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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.
Julia thank you so much for your recipe I've tried it and my family could not believe that salmon can be so tasty since we always eat ones prepared in restaurants and they are always very dry I'm now going to prepare it your way once a week it was so delicious thank you
You're very welcome! I am so glad you liked this recipe! Your comment made my day! 🙂
Love this recipe! We made it for the second time tonight. And I'm so happy to have found your blog. Can't wait for peaches to come into season so I can make your coffee cake.
Many thanks!
Judy, you're very welcome! Thank you for leaving such a lovely comment! I am also happy that you found my blog! 🙂 Please enjoy the recipes!
Great, easy recipe. Excellent tasting fish.
Thank you! So glad you liked it! 🙂
I made it today and it was the best recipe I could have found. Thank you for a wonderful dinner.
You're very welcome! I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe. 🙂
This was delicious! Followed the recipe and won’t change a thing! Thanks for sharing!
You're very welcome! Enjoy!
I did a great job following your easy recipe, thanks so much.
So glad you liked the recipe!
10 minutes per inch is the golden when it comes to properly cooked fish. No one is going to take out a measuring tape to see the exact thickness of the fish. The main thing is to check on the "doneness" by using a fork gently to see if it is tender juicy flakes, but definitely not dried flakes. Also remember the fish is going to continue to cook after you remove it from the heat, so cook it until it is just a little shy of being fully done, that way you will get perfectly cooked fish. Just like making really good scrambled eggs, the residual heat will continue to cook the fish even after it is taken away from the burner. With all fish it is better to be a little underdone than overdone. When it is a little underdone you can always cook it a little bit more or nuke it a little bit, but when it is overdone there is no way to make it right.
10 minutes per inch is the golden when it comes to properly cooked fish. No one is going to take out a measuring tape to see the exact thickness of the fish. The main thing is to check on the "doneness" by using a fork gently to see if it is tender juicy flakes, but definitely not dried flakes. Also remember the fish is going to continue to cook after you remove it from the heat, so cook it until it is just a little shy of being fully done, that way you will get perfectly cooked fish. Just like making really good scrambled eggs, the residual heat will continue to cook the fish even after it is taken away from the burner. With all fish it is better to be a little underdone than overdone. When it is a little underdone you can always cook it a little bit more or nuke it a little bit, but when it is overdone there is no way to make it right.
I'd like to add some calories to this, if possible. Would it be okay to cook the fish in 2 tbsp. butter?
(I know, adding calories is weird. I have an underweight son who adores fish but cannot abide breaded things.)
Thanks!
I would cook the fish with olive oil, and add the butter later. The recipe actually includes 2 tablespoons of butter that you add towards the end of cooking process, when you make the sauce. If you like, you can add even more butter to the sauce.
I made this tonight and is was fantastic! My fish was thin so I did 3 and 2 on the minutes. I will make this again and I have told friends have fabulous it was! I am looking forward to trying your other recipes.
So glad you liked it! If your fish is thin, you don't need to cook it as long, you're correct!
Ok....ummm...this was yummy. I mean REALLY yummy!!!!! This is most assuredly a "return to" recipe!
So happy to hear that, Kim!
I love this recipe! It is easy to make, doesn't have too many ingredients, and tastes delicious! I also like finishing the fish off of heat - it avoids the issue of overcooking the top and bottom while still cooking the fish all the way through.
Thank you, Morgan, for stopping by and sharing your feedback! Glad you liked it! And, thank you for the tip about finishing cooking the fish off heat.
Sooo good. I made it with cod loins. Turned out perfect. I will definitely make it again.
Thank you, Kat! So glad you liked it!
The cooking time seems awfully long for such a thin piece of fish. I want to try the recipe but wonder about the timing.
Yes, trout is a very thin fish. Some trout fillets are even thinner than others. If yours is really thin, reduce cooking time in half or cook until the fish is flaky and cooked to your liking.
This dish is delicious! Second, it is so each to make and my family loves it. I made it with Swai and it was equally delicious!
Happy to hear you liked it! 🙂