Name: Oven-baked tilapia with zucchini and asparagus
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 3
Ingredients: 2 tbsp olive oil; 6 tilapia fillets; 2 small courgettes /zucchini (cut into wedges); Small bunch asparagus; 15 cherry tomatoes (halved); 4 large garlic cloves (sliced); 2 tbsp small capers; 1 tbsp butter; 1 tsp fennel seeds; Half a lemon (sliced thinly); Salt and freshly ground pepper; fresh thyme (to garnish)

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Oven-baked tilapia with zucchini and asparagus – got to love a recipe that’s healthy, easy and on the table in 20 minutes! Low in carbs, keto diet friendly.

Ahh British weather… how I love you. Two days of scorching sunshine and I was all set to create a BBQ recipe using tilapia fillets. I didn’t act quite fast enough however and the sun has given way to torrential rain and thunderstorms.

So it’s bye bye BBQ tilapia, hello oven-baked tilapia. And you know what? Oven-baked tilapia is just fine, rain or shine. It is such an easy fish to cook, with nice firm flesh and a mild taste that can easily adapt to different flavours.

And the real bonus is how incredibly cheap they are! I keep meaning to add more fish to my diet, but most popular fish are relatively pricy – especially if you are feeding a family. So if you haven’t tried tilapia before you really need to give them a go, I think you will be very pleasantly surprised.

I wanted to keep this recipe on the healthy side without too many carbs, so have kept the veggies to courgette (zucchini) and asparagus with some cherry tomatoes thrown in for colour and flavour.

As you will see from the photos I was a bit low on asparagus – you can add way more than I did! But I did add a little butter on top of the fish so it’s not too ascetic! There’s also a ton of garlic…

As long as you use vegetables that will cook quickly in a hot oven, you can throw in anything else that takes your fancy. Tenderstem broccoli spears (broccoli rabe) is an especially delicious addition to this recipe. I seem to be adding them to most of the savoury recipes I make lately!

Oven-baked tilapia – step by step

Step 1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) and drizzle a large sheet pan with olive oil. Once the oven has reached the right temperature, place the sheet pan in the oven and let the oil get really hot.

Step 2. Meanwhile pat the tilapia fillets dry with some kitchen paper and season with salt and pepper. Slice your courgette (zucchini), lemon and tomatoes and have everything ready to go…

Step 3. Toss the vegetables in the hot oil (be careful how you handle that tray) so that they are covered. Place the fish fillets on the tray, nestling them around the vegetables. Top with the cherry tomatoes, lemon and garlic slices, add the capers and sprinkle with fennel seeds. Dot a little butter over the fish, season with salt and pepper and cook for 20 minutes.

Step 4. You can serve this as it is straight from the tray. If you wanted to add some carbs, then couscous would go nicely and would absorb some of the lovely pan juices.

Here’s a few more seafood recipes you might like to try