Parmesan Crusted Tilapia is a light, crisp and delicately flavored dish that takes less than 20 minutes to make. This family favorite recipe is super easy, and uber flavorful!
This parmesan crusted fish is tasty and takes just minutes to prepare and serve. It is perfect served with your favorite coleslaw or a fresh Kale Salad with Lemon Dressing.
Parmesan Crusted Tilapia Recipe
There is nothing better than a quick weeknight meal on a busy weeknight. This easy easy tilapia recipe hits the mark on both counts! Tender tilapia fillets are dipped in an egg mixture, coated with parmesan seasoned panko crumbs and pan-fried till golden brown.
This Parmesan Crusted Tilapia recipe will conquer the “same old thing for dinner” blues! While I’ve used tilapia in this recipe, the simple and crispy crust is a delicious way to serve any type of white fish!
Swap Any White Fish
If you don’t have tilapia on hand, this easy recipe works with any white fish. If the filet is thicker you may need to add an extra minute or two to ensure it’s cooked to perfection.
What is Tilapia?
Tilapia is a white fish, similar in taste and texture to cod however, the texture of tilapia is a bit more firm. Tilapia will flake when cooked and is very versatile for many recipes from Easy Fish Tacos to Blackened Fish and our all-time favorite, Parmesan Broiled Tilapia. Tilapia is a freshwater farmed fish grown in many countries around the world, including the US and Canada.
Fish is good for you, it is a great way to add variety to your table and it takes just minutes to prepare.
How to Make Parmesan Crusted Fish
Tilapia can be baked, broiled, fried or poached. I love the simplicity of Baked Tilapia but I love the crust and flavor of Parmesan Crusted Chicken so putting the two together is the perfect quick meal mashup!
How to Cook Tilapia
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Prep fish per recipe below.
- Add fish and fry for about 3 minutes per side or just until cooked through.
- Keep warm on a low oven (250°F) if cooking in batches.
- Serve warm with coleslaw and Dill Pickle Tartar Sauce.
For all methods, it is a good idea to use a meat thermometer to check for doneness (145°F). The fish will flake easily when it is done.
TIP: The breading is fairly light. To ensure it doesn’t fall off, allow the fish to rest for a minute or two before serving it.
More Easy Seafood Recipes
- Creamy Seafood Chowder – So comforting!
- Skillet Shrimp Fajitas
- Baked Fish Nuggets – kid-friendly
- Herb Crusted Baked Salmon – Favorite recipe!
- Asparagus Salmon Foil Packets
- Baked Lemon Butter Salmon Pasta Popular!
- Easy Shrimp Scampi – Quick!!
- Pan Fried Tilapia
Parmesan Crusted Tilapia
Ingredients
- 6 tilapia fillets defrosted if frozen
- 2 eggs
- 4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- lemon slices for serving
Coating
- 1 ½ cups Panko Bread Crumbs
- 1 cup cornflake crumbs
- ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine eggs, dijon mustard & water. Mix well and set aside. In a separate dish, combine all of the coating ingredients.
- Dip each tilapia fillet into the egg mixture and then into the crumb mixture. Be sure to press the crumbs into the fish and make sure it's completely coated.
- Once all of the fillets are coated, preheat butter and olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.
- Place the coated fish fillets in the skillet, and cover with a lid. Cook for 3 minutes. Flip the fish, cover again and cook an additional 3 minutes.
- Serve with fresh lemon slices.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Main Course
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
I have to confess I’ve always bought the frozen Parmesan crusted tilapia to heat and serve before but after using this recipe I’m sold on how much better making it yourself is. It was quick, easy and delicious. I used a instant read thermometer to be sure it was cooked through 135-140 degrees and 3 min per side was just right. I served it topped with homemade mango salsa and it was yummy! Love your recipes Holly and look forward to trying more. My hubby is even willing to try salmon now yay!
So happy to hear that Becky! You made my day!
I’ve fallen in live with this recipe and have made it at least 5 times now- thank you for sharing it! I just wanted to offer that when I’ve been out of corn flakes I subbed Rice Krispies and it’s worked out great. Thanks again!
You’re welcome Juliette! Great idea to use what you have on hand!
Forgot to take a picture, but it was Amazing!!! My 5 and 8 year olds had seconds! Highly recommend!
Made this last night. AMAZING! Added Mayo, and a dash of hot sauce to egg mixture. Parmesan, panko, and old bay for dry coating. It was just delicious. I made my own tarter sauce, and had scallops as an appetizer. Easy, quick, and delicious.
Im excited to try this. I had made a recipe very much like this a few years ago and was looking for it and came across this one. Looks great!
I can’t find the actual recipe.
It is located just above this comment box. At the top of each page you will find a “jump to recipe” button that will take you directly to the recipe. Hope that helps.
Deliciousness!! Just made this with a side of sautéed squash/zucchini, and jersey tomatoes
Made this tonight and it was delicious! I used cod fish instead that was frozen then thawed. I made them in the air fryer instead, and they turned out super crispy. I will add this recipe to my cookbook!
I made this and it was delicious. Next time I will cut the coating to a half recipe. It’s too much breading as written. I did sub halibut filets and it was perfect. ! Great recipe. I will make this again.
The best recipe for tilapia I’ve found. Could be tweaked for different flavor combos. Thank you.
This was the best recipe I have ever done for fish. It was super moist. Usually it is dry and I have tried a lot over the years. I am definitely going to keep this for my go to recipe for fish. I left out the corn flakes as I didn’t have them. I also used mayonnaise instead of the mustard as another review said.
So happy to hear that Trena! Glad this recipe turned out great for you.
Wow! This was super easy to make and came out delicious! My 2 year old gobbled it up after I finally got her to taste it (took almost 30 mins before she took a bite ) but totally a success. Omitted the cornflakes cause we didn’t have any and used mayo instead of mustard cause again we didn’t have any and it worked great!
Great recipe! My family loved it!
I would love to make this, but I am not a fan of Dijon mustard. Could I simply substitute mayonnaise, perhaps?
Mayonnaise would work great as a substitute for the dijon. You may also enjoy my Parmesan Broiled Tilapia recipe as well Penny!
I have been using this same recipe for quite some time(minus the cornflakes). Always turns out yummy. I do also use Old Bay seasoning, and sometimes a schmear of mayo to hold the bread crumbs on. Goes great with scalloped or augratin potatoes.
That sounds delicious Cynthia! Thanks for sharing.
I love cooking..and I absolutely LOVE feeding others..especially my family and dishes I know they truly enjoy!
That being said, I have always avoided cooking fish A) because we are not fans of seafood, B) because I do not care for the smell and C) I’ve always been a bit afraid to try it….until I tried your parmesan crusted tilapia recipe!
My husband & boys absolutely love it!! My husband wants it weekly now! It is so quick & easy..and NO smell!
The only adjustment I made was to substitute 2 tblsp. honey for water.
Thank you for sharing
That makes us so happy to hear that Connie! So happy this recipe was loved by everyone!
This was easy to make and tasted great!
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
I am not a fan of tilapia, but I want to try this coating on cod. Sounds delicious!
Can a different fish be used for this recipe?
Any white fish should work just fine.
Followed the recipe step by step…when I fried the tilapia, the entire panko-parmesan mix fell off the fish! What did I do wrong?
That’s disappointing! I can’t say for sure what happened because my crust stayed on. Was your fish defrosted and fairly dry when you dipped it into the egg mixture?