This recipe for broiled tilapia with a cheesy sauce is a great, quick weeknight meal. Pair your broiled tilapia parmesan with veggies for a nice light meal.
Jump to RecipeRaise your hand if you’ve ever had a night that the family is wondering what’s for dinner and you have no idea! Yep, been there. Many times. But since we are trying to cut out processed foods, it’s not easy to find meals we can quickly make. This is where tilapia comes into play for my family.
We try to keep some tilapia (or salmon or cod) in the freezer at all times. It can be thawed quickly and is versatile to cook. Some fish meals require a bit more work, such as Fish Cakes with Dipping Sauce, and others can be done with minimal effort.
Don’t worry, Broiled Tilapia Parmesan is one of the “minimal effort” meals. Of course, just the fish by itself is not a lot, so we usually make it with a vegetable like Roasted Asparagus or I make Cheddar Biscuits to go with the fish. After all, the cheddar biscuits are a copycat from a seafood restaurant, so they are an obvious choice with our fish meals.
Another aspect of this meal that I love is the ingredients. They are staple foods for us, so I never let them run out. So, as I said, this is a quick, easy go-to meal for us when we need it aka when we forget to take something out or plan a meal.

Broiled Tilapia Parmesan Step by Step
Ingredients
- 4 tilapia fillets
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese (shredded)
- 2 tbsp butter (softened)
- 1 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp basil
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp celery salt

Preparation
As the name implies, broiled tilapia parmesan is cooked under the broiler. Take your fish out to thaw for a few minutes and preheat the broiler on low. Line a baking sheet with foil or a silicone mat (for easier cleanup) and lay the tilapia fillets out so they aren’t touching or overlapping.
Broil the fish for about 5-6 minutes to cook on one side. Then flip the fish and broil it on the other side for another 5-6 minutes. You want to make sure the fish is cooked through. If it is still pink then broil it for another few minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small mixing bowl, combine the shredded parmesan cheese, butter, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and seasonings. If you don’t have one of the seasonings or prefer others, you can make substitutions here for a different flavor. I’ve made this with grated parmesan before and it doesn’t work near as well as shredded parmesan.

Take the fish out of the oven and coat each piece with the parmesan mixture. Broil the fish again for another couple of minutes, until the cheese has melted.

Serve the fish immediately because it cools very quickly. I like to have cooked vegetables with the tilapia because they taste good with more parmesan cheese sprinkled on top which brings the flavors together.


