Trout Recipe with Garlic Lemon Butter Herb Sauce - simple and delicious way to cook fish, especially if you're in a hurry! The whole recipe takes only 30 minutes. Italian herb seasoning, chopped fresh parsley and garlic give great flavor to the fish! Healthy, low-carb dinner rich in lean protein and omega-3 fatty acids.
Trout fillets are usually pretty thin which makes them perfect for cooking on stove top in a skillet. One of the best trout recipes I've tried is simply cooking the trout in the skillet in olive oil, and then adding garlic, lemon juice, white wine, fresh parsley and butter. That's it! Simple and delicious.
What makes this trout recipe work:
- The ingredient list for this trout recipe is short and simple.
- The trout itself is such a delicate fish with a great flavor, it doesn't need too many ingredients or special technique to enhance it. So, just cook it in a large skillet on stove top with olive oil and butter, garlic, butter, lemon juice, white wine, fresh parsley.
- The cooking times are short since trout fillets are usually pretty thin. This trout recipe takes only 30 minutes from start to finish.
I have also made this recipe using the type of fish I've never cooked with before - Arctic Char. Arctic Char looks very similar to trout, and it's closely related to both salmon and trout. Therefore, this recipe will also work with salmon and arctic char. Very easy and versatile!
Other trout recipes
- Another simple way to cook trout is simply to enhance it with capers, garlic, lemon and butter. I combined just those ingredients to make this easy and delicious Trout with Caper-Garlic Lemon Butter Sauce. And yes, I used steelhead trout for this recipe but you can use a regular trout.
- I made this recipe with salmon - but it is easily adaptable for trout: Garlic Parmesan Crusted Salmon and Asparagus
Trout with Garlic Lemon Butter Herb Sauce
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds trout or salmon, or arctic char - 2 large fish fillets with skin on the bottom
- 2 tablespoons olive oil more, if needed
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning (dried thyme, oregano, parsley, combined together)
- ¼ teaspoon salt to taste
- 4 garlic cloves diced
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 2 tablespoons white wine
- 2 tablespoons butter softened
- 2 tablespoons parsley chopped
Instructions
- Season the top of fish fillets with Italian herb seasoning and salt (generously). Fish fillets will have skins on the bottom - no need to season the skins.
- In a large skillet (large enough to fit 2 fish fillets), heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium heat until heated but not smoking. To the hot skillet with olive oil, add fish fillets skin side up - flesh side down. Cook the flesh side of the fish for about 3-5 minutes on medium heat, making sure the oil does not smoke, until lightly browned.
- Flip the fillets over to the other side, skin side down (add more oil, if needed). Cook for another 2-4 minutes on medium heat (to prevent oil from burning).
- Remove the skillet from heat, close with the lid, and let the fish sit for 5-10 minutes, covered, in the skillet, until flaky and cooked through completely.
- After the fish is cooked through, off heat, using spatula, carefully remove fillets to the plate, separating the fish from the skin. Carefully remove or scrape the fish skin off the bottom of the pan, making sure to leave all the cooking oils in the pan.
- Add diced garlic, lemon juice, and white wine to the same pan with oil. Cook on medium-low heat for about 1 minute, until garlic softens a bit. Remove from heat. Add 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley, and 2 tablespoons of butter, off heat, to the sauce, stirring, until the butter melts and forms a creamy mixture.
- Add fish to the pan, spoon sauce over the fish, top the fish and sauce with the remaining 1 tablespoon of parsley, and serve.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
What have I been cooking in my kitchen?
1 Year Ago: Seared Scallops with Creamy Lemon-Caper Sauce
2 Years Ago: Cilantro Lime Potato Salad
I made this last night, oh so delicious! I never pan fry fish but this was fantastic!
Fantastic taste, moist, easy to prepare and SO GOOD FOR YOU!
5 stars!
This is the one of the best fish recipes I’ve ever had. I made this with two large lake trout and two smaller steelhead fish. I was able to cook it all on a flattop griddle. I served this with steamed rice and broccoli rabe. Delicious!! Thanks for the recipe. It’s a keeper!
WOW! this was one of the best trout recipes I have made. Did it exactly as per the instructions and it turned out perfect. I used x3 fillets as we had a guest so should have increased the amount of the sauce. This dish was so flavorful with little effort. My kind of recipe 🙂
Gillian, your comment made my day! ❤️❤️❤️ So glad the recipe turned out well!
LOVE this! In wasn’t ‘in the mood’ for fish, but I was SO glad I made this. Fantastic!
Jean, I am so glad this recipe put you back in the mood for fish! ❤️
Recipe was awesome and so easy. My son-in-law caught the trout yesterday and ate it today.
I'm with Jean. I was not in the mood for trout and don't know how to filet or cook it. I found this recipe and had hope. I changed out the italian herbs for fresh dill I needed to use. What could be better than butter, garlic and lemon! Really impressed myself! Turned out great and beautiful.
I tried this tonight. Everyone loved it. I paired with asparagus and salad. The perfect meal. Thank you!!
Becky, thank you for such a positive comment and 5-star review! 🙂
Delicious! I had to adapt the recipe a little, but the key ingredients are there. I will make this again.
Candy, thank you for the 5-star review! ❤️
This was the first time that I have ever cooked trout and it was really good. The recipe was very easy to follow and cook. Thank you.
Ann, I am so happy you enjoyed it. Thank you for this feedback! ❤️
I haven’t tried it yet but will be today. I have all ingredients and can’t wait to prepare it.
Emma, I think you'll love it! Enjoy! 🙂
Delicious! I was so surprised.
Glad this recipe exceeded your expectations!
Julia I love this recipe for the trout. It turned out to be really delicious. It was quick and easy to prepare. Thanks for sharing.
Renee, I am so happy you tried this recipe and loved it! 🙂
Super fast and yummy! I am not a big fan of trout, but would definitely prepare it this way again.
Raelyn, so glad that even though you are not a fan of trout you still enjoyed this recipe! 🙂 🙂
This was fantastic! I was curious as to why remove the skin, but then made sense to let the direct flesh get in contact with the delicious sauce. Leaving the skin on would have subtracted from that! I don't like parsley that much but it was great here. Thank you for this awesome recipe! Glad I have 2 extra trout filets in the freezer!
Caren, you are very welcome! And, thank you for such a positive comment and the 5-star review! 🙂