Lemon Dill Tilapia Bake (Small web potluck 2026)

Stumbled upon the small web potluck hosted by Skep and Myrtletribe last month. Been meaning to learn more recipies & figured this would be a good excuse try something.

You can visit the other entries here!: Small Web Potluck 2026 - Skep's Place

For what I brought, it's a simple lemon dill tilapia bake. The tilapia thaws pretty quickly & you don't need to do much extra prep outside of seasoning & cutting the lemon.

Ingredients

The fish itself:

• Tilapia Fillets
• Fresh dill
• Lemon
• Black pepper (and/or other seasonings of choice)
• Cooking oil

I used an 9" x 13" glass pan, which held about 6 fillets & half a bundle of fresh dill. And I kept the seasonings simple since tilapia's a 'lighter' tasting fish if that makes sense (though looking back, I could've been a little more generous with them).

For the rice, that's just a storebought rice medley mix. They're honestly pretty handy to have around if you need a quick base. Carried me during college.

How to Make

• Thaw tilapia (if you got it frozen) and preheat oven to 425 F (about 218 C)
• Line baking pan with a generous amount of dill, and top it with sliced lemon
• Rub the fillets down with cooking oil, black pepper + other seasonings of choice to taste before adding it to the pan.
  • You can spray the pan with oil before adding the fish to reduce sticking
• Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the fillets reach 145 F (about 63 C).
  • This is where I'd start making the rice too. The fish cooks quick & might even be done beforehand.

Misc Notes

• Like I mentioned earlier, I'd go harder on the pepper & maybe add some lemon zest, but not too much so I don't drown out the fish.
• The tilapia fillets I bought came in a big bag, so I had leftovers. I ended up pan frying most of them since I only bought one lemon. Swapped from black pepper to lemon pepper & it worked really well here! Though I'm not sure if lemon pepper + actual lemons would be too much in the bake. I guess that's something worth experimenting with next time.
• I think 'experiment more' is my main take away. I have a base to work with, now it's a matter of adjusting to taste.