fish until the internal temperature is 145 degrees Fahrenheit using a meat thermometer. I pull mine out a bit before then so it doesn't get tough, but do that with caution.
Nutrition
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