Parmesan crusted air fryer tilapia is a quick and simple dinner to make - 15 minutes and 7 ingredients to get this TASTY, healthy fish recipe on the table! This recipe is gluten-free, low carb, keto, and has no added sugar.
Watch: Tilapia Air Fryer Recipe
Surprisingly easy Air Fried Tilapia
"I think you'll love this simple parmesan crusted tilapia in air fryer! I feel good about serving it because my kids love it and its a healthy recipe! " -Kori
15 Minutes and Only 7 Ingredients
Making air fried tilapia will take less than 15 from start to finish and uses less than 7 ingredients. Start by preheating your oven or air fryer. Make the coating, then whisk the egg. Dip the fish into the egg and then the coating: place the fish in the air fryer basket and cook until done.
Tilapia Bakes up Easy
Only a few steps and a few ingredients, and you're on your way to a seriously delicious tilapia air fryer recipe with a parmesan crust. So family-friendly!
Tilapia is a great choice for a fast and easy dinner. It's readily available in most grocery stores, and it's more economical than other types. The texture is firmer when raw than many other types of fish, making it great for air frying or pan fryer as it won't fall apart.
Healthy Fish Recipe
Only 1 gram of net carbs! With such low carbs, 10.7 grams of fat, and 30.2 grams of protein, makes parmesan-crusted air fryer tilapia keto and low carb
Adding parmesan cheese creates a crispier coating, adds more flavor and additional fat, helping to keep the inside of the fish nice and tender.
To up the fat content use a side of keto-friendly tartar sauce, add a side salad or coleslaw with dressing. See serving suggestions below.
You can find the full nutritional analysis at the bottom of the recipe card, but here are the most important numbers if you are following low carb and keto:
10.7 g fat | 1 g net carbs | 30.2 g protein
Air Fryer Tilapia Recipe Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you will need to make parmesan crusted tilapia:
- Tilapia Fillets - use 4 (4 oz) fillets.
- Egg
- Parmesan Cheese - I used the very finely grated parmesan cheese
- Italian Seasoning - you really can use any seasoning but if it contains salt you will need to reduce or eliminate the salt called for in this recipe
- Kosher Salt or Sea Salt
- Pepper
- Olive Oil Spray - use a good quality true olive oil cooking spray.
Equipment Needed for Air Fried Tilapia
- Air fryer - I've been using my Ninja Foodi for air frying, slow cooking, AND pressure cooking. I love having one appliance! 🙂 This fish turned out perfect on Tender Crisp mode.
- Measuring spoons
- 1 small shallow bowl
- Gallon-sized plastic bag, or another shallow bowl
Tilapia Air Fryer Recipe variations
Here are some different ways you can make substitutions or customize your air fryer tilapia:
- Substitute a different seasoning mix. If it is a seasoning with salt like cajun seasoning, taco seasoning, etc., you do not need to add extra salt. If the seasoning is unsalted (like Italian seasoning, herbs de Provence), add 1/2 tsp salt.
- Try using different finely grated cheeses. The key is that they have to be very finely ground.
How to Air Fry Tilapia
Here's how to cook tilapia in air fryer...you'll be surprised how easy it is! 🙂
Make The Parmesan Coating
In a plastic bag add parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, pepper, and salt. Shake bag to mix.
Whisk The Egg
In a small shallow bowl whisk egg.
Coat The Tilapia
Pat fish dry with a paper towel.
Dip tilapia fillets one at a time into the beaten egg. Place fish in the bag (one at a time) and shake to coat evenly with breading.
Air Fry Fish
Preheat the air fryer to 375 degrees.
Place fillets in the air fryer basket and coat the pieces with olive oil spray—air fry for 5 minutes.
Turn the fillet over and respray them with olive oil spray—fry 2 to 3 more minutes, or until done.
Make sure that you do not need crowd pieces. There should be a little room between the pieces for the best airflow. Depending upon your air fryer's size, you may need to cook the fish in batches.
Air Fryer Tilapia Ninja Foodi tip: you can use your basket OR rack to make these fish with the TenderCrisp setting!
How long to Air Fry Tilapia
7 to 8 minutes at 375 degrees is the recommended amount of time to cook tilapia.
How to Serve Parmesan Crusted Tilapia
Here are a few delicious ideas of what to serve with your air fryer parmesan tilapia:
- Dill Pickle Slaw - goes GREAT with this tilapia recipe! I served it with the tilapia in the image at the top of the page.
- Serve with a side of our Creamy Dill Sauce - PERFECT for seafood!!
- Crockpot Green Beans and Ham or Air Fryer Green Beans are 2 super easy side dishes to serve with your air fried fish.
