I think I remember making a promise (or resolution) to make and post more quick, easy recipes for 2011. This one definitely fits the bill. It takes about 15 minutes to prepare and if you get some rice and veggies going first, you can have a super healthy meal done in just about a half hour.
I also love this recipe because, thanks to individually sealed and frozen fish fillets, I can make one, two, four or however many I’d like and just save the rest for a rainy day (read: day after eating a whole pizza and you need a light “feel healthy” meal). Plus, it’s absolutely perfect for all you singles out there (holla!) who are cooking for one.
I used a mini food processor (exactly like this one) to whip up my marinade but it could be done just as easily with a knife. Simply mince the garlic and parsley then stir in the rest. I also used my mini George Foreman grill to quickly cook the fish. People might make fun of this classic infomercial appliance but sometimes it’s just what you need! The fish was cooked perfectly in less than three minutes. It wasn’t dry, it wasn’t soggy and it had a nice crisp surface. I’ve had my George Foreman grill for about ten years and it’s still great. If you don’t have a countertop grill, you can also cook the fish in a skillet… but that’s just no fun.
Quick Lemon Garlic Fish
Quick Lemon Garlic Fish
Servings 2Ingredients
- 2 3 oz. tilapia fillets ($1.99)
- 1/4 bunch fresh parsley ($0.17)
- 1 med lemon ($0.50)
- 1 clove garlic ($0.07)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.11)
- 1/8 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 15-20 cranks freshly cracked black pepper ($0.03)
Instructions
- Rinse the parsley and remove as much water as possible by shaking into the sink (hold onto the stems). Pull the leaves from the stems and place them in the food chopper or processor. Cut the lemon in half and add the juice and zest from one half into the food chopper. Save the other half of the lemon for garnish. Also add the garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. Turn the chopper on until the parsley and garlic are finely minced and the mixture is well combined.
- Place the fish fillets (thawed) to a bowl or shallow dish and pour the lemon-garlic-parsley mix over top. Make sure both sides are covered. Some may run off but that is okay. Spray the grill surface with non-stick spray and preheat for 5 minutes.
- Place the fish fillets in the hot grill, close the lid and set the timer for 2 minutes. Check the fish after two minutes. If you want the fish more browned, cook for one additional minute. Carefully remove the fish from the grill (it will be delicate). Serve with additional slices of lemon if desired.
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Nutrition
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Step By Step Photos
This is the tilapia I used. Each bag contains 12 oz. of fish (four 3oz. fillets) that are individually vacuum packed and frozen. If I had bought a larger pack, they probably would have been even less expensive per fillet.
Add the washed leaves from the parsley along with lemon zest, juice, olive oil, garlic salt and pepper to the food chopper.
Whiz the food chopper until the parsley and garlic are minced.
Place the thawed fish fillets in a dish and pour the parsley, garlic, lemon mixture over top. Make sure both sides are coated. It will run off a bit (the lemon juice makes it liquidy) but that’s okay. There will still be plenty to give good flavor.
Make sure to preheat the grill for 5 minutes (this can be done as you’re preparing the lemon garlic mix). I sprayed my grill surface with non-stick spray just because the cooked fish is so delicate that I didn’t want to chance it sticking at all. Stuck fish will fall apart if you try to dislodge it.
Close the lid, set the timer for two minutes and let it do its magic. I had one big thick fillet and one smaller thinner fillet. This large one took closer to 3 minutes to get the nice dark char while the second only took two. It’s okay to open the lid and check.
The other great thing about these individually frozen fillets is that they thaw out really fast. Because they are vacuum sealed, you can place them under running water to thaw without them getting water logged. Because they are so thin, they thaw in about 5 minutes! That’s perfect for a last minute dinner!
We don’t need a char on our tilapia, so we steam it in the microwave. This method is great for families with young children because it’s so entertaining to watch it cook.
Double the sauce recipe. Place fish in a glass baking dish and coat with half of the sauce. Cover baking dish tightly with plastic wrap. Microwave on high, about 8 minutes for four frozen fillets. When the plastic wrap bubbles up from the steam–it gets really big–and then deflates, the fish is perfectly cooked. While the fish steams, warm the rest of the sauce in a small saucepan and cook pasta of your choice (we like angel hair or medium wide noodles best) to al denté. Serve each fillet over pasta with the sauce.
Hey is it possible to make this recipe with a different fish fillet- say Basa?
Or does it have to be Tilapia?
You could definitely do this with any type of mild white fish. Just adjust the cooking time depending on the thickness of the filet.
yummy & easy fish dish.
Could you make this on a charcoal grill some he? If so, instructions?
Boyfriend’s mom and her gluten-free friend: sufficiently impressed :)
Monica – My George Foreman is really old school (like back from the 90’s) and only has one temperature setting. My fish wasn’t crunchy… maybe you misread that?
What temperature setting did you use on your Foreman? I tried a few fillets on Medium and although they got brown and were done they weren’t crunchy like you referenced. I tried one on a higher setting and that didn’t do the trick either?
Hello I don’t have a George but I have a panning grill. Cooks great on there you just have to leave it on longer as it doesn’t get as hot as the George!
Ashley – You could probably just skip it. Dried parsley doesn’t have much flavor and lemon and garlic are great on their own. :)
Sadly, I don’t have a food chopper or processor. Also, I don’t currently have any fresh parsley in the house, but I have everything else. Could I still make this with dried parsley? (I think it would go nicely with the parmesan potatoes I asked about a few minutes ago…)
Megan, yes, but don’t get it too close! Or you can just bake it.
Any chance this could be cooked under the broiler? It is too hot here to get the grill out today, but this looks delish!
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I flippin love this blog! every time I am looking for a recipe to match the ingredients I have at home, I always find something great here. thanks!
wow! saw this on pinterest, and I want to make and reblog! so awesome :)
I grew up vegetarian, and I’ve been wanting to cook and eat fish to add protein to my diet. This was my first time, and it turned out great! Thanks for providing such a simple, tasty recipe!
Mine didn’t look as pretty as your but it was lip smackin good.
I tried this today and it was fantastic. BTW I love your blog!
i always find frozen fish to have this really fishy taste, but im not sure if i’ve ever had the vacuumed sealed kind. were these fresh or fishy, or in between?
I’ve never had fresh tilapia before but the frozen vacuum sealed one don’t taste too fishy(I hate the fishy taste). I love it. It’s so cheap and convenient.
Ohhhhh! Looks lovely, can’t wait to try this dish.
Sounds easy and absolutely delicious!
Thank-you so much, this hits all my points for a great post:
– quick, with good timing info for each step (the thaw, the preheat while mixing, approx 2-3 mins in grill)
– store to plate pictures, the bag of fish shot just made me feel like, “I could buy that.” when I have NEVER felt comfortable buying frozen fish.
– suggested pairings- although I feel like rice takes longer than that, I just need to get better at rice cooking
– a new idea– it had never occurred to me that I could put fish in the george foreman, I always thought it would be too delicate.
Again, love it, definitely will have made this in the next week or so.