My husband and I both like fish, but we find tilapia to be a rather dull-flavor and spend most of our dinners choking it down or smothering it in unhealthy sauce.

Last night, I decided to experiment and attempt to recreate coconut breading and “fake fry” some tilapia filets. The dish came out so good, we inhaled it before I could take a photo! Now I have to pass on the recipe to you.

Preset oven to 300 degrees.

Breading Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup finely ground tapioca flour
• 2 tbsp yellow curry powder
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 1 tbsp flax seeds
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

(I totally made that up on the fly. I had the ingredients laying around and hoped for the best. It worked.)

“Wet Wash” Ingredients:

• 1 cup So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk (just 45 calories!)
• 1 tbsp raw agave syrup
• 2 tbsp yellow curry powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

I rinsed and patted dry six tilapia filets, which was roughly 1.5 pounds. I then laid them in the milk bath for about 10 minutes, letting them soak up the flavors and sweetness from the wet wash.

Taking one piece at a time, I tossed them in a small dish with the flour mixture until they were LIGHTLY COATED, then shook off the excess. On a very lightly greased (I use PAM olive oil spray) cookie sheet, I spread the filets out so there was about 1/2 an inch between them.

Bake at 300 degrees for 7-8 minutes. Remove pan from oven and flip the tilapia over. (Mine were about 80% cooked; still a little soft in the center.)

Raise the temperature to 500 (BROIL) and replace the tray of fish into the oven. Allow to cook about 5-6 minutes.

They should get nice and browned, crunchy and delicious. They had a natural sweetness to them from the coconut and agave syrup, so neither my husband nor I needed a sauce. They stayed moist because of the fast cook time, but I will admit that deep-frying them would have likely made them even better!

I served them alongside Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes and steamed broccoli. A very healthy, Paleo-friendly meal to start the work week!

Bon appetit, my friends!

Tori

Related Articles:

Quick Paleo Dinner: Coconut Crusted Tilapia & Garlic Broccoli

Paleo Vegetable Side Dishes

Paleo Recipes (www.nomnompaleo.com)