This citrus butter tilapia is the perfect soft and tender tilapia topped with a fresh homemade citrus butter. 
Sometimes it is a lot of fun to experiment with different new recipes, and discover new ones that are really good . But, it doesn’t always work out. Take today as an example, tilapia with citrus butter turned out so GREAT, the beat chips I made were not so great, and actually down right awful.
Tilapia is a very mild white fish, that is easily flavored with a variety of spices, seasonings, and toppings. A few weeks ago we had a macadamia nut crusted tilapia, and today’s flavor for our fish was this citrus butter. The citrus butter on this tilapia is so good, you could also use it on some yummy grilled chicken, or steak, and I think it would even be good on a slice of warm bread.
How to make Citrus Butter Tilapia?
You’ll first make your citrus butter. You’ll need orange zest, lemon zest and kumquats or oranges for the citrus flavor. Mint leaves and ginger for the fresh flavors, and of course butter. Mash your kumquat or orange to a nice pulp.
In a small bowl mix your softened butter, kumquat pulp, lemon zest, orange zest, and mint leaves. Add in a dash of ginger and salt and pepper to taste. Mix till you have a nice soft butter.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add a little bit of the butter to the skillet to let it melt. Rub more of the butter over the tilapia fillets and add them to the pan. Cook about 4 minutes on the one side, then flip over to cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through.
Remove from the pan, top with more butter if desired, and serve hot.
This citrus butter tilapia is delicious served with roasted vegetables, rice, quinoa, or a nice salad.
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Tilapia with Citrus Butter
Ingredients
- 4 oz butter (softened)
- 4 kumquats (or 1/2 orange - peeled)
- 2 tsp lemon zest
- 2 tsp orange zest
- 4 fresh mint leaves (minced)
- 1/2 tsp ginger powder
- salt and pepper (to taste)
- 2 - 4 oz tilapia fillets
Instructions
- Cut your kumquats in half and flick out the seeds or if using an orange, peel it.
- Mince your kumquat or orange to a pulp (I used my blender)
- Add your softened butter, kumquat or orange pulp, lemon zest, orange zest, and mint leaves to a bowl.
- Using a fork, mash it all together until everything is well mixed.
- Add a dash of ginger into the butter.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Mash it all together until you have a nice citrus butter.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat.
- Add 1/2 Tablespoon of the citrus butter to the skillet and let it melt.
- Rub 1 Tablespoon of the citrus butter over each fillet to coat them.
- Add your fillets to your saucepan, cook 4 minutes on 1 side and then flip to cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes on the other side until the fish is opaque and cooked thoroughly.
- Add more butter to melt on top, if desired.
- Save any leftover butter in the fridge.
Nutrition
This citrus butter tilapia was first posted on March 11, 2014. Photos updated on June 3, 2020.
Barbara Romine says
Laughing hysterically at your beet ordeal. You sound like me!! God bless you! 😀