If you haven’t tried cooking air fryer frozen fish without breading yet it’s a game changer. We will show you how to cook frozen tilapia in air fryer or your Ninja Foodi so you can enjoy a flaky fillet with dinner tonight.
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I couldn’t believe how well this turned out! My family never suspected I forgot to defrost the fish the day before because of how fork tender it came out (and I didn’t tell them). No breading was used to make it a healthy air fryer recipe and now I know I can save dinner this way any night of the week.
Cooking Frozen Tilapia in Air Fryer
We do cook frozen meat quite a bit, this time we went for some rock hard white fish. This is typically much cheaper and you can find bags of them year round. That is great because if you too live in a smaller town you rely on How to Cook Frozen Tilapia a lot.
SO if you can’t cook air fryer tilapia defrosted and lightly breaded, this is a close second. You will not be able to add breadcrumbs on the outside this time but just add seasonings and WOW! It’s a healthy dinner idea that even my kids love once a week.
Tips: My Favorite models are the Cosori or making Ninja Foodi recipes with the lid that is attached.
It is best practice to put food into a hot basket. This is how to preheat air fryer first before adding your food so it becomes as crispy as possible. For best results, here’s a printable free air fryer cooking time chart here for your fridge.
Ninja Foodi Frozen Tilapia
You can have any brand of this machine really. I make a lot of Cosori air fryer recipes, basket seen above. Ninja Foodi works too, this way with the lid that is attached to get it crispy. However, you can also make pressure cooker fish in this pot as well if you wanted to. It’s kinda’ hard to believe that meat can be cooked from rock hard to fork tender, but it can.
I mean I would suggest that it was defrosted beforehand but that isn’t always possible, I get it. We’re a busy family with mountain bike practice, we both work, and I am not always on my game first thing in the morning. If I’m not, dinner will be an afterthought and sometimes needs to be saved with tips like this.
The biggest difference between the two comes down to seasoning. You can get some to stick if it is in this state but not nearly as well as if it were soft. Marinating doesn’t work if it is hard either, but surprisingly the cook time isn’t a whole lot different.
That is right, comparing fresh white fish to rock hard and how long each takes to cook until tender the only difference is a few minutes. Now there is a huge range when it comes to how large your fillets are. I suggest 1 lb. or so to fill your basket. Larger varieties like frozen salmon in air fryer need to be cut down.
Can you fit a whole filet of fish in air fryer?
You wouldn’t be able to cook the whole fillet since that fish is rather large. You’d either need to buy them sliced down into 2″ pieces or so, or buy it yourself and cut it down before freezing. I will do this if I find our favorites on sale. We have a deep freezer so as long as your meat is prepped beforehand you can do this more often.
Do I need to thaw frozen tilapia before cooking it in the air fryer?
In our tips of how to cook frozen meat on our site all of our temperature and cook times are for right out of the freezer. Yes you will have a bit better texture overall if they were thawed ahead of time but no it is not necessary in this case. As long as you follow the steps in the recipe card below you will be successful. 😉
How to Cook Air Fryer Frozen Tilapia
You always want to start off by preheating your air fryer to 375 degrees F for 5 minutes. For this one you’ll want to place a piece of parchment paper into bottom of air fryer basket, or spray with olive oil spray. Place your fish on top. Sprinkle whatever seasonings on top you want with lemon slices on top of that. Air fry fish for 12 – 14 minutes or until fish is cooked thru and fork tender.(timing will vary depending on the size of each piece and how thick they are)
Note: you cannot make these breaded. Not a huge deal in our house as we like it “naked” I’d say more often but worth noting. You’d need to leave these in the fridge to loosen up in order to add a coating like we did with our air fryer catfish to bread.
Tips for Success
- Brush with olive oil and season the frozen tilapia with salt, pepper, and any other desired seasonings.
- Do not overcrowd the air fryer basket, they need room for the hot air to circulate properly.
- Cook the frozen fish in air fryer until it is cooked through, but not dried out.
- Let the fillets rest for a few minutes before serving.
How do you know when tilapia is done?
Tilapia is done when it turns opaque white and flakes easily with a fork. Insert a fork at the thickest part of the fish—if it separates into flakes and no translucent or raw-looking parts remain, it’s ready. For accuracy, the internal temperature should reach 145°F (63°C) when checked with a food thermometer.
Then you can enjoy as is, with side dishes like on top of a bed of rice, and/or with a bit of lime white sauce drizzled over the top. Season again if desired with garlic powder and salt and pepper and enjoy.
Frozen Tilapia Air Fryer Recipe
Equipment
- 1 air fryer
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat air fryer to 375 degrees F for 5 minutes. Place a piece of parchment paper into bottom of basket with fish on top.
- Lightly spray tops of fish fillet(s) and sprinkle on seasonings with lemon slices on top of that. Air fry for 12 – 14 minutes (adding a slice of butter on top during the last 2 minutes) or until fish is cooked thru, reaching 145F. (timing will vary depending on how thick your fillet is)
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
FAQ
1. Remove from packaging (unless it is already vacuum sealed)
2. Slice into single size portions
3. Slide into a freezer bag with parchment paper in between the pieces if you have more than one in a bag
4. Zip 90% closed and then suck the rest of the air out of the bag.
5. Use a permanent marker to mark the date on the outside, cook within 3 months (either defrosted or from frozen)
6. Air fry from frozen with our directions below when you want to cook it!
If you want to do this more often you’ll want some freezer bags on hand. When your favorite choices are on sale, buy bunches because they save for up to 3 months if packaged up properly. You do NOT want to leave it in the package if it is laying in a styrofoam tray with plastic wrap on top, it will be ruined.
