Blackened Tilapia

I think the "recipe" for the secret hobo spices was actually the ingredient label from a bottle of Astor Cajun Seasoning! (Just kidding!) But it is the exact same ingredients in case someone wants to make this and not buy all the spices. In their recipe though, they dip the fillets in melted butter, coat with the seasoning, and blacken in a hot iron skillet (without the oil or white bread). Either way it's very good. I served mine over a bed of brown rice made with chicken stock instead of water and added sautaed onions & mushrooms and frozen green peas. When served together it balances out the spiceness of the cajun seasonings perfectly!

Hmmm... and why were you picking the pockets of a sleeping hobo? That's sinking a little low, don'tcha think? If you roll him again, tell him we enjoyed his recipe. Didn't use the bread as I'm gluten intolerant, but the fish was very good.

You can actually buy blackening seasons (Prudhomme, sp?) is what we use...and we follow the directions on the bottle...We serve on a Keiser roll with the seasoned mayo (1/2 c sour cream, 1/2 c Mayo, 1 TBS chopped fresh cilantro, 1 tsp, fresh lemon juice, 1/2 tsp blackening season) which is something we just experimented with, and lettuce...of course the kids think it's best w/ fries and cole slaw...but I concede...I like the Tilapia on a nice bed of greens!!! :)

This was delicious and very easy to make. We added a little bit of lemon onto the fish while it was cooking and served it over a bed of rice with steamed broccoli. the fish is spicy, but it's not too spicy with the rice to go with it. I did decrease the paprica by 1/3, per recommendations of other reviews and it was perfect. It is a little salty, still, so you may want to adjust the salt a bit.

I really liked this recipe. It was super easy & a quick fix for a mid-week meal. And just as an FYI... Emril's Essence has many of the same spices listed here~ using that saves alot of time & money. It was a little bit salty - but still delicious. I served mine with a black bean salad. Thanks Hobo, for your secret spices!

This recipe is very similar to the famous one created by Chef Paul Prudhomme of New Orleans. I have made this with fresh Grouper many times and always used butter inplace of oil.Serve with a side dish of Cajun Potato Salad. Warning!!! Cook outside because of the INTENSE Smoke that it creates.Otherwise this is a GOOD Recipe.

My only question is "What were you doing looking through the pockets of a hobo?"...I'm sure there is more to the story, we'd like to hear it. Anyway, this is pretty good. Spicy of course but what would one expect a "blackened" fish to taste like? I didn't get a lot of juices from the pan to pour over the fish. I tried it over bread and rice and I liked it over white rice better. You can taste a lot of paprika, I might adjust that next time.

My favorite tilapia recipe. Next time I'll cut down the paprika to 2 tbsp.

Make sure you salt to taste. I added the full amount and it was horribly salty. My husband and I agreed it was a great recipe minus the saltiness

Very tasty! It was a little to spicy for my husband's taste but I loved it! There wasn't any juice in the pan so after the fish was done I deglazed the pan with some with wine and a little butter. MMMMMMM......... I had a lot of spice mix left over, enough to fill up an empty spice jar so next time I'm already prepared.

Great flavor but like others said, I didn 't get any juices, ended up serving white dry bread. Will make it again as it was super easy.

I cut down on the salt a little. Very spicey. A little to spicey for me, but my wife liked it. Don't know if I'll do this again.

This recipe is AWESOME! It's very important to use a cast iron skillet though. And coat the fish generously before letting it sit for 20 minutes. I also used more oil and it gave it crispy edges. Yum! I will make this again many times. The kids loved it too!

Zowie! This was excellent. There is just the right amount of spice (if you like spicy), and the fish comes out moist on the inside, and crispy delicious on the outside. I think it could have used a little cornmeal in the spice mix, to give the coating a bit more substance, and crunch. Nevertheless, paired with my own Mexican brown rice recipe, and a side of spinach; it made a wonderful meal. You gotta try this! Thanks for the recipe.

