Skip to main content
Main

Costa Rican Tilapia

A baked tilapia fillet served over rice and beans with citrus and tomato sauce.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 15 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Garlic and onion match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

Costa Rican Tilapia

Oven400°F (200°C)
Time16 to 20 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Combine lime juice, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 tablespoons cilantro, 1 teaspoon garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and sugar in a shallow dish.

  2. Add tilapia fillets and marinate for 15 minutes, turning once.

  3. Cook rice according to package directions and keep warm.

  4. Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).

Make the bean mixture

  1. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large, high-sided skillet or saucepan over medium heat.

  2. Add remaining garlic and onions; sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes, stirring.

  3. Add 2 tablespoons cilantro, oranges, tomatoes, beans, oregano, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, and cayenne; cook uncovered until hot, 7 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Assemble and bake

  1. Transfer hot rice to a 9 by 13 inch baking dish.

  2. Spoon the bean mixture over the rice and gently blend.

  3. Slightly overlap tilapia fillets on top and scrape marinate over fillets.

  4. Bake until the flesh of the tilapia just begins to flake, 16 to 20 minutes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

868Calories
37 gProtein
29 gFat
119 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 16 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Salmon100g cooked208
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Pinto Bean1/2 cup (86g) canned122
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Orange1 medium (131g)62
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Limejuice of 1 lime (44ml)11
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Oregano1 tsp dried (1.8g)5
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Cilantro1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)1
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Lime + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together547 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,665 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  4. Parsley + garlictop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,308 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Lime + orangetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together937 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Tilapia fillets
The main protein, which cooks through gently in the oven while staying moist.
Long-grain rice
Forms the base layer, absorbing the bean and tomato juices as it sits beneath the fish.
Diced tomatoes
Provide liquid and acidity that flavour the bean mixture and moisten the rice.
Black or pinto beans
Add body and starch to the sauce, thickening it as it cooks.
Oranges
Contribute sweetness and acidity that balance the tomatoes and cayenne.
Olive oil
Carries flavour in the marinade and sauté, and adds richness.

The step that matters

Bake until the flesh just begins to flake. Fish proteins tighten and dry out quickly once they pass their done point, so pulling the tilapia as soon as it starts to flake keeps it moist and tender.

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lime, olive, parsley, garlic, sugar, rice, onion):

  1. Avocadofits better
  2. Lemonfits better
  3. Coconutfits better
  4. Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lime, olive, parsley, garlic, sugar, rice, onion. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

You might also like

Tomato SoupTomato Soup526 recipesCream of Tomato SoupCream of Tomato Soup107 recipesRice FrittersRice Fritters84 recipesTomato BisqueTomato Bisque61 recipes