Baked Tilapia with mustard sauce - an easy baked fish recipe that comes together very quickly. The base mustard sauce takes just 5 minutes to assemble. When tilapia fish bakes in the sauce, it cooks moist and bursting with tangy mustard flavor. It is a perfect weeknight dinner that you can ready at moment's notice. Gluten free, low carb.
Oh, don't forget to serve crusty bread on the side to scoop the delicious sauce. Sauce also pairs well with side of spaghetti or penne pasta. I recommend to serve a refreshing salad on the side. Try Heirloom Tomato Salad or Massaged Kale Salad.
Baked Tilapia
Everyone in my family enjoys a good fish dinner. Fish is not only easy to cook, healthy but also makes a delicious dinner option. I love to keep few healthier and low-oil/oil-free fish recipes in my repertoire to make fish dinner at moment's notice.
Today's recipe I first posted on blog 12 years ago. Recently when I served baked tilapia with mustard for dinner, I thought about adding new pictures to the old recipe. Honestly, it's a nostalgic recipe.
The aroma of fresh fish baking with mustard sauce reminded me of old blog days when I stood hours to take pictures of recipes. I was a newbie and had no idea of all photography gears that can do the job in minutes instead of hours.
What Do You Need to Make Baked Tilapia?
Here is what you need to make Baked Tilapia with Mustard Sauce:
- Tilapia Fillets
- Crème Fraiche
- Mustard - Dijon and wholegrain
- Capers
- Onion
- Lemon zest
- Salt and Pepper
That's it. Really all you need is: ingredients 2-7 are for Mustard Sauce andTilapia.
Mustard Sauce
For mustard sauce, I use French style clotted cream or crème fraiche. Crème Fraiche will not break when heated. This makes a creamy sauce which is never broken.
Two kinds of mustards - Dijon mustard and Wholegrain mustard adds double flavor of mustard and give perfect mustardy flavor to the sauce. I highly recommend using both.The flavor of onion is very subtle in the sauce. Along with capers, these two give sauce depth of flavor.
I have to say that while fish and lemon is match made in heaven, mustard works great with fish too. In-fact, I used a few tbsps of leftover sauce for dipping the vegetables I served on the side. So so good! Even if you don't want to bake the fish, you can try scrumptious mustard sauce with French fries or fresh steamed vegetables.
Tilapia
Tilapia is lean white fish. It is low in calories and bakes perfectly moist in 12-15 minutes. The best about baked tilapia is that you can use any tangy and bold flavor paste and it will make perfect flavorful tilapia.
For instance, if you tried my recipe for Air Fryer Miso Salmon? The same Miso marinade goes great with tilapia fillets. Bake in the oven or even in the air fryer!
Note: Always remember to fully pat dry fish before baking. Moisture in fish will result in thin sauce. If using frozen fish, thaw fully and pat dry.
Baking Tilapia with Mustard Sauce
Once sauce is mixed and fillets are pat dried. Simply preheat the oven and get tilapia ready to bake.
Spread a layer of sauce at the bottom of oven-proof dish. Layer fish in single layer on the top of mustard sauce. Spoon remaining sauce on the top covering fish completely. Fully covering fish in the sauce keeps fish moist as it bakes.
Baking Tilapia Bake tilapia with sauce at 425 degree Fahrenheit for 12-15 minutes. Check in last 2-3 minutes. If fish flakes easily then it is ready.
5 Ounce of crème fraiche makes good sauce to serve on the side with bread. Recipe also doubles easily.
When we are on vegetarian diet, I bake veggies such as cauliflower, broccoli in the same sauce. It makes an excellent vegetarian side dish. (hint hint)
What To Serve with Baked Tilapia (5 Recipe Ideas)
A saucy creamy baked fish such as this Baked Tilapia goes great with crusty bread or rice. A refreshing side salad is good for a daily serving of greens. Here are my favorite recipes to serve with Baked Fish:
- Massaged Kale Salad
- Heirloom Tomato Salad
- Broccoli Rice
- Parmesan Asparagus
- Kale Brussels Sprouts Salad
Busy Weeknights - Quick Dinner
This one pot fish recipe you can totally trust during busy weekdays/weeknights, combine sauce ingredients and leave in refrigerator. In evening, just preheat oven, spoon sauce over fish and bake for easy, healthy, flavorful fish dinner in just 15 minutes. Serve with bread or steamed rice on the side.
