Honey Lime Tilapia (df)
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy
Honey Lime Tilapia – Crispy pan-fried tilapia with a sweet honey lime marinade. This tasty recipe is good enough to convert any fish hater!
Michael and I talk all the time about how being married and eating together has changed the foods we eat.
For instance, I didn’t eat much in the way of potatoes, hardly ever bought red meat, and had NEVER cooked steak of any kind before we were married. Now, potatoes find their way into our menu once every week or two and one of my favorite meals we’ve discovered together is a sort of steak stir-fry.
Michael, on the other hand, never really ever ate fish. Not that he didn’t like fish, he just never really ate it. Now, he really likes tilapia and shrimp (he can’t get enough of our cajun fish sandwiches and shrimp po’boys).
Because I love fish so much, and I’m always looking to expand our seafood recipe repertoire, I hunted down this REALLY easy method for cooking tilapia. After eating this for dinner, Michael said it was the best fish he’d ever eaten. Woo hoo!
Now, I know it looks like fried fish. It isn’t. In fact, all the ingredients required for this dish are pretty healthy and straightforward. I even used whole wheat pastry flour for dredging the fish! Also, I found that it was a great balance of flavor and not too sweet. I loved the combination of lime and honey.
One of the beauties of fish is that it cooks very quickly. With only a little bit of preparation beforehand, this meal comes together in about 10 minutes. Seriously. You did read that right. 10 minutos, dear reader.
I tried an experiment with the recipe, which originally called for marinating the fish about an hour ahead of time. I wondered if it would work to marinate it longer than that, so we cooked half the fish one night after about an hour of marinating time, and waited 24 hours to cook up the rest for dinner the next night. I couldn’t tell any difference in texture, and the flavor was, if anything, better.
Because of that, you could easily mix up the marinade, pour it in a zip-top bag with the fish fillets and keep it in your freezer until you’re ready to eat it. You just pull it out of the freezer, pop it into the refrigerator for the day, and by dinner time, all you have to do is dredge it and cook it up. Easy-peasy!
As for what to serve it with, we tried it with a simple squeeze of lime juice, and it was delicious. Or, you could certainly serve it with some peach salsa. I loved it!
Like this recipe? You might also like:
Print
Honey Lime Tilapia
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
For the fish and marinade:
- 4 (4-5oz) tilapia fillets (thawed if frozen)
- Juice and zest of 1 lime
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 1/2 Tbsp honey
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
For dredging and cooking:
- 1/2c flour (I tried both white flour and whole wheat pastry flour with good results)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1–2 Tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Assemble marinade by combining lime zest, lime juice, olive oil, honey, salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a gallon-sized zip-top bag or shallow container with a lid. Add fish and marinate in the refrigerator anywhere from 1 hour up to 24 hours*.
- When ready to cook, combine flour with salt and pepper on a plate. Remove each fish fillet from the marinade and dredge lightly with the flour on both sides (just a light, light coating).
- Heat 1-2 Tbsp olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Cook fillets 2 at a time for 3-4 minutes per side or until opaque and browned (this works best if you don’t disturb the fish much while letting it cook).
- Serve with lime wedges or peach salsa.
Notes
*If you want to plan this meal in advance, you can prepare the fish and marinade in a large freezer bag and keep it in the freezer. Move frozen fish and marinade to the refrigerator the morning you plan to serve the fish and allow it to thaw in the refrigerator. It will marinate while it thaws!
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Main dish, seafood
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Seafood
Adapted from How Sweet Eats
Emily, this recipe is SO yummy! I made if for dinner tonight and adapted it into fish tacos. DELISH! Thanks for sharing!
Ooooh! I LOVE the idea of using it for fish tacos. YUM! I’m DEFINITELY trying that.
This looks delicious! Could it be baked instead of fried?
I’m sure you could bake it without losing any flavor, but I don’t think the texture would be the same. I’m not one for deep-frying, and these didn’t feel greasy or heavy at all, since you don’t use much oil in the pan for pan-frying.
forgot to leave a rating emily 🙂
I made this tonight with the peach salsa and OMG! It was a total hit in my house. Even my picky eater husband loved it! Thank you so much 🙂
I made this for dinner tonight and I can’t believe how flavorful the fish was! I was a little skeptical at how few ingredients were in the marinade but this is one I will make again!
I love your blog and your recipes! I posted your blog on my foodie blog above…come check it out:)
C
You sound a lot like me and my husband! Thanks for the recipe–I printed it off and will try it this week.
Great recipe! I made it with cod, and used butter in the pan instead of oil and it was delish. I also boiled up the marinade while the fish was cooking and poured it over to serve. The sweet taste of the honey and the sour taste of the lime were great together.
Thank you for the recipe! We are not “fish people”, and we are trying to be….and your recipe is VERY appreciated!
This is an unusual question, but I would really appreciate an answer if you don’t mind. I found a blog that had 5 main course suggestions for a week, plus one dessert, plus one snack. The blog used to list the recipes on it’s blog, but now it links to other blogs. It picked your fish recipe to link to, and that’s how I found this fish recipe. I lost the website for that blog, and I wondered if you know it? I didn’t know if it linked to your blog without your knowing, or if you were aware that another blog linked to yours for the fish recipe.
Thank you SO much for your response! It is OK to e-mail me!
Susan
Susan, no worries! I’ll email you as well, but the blog is called Can I Get the Recipe. The post you’re talking about can be found here. They do a great job of giving lots of good ideas!
I used this recipe today for fish tacos, with some fresh corn salsa. It was tasty and filling!
I had some limes sitting on the counter, staring at me, begging me to do something great with them. I made these tilapia filets tonight (minus the honey, I have a thing about sweet and savory). Awesome! Thanks for posting!
This is one of the best/easiest tilapia recipes I’ve seen! Looking forward to making this for Sunday dinner tomorrow!
I LOVE this recipe! This is my husband’s favorite fish- and he doesn’t normally like fish! Although I can never seem to get it to look as crispy as the picture, it still tastes delicious!
i am eating this as i write this and the recipe is AMAZING !!! sooo good! i needed a new way to cook tilapia and this is it!
I could cook for a year with your recipes!! Love them!
I can’t believe I have no limes on hand, but I need to cook my tilapia tonight! I do have a lemon, so I’m trying it with that…I’m pretty sure it will be almost as amazing! 🙂