Steelhead Trout with Garlic Butter Lemon Caper Sauce – healthy, low-carb, KETO friendly dinner rich in lean protein and omega-3 fatty acids. And did I say it was gluten free?!
In this easy recipe, the steelhead trout is cooked on stove top in a large skillet, and the lemon caper sauce is then made in the same skillet. The whole recipe takes 30 minutes from start to finish. Easy to make and the cleanup is minimal (only one skillet to clean).
What is steelhead trout?
Steelhead trout is a type of coastal rainbow trout. Steelhead trout is a sea-run fish that returns to fresh water to spawn (deposit eggs into water) after living in the ocean for about 2 years. It’s a species of salmonid, which means steelhead trout is related to salmon, char, and freshwater whitefish.
As I was cooking this beautiful steehead trout, I couldn’t help thinking that this recipe would work great with salmon as well! Steelhead trout is an incredibly easy fish to cook. And it’s very closely related to salmon. It’s a pretty fatty fish, it doesn’t stick to the pan and cooks fast and easy thanks to its rich fat content! I highly recommend that you try steelhead trout – it’s tasty, easy to handle, and very healthy (at least, according to this website).
What makes trout KETO friendly
- Steelhead trout is a fatty fish with a high fat content which makes it a perfect fish for KETO friendly diet. Steelhead trout is rich in lean protein and omega-3 fatty acids.
- Caper-Garlic Lemon Butter Sauce is a great choice for KETO recipe. Butter is low-carb, high fat. Garlic, capers, and lemon have low-carb content.
- This recipe is completely gluten free. It has no gluten, no grains.
How to cook steelhead trout
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- First, season the fish. Season the tops of trout fillets with Italian herb seasoning and salt (generously). Fish fillets will have skins on the bottom.
- Next, cook the trout on stove-top. In a large skillet, heat olive oil on medium heat. Adding 1 tablespoon of olive oil is enough as fish will release lots of its own oil (steelhead trout is a fatty kind of fish).
- Add trout fillets, skin side up, non-skin side down. Cook for about 1.5 minutes on medium heat, making sure the oil does not smoke.
- Turn the fillets over, skin side down. Cook for another 1.5 minutes on medium-low heat.
- Then, allow the trout to sit in the skillet. Remove the skillet from heat, close the pan with the lid, and let the steelhead trout sit for 5-10 minutes until flaky and cooked through completely.
- Finally, separate trout flesh from the skin. After the fish is cooked through, using spatula, carefully remove trout fillets to the plate, separating the fillet from the skin (skin will remain on the bottom of the pan).
- Carefully scrape the fish skin off the bottom of the pan, making sure to leave the fish oil in the pan. You will make garlic butter lemon caper sauce in the same pan as described in the next section.
How to make Lemon Caper Sauce
Lemon caper sauce with garlic and butter is what makes this steelhead trout so tasty! Add capers, diced garlic, and lemon juice to the skillet. Cook on medium-low heat for about 1 minute, until garlic softens a bit. Remove from heat. Add 2 tablespoons of butter, off heat, to the caper sauce, stirring, until butter melts and forms a creamy mixture.
If you enjoyed this steelhead trout recipe, you will surely like this easy trout recipe with garlic lemon butter herb sauce. Or, if you want an oven-baked trout, you can try this garlic parmesan crusted salmon and asparagus and use steelhead trout instead of salmon, since both fish are so similar.
Steelhead Trout (or Salmon) with Garlic Butter Lemon Caper Sauce - cooked on stove-top in a large skillet. Healthy, low-carb, KETO friendly dinner rich in lean protein and omega-3 fatty acids. And did I say it was gluten free?! Steelhead trout is a fatty fish with a high fat content.
- 1.5 lb steelhead trout (3 fish fillets) or use salmon
- 1 tablespoon Italian herb seasoning (dried thyme, oregano, parsley, combined)
- salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons capers , drained
- 4 garlic cloves , diced
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice , freshly squeezed
- 2 tablespoons butter , softened
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Season the tops of fish fillets with Italian herb seasoning and salt (generously). Fish fillets will have skins on the bottom.
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In a large skillet, heat olive oil on medium heat until heated but not smoking. 1 tablespoon of olive oil is enough as fish will release lots of its own oil (steelhead trout is a fatty kind of fish). Add steelhead trout fillets, skin side up, non-skin side down. Cook for about 1.5 minutes on medium heat, making sure the oil does not smoke.
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Turn the fillets over, skin side down. Cook for another 1.5 minutes on medium-low heat (keeping oil from burning).
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Remove from heat, close the pan with the lid, and let the trout sit for 5-10 minutes until flaky and cooked through completely.
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After the fish is cooked through, using spatula, carefully remove trout fillets to the plate, separating the fillet from the skin (skin will remain on the bottom of the pan). Carefully scrape the fish skin off the bottom of the pan, making sure to leave the fish oil in the pan.
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Add capers, diced garlic, and lemon juice to the same pan with oil. Cook on medium-low heat for about 1 minute, until garlic softens a bit. Remove from heat. Add 2 tablespoons of butter, off heat, to the caper sauce, stirring, until butter melts and forms a creamy mixture.
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Add fish back to the pan, spoon sauce over the fish and serve.
Made this last night for my husband, who is a very picky eater, and he thought it was fantastic. The capers gave it so much flavor.
This was really delicious! My whole family loved it!
My lady friend gave me this whole bottle of capers, being Spanish American; that I use continuously on anything I can think of. Later I caught these 4 hefty beautiful steelhead. Then I ran into your recipe which includes plenty of capers. A match made in heaven. TY much.
Easy, fast and delicious. My husband loved it and said he will “accidentally” buy the Steel Head Trout again so that he can have it cooked like this (he thought he was buying salmon)
This will be on our regular rotation
Thank you
So, I meant to buy salmon and realized after I got home that I purchased steelhead trout. So….I looked up a recipe and found yours. So many great reviews! My 4 older children (10, 8, 6 and 3) devoured this and gave it an A! (We like to rank new dishes we try.) I did not like seafood growing up and am learning to like it as an adult and both my husband and I enjoyed this dish VERY much! Thank you for sharing! I love how quickly it cooks, too. We will definitely have this again.
Excellent. So easy and so tasty.
Terry, I am so happy to hear that! 🙂 Thank you for your comment!
Please allow this recipe to be pinned directly. I am now following you on Pinterest, but I’d like to Pin this recipe directly for quick future reference!
I will be adding this functionality soon.
Missed the fact that the recipe called for the 1.5 lbs. of trout to be divided up into 3 fillets. I had 1.8 lbs. divided into 2. I followed the directions but it did not fully cook through, I assume because of the larger pieces. I had to start over and do a second round of 1.5 minutes per side and then remove it from the heat and cover for another 5-10 minutes. In the end, it came out delicious, but I think I should have salted it a bit more. I served the trout over rice with a side of spinach.
Hi Mary! Glad you tried the recipe and liked it! Serving this with rice and spinach is delicious.
Used on steel head trout filets. They came out delicious .
Absolutely fabulous! I used rainbow trout. I was afraid there wouldn’t be enough sauce, but it was the perfect amount. Thank you for sharing this recipe I can’t wait to try your other recipes.