Buttery Crusted Tilapia

The price of beef lately has made it really easy to eat less red meat and more fish and chicken.  But it's also meant I've had to expand/revamp my go-to dinner selection.  I recently discovered this recipe and it was an instant hit.  Everyone in the family loves it!  

BUTTERY-CRUSTED BAKED TILAPIA

4 6-oz boneless tilapia fillets
6-8 Ritz crackers, crushed
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon adobo seasoning
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold

Arrange fish on a lined baking sheet. In a mixing bowl, combine crushed Ritz crackers with seasoned salt, chili powder, and adobo seasoning (use clean hands to mix).  Cut butter into 6 equal pats. Place one pat a piece directly on the center of the tilapia. Cut remaining 2 pats into pea-sized pieces and mix by hand into cracker mixture. Sprinkle crumbs equally over each tilapia filet.

Bake in a preheated oven at 425°F for 15-20 minutes, or desired doneness. Serve hot on a nice platter.

Here are my cooking notes::

• I use 4oz fillets that are individually packaged and they work really well for this.  
• I suggest patting the fillet's dry before setting them on a foil lined baking sheet.  
• I use 2 tablespoons of butter for 7 fillets, you can totally get away with less butter than it calls for.  
• I made my own adobo seasoning mix which has worked out really well. I store it in the spice cupboard and it's made the subsequent times I've made this recipe go much faster.  
• Since my fillets are 2 oz. or more smaller, baking them for 10-12 minutes is plenty.