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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.
Loved it, followed all your steps but added a little heavy cream to the sauce. Hubs and I thought it was fantastic!
Thank you! Adding a touch of heavy cream to the sauce sounds delicious!
This is a go to recipe! Thanks!
I am happy to hear that! 🙂
I never make fish because most of my family thinks they don’t like it, but when my boys went fishing on Lake Michigan and brought home trout, I knew I had a chance to change their minds! This recipe did the trick! I had no idea how to cook a trout. I’m so glad I happened upon this. It was beyond delicious, gourmet even. Everyone loved it and we cleaned up all the bits from the pan! Thank you!
I am so glad you found my recipe and enjoyed it! Thank you for such a wonderful and kind comment!
What can you use instead of white wine?
chicken stock or veg. stock
Yes, chicken stock or vegetable stock.
Can you bake the trout instead of stove top?
Yes, you can!
Simple and delicious. A perfect summer dinner.
Thank you! 🙂
I tried using or they Provence tarragon oregano and basil and it came out pretty good excellent sauce
Glad you liked it!
I was looking for a “garlic trout “ recipe, and this came up. My new favourite recipe for trout filet. It will definitely be used for salmon as well. The two important parts for me are ; flesh side down to start and off heat steaming to finish. Brilliant. Thanks.
Thank you, Brian! So glad you found this recipe useful!
This was delicious! My husband (who doesn't cook a lot) made it with fresh trout he had just caught that day. It was delicious. So flavourful! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
You are very welcome! So happy you liked this recipe!
My boyfriend caught a rainbow trout and I had no idea how to cook it. Thank you Google and Julia for this amazing recipe. I remember not liking trout as a kid so I was nervous to eat it again. This preparation was delicious! Will definitely be a repeater this summer!
Brittany, thank you so much for such a wonderful comment! I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
This receipe is amazing. The fish comes out so tender and the seasoning is perfect. Definitely five stars, two thumbs up, etc.
Your comment makes my day! Thank you for your kind words!
Great recipe! I made it for my mom for Mother's Day (we celebrated early) and she really liked it. The rest of my family doesn't like fish, so I added the seasoning and sauce to chicken and it worked just as well.
I am so glad you liked this recipe! And glad to know that the seasoning and the sauce worked with chicken as well!
This recipe was easy to understand and make. My husband and 10 year old daughter loved it. Very tasty. I would only decrease the lemon juice slightly next time. This is definitely a keeper!!
I am so glad you liked this recipe! Thank you so much for stopping by and leaving such a kind comment!
Fabulous!
Thanks!
I made this once before and it was phenomenal. Thanks! I just brought home 12 lbs of trout from the lake today and plan on cooking up more. Looking at the ingredients list, it calls for 1 tablespoon of thyme, oregano, and parsley. Do you use 1 tablespoon of each spice? Or combine them all to equal a tablespoon. It's a little unclear... and I cant remember what I did last Fall. Thanks again!
I am so glad you've made this recipe before and enjoyed it! The recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning (which usually contains thyme, oregano, and parsley). So, you just use 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning. If you don't have Italian seasoning, you can combine thyme, oregano, and parsley and use 1 tablespoon of this spice mix with the fish.