- Overnight Layered Salad - a make-ahead salad that you can eat on for several days!
- Fresh green salad with a favorite dressing (thousand island or blue cheese)
- Steamed or air fried roasted broccoli (or air fry from frozen) or cauliflower - or any favorite steamed vegetable.
Tilapia Air Fryer top tips
- For best coating, dip the tilapia one fillet at a time in the egg mixture then immediately dip into the coating. This will assure more breading sticks to the fish.
- If you don't have a plastic bag to dip the fish in you can use a shallow plate.
- Avoid overcrowding the fish in the air fryer basket. Leave room for air to circulate. Depending upon the size of your basket you may need to work in batches.
- Spraying the outside of the fillets before turning helps to crisp them up even more and gives them a beautiful color.
- As a general rule of thumb, tilapia is done when it is no longer pink inside and turns white and opaque, and flakes easily when tested at the thickest part with a knife. If you are unsure or want to be really accurate, use an instant-read thermometer to check. The USDA recommends cooking fish to 145-degrees F.
How To Store Air Fried Tilapia
Store any cooled leftover tilapia in an airtight container up to 3 days. It cannot be frozen, unfortunately.
Can I make Parmesan Crusted Tilapia ahead of time?
Yes! Definitely. The best way to do this is to cook the fish fillets in advance then store them in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
How to reheat this Air Fryer Tilapia Recipe
To reheat your tilapia in the air fryer, preheat the air fryer to 350 degrees F. Place tilapia fillets in air fryer and heat for 2 minutes. Check to see if they are warm, if not flip and heat for another minute.
Be careful not to overcook - they can get dry easily!
Air Fryer Tilapia Recipe FAQs
Yes! You can cook fish in an air fryer. You can follow this air fried tilapia recipe, substituting different fish if you want, or you can follow these general instructions:
- Pat fish dry with a paper towel and then season with your favorite seasoning mix, or just salt and pepper.
- Preheat the air fryer to 375 degrees F.
- Place fish in air fryer basket and cook for 5 minutes. Depending upon the size of your fillets or air fryer, you may need to work in batches.
- Turn fish over and cook for 5 to 7 more minutes until done.
Tilapia should be cooked to 145 degrees F.
If your tilapia is turning out mushy, there are several possible reasons. It could be overcooked. It may also be low-quality fish or previously frozen and thawed multiple times. Or, it might have been over-marinated or cooked on too low of a heat. Also, if the fish was old it can become mushy.
Yes, absolutely. All fish can be overcooked in an air fryer. Be sure to remove tilapia when it just becomes easy to flake and is opaque in color. The USDA considers 145 degrees F a safe cooking temperature for fish.
📖 The recipe.
Parmesan Crusted Tilapia (Air Fryer Recipe)
Ingredients
- 4 4 oz tilapia fillets
- 1 egg
- ¾ cup parmesan cheese finely grated
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- ½ tsp pepper
- ¼ tsp salt
- Olive oil spray
Instructions
- Preheat air fryer to 375 degrees.
- In a plastic bag add parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, pepper and salt. Shake bag to mix.
- In a small shallow bowl whisk egg.
- Dip tilapia fillets one at a time into the beaten egg. Place fish in the bag (one at a time) and shake to coat evenly with breading.
- Place fillets in the fryer basket and coat the pieces with olive oil spray—Cook for 5 minutes.
- Turn the fillet over and respray them with olive oil spray—air fry 2 to 3 more minutes, or until done.
Kori's Tips
Nutrition
© 2025 Seeking Good Eats™
Healthy Seafood Recipes
All of the healthy seafood recipes below are low carb, gluten-free, sugar-free, and ketogenic. Enjoy! 🙂
- Pistachio Crusted Salmon
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- Grilled Shrimp Salad Recipe (Shrimp Louie Salad)
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Parmesan crusted tilapia fillets are a quick and easy dinner meal that's healthy with only 7 ingredients and take 15 minutes to cook. Using your air fryer to make this healthy fish recipe is a great way to get dinner on the table during the week. A healthy tilapia recipe your whole family will love. This recipe is gluten free, low carb, and keto. #SeekingGoodEats #easydinnermeals #healthyrecipe #tilapia #fish #airfryer #lowcarb #keto
BA
Hi, we've made parmesean coated air-fryer tilapia a few times. I really appreciate your method to pat dry , egg dip, then shake-in-a-bag ONE AT A TIME. This tip made a big difference. Have a good day!
Kori
So glad you enjoy this recipe! Thank you - for sure working on one piece of fish at a time ensures that everything is coated perfectly.