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
Christy D. Woods
I love fish but fear cooking it myself. I usually just order it when we go out to eat. I decided to get past my fear and made this recipe. This was THE BEST trout I have ever tasted let alone cooked myself! And it was so much easier than I ever imagined! This recipe is definitely part of my menu rotation now!! Thanks so much!!
Julia
Christy, you are very welcome! So glad you found this recipe helpful and delicious! Thank you for stopping by and sharing such a positive comment! 🙂
Susan
Great recipe, my daughters were very skeptical on eating trout but loved the flavors of this dish!! Thank you!
Julia
Susan, I am so glad you enjoyed this dish! Thank you for a 5-star review! 🙂
Patrick F
This was great. Was looking for a recipe for Trader Joe’s Rainbow trout fillets and this was delicious. Thank you.
Julia
Patrick, you are very welcome! Thank you for 5-star review - I really appreciate it! 🙂
André Martins
Great success!!!!
Julia
Happy to hear that!
Tracey
Have made this twice now with great results. I definitely recommend
Julia
Tracey, thank you so much for stopping by and sharing such positive feedback - I really appreciate it!
Julie Brucki
Made sauce tonight with, thyme instead of tarragon, toserve over sauteed trout fillets. Sauce was easy to prepare and finished the trout fillets off perfectly. Will defenitly be making this again.
Julia
Julie, I am so glad you liked it! Thanks for the comment!
Barbara O
love the recipe, very simple and delicious
Julia
Thank you, Barbara, glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Joy
This is the best recipe for trout. I've made it so many times. Always enjoyed and makes me look impressive!! Thank you, Julia.
Julia
Joy, thank you so much for your comment! So glad you enjoyed this recipe many times.
Brent
I like to fish, but as far as how to cook them, I have no idea. I use this recipe on the trout/perch I caught and they was soo good! Thank you!
Shawn Williams
Really tasty and super easy!
Lisa Osmond
Had this for dinner tonight and thoroughly enjoyed it. I didn’t have any white wine so I added more lemon juice. I would definitely make it again.so quick and easy too
Kristen
Amazing flavors! I didn’t have parsley-so I used that new partially dried basil stuff to half amount and it was so good! This will be my good to trout recipe!
Tee
This is my absolute favourite fish recipe. I don't typically cook with white wine so I use vegetable bouillon cubes with water. It works extremely well and gives it a nice flavour. I also cook vegetables with it as well (onions, zucchini, Peppers and cherry tomatoes) with a side of baamati rice and Spinach and apple puree. Everyone loves it and often goes back for seconds. Thanks so much for this recipe!!!!
Ann
So delicious! One of my favorite fish recipes. Have made this several times since finding it!
Erin
Never made trout before (salmon many times) this was perfect! My 6 year old had seconds! Will make again for sure!!