Recipe
Originally Published On: March 5, 2017
Last Updated On: March 18, 2020

Broiled Tilapia Parmesan
Ingredients
- 4 tilapia fillets
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese (shredded)
- 2 tbsp butter (softened)
- 1 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp basil
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp celery salt
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven broiler on low
- Line a baking sheet with foil or a silicone mat and spread out the fillets so they aren’t touching
- Broil the fish for 5-6 minutes
- Flip and broil for another 5-6 minutes, until the fish is cooked through
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine the parmesan cheese, butter, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and seasonings
- Once the fish is cooked, remove it from the oven and coat it evenly with the parmesan mixture
- Broil the fish again 1-2 minutes until the cheese is melted and warm and serve immediately
All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutrition content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.
Other Fish Recipes to try
- Broiled Tilapia Parmesan
- Fried Tilapia Sandwich
- Sheet Pan Baked Tilapia with Roasted Vegetables
- Lemon Rosemary Tilapia
- Dijon-Herb Tilapia
- Tilapia with Pinot Noir Sauce
- Coconut-Turmeric Tilapia and Rice
- Tilapia with Lemon Butter Sauce
- Swai Fish with Orzo
- Cornmeal-Crusted Salmon
- Sheet Pan Salmon with Smashed Potatoes
- Orange-Ginger Salmon with Toasted Snow Peas
- Salmon Cakes with Buttermilk Sauce
- Super Simple Cilantro and Lime Fish Dinner
- Avocado Fish Tacos
- Fish Cakes with Dipping Sauce
- Teriyaki Salmon
- Sesame Salmon
- Salmon with a Bold Soy-Molasses Glaze over Rice and Vegetables
It’s so difficult to whip up something quickly that you are also ok with on a health level. Fish is usually my go to on those nights! Thanks for adding a new fish dish to my repertoire!
I have those night, too, that we need something quickly. I hope your family enjoys the dinner!
We try not to eat much processed food either and this sounds so yummy… but I’ll be honest, I’ve never heard of Tilapia!
You could use any type of white fish for this. We just like tilapia because it isn’t too “fishy” and is fairly cheap.
I am dreaming about this dish. I love fish in general and pairing with parmesan cheese will bring heaven to my plate.
It’s such a wonderful combination with so much flavor.
My family would this dish. I can not eat fish, but my husband and child absolutely love it. They also both love anything with parmesan cheese on it!
I’m with them, parmesan cheese makes everything better!
Oh that looks so tasty! I love parmesan, I put it on just about anything and think I would eat it all day long! I’d love it with chicken too!
Oh, you just gave me a great idea to try this sauce on chicken. I’ll eat parmesan on just about everything as well.
WOW! This tilapia looks amazing! I cannot wait to make this asap for my family.
It’s such an easy meal, I hope your family enjoys it!
This post supports my belief that par,Sean cheese makes everything better! I love that this is a dish that can easily be prepared during a busy weeknight.
I am with you, parmesan cheese is the best!
I love tilapia but never tried broiling AND using parmesan cheese, sounds amazing!
I honestly don’t use the broiler often, but it works with fish since it’s so thin and can cook quickly without burning.
This tilapia parmesan looks new from me. My mother cooked Fried tilapia I ask her to cooked me tilapia parmesan with cheese this dish looks yummy and delicious 🙂
You should try the cheese on the fish, it adds so much flavor!
We’ve had many nights where we wonder what’s for dinner! It’s so nice to have quick and easy go to recipes.
We do too. No matter how much I plan, some nights we have something come up. This is an easy one for those nights!
Yes! Yes! Yes! I have frozen Tilapia but always have the same recipes. This looks like a fresh delicious twist that I cannot wait to try!
It’s funny that fish can be so versatile, yet we tend to go to the same recipes every time.
This seems nice and worth a try actually, the cooking process for this recipe is easy which what we lookibg for. Thank you for sharing.
Yes, it’s definitely an easy recipe and doesn’t take much time at all.
I think my other half would love to give this a whirl. Ideal to pop with a simple salad!
We make a salad to go with this often, too. It’s a nice, light meal together.
I love tilapia!! I remember growing up in the Philippines and my grandma would always make grilled tilapia stuffed with tomatoes and some sour stuff and it was so flavorful!! Would love to try this recipe out!!
That sounds like a delicious meal, too! I would love to try what you mentioned as well.
I don’t typically like to combine cheese with my fish dishes (for health reasons), but boy oh boy, does this look delicious. As you say, it’s all about the parmesan!!
We have fish in many different ways, but this is just such a wonderful combination of flavors.
Wow, this recipe sounds amazing and is new to me! I love Tilapia fish and would love to try your easy simple recipe asap☺☺
I hope you get a chance to try the meal. It’s so easy to make and delicious.
That’s such a fab recipe. Wouldn’t take too long to prepare. We keep looking for light meal ideas for dinner. We’re going to try this is soon.
We like a lot of light meals, too, and this one is definitely a light meal.
Mmm, gonna have to try this one, too. My girls like fish some days better than others, but anything with cheese is a winner!
My boys are the same, they like fish one day and don’t the next. We never know what it’s going to be each night!
This goes straight to my meal planning list. I’m always looking for new and exciting ways to cook fish for my family beyond fish and chips, and this looks absolutely perf!
Awesome! Hopefully, you enjoy it as much as we do. It’s so quick and easy for a night that you don’t have a lot of time.
You always have original recipes! I have never ate Tilapia so I would love to try that recipe especially since it includes Parmesan! I give you a five star rate here because I cant click on them 🙂
Sorry, I don’t know what’s going on with the ratings at the moment. You should try this. I like tilapia because it doesn’t taste too fishy like other fish.
This was so easy to make! Everyone in the home enjoyed the flavor and I liked how easy this was to make!
I’m so glad you all enjoyed the meal!
I don’t usually prepare fish simply because I don’t know how to!!! Thanks for this idea!
It’s something I am still working on figuring out new recipes for since we don’t eat fish often. But this is one of our favorites.
Excellent recipe. I am a big fan of your blog and all your amazing recipes. All of them are so professionally done! 🙂
Thank you! I only post the meals we love and eat all the time, so it’s easy to be enthusiastic about them.
This looks so delicious! I have frozen salmon fillets at home, so I think I will try this to spice them up a bit
This should work with any type of fish. It adds a great flavor for something a little different.