Tilapia with Garlic Butter Sauce

Name: Tilapia with Garlic Butter Sauce
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Filipino
Ingredients: 2 lbs tilapia fillets; 6 tbsp unsalted butter; 8 cloves garlic, minced; 2 tbsp vegetable oil; 4 tbsp lemon or calamansi juice; 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped, chopped; to taste salt and black pepper

Pan-fried tilapia with a rich garlic butter sauce and a squeeze of calamansi, a trending Filipino fish dish that's elegant and simple.

30 minEasyServes 4320 cal/serving

FilipinoDinnerStovetopStandard

Cook this free in the appFree. No download, no account. The screen stays awake and each step can run its own timer.

Ingredients

2 lbs tilapia fillets
6 tbsp unsalted butter
8 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp vegetable oil
4 tbsp lemon or calamansi juice
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped, chopped
to taste salt and black pepper

Instructions

1

Pat 2 lbs tilapia fillets dry with paper towels and season both sides with to taste salt and black pepper.
2

Heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering.
3

Add tilapia and cook for 3-4 minutes per side until cooked through and flaky. Transfer to a serving platter and cover to keep warm.
4

In the same skillet, reduce heat to medium. Add 6 tbsp unsalted butter and 8 cloves minced garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently, until garlic is fragrant and lightly golden.
5

Stir in 4 tbsp lemon or calamansi juice and remove from heat.
6

Pour the garlic butter sauce over the tilapia and sprinkle with 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley, chopped.
7

Serve immediately over rice or with fresh vegetables.

Cook this free in the appCooking it now? The app keeps the screen awake and times each step. Free, nothing to install.

Keep this recipe

Prints the ingredients and method only.

The Filipino Kitchen 30 recipes from this kitchen in one printable PDF. $5, no account.

Questions

How do I know when Tilapia with Garlic Butter Sauce is done?

Go by the cues in the method rather than the clock. Step 3: cook until cooked through and flaky. Step 4: cook until garlic is fragrant and lightly golden.

Why pat it dry first in Tilapia with Garlic Butter Sauce?

Step 1 reads: "Pat 2 lbs tilapia fillets dry with paper towels and season both sides with to taste salt and black pepper." Surface water has to boil off before anything can brown. Drying at step 1 means the food sears in the first minute instead of steaming.

Is there a substitute for calamansi in Tilapia with Garlic Butter Sauce?

The entry for Tilapia with Garlic Butter Sauce calls for 4 tbsp lemon or calamansi juice. In its place: Two parts lime juice to one part orange juice.

Can I use a different white fish instead of the tilapia in Tilapia with Garlic Butter Sauce?

Yes. Any firm white fish of similar thickness works: cod, haddock, pollock and halibut are interchangeable here. Timing follows thickness, not species. As written, the entry for Tilapia with Garlic Butter Sauce uses 2 lbs tilapia fillets.

Can I make Tilapia with Garlic Butter Sauce dairy-free?

Yes. The dairy in Tilapia with Garlic Butter Sauce is 6 tbsp unsalted butter. Swap the butter for olive oil where it melts, or a plant-based block butter where it is creamed. The richness shifts slightly, but the method does not change.

How do I store and reheat Tilapia with Garlic Butter Sauce?

Refrigerate what is left of Tilapia with Garlic Butter Sauce within two hours and eat it within two days (seafood turns fast). Reheat gently on the stovetop.

Serve it with

Cook this free in the app

Textual Chef is 4,544 plain-text recipes, free to read and free to cook from. No account, no paywall, no ads, no life stories. Open this one in the app and each quantity sits inside the step that uses it, so you read once and cook.

Every recipe is curated or public-domain sourced, written to one template and checked before it publishes. Nothing here is a scraped blog post.

Cook this free in the appNo download needed. It opens in your browser. The kitchen tools (planner, shopping list, pantry, import) are $5.33 a month billed annually; the first 30 days are free.