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You have to try this fish casserole! I knew it was a winner with the first bite. The recipe was given to us by my Mama-in-law and her friend shared it with her. When a recipe gets shared over and over, you know it’s good. Seriously, this is MOUTH-WATERING! It also tastes healthy and light. The tilapia is juicy and flaky without a hint of fishiness.
The sweet veggies complement it beautifully. If you aren’t a fan of tilapia, you can easily substitute your favorite fish and get the same delicious results. I want more! We ate it up real quick! This dish is perfect for company. It is easy to make, smells and tastes delicious and your guests and family will love it.
Tilapia Ingredients:
2 lbs (about 6-10 count) Tilapia fillets, thawed
Olive Oil to saute
1 Tbsp ketchup (several readers had great results with Sriracha instead of ketchup)
1 Tbsp mayo
Marinade Ingredients:
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp Salt and 1/8 tsp Pepper
Vegetable Ingredients:
2 medium bell peppers (red, orange, or yellow)
2 medium/large carrots, julienned or grated
1 medium onion
How to Make Tilapia and Vegetable Casserole:
1. Whisk together marinade ingredients. Combine with tilapia in a large ziploc bag or bowl and marinate in the fridge at least 1 1/2 hours.
2. Slice onions into thin half circles, slice bell pepper into thin strips and julienne or grate carrots. In a large skillet over medium/high, heat 2-3 Tbsp oil and saute onions for 3 minutes or until softened. Add sliced bell peppers and carrots and saute another 4-5 min or until softened. Remove from pan and set veggies aside.
3. Once fish is done marinating, drain and discard marinade. In the same empty skillet over medium/high, add 2-3 Tbsp oil and saute fish lightly on the skillet just until golden on the outside (about 2 min per side) – it’s ok if it’s not cooked through completely at this point. Also, it probably would have been easier to turn the fish on a non-stick skillet :-O.
4. Layer the casserole dish with 1/2 of the vegetables on the bottom. Place fish over the vegetables. Stir together 1 Tbsp ketchup and 1 Tbsp mayo and brush this mixture evenly over the top of the fish. Cover fish with remaining veggies. Sprinkle the top with salt and pepper to taste then cover tightly with foil or lid and bake at 375˚F for 15 min.
Tilapia and Vegetable Casserole Recipe
Ingredients
Tilapia Ingredients:
Marinade Ingredients:
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp Salt and 1/8 tsp Pepper
Vegetable Ingredients:
- 2 medium bell peppers, (red, orange or yellow)
- 2 medium/large carrots, julienned or grated
- 1 medium onion
Instructions
- Whisk together marinade ingredients. Combine with tilapia in a large ziploc bag or bowl and marinate in the fridge 1 1/2 hours.
- Slice onions into thin half circles, slice bell pepper into thin strips and julienne or grate carrots. In a large skillet over medium/high, heat 2-3 Tbsp oil and saute onions for 3 min or until softened. Add sliced bell peppers and carrots and saute another 4-5 min or until softened. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Once fish is done marinating, drain and discard marinade. In the same empty skillet over medium/high, add 2-3 Tbsp oil and saute fish lightly on the skillet just until golden on the outside (about 2 min per side) - it's ok if it's not fully cooked through at this point.
- Layer the casserole dish with 1/2 of the vegetables on the bottom, then Place fish over the vegetables. Stir together 1 Tbsp ketchup and 1 Tbsp mayo and brush this mixture evenly over the top of the fish. Cover fish with remaining veggies. Sprinkle the top with salt and pepper to taste then cover tightly with foil or lid and bake at 375˚F for 15 min.
♥ FAVORITE THINGS ♥
Shown in this post: (nope, no one paid us to write this; just stuff we love):
* It’s so handy to have multiple sizes of liquid measuring cups.
* This is my favorite baking casserole dish. I love that it has a lid!
* We search high & low for a perfect julienne slicer. This Swissmar is it!
* If using a slicer or mandolin, you have to try these safety gloves!
Hi Natasha, last night I made this Tilapia casserole, it was delicious!!!!!, I can’t find the right word to explain how good it was!! I will be making this dish all the time! And I wanted to share with you this, my family knows you, and when I make a new recipe they ask me “is that from Natasha?” Thank you sooo much for all those wonderful recipes, if I have you close I will give you a HUG!! Blessings for you and your beautiful family!!!!
You’re welcome Cristina! I’m glad you enjoy the recipe so much! Thanks for following and sharing your excellent review! God Bless 🙂
Just made this again for the 66543246th time 😆😆😆 so good! I put a little more veggies in then the recipie calls for… with mashed potatoes its heavenly 😀😀😀 thanks again for recipie!
You’re welcome Olga! I’m glad to hear how much you enjoy the recipe! Thanks for sharing your fantastic review!
Could I substitute turnips for the carrots in this recipe?