The BEST fish recipe I have tried so far! I read a recipe called "Hudson's Baked Tilapia with Dill Sauce" which has many compliments of the dill sauce, and none for the fish, so I combined the dill sauce with this fish recipe. FANTASTIC! The dill sauce is a creamy addition which can take off some of the edge of the spiciness of this recipe if you find it too spicy. Also, I added a little bit of butter to the oil in the frying pan which worked wonderfully. If you make it indoors, open a window ahead of time, as it will get very smokey! GREAT recipe!

This was quite good. I cut way back on the salt, and I am glad I did. I also found that the amount of spices was a perfect amount for 2 lbs. of fish. I served over a bed of brown rice with peas. Fish isn't always very good the next day as leftovers, but this was great the next day.

Very good for a quick meal. We like spicy foods and this is spicier than most. Followed spice mixture exactly, but I did add a little more garlic powder as we love garlic. DH still felt something was "missing" from the ingredients? Used a cast iron skillet as that is usually the best pan to make blackened foods in. Served with a cheesy rice pilaf and green beans. I didn't use the bread...this recipe doesn't have any liquid in it except for the small amount of oil & a squeeze of lemon juice at the end so I didn't have any "juices" to be soaked up? as it stated. We may tweak it the next time with some other spices too. Thanks!

Wow!! We all loved it simply because of the delicious seasoning!!!

We love tilapia, so I'm always looking for new recipes. This one was very good as is. Just the right amount of spices. Also very quick to make, so it's great for weeknight dinners.

Wow! Fantastic! I loved the mixture of spices. Our family doesn't always care for super spicy things so I cut the cayenne in half and the temperature was just right for us. I also didn't have any fresh lemon so I left that off. Otherwise everything was the same as the recipe. Super easy and very quick to make. We are always looking for recipes for fish and this is a definite keeper. Thanks!!

Good recipe. I skipped the bread part as it did not sound too appetizing. The mixture is definitely spicy, so keep that in mind when applying. Easy and quick---good for a weeknight meal.

Just made this! Its wonderful so much flavor and really not that spicy it was just the right amount and it also gave a good crisp on the fish! I will deff be making again thanks

I've made this dozens of times over the past few years and it's always a hit! I never have white pepper on hand, so I just add more black pepper. I also never have celery seeds and it's great without it. Still not sure why one would pickpocket a sleeping hobo, but I'm thankful for the recipe, nonetheless! =D

Good and simple!

This is great and so easy and quick. You can make an open face sandwich with tarter sauce

Very Tasty. Make it easy and buy the blackened Old Bay Seasoning, it has all the same good spices. Like others I chose not to place the Tilapia on a piece of bread. The bread simply, will take care of the extra oil. The tilapia standing alone with your choice of sides, makes for a pretty presentation and is very good to boot. Thank You for Sharing

Very spicy but sooooo good! I have had a hard time getting my husband to eat fish, but he said he could eat it every week prepared like this. Good with a little coleslaw to cool it down.

Too spicy. And what's this guy doing pickpocketing a sleeping hobo???

This was my first fish recipe I tried,,my son couldn`t get enough. Easy prep time and great flavor

Very spicy, but good flavor.

We really enjoyed the Secret Hobo Spices. I baked the fish rather than panfrying it, and it still tasted great. I'll definitely make this again, and I'll use the spice mix on chicken and pork too.

I made it as specified, but the spices got really blackened (my oil was not too hot) but the fish itself was amazing! I will make it again but not pour the leftover pan stuff over it. Make sure you use a lot of lemon, too, it just creates this amazing flavor with the chicken. YUM! Thanks for sharing.

Wow. Can't be beat. So easy. Sooooo yummy! Tender, flavorful, spicy! I used rice instead of bread. Will make it again and again.

Quick, easy and tasty! I substituted virgin coconut oil for the vegetable oil...mmmm.mmmm.good

great recipe! I didnt have any celery seed or white pepper on hand so I had to leave those ingredients out, but I also added a little Old Bay (hubby is from MD so he loves Old Bay in just about anything!) followed the amounts and cooking time/directions (i omitted the lemons and white bread, but chose to serve in wheat tortillas with sauteed onion and bell peppers) Delicious! I will definitely make this again!

