Here’s a quick one-pan dinner that’s full of flavor. Try it with tilapia, a mild white fish adaptable to almost any seasoning and delicious with roasted, ripe cherry tomatoes.
You’ll love that this dinner is healthy and Mediterranean Diet approved with herbs, olive oil, and tomatoes that are a part of this eating style.
Delicious, fast, easy cleanup–what more could you ask for? Inexpensive? It’s has that going for it, too!
One-pan Roasted Tilapia Filets with Burst Cherry Tomatoes. Photo credit: Jani H. Leuschel
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Ingredients
Cherry tomatoes
Onions
Garlic
Dried herbs
Flat-leaf parsley (optional)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
White fish filets
Use tilapia, cod, haddock, or any other thin, mild-tasting white fish filet with these base ingredients. Photo Credit: Jani H. Leuschel
Cherry tomatoes: Use your favorite kinds of mini-tomatoes. A multi-color assortment makes for a beautiful presentation. Grape tomatoes are the sweetest. If you’ve got them from the garden or farmers market, all the better!
If they are large, please cut them in half.
Onions: These intensify the sweet flavor. The flavor and color of sweet yellow or white onions works better than red onions. Shallots are a great swap. Throw in some dried minced onion if pressed for time rather than using fresh.
Garlic: Use fresh (green sprouts removed, please, to prevent bitterness). Substitute powder or granules, if necessary.
Flat-leaf parsley: This deepens the flavor and adds a hit of nutrition. Read about gremolata, a parsley-based condiment, to learn about all the health bonuses that parsley adds to a dish. It is, however, optional, and the dish will taste good without it.
Dried herb seasoning: My favorite blend for this dish is herbs de provence (affiliate link), which often includes basil, fennel, lavender, oregano, rosemary, sage, and thyme. Italian herb seasoning makes a good substitute.
Olive oil: Use a good quality oil. It doesn’t have to be extra virgin, but should have a mild, agreeable taste.
White fish filets: Everyday choices are tilapia, cod, hake, and barramundi. These are less expensive. Halibut and sea bass can get rather pricey but taste very nice and would be excellent if you plan to serve guests.
How to Make
Wash hands thoroughly by lathering with soap and rinsing with warm, running water for 20 seconds (the time it takes to sing Happy Birthday).
1️⃣ Place cherry tomatoes, onions, garlic, and parsley in a 9”x13” baking dish (affiliate link).
Photo credit: Jani H. Leuschel
2️⃣ Whisk together oil, vinegar, herbs, and honey. Drizzle over the tomato mixture. Toss all together.
Photo credit: Jani H. LeuschelPhoto credit: Jani H. Leuschel
3️⃣ Roast for about 10 to 12 minutes at high heat, until tomatoes are collapsed and wrinkly.
4️⃣ While tomatoes are roasting, was and dry the fish filets. Brush them with olive oil and sprinkle with dried herbs, salt, and pepper.
Photo credit: Jani H. LeuschelPhoto credit: Jani H. Leuschel
5️⃣ Remove dish from the oven and lower the heat to medium. Push tomatoes around and place the filets among the vegetables.
Photo credit: Jani H. Leuschel
Return the dish to the oven and cook for another 10-12 minutes depending on the thickness of the filets.
6️⃣ Check the temperature of the filets with an instant read thermometer inserted into the thickest part. They are done at about 145 F.
Photo credit: Jani H. Leuschel
Tomatoes should be collapsed with brown spots and onion should be translucent.
Serve with pasta or a grain on the side and a vegetable or green salad. Crusty bread is nice, too, to absorb the juices!
👨🏽🍳Cooking tips
Cod is thicker than tilapia or hake and will take slightly longer to bake.
Check the internal temperature of the fish with an instant read thermometer (affiliate link) to confirm that it is cooked through. The thermometer should read at least 145 F when inserted into the thickest part of the fish.
⚡Superfast fix: If you are in a hurry, leave out the fresh onion, garlic, and parsley. Tomatoes, dried onion, garlic powder, and dried herb seasoning will give the dish plenty of flavor.
Although the times given are somewhat forgiving, if you cook the fish too long, it will get hard. You want soft, flaky fish.
Fish spatula: (affiliate link) This helpful tool is good for more than fish. Because it’s longer and thinner with an asymmetrical edge, it easily slides under delicate fish filets without tearing them. But it’s also great for flipping burgers and especially, eggs.
Is This Dish Healthy?
