Easy Air Fryer Parmesan-Crusted Tilapia
Air fryer tilapia cooked with frozen fish fillets and made with simple ingredients.
Servings: 2 servings
Calories: 1fillet
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 thin tilapia fillets (about 4 ounces) fresh or frozen (times given for both below)
- Olive oil in sprayer not aerosol or 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground pepper (optional)
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- ½ cup fine dry breadcrumbs
Instructions
- Place the frozen tilapia fillets on an aluminum or stainless steel baking pan while preheating air fryer and measuring ingredients.
- Crazy Good Tip: These few minutes on the baking pan will ever so slightly thaw the fillets just enough to allow the breadcrumbs to stick to the oil on them.
- Preheat air fryer to 390-400 degrees for 3 minutes. Most air fryers preset “air fryer” button is 390F to 400F degrees.
- Spray or coat fish fillets with olive oil in a sprayer or mister or brush with olive oil. (Not Pam aerosol vegetable cooking spray)
- Sprinkle both sides of fillets with salt and if desired, pepper.
- Sprinkle the top side of fillets with Parmesan cheese.
- Place the dry breadcrumbs on a plate and gently press the fish into the breadcrumbs to coat them. If you have trouble getting the breadcrumbs to stick to the fish, wait just a few minutes or
- I like to spray the breaded fish again on top with a little bit of olive oil spray (again, not aerosol)
- Frozen fish: Air Fry at 390-400 degrees for 9 t0 11 minutes, without turning, depending on thickness of fish until fish flakes easily in the center.
- Fresh fish: Air Fry at 390-400 degrees for 7 minutes, without turning, depending on thickness of fish until fish flakes easily in the center.
- Carefully remove the fish with a silicone coated spatula to prevent scraping the nonstick surface.
Notes
The breadcrumbs stick to the fish best when you place the frozen fish directly on a metal cookie sheet or baking pan. This immediately starts to "thaw" the fish giving it a slightly sticky surface for the breadcrumbs to adhere to.