Save yourself some time and buy Blackened Old Bay Seasoning. It's the same thing!

Another quick and yummy meal ... the spice mix makes the Tilapia taste extremely good. And as the recipe was written - we didn't underestimate the bread. The juice from cooking was a wonderful addition to moisten up the bread and add another layer of flavor to the dish.

Overall, a great blend for fish. Quite spicy, which doesn't bother me, but just a heads up in case you wish to tweak. I used walleye and skipped the bread... I'm not sure what juices it would soak up and it just didn't sound appealing to me. Served with a spinach-garden veggie salad. Quick and easy!

made this tonight, without reading the reviews. after I seasoned the fish, I thought about how spicy it was going to be so I sent out my husband to grab Mc Donald's for the kids. I didn't change a thing, except I didn't add the bread just because of choice and we LOVED it! It was a little spicy, but perfect for us. from now on this is the only way I shall make blackened fish! Thanks so much for the recipe!!!

It was okey, I will make it again.

Love this recipe. The Blackened dry mixture I have made in large quantities and given them out as X-mas presents with the recipe attached

This spice rub is fantastic! I ended up making it, storing it in a Glad plastic ware little box, and using it on every type of fish I've cooked since and it's been wonderful every time! This spice rub is very good and worth having on hand to use every time.

First recipe from here, and by far the best. This spice rub is great for any seafood, even shrimp. Avoid cayenne for any who dislike heat, but for those who do like heat double it. I remove excess grease with paper towel on the fish, and omit the white bread. Serve over rice, or couscous, with a steamed veggie medley.

YUMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!! SO good! Perfect Lenten dinner, daughter Ty came home from school, both girls are hanging out enjoying sisterly company and absolutely loved the fish! All I heard was.....mmmmmmmm........mom, this is delicious! Thank you Six Pack!

I leave out the bread part. To me that just sounds gross. The fish has great flavor. This is a super easy recipie!

I could give this recipe 4 stars with the following modifications. 1st, the spice rub is really enough for 2lbs of filllets. We had more than half remaining after a thick coating on both sides of 4 fillets (1lb). 2nd, the cayenne pepper suggested is way too much for the average person. I love spicy food and this was borderline too hot to enjoy. I'll use about 75% less next time so that my wife and 8yr old can eat it too.

Excellant! No idea why you would go through the pockets of a hobo

Cute story behind it, however the recipe isn't so good. I only used a 1/4 tsp. cayenne and it was still too hot. I've had blacked fish before and liked it OK but this couldn't compare. As for the sauce, I didn't think one Tablespoon of oil was enough to have a remaining sauce so I added 1/2 T. more. (didn't want to up the calories too much). The pan was still dry when I finished. I bought white bread (only had whole wheat) just for this recipe because I like to follow recipes as close as possible. I really don't think this was needed. We ended up scraping off the crust and having fish sandwiches. Oh, well. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Delicious! I lowered the cayenne and paprika a bit (because my man has ulcers :( but still loved this recipe. Served with a dill/lemon mayo/sour cream dipping sauce and plain rice and broccoli. Thanks to the hobo and to you for lifting the goods. LOL

This was the best fish my family and I have ever eaten. The only change I made was eliminating the black pepper and using just a dash of cayenne because I don't like my food too spicy. There were not a lot of pan juices and we ate the fish without the white bread.

Great taste and simple to do! I used approximations and none of the oregano, thyme or celery seed and it still worked out nice and yummy! The note about the bread is TRUE!

Fantastic recipe. Even the kids liked it (they do have good palates though). I served it with the "mango salsa" with black beans added on tostadas. Very nice meal together.

Super yummy. I didn't find the combination of spices to be too spicey at all. I cooked this in a skillet with a combination of olive oil and butter to stop the butter from burning. All it took was 3 minutes per side - - making this an extremely easy and fast dinner to have on the table. Thanks for such a delicious recipe, Six Pack!

The best! The neighbors asked what we were cooking.

These were average. I don't think I will be making it again though.

To me it lack any real flavor except HOT. After reading the reviews I reduced the cayenne and salt by half and it was kinda bland and too spicy. This is coming from someone who loves spicy food. I even ran the fish under water to rid it of some of the spices and still too hot. I'll work on the mix (since I have some left over) and see what I come up with.