Photo credit: Jani H. Leuschel
Most fish dishes offer plenty of nutrition, and this one is no exception. Low in fat and calories and high in protein, this is a entree that could help with weight management.
🍅With their bright burst of sweet flavor, cherry tomatoes have many healthy aspects, especially in terms of vitamin C and other antioxidants, such as lycopene.
🐟Per 4-ounce serving, tilapia has only 2 grams fat while supplying 20-plus grams of protein.
Rich in micronutrients, it supplies almost 90% of the Recommended Daily Allowance of selenium and 75% of the RDA for vitamin B12.
It’s an excellent source of vitamin D, which is hard to find in food, as well as a good to excellent source of potassium. In addition, it adds other B vitamins to the daily diet, including folate, an important nutrient for pregnancy and for preventing heart disease.
🧅As alliums, the small amount of onion and garlic have a few nutritional pluses.
Allicins found in garlic may be preventive for cancer and vascular disease. Quercetin, which is abundant in onions, is an anti-inflammatory antioxidant compound with similar benefits that may also help with allergies.
🧊What is the best way to thaw tilapia?
One of the many benefits of this fish is that it thaws quickly. You can remove it from the freezer and leave it on the counter as you begin to prep the cherry tomatoes. Remove it from the plastic and rinse under running water. It will be thawed by the time you’re ready to slide it in the oven.
Of course, you can also place it on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator the night before you plan to use it.
Does this recipe taste good with salmon?
Salmon has a stronger flavor than tilapia, cod, and other mild, white fish filets. The saucy cherry tomatoes do not complement the richer flesh of most salmon varieties, especially Atlantic salmon.
But, the recipe works with any almost any type of fish.
What is a safe internal temperature fish?
Can I use other types of tomatoes, including canned?
Cherry tomatoes are fresh and easy. If they are small, they don’t require any prep other than washing. The multicolor cherry tomatoes look great in this dish.
Canned tomatoes would be easy as well, but probably not as sweet. You might want to add a pinch of sugar or honey to offset their acidity.
How to serve this main course
This dish is nice served with pasta or grains. A small pasta shape like orzo or couscous would be particularly good.
Photo credit: Jani H. Leuschel
My recipe for Oven-Baked Turmeric Rice would be perfect with the mild fish and soft, roasted tomatoes.
If you have time or leftovers, sprinkle the fish and tomatoes with Pistachio Gremolata or Mint Gremolata, which are simple fresh herb condiments that amp up the dish.
Or simply microwave some steamed brown rice, or if you have time, cook up a pot of farro.
Add a green vegetable, such as broccoli or green beans.
🥖Crusty bread is a must to sop up all the juices!
Other recipes you might like…
Looking for more easy, one-pan dinners?
You might enjoy this Lemon Chicken Traybake. Chicken thighs and potato chunks bake together in a lemony sauce. It’s out of the oven in less than half an hour.
If pasta is a favorite, take a look at this Coconut Curry Pasta with Spinach and Mushrooms. This filling one pot dinner is loaded with protein from chicken or tofu, and you don’t need to make anything on the side!
Last, but not least, these Taco Stuffed Peppers, are a filling meal that don’t need anything on the side although guacamole would be welcome!
One Pan Roasted Fish Filets with Cherry Tomatoes
Jani H. Leuschel
This healthy, low-calorie dinner is fast enough for a weeknight meal and so delicious that you can dress it up for serving to dinner guests!
Wash hands thoroughly for 20 seconds, lathering with soap and rinsing with warm, running water.
Preheat oven to 425°F, roast or bake setting.
Place washed and dried cherry tomatoes, onions, chopped parsley, and garlic in the baking dish.
Whisk together the olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, honey, one teaspoon of herbs de Provence, and ¼ teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Drizzle over the tomato mixture and toss to coat.
Place in the oven and roast for 10 minutes, until cherry tomatoes are softened and beginning to burst.
While the tomatoes are roasting, wash and dry fish filets. Brush each with a small amount of olive oil and sprinkle with the remaining teaspoon of herbs de Provence, ½ teaspoon of salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper.
Remove the baking dish from the oven and turn the heat down to 400°F. Push tomatoes around to make room for the fish.
Roast for another 10 minutes until fish flakes easily and reaches an internal temperature of 145°F .
Serve fish, tomatoes, and juices over rice, couscous, orzo, or noodles.
Notes
Thicker fish filets, like cod, will take longer to cook than thinner filets, like tilapia. I prefer tilapia in this recipe, but for a more uptown dinner, you could easily swap in halibut or sea bass.
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