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
Denise
This was so delicious! I've never made trout before but bought while grocery shopping during Covid19. My 11 year old daughter said it was the best fish we have ever had. I had to use garlic powder and chicken broth in place of the wine but even so this turned out great. The texture and flavor are perfect
Judith
Looks great, making tonight
Jen
Julia, I want to make this recipe soon, but am wondering how it tastes without butter? I am reducing fat; is there a substitute? Can I use olive oil?
Laurie Glenn
This was simply delicious!A perfect fish dish...
Miriam McNamara
YUMMMMMM
Wilma
I made this today during COVID-19. Didn't have Italian seasoning in my pantry so I used Herbs de Provence. Worked out perfectly! The sauce is so good! Put it over frozen rice/veggie mix. Excellent combo! Great and easy recipe for Speckled Trout!
Voinda
I made this tonight for the first time it was absolutely delicious and oh so easy to make. My hubby who normally doesn’t like fish also loved this. He agrees you can sop up the sauce with bread and it’s wonderful.
Shelley Bondy
This was the best fish I’ve ever cooked. I didn’t have the wine, I substituted maple syrup . My husband is raving about it.
Carolyn
Can't wait to try this. Any good substitution recommendations for the dried parsley? I have fresh parsley.
Laura in Colorado
simple, quick, delicious.
Katie
This was absolutely delicious!! I didn't even have all the ingredients (I'm sure the white wine and fresh parsley would have made it even better!), but the method of cooking made the trout perfectly crusted and flaky, and the garlic butter sauce was out of this world! My husband said that it was the best fish he'd ever had--restaurants included! Thank you so much for this recipe--it was my first time ever cooking trout, and now it will be in the regular rotation! (Also, we re-created the garlic butter sauce the next night to drizzle over asparagus and cubed steak! So good again!)
Tanya
What can i substitute for white wine?
Julia
Chicken broth or vegetable broth.
Laura
Delicious!! Fits perfectly with the keto lifestyle. Paired with broccoli and avocado. So filling I couldn’t finish it all.
Julia
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! Great idea to serve this with broccoli and alfredo!
Rosa Scoddo-Sessa
I made this tonight and it was delicious! The sauce is bread dipping good! It was easy to prepare and dinner was ready in no time. I will definitely be making this again.
Julia
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! What a great idea to dip the bread into the sauce!
doug
with wild rice/white rice mix.... a few almond slices..... it was excellent! Thanks so much Doug
Joy DeNicola
We iften have fresh lake trout caught by our neighbor. I have cooked it numerous ways, but this recipe is a show stopper. It is so delicious. The herbs and the luscious buttery, garlic, lemon, white wine sauce is remarkable. It made what wound be a nice, exceptional and elegant. I highly recommend this recipe! Quite outstanding. I paired it with wild and long grain rice pilaf, and parmesan asparagus. .
Julia
So glad you found this recipe, tried it, enjoyed it and left this wonderful comment on my site! Love the idea of serving this trout with wild rice pilaf and parmesan asparagus.
Elaine in California
Loved this recipe. Easy, and full of flavor. Going to try it with salmon next.
Julia
I am glad you enjoyed this recipe! It will work great with salmon!