This was a delicious recipe! It had great flavor and was a quick, easy meal! I paired it with asparagus seasoned with olive oil and the same seasoning that i just tossed in the pan after the fish cooked. It was a wonderful combo.

I do not like fish, but my husband loves it, so occasionally I will try a fish recipe. This could make me actually look forward to eating fish! I followed the recipe exactly, except used cod and grilled it. Served with my favorite grilled zucchini and I was sopping up the juices with my zucchini. Thank you, Hobo, wherever you are!

This is a great way to get some flavor into the tilapia.

WOW. Spicy!! My husband loved it!! I liked it a lot, but it was a little hot for me. Next time, and there will be a next time, I will put a little less cayenne. **** I have since made this about 10 times. My 2 daughters who swore they hated fish request it often! I put half the amount of cayenne pepper, salted to taste and it is perfect for us! This is now a family favorite!!***

This is a really good recipe. I like to add olive oil to the seasonings and make a paste then coat the filets. MMM MMM good.

I love this recipe but I generally use less salt.

This was a good starter recipe. I think to make it 5 stars, someone needs to play w/ their own taste. I did add a teaspoon of cumin in the mix. Also, instead of just white bread. I made a butter/olive oil/lemon juice mixture w/ the same type of spices for the blackened fish. I coated the sourdough slice in the mixture and baked for a large crunchy crouton and then laid the fish on top of the crouton. This provided a contrasting crunch w/ the soft fish and added major flavor!

Amazing! Will definitely be having it again and again.

Very very yummy! I cut back on the cayenne pepper and it was still pretty spicy. I didn't use the bread and opted for brown rice instead. Still very good. This a restaurant quality talipa recipe!!

I loved this recipe, and i think letting it sit with the spices on before cooking really help the spices stick during the cooking process and can be applied to cooking any fish,

Mmmm. This was very good. Will definitely make again.

Tell your hobo thanks! Great recipe! I didn't use the white bread because soggy white bread is gross in my opinion but everything else was perfect!

I made this with all the ingredients but I broiled it instead of frying it, just a little healthier option and wow was it delicious! The edges were crispy and so tasty, I gave the recipe to many others because I loved it so much.

Made this tonight for supper and it was awesome! I served it up with "Vigo" Red Beans & Rice. Will be making this again! I used 2 tbsp. of paprika and no salt like some of the reviews had mentioned.

Easy and delicious! An instant classic in my house.

This was EXCELLENT! We are not fish eaters and I was super nervous about cooking fish (I did salmon steaks years ago and it was awful hehe). We loved it and this recipe is a keeper! The spices really heat it up but just wonderfully flavorful, not to the point of pain. Will try it with a raspberry sauce next time, I think it will compliment the spices very nicely. :)

This was very good. I am picky about fish. It did feel like it was missing something but i couldnt put my finger on it. Over all followed directions and it was goo.

The hobo definitely knows what's up

HOLY COW!! Talk about spice, and I'm from South Louisiana... This was way too peppery, even for my taste! I couldn't taste the fish at all.

This was fabulous! I was a little worried about setting the smoke alarm off but I made it thru with no problem - can't wait to try outside on the grill & get the pan REALLY hot!

How can a hobo without a kitchen create such a tasty recipe! I keep the spices mixed in advance. I like the spice combo so much, I add it to other dishes.

Very good! I cut the lemon out, and it didn't end up having much juice in the pan, so the bread was unnecessary, but delicious!

I love fish and am always trying to find new recipes for it. This was VERY good and VERY easy. Made the recipe as is and thought it was fantastic. Will definitely make this again!

Very good recipe ...I reduced the salt because I thought it was too much .So just salted to taste. I used my cast iron skillet.Worked beautifully. Taste was good but did not thrill the family.

Great! My husband and I both loved this. We left the spices as is in the recipe, but we both like spicy foods so it worked for us. We did add the lemon to the skillet at the end of cooking the tilapia in order to warm it and to make sure we had juices to pour over the bread. Delicious!

