Tilapia Florentine with Feta and Olives

Baked tilapia on a bed of cooked spinach with a side of asparagus

Do you find yourself repeating the same recipes over and over? It’s easy to defer to tried-and-true dishes when life gets busy, but it can also get boring—quick. To keep meals creative, sometimes all it takes is combining familiar ingredients you wouldn’t normally use together.

Take this Tilapia Florentine recipe, for example. It incorporates some fairly common ingredients—like white fish, feta cheese, olives, spinach and lemon—to make a dish that feels a little more special.

Florentine-style dishes have been said to have Italian roots, originating from Florence, Italy. Other sources explain that cooking something à la Florentine is a French invention, and the dish was originally named after an Italian. While there is controversy about the origins of Florentine-style cooking, there is one thing we know for certain: you will want to make this recipe again.

Typically, preparing something Florentine-style involves a main protein (in this instance, Tilapia) arranged on a bed of cooked spinach with a mornay béchamel cheese sauce drizzled on top. While this recipe forgoes a mornay sauce, the combination of feta cheese and olives provides a mouth-watering richness that pairs nicely with a mild white fish.

This recipe won’t take you all night to make, but provides a sophisticated alternative to simpler baked-fish dinners. The sautéed spinach also ensures you and your family get your daily dose of essential greens—what’s not to love?

Tilapia Florentine with Feta and Olives

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 6
Calories 170 kcal

Ingredients

  • 6 Tilapia fillets 3-5 oz each

Tilapia Seasoning

  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • ½ tsp lemon zest
  • ½ tsp paprika

Florentine Mixture

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • ½ small onion diced
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • 9 oz. baby spinach
  • 1 oz. black olives sliced
  • 1 tbsp feta cheese
  • ½ tsp lemon zest
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • ½ tsp oregano

Instructions

  1. Combine salt, pepper, oregano, zest and paprika for the Tilapia seasoning. Sprinkle liberally on both sides of the Tilapia.

  2. Add olive oil to a sauté pan and let it heat up. Add the onion and sauté until translucent. Add garlic and fry for 1 minute. Add spinach, working in batches. Add olives, feta, 1½ teaspoons each of additional lemon zest, salt and oregano.

  3. Spread spinach mixture in the bottom of a hotel pan. Arrange Tilapia fillets on spinach mixture. Cover tightly with foil.

  4. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes until the fish flakes and has an internal temperature of 145°.

Recipe Notes

Calories are per serving.

Eager to try this recipe at home? Consult our store locator to find your nearest Tilapia retailer.

Photo Credits: alisafarov / Shutterstock Inc