Quickly sauteed in butter and finished with lemon juice, this rainbow trout recipe is as easy as it's delicious.
Ready in just 20 minutes, it's the perfect dish to make when you're not in the mood for an elaborate recipe.
I like to cook fish and seafood 2-3 times per week. I almost always default to baked salmon and shrimp scampi, both easy and quick.
But after discovering frozen rainbow trout fillets at Trader Joe's, I've been making this recipe regularly. It's a truly tasty fish, kind of like a delicate version of salmon, and the quick preparation is also a bonus.
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Ingredients
You'll only need a few simple ingredients to make this truly easy recipe. The exact measurements are listed in the recipe card below. Here's an overview of what you'll need:
Rainbow trout: As mentioned above, I buy frozen fillets at Trader Joe's. I defrost them overnight in the fridge, then rinse and pat dry.
To season: Kosher salt, black pepper, and garlic granules.
Fat for frying: I use a combination of butter and ghee. The addition of ghee helps prevent the butter from burning.
Lemon juice: I highly recommend using freshly squeezed lemon juice in this recipe.
Minced parsley: Mostly used for garnish, although it also adds a nice layer of flavor to the dish.
Instructions
Making this rainbow trout recipe is easy! The detailed instructions are listed in the recipe card below. Here's an overview of the steps:
You'll start by patting the fish fillets dry with paper towels, then season them with salt and pepper.
Now, heat the ghee and butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. When the butter starts foaming, add the fish, skin side down.
Cook the fish until the skin is browned, about 3 minutes. At this point, sprinkle the tops with garlic granules.
Carefully flips the fillets over, lower the heat to medium, and continue cooking until they're cooked through. This should take 2-3 more minutes.
Add the lemon juice to the skillet and remove it from the heat. Transfer the fish to plates, drizzle them with the pan juices, sprinkle with parsley, and serve.
Expert tips
Here are a few tips for you for making this recipe a success:
- To help the skin brown, I like to gently press on the fillets with a spatula to make sure the skin has full contact with the hot pan.
- The addition of ghee helps prevent the butter from burning. It will still nicely brown and you'll get delicious brown butter, but as long as the pan doesn't get overheated, it shouldn't burn.
- The reason I add the garlic powder midway through cooking is to ensure it doesn't burn.
Frequently asked questions
It's a freshwater fish that belongs to the same family as pacific salmon. Its skin is dark, its flesh is pink, and it has a distinctive red lateral line (as shown here in the photo), hence its name.
Its flavor is not unlike that of salmon, but it's milder and more delicate.
Yes, definitely. This fish is typically sold with the skin on, and that's a good thing indeed, because the skin is fatty and delicious!
The skin also provides a protective layer between the fish and the hot pan, helping protect the flesh from drying out.
Cooking it skin-side down has two advantages. The first: it helps crisp up the skin. Typically you cook it for longer on the first side, so you want that side to be the skin side.
The second advantage is that when it's time to flip the fish, it's easier to slide a spatula under the fish's skin than under its flesh.
Variations
This is a simple recipe and that's a big part of its magic. So I don't usually make too many changes. But if you'd like, one way to change things up is to add more spices. When you sprinkle the fish with garlic powder, you can also add paprika and dried thyme.
Another variation is to cook the fish in 2 tablespoons of olive oil instead of the butter/ghee combination. But I highly recommend using butter. It turns into browned butter and is simply delicious.
Serving suggestions
When plating the fish, I like to place it on a bed of sauteed spinach. I typically cook the spinach first, then keep it in a warm oven (150°F) and cook the fish.
I also like to serve this dish with steamed broccoli, sauteed sugar snap peas, and sauteed broccolini.
Storing leftovers
You can keep the leftovers in the fridge, in an airtight container, for 2-3 days. Reheat them in the microwave, covered, on 50% power. You can also freeze the leftovers for up to a month.
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Recipe card
Pan-Fried Rainbow Trout Recipe
INGREDIENTS
- 2 (4 oz) rainbow trout fillets (bones removed, skin on)
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt I use the Diamond Crystal brand
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic granules
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon ghee
- ½ tablespoon lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 2 tablespoons parsley minced
INSTRUCTIONS
- Pat the trout fillets dry using paper towels. Sprinkle them on both sides with salt and pepper.
- In a large 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat the butter and ghee over medium-high heat. Swirl to coat. When the butter starts foaming, add the fillets to the pan, skin side down.
- Cook the fillets, gently pressing on them with a wide spatula to ensure the skin has contact with the pan surface, until the skin is browned, about 3 minutes.
- Sprinkle the top of the fillets with garlic granules. Very carefully flip them over. Lower the heat to medium and keep cooking the fish until cooked through, 2-3 more minutes.
- Add the lemon juice to the pan and remove the pan from the heat. Transfer the fish to plates. Drizzle the pan juices over the fish. Sprinkle them with parsley and serve.
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NOTES
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NUTRITION PER SERVING
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Vered DeLeeuw, LL.M., CNC, has been following a low-carb real-food diet and blogging about it since 2011. She's a Certified Nutrition Coach (NASM-CNC), has taken courses at the Harvard School of Public Health, and has earned a Nutrition and Healthy Living Certificate from Cornell University. Her work has appeared in several major media outlets, including Healthline, HuffPost, Today, Women's Health, Shape, and Country Living. 