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e’ve talked about fish before. All our fishy issues. Sara doesn’t like it. My husband doesn’t like it. My son loves it, but my daughter hates it. It’s hard for me to cook seafood because I’m not a short-order cook, so I refuse to make separate meals for everyone in the family, but I also truly understand not loving fish because I didn’t like it at all growing up and I don’t want to subject my family to the same gag-worthy torture that I had to endure. Also, good fish can be quite spendy, so I don’t want to drop that kind of cash for something that my family is going to endure-borderline-hate.
So sometimes, when my daughter stays a few extra hours at preschool and I don’t feel bad about telling my husband that he can make his own dang lunch, I make fish for myself for lunch. Is that weird?
I do have a few confessions about this particular recipe. First, I don’t have a lot (read: any) pictures of the creamy dipping sauce because I was making it up as I went along. Second, and along those lines, for me, this fish was super tasty, but the sauce ended up knocking my socks off, so it kind of became a vehicle for the dipping sauce. If it were socially acceptable to eat it by itself, I would (and really, why isn’t it?! People eat sweet yogurt by itself all the time, so why not savory? I think I shall start a revolution…)
This comes together super quickly because fish doesn’t need to marinate for very long. You’ll need honey, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, garlic, fresh ginger, olive oil, and 16-24 ounces of your favorite fish (the original recipe called for mahi mahi, but I couldn’t find any mahi mahi, so I used and liked tilapia. I’d bet all my unfolded laundry that salmon, although fishier, would be fabulous.)
Whisk together the honey, soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, garlic, and oil. Rinse the fish in cool water and then place it in the marinade. Let it hang out for 20-60 minutes.
While the fish is marinading, whisk together 6 ounces of low-fat or fat-free plain Greek yogurt, a little garlic and grated ginger, soy sauce, lime juice, some grated lime rind, green onions, some kosher salt, and a little Sriracha sauce. I used 1/4 teaspoon and it the sauce itself was pretty spicy, but once you got it on the fish, it was perfect for me. However, you might want to start with just a few drops or 1/8 teaspoon and then go from there. Let it hang out in the fridge until you’re done cooking the fish.
When you’re ready to cook the fish, heat an indoor grill pan over medium heat and spray with non-stick cooking spray or brush with vegetable oil. Cook the fish for 4-6 minutes per side or until the fish flakes easily with a fork. You can also place it on a foil-lined baking sheet
and cook it under the low broiler setting in your oven for 4-6 minutes per side. Serve with brown rice, steamed veggies, and with the creamy dipping sauce.
Honey-Ginger Glazed Tilapia
Fish recipe adapted from allrecipes.com
Sauce by Our Best Bites
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon grated ginger root
2 teaspoons minced or pressed garlic
2 teaspoons olive oil
4-6 4-ounce tilapia fillets (or other favorite fish)
Creamy Dipping Sauce
6 ounces fat-free plain Greek yogurt
1 small clove garlic, minced or pressed
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger root
1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons chopped green onions
Juice of 1 small, juicy lime (about 2 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon lime zest
Sriracha sauce to taste (1/8-1/4 teaspoon will suit most tastes)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Optional: 1-2 teaspoons finely minced cilantro
Instructions:
Whisk together the honey, soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, garlic, and olive oil. Marinate the fish in the mixture for 20 minutes-1 hour.
While the fish is marinating, whisk together the creamy sauce ingredients. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Heat a grill pan over medium heat and brush with vegetable oil or spray with non-stick cooking spray. Cook the fish for 4-6 minutes per side or until it flakes easily with a fork. Serve immediately with the dipping sauce alongside steamed veggies and brown rice.
Questions & Reviews
Currently licking the sauce wisk as the fish cooks. Thank youL
I am so glad that you posted a recipe using Tilapia! It is one of the most environmentally friendly fishes.
This recipe is amazing! My husband travels quite often and entertains clients in some pretty nice restaurants. He said it was “restaurant quality” if not better. I’m putting this on my menu for when we have company over. I make Alton Brown’s brown rice recipe and your baked broccoli recipe and it’s a healthy, easy, impressive meal. I think I could eat it every night. Thank you!
I have been looking for a yummy tilapia recipe for forever! I saw you two at TOFW in Layton this weekend and thought I’d check out your blog! Can’t wait to see future posts! 🙂 Thanks for the recipe!
This was really great-especially paired with garlic roasted cauliflower (another recipe posted recently)! In fact I was so anxious to eat it, and while it was cooking I was preparing my cauliflower, I forgot to make the dipping sauce! But I am looking forward to it next time! Great fish marinade recipe!
Oh.My.YUM!!! Made this tonight for dinner and LOVED it!
This was fantastic on Salmon. My husband said it was the best salmon I had ever made. Thanks for a great recipe!
Prior to the printed recipe, you describe grilling the fish and then placing under the low broiler, but not in the printed recipe. Please explain why the broiler too, when fish cooks so quickly. Thanks in advance, the recipe looks and sounds terrific!
Sharon Anne @ sharealikecooking.blogspot.com
This is absolutely delicious!! So tasty and easy. I made a few simple changes…only because I didn’t have all of the ingredients but thought I would share incase you didn’t either! I used light sour cream for the cream sauce…and it was delicious. I didn’t have any limes…darn…but used squeeze bottle lime juice and no zest…we didn’t miss the zest. The honey from the sauce made a really big stink in my kitchen and I had to open my windows so that the smoke alarm didn’t sound. My suggestion would be to cook it slowly on medium (like suggested) instead of medium high. Also, there was WAY to much sauce. I will half it next time! I use Gourmet Garden Ginger…finely chopped fresh ginger. It’s so much better than trying to work with the ginger root! You can purchase it by the fresh herbs in the produce department.
We eat fish when there is just enough leftover dinner from the night before to feed my one non fish eating daughter. She eats the leftover the rest of us eat fish. That way I don’t have to fix a separate meal for her.