Tilapia with Zucchini Puttanesca
Balances protein and fiber while limiting fat, sodium, and added sugar
- Fish
- Soy
- Wheat
- Milk
Specifically designed to be gentle on the stomach and nutrient-dense to support your health goals while on GLP-1 medications, these flaky seared tilapia fillets are placed over tender zucchini and onion simmered in a savory, briny puttanesca tomato sauce studded with olives and Italian seasoning. Serve it with a golden-brown toasted baguette spread with an herby basil butter.
Ingredients
1 unit
Onion
1 unit
Zucchini
1 unit
Crushed Tomatoes
11 ounce
Tilapia
(Contains: Fish)
½ tablespoon
Italian Seasoning
1 unit
Miso Sauce Concentrate
(Contains: Soy)
2 clove
Garlic
¼ ounce
Parsley
1 unit
Demi-Baguette
(Contains: Soy, Wheat)
1 unit
Green Olives
1 ounce
Basil Paste
Not included in your delivery
teaspoon (tsp)
Salt
½ teaspoon (tsp)
Sugar
1 tablespoon (tbsp)
Olive Oil
2 tablespoon (tbsp)
Butter
(Contains: Milk)
teaspoon (tsp)
Black Pepper
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
-
Adjust rack to top position and preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place 2 TBSP butter (4 TBSP for 4 servings) in a small bowl; bring to room temperature. Wash and dry produce.
-
Trim and halve zucchini lengthwise; slice crosswise into ½-inch-thick half-moons. Halve, peel, and finely dice onion. Peel and mince or grate garlic. Roughly chop olives. Roughly chop parsley.
-
Pat tilapia* dry with paper towels; rub all over with ½ TBSP olive oil (1 TBSP for 4 servings). Season all over with salt and pepper. Transfer to a baking sheet.
-
Roast on top rack until tilapia is cooked through and flakes easily with a fork, 10-12 minutes.
-
While tilapia cooks, heat ½ TBSP olive oil (1 TBSP for 4 servings) in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add zucchini and onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly browned, 5-7 minutes. TIP: If your pan seems dry, add another splash of olive oil.
-
Add garlic and a big pinch of salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, 1-2 minutes.
-
To pan with zucchini and onion, stir in olives, crushed tomatoes, miso sauce concentrate, half the parsley, half the basil paste, half the Italian Seasoning, ¼ cup water, and ½ tsp sugar (for 4 servings, use all the Italian Seasoning, ½ cup water, and 1 tsp sugar). Bring to a simmer; cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce has thickened slightly, 4-5 minutes.
-
Remove from heat; season with salt and pepper to taste.
-
While puttanesca cooks, to bowl with softened butter, add remaining parsley, remaining basil paste, a pinch of salt, and pepper; stir to combine.
-
Halve baguette lengthwise and toast until golden brown. Spread cut sides with basil butter and halve on a diagonal.
-
Divide zucchini puttanesca between shallow bowls; top with tilapia. Serve with basil butter toast on the side.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Sep 2026- Flavor: The puttanesca sauce is rich and savory, though some found the tilapia too mild or too fishy to complement it well; the basil butter toast was a consistent highlight 🍲.
- Ease of prep: Most found the recipe straightforward, though a few noted it took longer than expected with multiple components running simultaneously.
- Suggestions: Season the tilapia beyond just salt and pepper — reviewers suggested blackening spices, lemon, or Italian seasoning to give the fish more presence. Add extra olives or capers for a brinier, more authentic puttanesca flavor.
- Leftovers: The puttanesca sauce reheats beautifully over pasta or rice, and several reviewers enjoyed it as a second meal the next day.
- Sides: Many felt the dish needed a starch like pasta, rice, or couscous to soak up the generous amount of sauce; the baguette was loved but felt insufficient on its own.
Reviews from our home cooks
THIS WAS FANTASTIC!!! I just loved everything about it. Side note: you should consider changing the instructions on dishes that use zucchini. It always states to cook them early. I cook enough to know that if you do your zucchini too early, it will just turn to mush. No one likes mush. Zucchini shouldn't be thrown in until the last 5 minutes or so.
I was pleasantly surprised as I'm not a huge fish eater but this was awesome. The zucchini puttanesca was very good and a perfect compliment to the fish. I will definitely order this one again! Also, very good portions.
This was delicious and I could make 3 portions from it with the large tilapia fillets and all the veggies. The tomatoes were soooo sweet and delicious. I would make this again!
There's so much of the puttanesca I loved it. Seasonings were well balanced and fish was a great protein for it
The most incredible combination of flavors! All delicious! I did sauté the onions a little before adding the zucchini so the zucchini wasn't mushy.
We made this with some toasted sourdough on the side to soak up some of the sauce after finishing the fish. It was very good and we kept the recipe card to make this for my mom for her birthday.
10 !! Great dish and yummy for people not fond of fish. That sauce is the best. I would probably order it every time it's available but probably use half the butter for the bread (it was fine but not worth the calories for extra).
I never would have thought to put these ingredients together but it's one of my favorite Hello Fresh meals. The rich acidic sauce complimented the tender flakey fish perfectly.
Personally, we did not like the Tilapia in combination with the Zucchini Puttanesca. It tasted more like Tilapia in spaghetti sauce. The bread topping was good but not the bread. It might be better to treat it like a garlic bread that should go into the oven along with the fish. We used the toaster and it was just not great bread. Too much tomato sauce. Too many little ingredients and when many are half, it is not as easy as when a whole package. Personally, I would scratch this approach to the Tilapia. You have better stuff.
The meal was okay, even good. However, the combination of tilapia and tomato sometimes led to a wet dog flavor. I would recommend adding some sort of spice to the tilapia other than salt and pepper.
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