Hi Margaret, I haven’t tried that substitution (I actually have very little experience with turnips since we didn’t grow up eating them), but it sounds like it’s worth an experiment! 🙂
I don’t marinade fish at all with this recipe anymore. I just noticed it was a waste of engredients and did not make a big difference. I fry my veggies, fish, put it together with double the ketchup/mayo sauce and bake 🙂
Amazing
Thank you for sharing!! 🙂 I’m so glad you enjoy the recipe 🙂
To make it dairy-free, what do you think of substituting coconut milk for the buttermilk? Think it’ll work?
Hi Bonnie, I really haven’t tried that so I can’t say for sure. My mother-in-law has also marinated in a little soy sauce instead of the buttermilk. The buttermilk serves to remove any fishiness from the fish and soy sauce works for that as well.
I tried it with coconut milk and it was delicious. It’s a great dairy-free option! I’m making it again, this time with cod. Thanks for the recipe 🙂
You’re welcome Bonni! I’m glad you enjoy it! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Hi Natasha 😊
I’ve made this tilapia dish before and my family loved it. Planning on making it today again, but I don’t have buttermilk.. can I use like heavy whipped cream instead? Maybe with some lemon juice??
Hi Inna, I think it would work fine to make your own buttermilk. Here is an easy tutorial. All you need is milk and lemon juice or vinegar 🙂
Could I fry the fish and assemble the casserole and refrigerate overnight and bake the next day? Thinking of adding this to the Easter menu.. 🙂
Hi Lena I do think that would work as a make-ahead option. I hope you love it!! Oh, you will probably have to bake a few minutes longer if it is going from the refrigerator into the oven.
I love your blog. I tried quite a few of your recipes, and my family and I liked all of them. No leftovers.
Your instructions are so clear and easy to follow, and I really appreciate all your hard work.
This recipe deserved 5 stars as well. In fact, I made this 3 times- once with cod, once with salmon, and today with tilapia. I will make this again for sure.
Thanks for the many compliments! 🙂 I am happy to hear how much you love the recipe Rachel!!
Natasha
I tried your recipe dish for Baked Tilapia and Vegetable casserole. OMG, it was soooo delicious! Just had to share that with you. As well, your chicken and mushroom casserole is one of the best I have ever tried. Thankyou so much for continuing to add recipes – I have tried so many on other sites, but they never quite tasted as good as they looked. Yours however, really do taste as good as they look!
Blessings,
Mary Theresa
That is seriously the best review ever!! Thank you so much for the amazing compliment! 🙂 Blessings to you as well!
Quick question, if the meat marinades over night, will it become mushy or too soft? Thanks in advance!
Hi Yelena, it will not become too soft. You can assemble the casserole and marinate in the fridge overnight and bake the next day. You might need to add a few minutes to the bake time if you are starting with a cold refrigerated casserole.
This dish is so good the flavors are just bursting in your mouth. Love how easy it is to make. Thanks for the recipe
So glad to hear you enjoy the recipe, thanks for sharing!
Made this recipe yesterday, very good 👍, thank you
Glad to hear that Tanya! 🙂
Made this Recepie dozen times, the taste never disappoints. Easy to make. Thank you!!!
Tanya, thank you for such a great review and yo are welcome 😁.
Hi Natasha! This is such a delisious recipe! Sweetness from the ketchup makes the veggies and the fish so addictive. Seriously I couldn’t stop myself. 😂 One question though, I’m making it again and doubling the portion. Does it need extra baking time? I’ve put in single layer but in two baking dishes. Thanks!
Hi Yelena, I would probably increase to 20 minutes to be safe 🙂 You can test it at 15 minutes but I imagine you will want to bake slightly longer if a double batch is going into the oven.
Natasha you are amazing thanks for this deliciousness!!!! Marinated it yesterday and didn’t have enough time to make it, came home from work to already marinated fish and just grilled up the veggies tossed it in the oven it was ready in 15 minutes !!!!!
You are very welcome Inna, thank you for sharing that with us 😀.
Made this recipe last night for dinner, it turned out delicious. I substitute the buttermilk with Heavy whipping cream and it turned out great. Thank You Natasha for making my life easier.
Helen, you are very welcome, I’m so glad you liked the recipe 😁.
Any subsitute of buttermilk?
Hi Habana, you can either make a homemade buttermilk or one of my readers reported great results with this substitution: “I didn’t have buttermilk on hand as well, so I used 1/2 milk, 1/2 sour cream and a teaspoon of lemon juice instead.”
Hello,
Can I marinate the fish over night ?
Hi Nadea, it isn’t necessary but you could if you wanted to.
Hello Natasha! Thank you sooo much for this recipe. Really yummy. I printed to add it to my recipe binder but i noticed in the directions for the printable version, you are missing the frying the fish part. Just wanted to let you know. Thank you again for all your super yummy recipes. Keep up the good work. May God bless you!
HI Lena, thank you for reporting that to me! I do see it in step 3 of the print-friendly but I definitely want to make sure things are working correctly. Is it missing in step 3 of your printed recipe?
Any substitutes for mayo? Would sour cream work?
Hi Fil, I haven’t tried with sour cream so I’m not sure how that would work but heavy cream would work well as a substitution.