Fish and seafood
Tilapia on a GLP-1: protein, portions and how to actually eat it
About 26 g of protein per 100 g (3.5 oz), cooked, fillet, for around 128 calories. One fillet, about 150 g (5.3 oz), gives roughly 39 g of protein for 192 calories.
To reach 30 g of protein from tilapia alone you would need about 115 g (4.1 oz). On a small appetite that is often more than one sitting allows, which is why we pair it rather than chase the whole target from one food.
How tilapia sits on a GLP-1
Tilapia is cheap, mild and lean, with a little more protein per gram than cod. The mildness is the selling point on a GLP-1, because it does not smell strongly while it cooks and it does not taste of much, which is what you want when everything tastes wrong.
When your appetite is small
A 150 g fillet gives about 39 g of protein for roughly 190 calories, which is a full protein stop and change. Half a fillet with a sauce is still 20 g and looks far more achievable.
Three ways to prepare it
Baked with lemon and butter
Twelve minutes at 180C, about 355F. Very little smell and nothing to chew through.
Poached in coconut milk
The fat in the coconut keeps it moist and adds enough flavour to carry a bland fish.
Crumbed and oven baked
A thin crumb makes lean white fish easier to eat, and baking rather than frying keeps the fat down.
What to eat it with
Lemon, garlic butter, coconut, coriander, lime. Tilapia brings no flavour of its own, so whatever you put with it is what you taste.
How it compares
| Food | Protein per 100 g | Energy per 100 g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tilapia | about 26 g | 128 kcal | this page |
| Cod and white fish | about 23 g | 105 kcal | See the page |
| Barramundi | about 24 g | 110 kcal | See the page |
| Prawns | about 24 g | 99 kcal | See the page |
All figures are typical values for the food as eaten, cooked, fillet, not laboratory figures for a particular brand.
Australian, US and UK names
Tilapia is a supermarket staple in the US and widely available frozen in the UK. It is less common in Australia, where basa, ling and hoki fill the same cheap white fish role.
Questions people ask
Is tilapia good protein?
Yes, about 26 g per 100 g cooked for around 130 calories, and it is one of the cheapest fish available. Nutritionally it is a lean white fish like any other.
Your number comes first
Knowing what is in a food only helps once you know how much you are aiming for. The target is 1.2 to 1.6 g of protein per kg of your goal weight, not your current weight, which for most people is 90 to 140 g a day.
Work out your protein targetMore on eating well when your appetite is small: high protein foods for a small appetite, how much protein on a GLP-1, and every food we have written up. The whole system in five documents is the Keep Muscle Kit, A$47 / US$29 / £23.
EverStrong provides nutrition and strength coaching and education. It is not medical advice and does not replace your prescribing doctor.