Blackened tilapia fish tacos with pineapple salsa

No ratings yet

Blackened tilapia fish tacos with pineapple salsa

This recipe pairs blackened tilapia with a pineapple salsa and cilantro-lime sauce for a taco that is flavorful, light, and fresh.

Prep Time20

Cook Time8

Total Time28

Servings: (5 street tacos or 2 regular sizes tacos per serving)

Calories: 647kcal

Ingredients

Tilapia fish tacos

2 tilapia fillets 6 oz each
2 tablespoon vegetable oil see note about butter
4-6 tortillas flour or corn

Blackening seasoning

3 tablespoon sweet paprika see note for sweet vs smoked
1 tablespoon organic onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt

Cilantro lime sauce

1 container plain Greek yogurt 5.3 ounce container (or sub ⅔ cup sour cream)
2 limes zest & juice
1 small clove garlic sub: 1 teaspoon garlic oil
¼ cup cilantro, packed
⅛ teaspoon salt

Pineapple salsa

½ fresh pineapple 2 cups
¼ medium red onion
1 jalapeno
1 lime juice
pinch sea salt

Instructions

Make blackening seasoning

Mix together all spices - add more or less cayenne depending on how spicy you like tacos. It makes about 6 tablespoons. I use about 1½ tablespoons per side per fillet.

Make cilantro lime sauce

Zest lime into a bowl then add juice from limes. Grate the garlic on the zester (or finely mince) and add to bowl. Add finely chopped cilantro. Mix in yogurt (or sub ⅔ sour cream). Add salt. Set aside to let flavors meld. Then taste and add more salt if needed.

Make pineapple salsa

First, dice the red onion and add to a small bowl of water and let sit for 5-10 minutes (this mellows out the sharp bite). Then cut the pineapple into small bite-sized pieces. Slice or dice the jalapenos (take a bite to see how hot they are - it can vary dramatically).
Drain the onions and add to a medium bowl along with pineapple and jalapeno. Add lime juice and a pinch of salt. Stir to coat and set aside.

Blackened tilapia

Heat a pan with 1 tablespoon of oil until very hot. Meanwhile, coat the tilapia fillets in the blackening spice mix. Use about 1½ tablespoons per side.
When the pan is hot, add the seasoned tilapia fillets and cook until the bottoms are browned, about 3-5 minutes. When ready to flip, first add another tablespoon of oil (to help brown the other side). Flip the fish ONCE and finish cooking. This should take about 3-5 minutes.
Cook the tilapia until it reaches 145℉ in the center. If you don't have an instant read thermometer, the center will be opaque and flaky.

Assemble the fish tacos

Break up the tilapia into pieces. Add to tortillas. Top with pineapple salsa and cilantro-lime sauce.

Notes

Butter vs oil

Traditionally, butter is used for blackening because the milk solids brown. However when heating a pan up really hot, it's hard to keep the butter from burning, so I suggest oil unless you are confident in your butter-cooking methods!

Sweet vs smoked paprika

Sweet paprika isn't spicy. Smoked paprika has a strong smoky flavor and can be spicy (but not always). See post for more info.

Yogurt vs sour cream

Use whichever one you prefer on tacos. Not sure? Follow the recipe and use yogurt. A 5.3 ounce container of yogurt is about ⅔ cup of sour cream.

Nutrition is calculated per serving, as follows: 2 medium flour tortillas, one 6-ounce tilapia fillet, 75% of the frying oil, a ½ cup of pineapple salsa, and half of the cilantro lime sauce (about ⅓ heaping cup).

Scan QR code for full recipe page with images & more helpful tips

Nutrition