Are you looking for delicious tilapia recipes? Don’t know how long to cook fish? Do not worry. In today’s article, we will introduce to you How Long to Bake Tilapia at 400 Degrees and some tips to bake the most effective Tilapia. Let’s refer to offline.
What is the right temperature for baking Tilapia?
The good news is that you can cook Tilapia to any temperature you want in the 165-425°F range.
However, the temperature greatly affects the time, so my sincere advice is to bake at a high temperature. If you put the fish in the oven below 200°F, the baking time will be longer at 375°F.
According to our experience, 400°F is the most suitable temperature for grilling Tilapia, enough for the fish to be soft, succulent, and attractively colored.
Alternatively, you can cook salmon at this temperature, but the cooking time will vary greatly.
How Long to Bake Tilapia at 400 Degrees?
Different cooking temperatures give different amounts of time. In the case of baking tilapia at 400°, it will take you 12-15 minutes.
Cooking time is also influenced by many factors such as fish size, capacity, and grilling equipment. But don’t worry because, with any grill (fryer or microwave), it will only take you up to 20 minutes if your fish is too thick.
Do not remove the fish before 12 minutes because, at this point, the fish is still bloody and not cooked yet.
A small note is that the above time is only accurate if you cook the fish . But with different things, the temperature and the time will vary greatly.
Recipes & Step By Step Guide
Baking Tilapia is not too difficult if you have reasonable and effective ways to prepare it. We’ll show you a few things you need to know to create a mouthwatering and delicious grilled fish.
Ingredients
- Seasoning: salt, margarine, and pepper are a must for grilled Tilapia.
- Coriander: mainly used for decoration, so you can prepare it or not.
- Tilapia: the main ingredient of the dish. You buy more or less depending on the number of people and the serving size of each person. But buying a lot of fish is the best option.
- Lemon: has the effect of cleaning fish. Lemon has an acidic component that helps to reduce the fishy smell and balance the taste of grilled fish.
Step By Step Guide
- Prepare Tilapia by rinsing it with salt or lemon. If you find it too difficult with the fish processing process, you should ask the salesperson to clean it. And then, we just rewash it to complete this stage.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F
- Wipe the surface of fish if water remains. Line the surface of the baking tray with aluminum foil.
- When the oven is hot, put the fish in and spray a layer of bam oil to prevent the fish from drying.
- Continue to butter both sides of the fish, and season with salt and pepper according to your taste.
- Cover the top of the fish with foil and cook for 12-15 minutes.
- Remove the fish to a plate, and add a little lemon juice to the fish to make the taste more delicious.
Tips and tricks
- Raw fish contains a lot of bacteria that are harmful to human health. Therefore, you must clean them thoroughly before cooking.
- We usually omit the foil for the grilled fish. It is indeed a severe shortcoming. Cover the fish with aluminum foil to make the fish soft and delicious. Tilapia will not be directly affected by heat and slight burning.
- Instead of just applying 400° throughout the cooking process, try increasing the temperature at the start of cooking, setting it to 400° in the middle, and lowering the heat near the end. Indeed with this method, the fish is cooked enough and retains its succulent and fresh taste. Be sure to time it correctly if you apply the above formula.
- Frozen fish will still bake normally when wholly defrosted.
To create delicious dishes, you must know how to cook and choose fresh ingredients, especially Tilapia. So how to choose a good fish, we will talk about it in the next part of the article.
How to choose Tilapia?
Fresh fish is a fish with a flaky, pink outer layer of blood and white alternating. When you see the fish turning brown or gray, absolutely do not choose. The best and most accurate tip for choosing fresh fish is to smell them.
If you see a strong fishy smell, it is terrible fish. For those who have little time or do not want to choose cumbersome fish, supermarkets will be a safe and highly effective choice.
Common mistakes when grilling
Avoid grilling fish for more than 20 minutes. The reason is that the fish appears burnt, and the meat is dry and not tasty.
If you are worried that the fish is still undercooked, using a thermometer is the most effective way. The longer it cooks, it just takes more time, and the meat doesn’t taste good, so be careful.
The above data we all draw from the cooking process with different temperatures and times. So, do not hesitate to apply it to create delicious and nutritious dishes.
Tips to store Tilapia
Tilapia stays in the refrigerator for 2-3 days and up to 2-3 months when placed in the freezer.
We must use food wrap or sealed containers to seal the fish. Although fish can be preserved for a long time, you should eat it earlier because fish vid is more susceptible to microbial invasion than common vegetables.
Tips to defrost
To bake frozen fish, a prerequisite is to defrost it first. It would help if you put it in the refrigerator for a few hours before or leave it at night to save time. Do not leave it in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Surely your Tilapia will be spoiled, and the rotten smell will spread throughout the refrigerator affecting other fresh foods.
Do Tilapia need to be covered when cooking?
The answer is needed. As the tips and tricks section mentioned, covering is essential in grilling fish.
It is not mandatory with other dishes, but this step is crucial with grilled fish. It will help the fish not be burnt and complex but fresh, succulent, and a little fatty.
How to know fish is cooked?
Use a fork to pierce the fish. If the meat is flaky and opaque, the fish is cooked. Alternatively, you can use a thermometer to measure the internal temperature of the fish. When the index stops at 145F, the fish is fully cooked and edible.
For those who are just starting to cook grilled Tilapia, you should find a professional cook to help you check and give you some simple and accurate identification tips.
Can you bake frozen fish?
Don’t worry too much about the problem of frozen baking fish. Usually, it takes about 20-25 minutes to cook at 400°F if the fish has been defrosted. As for the ripeness test, you can refer to the stagnation we shared.
Although it is possible to bake frozen fish, we do not recommend this, as the taste and palatability of the fish will be reduced compared to cooking fresh fish right from the supermarket.
Conclusion
Tilapia is a fish that contains a lot of protein and nutrients necessary for the development of the human body.
If you are too bored with steamed or braised dishes, why not try changing the menu with grilled Tilapia? We believe that, with the information from the article, you already know how long to bake Tilapia at 400 degrees and recipes for a delicious dish.
We will be happy to receive positive feedback about your cooking. I hope the knowledge provided helps your daily life. If you have any questions, leave a comment below. We will try to solve it in the shortest time.
Thank you for reading.
