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Air Fryer Tilapia

Looking for an easy way to whip up fish? Try my air fryer tilapia recipe! Enjoy perfectly flaky results in just 20 minutes — you can use fresh or frozen filets.

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Air Fryer Tilapia with a piece flaked on a fork served with chopped cooked carrots

We’re pretty big fish eaters in my house. It’s always nice to switch up our source of protein when we’ve been eating chicken and beef all week. Now, I will say that it’s easy to get my family to eat fish if there’s breading involved.

After all, who can resist that crunch? But I don’t always want the hassle, calories, or carbs that go along with breading. I have long searched for a good recipe with no breading involved.

That’s why I was so happy when I discovered delicious air fryer tilapia! It’s a healthy meal made with simple ingredients, so it checks off a lot of boxes for me. 

Even though there’s no breading, my whole family still devoured this dish. It turns out that cooking tilapia in the air fryer with some simple seasoning is all we ever needed. Best of all, you can use fresh or frozen filets, and the whole meal takes less than 20 minutes to make. This is a great recipe for those busy weeknights.

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Easy recipe, easy cleanup, and yummy results. What more can you ask for?!

Ingredients needed to make air fryer tilapia on a white background

How to Cook Tilapia in the Air Fryer

A full printable version of this recipe with ingredient measurements is available at the bottom of this post.

STEP ONE: Preheat your air fryer and place the tilapia filets on a large plate. 

STEP TWO: Drizzle the fish with olive oil so the seasonings stick. Mix the paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper together in a small bowl. 

Oil drizzled on tilapia with seasoning put together in a bowl

STEP THREE: Sprinkle the seasoning mix evenly over the tilapia, then place the filets in a single layer in the air fryer basket so that they cook evenly.

STEP FOUR: Air fry tilapia for about 10 minutes, flipping halfway through. Serve with fresh lemon juice and lemon wedges and enjoy!

Raw tilapia in air fryer using no breading

How Long to Cook Tilapia in the Air Fryer

It takes about 10 minutes to cook tilapia in the air fryer, depending on the thickness.

Be sure to flip the white fish halfway through the cooking time too. You’ll know it’s done when the fish flakes easily, is golden brown, and has a tender texture.

Check that the internal temperature is at least 145 degrees F to avoid any foodborne illnesses.

Cooked tilapia in the air fryer

Tips for Making This Tilapia Air Fryer Recipe

  • Use a store-bought spice mixture to save time. Cajun seasoning or lemon pepper seasoning are both great options for a delicious dinner!
  • Don’t overload the air fryer basket or the air fried tilapia won’t cook evenly.
  • Use air fryer-safe parchment paper for even easier cleanup after you air fry the tilapia. 

What to Serve With Air Fryer Tilapia

Air Fryer Tilapia with lemon sliced on top served with cooked chopped carrots

Variation to This Air Fryer Tilapia Recipe

  • Make it breaded. While half the beauty of this tilapia air fryer recipe is that you don’t need to use breading, I know some folks can’t get enough of it! I love panko, myself.
  • Use fresh fish or frozen. I’m giving all of the details on how to cook frozen tilapia in the air fryer below!
  • Make it parmesan crusted. Add a layer of Parmesan cheese to the fish for extra crispy results.
  • Increase the cooking time if you’re craving a blackened tilapia fillet.

More Air Fryer Fish Recipes

Closeup of flaked tilapia on a fork served on a white plate with carrots

How to Cook Frozen Tilapia in the Air Fryer

I recommend that you drizzle the tilapia with olive oil and the seasoning mixture before you freeze it. Wrap the fish in foil and store it in the freezer in a Ziploc bag. It will keep for 6-8 months.

To cook, preheat your air fryer to 400 degrees F and spray the basket with cooking oil, then add the frozen fish in a single layer. Spray with a bit more oil. Cook for 13 minutes (flip halfway through) and voila, easy and delicious results in under 15 minutes.

