This air fryer tilapia recipe is so easy, super-delicious, and can help you get dinner on the table quickly for busy weeknights.
The air fryer is amazing for easily cooking fish fillets, ready in under 15 minutes. I keep it pretty simple for this Air Fryer Tilapia recipe, but you can adapt the seasonings to your dinner’s flavor profile, just don’t skip topping the cooked fish with toasty breadcrumbs before serving. It’s so good!
Scroll down to read more about how it all comes together or click here to jump straight down to the recipe.
Video: Air Frying Tilapia
Why Tilapia?
I use tilapia fillets for this easy seafood recipe. It’s a tasty white fish with a mild flavor that can be seasoned and served in a lot of ways. Also, nowadays there’s a lot of tilapia available that is farmed sustainably and so it’s a great choice for us.
I love tilapia for its mild flavor, slightly meaty/firm texture, and gently flakiness. Because of this, it can be used in all different kinds of recipes. For that reason, I’ve kept the seasonings pretty basic in the recipe below.
Seasonings For Tilapia
You can add different ones depending on what you’re going to serve this with. If it’s going into tilapia fish tacos, you use more Mexican flavors. If you’re tossing it with pasta and lemon, you can add some oregano to the mix. If you’re serving it with a cauliflower curry, you can add some turmeric and a touch of cardamom. You get the idea.
For my go-to when the tilapia is going to be served on its own, I like to season it with salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and smoked paprika. My recipe also calls for olive oil, but you can use olive oil cooking spray or any cooking oil or cooking spray that you like to use.
How To Air Fry Tilapia Fillets
This is a very basic way to cook fish in the air fryer. When you have a busy night, you can just season them and get them in there, without having to bread them or coat them in things first, like you would for my crispy air fryer fish.
All you need to do is season the fish fillets on both sides, brush or spray with some oil, and put them into the air fryer. You want them in a single layer, so you’ll need to work in batches if they don’t all fit at once. Propping them up a bit on the sides to get them all to fit is totally fine though, as long as they’re not overlapping with each other or touching too much.
I like to finish them by sprinkling them with toasted panko breadcrumbs (see how to make them below) before serving for a wonderful crunch, but that’s optional and depends on how you plan on serving your cooked fillets.
If you have frozen tilapia, you can still air fry them, but it will take a little longer. See my Air Fryer Frozen Fish recipe for more information.
Time and Temperature for Air-Frying Tilapia
You don’t need to pre-heat the air fryer before adding the tilapia. Just get the fillets into the air fryer basket and into the air fryer. Then set the air fryer to cook at 400F.
Leave them alone in there for 7 minutes. Then you’ll check to see if they’re opaque throughout and flaky. If so, they’re done! If not, put them back in until those criteria are met, which will be about 2-3 minutes more.
An Easy Crispy Faux-Breading For Fish
On a busy weeknight, I don’t want to start dealing with breading fish fillets. It’s kind of a pain. But I do like the crispy coating. Here’s how I get the best of both worlds: a crispy topping without having to do any breading!
What I do is to either toast some panko breadcrumbs while the fish cooks, or to make a batch of toasted crumbs to keep in the freezer for times like this. You can read more about how to toast panko breadcrumbs here, but basically, you’ll do this:
- Melt butter in a skillet on the stovetop over medium-low.
- Add the panko breadcrumbs and some salt and garlic powder.
- Stir continuously until crumbs have turned a deep golden brown color, 3-4 minutes.
- Immediately transfer to a plate or container so they stop cooking and don’t get any darker.
For leftovers, you can store the breadcrumbs in a sealed container in the fridge for 1 week. It will stay crisp and ready to use. But I’ll tell you that I often make a double (or triple!) batch and the store it in the freezer. It keeps for a good month or two in a sealed container before getting freezer burnt.
If the panko is in the fridge or freezer, transfer the amount that you want to use to a microwave-safe bowl and heat in the microwave just until a bit warm, 10 seconds at a time.
Serving Air Fryer Tilapia
This recipe is wonderful for a simple dinner. Serve with some lemon wedges, tartar sauce, and a nice salad. Or pair it with some rice and your favorite veggies. So easy!
It’s also wonderful sliced or chopped and put into easy air fryer fish tacos with coleslaw or into a creamy pasta dish.
More Seafood Recipes
You can browse my full collection of 75+ seafood recipes, or check out some of my favorites below.
- Crispy Air Fryer Salmon
- Fish Parmesan
- Easy Crawfish Boil
- Perfect Fish Fillets Recipe
- Baked Salmon Dinner
Podcast Episode: Making Air Fryer Tilapia
Listen to me explain briefly about how to make this fish, along with some other great tips, by clicking the play button below:
Air Fryer Tilapia Recipe
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 7 minutes
- Total Time: 12 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Air Fryer
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 4 tilapia fillets
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
- 4 tsp. olive oil
- 2 Tbsp. toasted panko breadcrumbs (optional)*
Instructions
- Arrange tilapia on a large plate and sprinkle them all over with half of the salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika. Flip them and sprinkle the other sides with the remaining salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika. Brush the fillets on both sides with the olive oil.
- Transfer fillets to the air fryer basket in a single layer.**
- Place basket into air fryer and cook at 400°F without opening or flipping for 7 minutes. Check if they’re opaque and flaky throughout. If yes, they’re done. If not, do not flip them but return the basket to the air fryer and cook until fillets are done, 2-3 more minutes.
- Use a spatula to transfer fillets to serving plate and sprinkle with panko, if using.
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Notes
*The recipe and instructions for toasting panko is above the recipe.
**It’s fine if the fillets have to be propped up along the sides to get them all to fit, as long as they aren’t really touching each other. If you can’t fit 4 in a single layer like that, 3 is fine without changing the recipe. Or you can do 2 fillets, take them out and cover with foil. Then cook the other 2 fillets. Take them out and cover with foil. Put the first two back in for 2 minutes and then add the second two over top and finish cooking them all for 2 more minutes. They will all be hot and ready at the same time. Add the panko breadcrumbs once they’re all finished.
I skipped the breadcrumbs, but still turned out yummy. Timing worked perfectly.