Almond Crusted Tilapiawith green beans and rice pilaf
Who wouldn't love a buttery almond crust? I'm so glad this was one of your favorites too and we get to bring it back once more. Crunchy almonds mixed with just a hint of brown sugar give just the right texture and flavor to tilapia. Use your food processor to make your own almond meal or buy it at pre-made at the store. Either way, you'll want to have this on hand so you can "bread" everything in almonds.
Ingredients
- Tilapia - 4 fillets
- Almonds - 1 cup ((shortcut: buy 1 1/4 cup almond meal))
- Flour - 1/2 cup
- Egg - 1
- Water - 1 Tbsp
- Brown sugar - 2 Tbsp
- Butter - 2 Tbsp
- Lemons - 1/2, wedges
- Onion - 1/2, diced
- Rice - 2 cups, any type
- Butter - 1 Tbsp
- Chicken stock - 3 3/4 cups
- Green beans / haricot verts - 1 lb, trimmed
- Butter - 1 1/2 Tbsp
- Lemon - 1/2, juice of
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Onions - Dice. (Can be done up to 3 days ahead)
- Pilaf - Double portions if making tomorrow night's dinner. If using white rice, rinse until clear. Heat a >3 quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add butter and then diced onions to melted butter with a dash of salt. Saute until softened and translucent, ~3 minutes. Add in rice with chicken stock. Bring to a boil and then simmer until all liquid has been absorbed (~25 minutes for white rice, ~50 minutes for brown). (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Fish - Rinse and dry with paper towels.
- Almonds - Pulse in a food processor until it becomes the texture of cornmeal or grits like the photo below. You can also use a blender, stick blender, mortar and pestle, or place almonds in a bag and crush with a rolling pin. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Dredging stations – Mix together flour and some salt & pepper in one bowl / pan. Whisk together egg and water in second bowl / pan. Mix together almonds with brown sugar and a dash of salt in a third bowl / pan.
Make
- Preheat oven to 425F (218C) degrees. Line a sheet pan with foil. If it's too hot to turn on the oven, skip next step.
- Melt butter by microwaving for 30 seconds.
- Dip fish into the flour mixture, then egg wash, then into the almond crumbs. Place onto sheet pan and brush on both sides with melted butter
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until almonds are golden brown. Again, if it's too hot to turn on the oven, melt the butter in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Pan fry fish for 4 minutes on each side until golden brown. You may have to do this in shifts, and you may need to add more butter between shifts.
- Trim green beans if necessary (this is a great kids activity - give them a pair of scissors if they're not ready for a knife). Combine with 1 tbs. (2.5 ml) of water in a microwave safe bowl. Cover with a damp paper towel and microwave for 1 1/2 to 3 minutes depending on the thickness.
- Toss green beans with butter and a squeeze of lemon juice. Season to taste with salt.
- Check on fish. Once it's golden, serve with lemon wedges and a side of pilaf and your quick and easy green beans.
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Reviews
This meal has 9 reviews
Perhaps this dish requires a more subtle palette than we possess, but unfortunately we found it bland. Maybe some kind of sauce could have helped?
I think this would be better with chicken instead of fish. I did not like the sweetness of the brown sugar with the tilapia.
Made it with chicken instead on fish. Loved it.
Lesson learned - butter and crunchy exterior can make tilapia edible! I only made enough almond flour for two filets so used unsweetened coconut--and that made a better, crispier exterior. I opted for mashed potatoes instead of a pilaf so can't comment on that.
I am not a fish lover, but this was outstanding! Very elegant meal.
deelish! the tilapia was amazing. i made the rice pilaf in my rice cooker. easy and yummy!