Instant Pot Tomato Basil Tilapia–steamed tilapia is topped with diced tomatoes, olive oil, fresh basil, salt and pepper. This is a light and fresh summer meal that can be prepared and ready to eat in just a few minutes.
Instant Pot Tomato Basil Tilapia
I have been struggling lately with what to make for dinner. The heat is exhausting and also nothing sounds good unless it’s fresh and bright and light. Last night this instant pot tomato basil tilapia served over quinoa really fit the bill.
I tossed some frozen fish into my steamer basket* in the Instant Pot. I grabbed some fresh basil off my daughter’s basil plant in the backyard and diced up some tomatoes and tossed them with some olive oil and fresh garlic. It truly was a light and delicious meal that we all enjoyed thoroughly. I only wish that I’d had more fish in the freezer.
You could defnitely use a different type of fish for this recipe if you prefer. Cod or salmon would be amazing.
More recipes you’ll love…
Instant Pot Bruschetta Chicken Pasta
What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?
To make Instant Pot Tomato Basil Tilapia I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. I love this Instant Pot because it has the yogurt making function which I use almost weekly. It has two pressure settings (high and low), and there are also little slots in the handles so that you can rest the lid there instead of putting it down on your counter-top.
Print
Instant Pot Tomato Basil Tilapia
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 minutes
- Total Time: 9 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
Steamed tilapia is topped with diced tomatoes, olive oil, fresh basil, salt and pepper. This is a light and fresh summer meal that can be prepared and ready to eat in just a few minutes.
Ingredients
- 4 (4 oz) tilapia fillets (I used frozen)
- Salt and pepper
- 3 roma tomatoes
- 2 minced garlic cloves
- 1/4 cup chopped basil (fresh)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp pepper
- Balsamic vinegar (optional)
Instructions
- Pour 1/2 cup of water into Instant Pot. Place the steamer basket into the pot. Place tilapia into steamer basket. Lightly salt and pepper the fish.
- Cover the Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 4 minutes on high pressure for frozen fish or 2 minutes for fresh fish.
- While the fish is steaming, dice the tomatoes and place them in a bowl. Stir in the garlic, basil olive oil, salt and pepper. If desired throw in a splash of balsamic vinegar. Let it sit until the fish is done.
- Perform a quick release by moving the valve to venting. Check the fish for doneness. It should be at least 145 degrees F. Carefully scoop the fish onto plates and then top each serving with a large portion of the tomato mixture. One option is to serve the fish on top of quinoa or rice.
Notes
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*.
- Category: Seafood
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 of the recipe
- Calories: 170
- Sugar: 0 g
- Sodium: 223 mg
- Fat: 12 g
- Carbohydrates: 2 g
- Protein: 20 g
Keywords: low carb, fish, healthy
Send Me Free Recipes
Like this recipe for Instant Pot Tomato Basil Tilapia? Get all my new recipes delivered to your email inbox by signing up below.
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
I’m curious if you or anyone has used any freshwater caught fish , ie bass, perch, crappie, walleye, etc. We fish and can’t justify buying talapia when we can use what’s available to us. Our fillets are slightly smaller and wondering how long the cooking time should be. I’m anxious to try this with our garden produce.
I haven’t tried that but I bet it would work! I would use the same cooking time for other types of fish.
WOW! My husband and I (who am not a fan of fish, in general) loved this recipe. I used frozen tilapia, Early Girl tomatoes and fresh basil from our garden, Kalamata (high Polyphenol) olive oil and high-end balsamic vinegar. Delicious!!! What other ways can I use this tomato/basil sauce? Also, I loved how quickly this dish was to prepare.
★★★★★
I used cherry tomatoes in place of roma tomatoes, and used kosher salt and fresh ground pepper in the tomato mixture. Next time will salt and pepper the frozen fillets after they are cooked since it didn’t stay on the frozen pieces. It was good served with a quinoa pilaf.
★★★★★
That sounds so good with the quinoa!
If you had tilapia filets that were not frozen, would you have to decrease the cooking time.
I would keep it the same time.
il fait le souper il fait le dessert
★★★★
Unfortunately, this recipe didnt work for me. I had frozen tilapia, put it in the instant pot as per directions (4 mins in the steamer basket) but it wasnt anywhere near cooked. I put it back in for another 4 mins and it still wasnt cooked. I know my instant pot is fine as every other recipe I’ve done, I’ve had wonderful success. I think the problem may have been the fact that the filets have to sit on top of each other in the basket so the middle portions arent getting cooked. Ended up having to finish them up in the oven. The tomatoes were amazing though!
★★★
I used what was in the kitchen but this recipe was my guide. Ended up using frozen cod. Didn’t have fresh roma so used canned tomatoes. Added some Italian seasoning along with the basil. Made whole wheat penne pasta. The fish cooked perfectly. The meal was delicious. I wanted to learn how to cook frozen fish in my Instant Pot and ended up with a new favorite recipe!
★★★★★
Nice! I love when that happens.
The taste is wonderful, tomato, basil and olive oilier a great match ! You can get creative adding anything you want.
★★★★★
Glad you enjoyed it Maria! I love that combination too.
Would these instructions be the same for frozen cod?
I bet it would be similar! Give it a shot.
So glad I came accross this recipe! It was simple, quick, & delicious. I substituted the fresh tomato for crushed since that’s all I had on hand. But let me tell you-it made such a yummy sauce with the addition of the vinegar.
I really love crushed tomatoes! That sounds so good!
Question: Could I use canned diced tomatoes. My husband does not do well with uncooked tomatoes?
Sure!
Thank you!