Overall, this was a very tasty blackened recipe. Like otherss, I adjusted the spices: 2 TBSP paprika, 1/2 tsp of black pepper, NO white pepper, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp garlic powder. I used catfish filets and needed to cook them longer than 3 minutes each side. Unfortunately, all the "seasoning" of my cast iron pan came off in this one use. Did anyone else have this problem? I will definitely be doing this again, but outside. I had to put a fan in the kitchen window to take out the smoke. But, it sure was delicious! A keeper!

I'd been searching for an easy recipe for pan grilled tilapia. Have never made tilapia before, and this sounded so easy. And it was! We loved it! Just the right amount of spices for me, tho hubby would enjoy a tad bit spicier. I did not use the bread under it as there was hardly any pan juices to speak of. Forgot the lemon, but it was still very good. We will definately be making this again!

Wonderful seasoning. I add all these ingredients, minus the salt, to a small box of Zatarain's fish fry. It is perfect.

Well, this definitly deserves 4 stars. I didn't use the bread. This is the first time I blackened anything and I must say I was impressed. Don't be afraid to add all the spices when sprinkling the fish it makes the crust that much nicer. I might like to pair this up with a fruit salsa. Thanks for the recipe, a keeper!..>PS WHY WERE YOU IN A HOBO'S POCKET ON THE RAILROAD TRACKS??!!!

My first time cooking tilapia and it came out great! The spices were a good mix-- I used about a quarter of a teaspoon of cayenne pepper --and the fish came out perfectly. Definitely making this one again!

This was a great recipe!! superfast and super easy. All the spieces made for a really delicious flavor. I will definitely make this again.

Cut back a little on the heat. Would make again with either cole slaw or cucumber salad. Need something cool with it.

Surprisingly good because I don't usually care for fish and therefore rarely cook it! However my hubby bought some tilapia so I thought I'd try this recipe. All I can say is YUM! Even my 8 yo--who also does not eat fish--ate it all up. This is a keeper for sure :) Oh, I also cooked this with the 'Lemon Thyme Basmati Rice' recipe from this site--very good!

As tilapia is a very bland fish this recipe is mostly about the blackening spice. It's easy to make and calls for ingredients you're likely to have on hand. It does not need a tablespoon of salt so I decreased that to 1 tsp instead and it turned out well. I was taught NOT to add oil to pans when blackening, mostly due to the HUGE RISK OF FIRE when adding fats to 500 degree pans!!! If you're following the recipe exactly, you may not want to do this indoors. However, the flavor is good and there's spicy heat without being overpowering.

This was a very flavorful spice seasoning, but way too strong for me. I couldn't taste the natural flavor of the fish at all. I cut back on the cayenne and paprika and it was still too overpowering.

Fantastic! Healthy, diet friendly and VERY tasty (we had our fish with mashed potatoes and fresh green beans, but I will make the original recipe for lunch soon). We cooked our fish on a very hot griddle on the BBQ for 4 minutes per side (lid down)and it was perfectly cooked. A pat of butter on top finished it nicely. This will definitely become a regular meal in our home.

My family loves this recipe when I make it. And it is so simple and easy... thanks for submitting it.

YUM! YUM! YUM! EASY and FAST way to make Tilapia. Tastes just like, if not better, than the Blackened Tilpia at Red Lobster! Paired with a Romaine Garden Salad and Rice Pilaf. Great meal! I would like more of this Hobo's Secret Recipes! :)

Spicy

I love this recipe! A little spicy for some (my fam)...but perfect if you love some kick. I excluded the bread:)

very very good! smoky.. but great taste!

Very tasty! I would like to know why you were in a hobo's pocket when he was sleeping? Do you frequent the railroad tracks in search of recipes? It just struck me as funny.

Perfectly seasoned. I did not have kosher salt so I used less regular salt. Spicy or HOT??? I guess my definition of spicy and hot are different. This was spicy because "spices" were used but it was definitely NOT hot!! My 16 and 13 yo ate 2 fillets!!! lol !!! There wasnt any "pan juices" to pour off though. But it was great.