Community Pick
Pan-Seared Tilapia With Chile Lime Butter
"Nice, fresh-tasting dish that comes together in a snap. Make it even quicker by preparing the chile lime butter ahead of time. It can be made 1 day ahead, covered and chilled. Just make sure to bring to room temperature before using. I like this served atop jasmine rice. -adapted from Gourmet"
photo by Andi Longmeadow Farm
- Ready In:
- 25mins
- Ingredients:
- 9
- Serves:
-
6
ingredients
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For chile lime butter
- 1⁄4 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped shallot
- 1 teaspoon finely grated fresh lime zest
- 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh serrano chili, including seeds
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
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For fish
- 6 (5 ounce) skinless tilapia fillets
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt, to taste (I prefer kosher)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
directions
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Make chile lime butter:
- Stir together butter, shallot, zest, lime juice, chile and salt in a bowl.
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Prepare fish:
- Pat fish dry and sprinkle with salt.
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until just smoking.
- Saute 3 pieces of fish, using a spatula to turn once, until golden and just cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Transfer to a plate and saute remaining fish in same manner.
- Serve each piece of fish with a dollop of chile lime butter.
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Reviews
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This recipe gave me all sorts of ideas. Due to grocery store and time restraints, I had to substitute garlic for shallots in the butter but it still turned out delicious. I also added a littl eminced garlic to the pan when searing. I took one reviewers suggestion and rubbed the fish with cumin, paprika and chili powder. Paired with a pinot grigio, it was absolutely amazing. Next time I want to add an avacado and tomato salad on top. -
I can't even begin to say how good this was! The best part was that dinner was on the table in less than 30 minutes and made for a very elegant week night meal. I would definitely serve this to guests. The only thing that I did different was to smear the butter mixture over the fish in the pan and cover it for a few minutes to get the butter to melt over top of the fish before serving. I was a little concerned about the shallots and the serrano tasting a little too raw, but they didn't at all. Will definitely make this again! Made for Zaar Chef Alphabet Soup! -
I made this tonight and it was pretty good. I added extra lemon juice, plus a dash of cumin and cayenne to give it a little bit more flavor. Comes together very quick. My fish didn't really sear, I think next time I need to really dry it off. -
A simple option with a complex taste. The butter's flavour is really nice, especially if you cheat and add cilantro to it. Lovely quick and simple.
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This is a great way to dress up Tilapia. The butter, lime & chili are a surprisingly good combination. Since I did not have shallots, I used a finely chopped onion and sautéed the chili and onion then added the lime & zest. This made a butter sauce which I poured over the sautéed fish. We will use this recipe again.
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Tweaks
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This recipe gave me all sorts of ideas. Due to grocery store and time restraints, I had to substitute garlic for shallots in the butter but it still turned out delicious. I also added a littl eminced garlic to the pan when searing. I took one reviewers suggestion and rubbed the fish with cumin, paprika and chili powder. Paired with a pinot grigio, it was absolutely amazing. Next time I want to add an avacado and tomato salad on top.
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This went very well, it was a snap just as posted. I'll be making this one again. The only change I made was to use the prepared butter to fry the fish in place of the oil. -
I don't always write reviews, but I had to say the flavours of the lime and peppers on tilapia tastes sooooooo amazingly good! I cheated a lot with this recipe, I'm on a diet, so I used low fat mayo instead of butter -- it worked much better then I had anticipated. I didn't have any shallots, so I chopped a couple green onions, and I didn't have a serrano chili, so I minced an entire poblano chili. MMMMMmmmmm I brushed half of the mixure right on the fish and baked it, then used the rest for dipping. In my opinion a tablespoon of onions and chillis in not enough, but I tend to go overboard with things like that! I say the more the better and that was definitely the case for me. I'm not really sure how hot a serrano chili is, so you may not want to take my advice and go over board with that. This is a recipe I am making on a weekly basis now. Thanks so much!
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Wow! This is absolutely amazing and going straight into my 'favourites' cookbook. Totally restaurant quality and so easy to make. I made my butter early in the day to let the flavours combine. I also dusted my fish (ocean perch) in salted flour and cooked in a combination of oil and butter. Used lemon zest instead of lime and red onion instead of shallots.
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