Tilapia on a white plate with lemon wedges and chopped carrots

How to Reheat and Store Air Fried Tilapia

Store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container, where they will keep for 3-4 days until you’re reading to reheat the fish in your air fryer.

To reheat, air frying is a great option! Simply preheat to 400 degrees F, spray the basket with oil, and add the fish. Air fry for about 4 minutes, or until heated through.

More Tilapia Recipes

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Air Fryer Weight Watcher Points per serving: 8

Air Fryer Tilapia on a plate with lemon wedges on top

Air Fryer Tilapia

Samantha Erb
Air fryer tilapia is an easy and delicious recipe to make for weeknight dinner! Ready in 20 minutes and cooked perfectly in the air fryer.
4.53 from 95 votes
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Course Air Fryer Recipes
Cuisine American
Servings 3 to 4 servings
Calories 287 kcal

Ingredients

  • 4 tilapia fillets
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

For Serving (Optional)

  • Lemon wedges

Instructions
 

  • Preheat your air fryer to 400 degrees.
  • Place the tilapia fillets on a large plate and drizzle with olive oil.
  • In a small bowl, mix the paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper.
  • Sprinkle seasoning evenly over the fillets then place in a single layer in the air fryer.
  • Cook tilapia for 10 minutes, flipping the fillets halfway through cooking.
  • Remove the tilapia from the air fryer, serve with lemon wedges (if desired), and enjoy!

Video

Notes

How to Reheat Tilapia in the Air Fryer:

1. Preheat your air fryer to 400 degrees.
2. Place leftover tilapia in the air fryer and cook for about 4 minutes, until heated through.
3. Remove them from the air fryer and enjoy!

How to Cook Frozen Tilapia in the Air Fryer:

1. Preheat your air fryer to 400 degrees.
2. Spray basket with cooking oil, place the frozen tilapia in the air fryer, and cook for about 13 minutes, until heated through, then enjoy!

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 287kcalCarbohydrates: 3gProtein: 45gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 97mgSodium: 361mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1g

This nutrition information is based on the exact products I used in this recipe. Brands and sizes of products could alter exact nutrition and should always be calculated independently.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!


samantha

About Samantha

I’ve always had a love of cooking and creating new recipes, so it only made sense to create a food blog so I could share those recipes with you. This site is designed to provide easy and flavorful recipes with as little ingredients as possible. That means you still get great flavor combinations without all that extra time and effort. Read more...

14 thoughts on “Air Fryer Tilapia”

    • Aww, that is so sweet Paula! I am so glad you are loving the recipes! I have a lot more air fryer recipes coming too! 🙂

    • Hi Jeane, an air fryer is just like an oven in that you should be preheating it to the temperature you will be cooking at.

  1. Your recipe says to pre heat at 400 but it doesn’t say at what temperature to cook for, also cooking time must differ if your cooking fresh or frozen fish, please add cooking temperature and cooking times for fresh or frozen fish,, many thanks

    Reply
    • Hi Mar mar, you should always cook your food at the temperature you preheat at, just like cooking in a normal oven. Also, the cooking times for cooking fresh and frozen tilapia in the air fryer are listed in the written post and recipe card at the bottom as they do differ. Enjoy!

  2. I look forward to trying your recipe. Do we season both sides of the fish? And do you prefer using thawed or frozen tilapia?

    Reply
  3. I am so glad I have found this site, I bought an Air fryer NO recipe book.
    I am 76. This info is so helpfull THANK YOU.

    Reply
  4. I usually do a meal prep for work. I came across this and tried it. All I can say is yummy. I’m doing prep now and trying on some shrimp then I’ll do my fish.

    Reply
  5. Just got my air fryer, and had tilapia on hand, so I googled & found your recipe: I had no paprika , so I used turmeric instead, and my air fryer is HUGE so I put it in the fourth rack & never flipped it. Outstanding!! We gobbled it down and loooved it!

    Reply
4.53 from 95 votes (94 ratings without comment)

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