Cooking trout on the grill? Simply season and grill – dinner is ready in 10 minutes! This lightly flavored fish is delicious and flaky and can be seasoned in many different ways – I’ll show you how to cook trout on the grill so it doesn’t stick to the grill grates and two different seasoning options – both are super simple.
If you love grilled fish, be sure to try my grilled tilapia in foil and grilled salmon in foil next time.
5 Grilling Secrets You Need to Know!
Get the quick-start guide so you can grill like a pro without going to culinary school.
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
Table of Contents
- 5 Grilling Secrets You Need to Know!
- What You’ll Love About Grilled Trout
- Ingredients
- How to Cook Trout on the Grill
- How to Prevent Lake Trout from Sticking to the Grill
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Storage Instructions
- How to Serve Grilled Trout to the Whole Family
- What to Serve with Grilled Trout
- More Easy Grilled Recipes
- Helpful Tools for Grilled Lake Trout Recipes
What You’ll Love About Grilled Trout
- Simple meal that tastes great
- Nutritious
- Made with just a few ingredients
- Just 2 minutes prep time
- Just 12 minutes total time
Ingredients
You need just a few ingredients to make this foil grilled trout:
- Trout – Depending on where you live, you might be able to find fresh fish, otherwise you can buy it frozen.
- Butter – Use high quality butter for best flavor.
- Seasoning – Keep things simple with the classic flavor of Old Bay seasoning, or try freshly minced garlic. Both are great options.
How to Cook Trout on the Grill
This recipe for trout on the grill couldn’t be any easier!
- Preheat grill. Heat grill to medium-high heat.
- Season trout. Place trout fillets on a plate or a foil packets, skin side down. Place pats of butter on trout and season as desired.
- Grill fish. Grill the lake trout for 3-5 minutes per side until it reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees F and fish flakes easily with a fork. (It really depends on how thick your piece of fish is.)
- Finish. Sprinkle fish with salt and black pepper to taste. Serve with lemon slices and fresh parsley if desired.
How to Prevent Lake Trout from Sticking to the Grill
This grilled trout recipe is so simple, but you do need to be careful that your fish doesn’t stick to the grill. I have two methods that can prevent the lake trout from sticking to the grill.
Fish Grill Basket – Lake trout is pretty fragile, so I highly suggest using a fish grilling basket.
Aluminum Foil – Otherwise you can use a piece of foil, just make sure to put some olive oil or butter on the skin side so that you can easily flip the fish over.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does lake trout taste like?
Cooking fresh trout on the grill is a great way to simply season this delicate fish! Lake trout is not super-fishy, but more of a mild flavor and delicate white fish that takes on whatever you season it with.
How long should you cook trout on the grill?
As I mentioned above, cooking trout on grill will just take a few minutes per side to cook through. If it’s a thin piece, it will take 3-5 minutes per side.
How do you know when trout is done?
Cook fish to an internal temperature of 145 degrees F, or until it flakes easily and is opaque in color.
Do you eat the skin on grilled trout?
You can definitely eat the skin, it’s really about personal preference. Usually it’s best to sear the skin so that it’s crispy.
Can you cook trout like salmon?
Salmon is obviously a different fish, but you can use similar cooking methods, check out these recipes for inspiration: grilled salmon in foil, baked salmon with panko, air fryer salmon, or baked salmon with dill butter.
Storage Instructions
Store any leftover grilled trout in the refrigerator for 1-2 days.
How to reheat
Reheat fish in a hot skillet or a 350 degree F oven.
Can you freeze grilled trout?
Yes you can freeze grilled trout in an airtight container for 2-3 months.
How to Serve Grilled Trout to the Whole Family
I get it, feeding kids can be tough! But following the Division of Responsibility and knowing your job and your child’s job makes it SO much more enjoyable. You’ll be able to feed your kids any meal, which will help ensure that they are eating a variety of nutritious foods – with plenty of play food sprinkled in. 😉
If fish is a new food for kids, serve a tiny flake of fish to start and be sure to serve the meal with a few items you know they will eat. (Bread, fruit, milk are staple at our house.)
All of my articles on feeding kids can be found here and if you want a FULL list of all of the videos I have with hacks, tips, scripts, and ideas for feeding kids, check out my instagram or tiktok page.
What to Serve with Grilled Trout
Serve the trout with a simple side dish of veggies:
More Easy Grilled Recipes
If you like grilled trout recipes like this one, you will also like some of these other easy grilled recipes:
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Helpful Tools for Grilled Lake Trout Recipes
- Fish Grill Basket – As I mentioned above, using a grill basket is a great way to ensure that when you’re cooking lake trout on grill, it doesn’t stick!
- Instant Read Meat Thermometer – Less than $20 and the BEST way to tell when your meat or grilled lake trout recipes are cooked perfectly.
Grilled Lake Trout Recipe (How to Cook Trout on the Grill)
- Prep Time: 2 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 12 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Grill
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
This grilled lake trout recipe is the EASIEST way to cook lake trout in less than 15 min. Cooking trout on the grill is as easy as seasoning + grilling!
Ingredients
- 4 6-oz. lake trout fillets
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 2 tsp. old bay seasoning OR 4 cloves minced garlic
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat grill to medium-high heat.
- Place pats of butter on lake trout, flesh side up.
- Season as desired. Sprinkle lightly with old bay seasoning or minced garlic if using. Otherwise season with sea salt and black pepper to taste.
- Add filets to a fish grill pan or aluminum foil.
- Cook for about 3-5 minutes per side, until fish flakes easily. Thinner pieces will only take 3 minutes.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Keywords: lake trout, grilled lake trout, how to cook trout on the grill
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Mo
That looks delicious. Can you believe I’ve never had Lake Trout? (And my dad is a MN fisherman through and through.)
Emily
Uh oh, you better try it! Can you get it in AZ?
Holly @ The Runny Egg
My dad loves to fish, so growing up we’d have lake fish all the time. I love it! Usually my dad would broil it after rubbing it with oil and topping with his favorite: Lowry’s seasoning 🙂
Estela @ Weekly Bite
I love trout!! This looks amazing!
I also LOVE the new look of your site! So pretty 🙂
Maris (In Good Taste)
It does remind me of salmon. Now I must try it to taste the difference!
Lindsay @ Pinch of Yum
1. Fish looks awesome!
2. Storyboard also looks awesome! 🙂
3. Love the print option with your recipe! Is that new?? That’s on my “list of blog updates” for this summer.
Emily
Thanks! 🙂 I’m loving the storyboard.
The recipe thing is a plugin – easy recipe – super easy to add and use!
catherine (FOOD SNOB)
What’s wrong with hiking in Minnesota? 😉
Emily
Ummm, I guess I just haven’t found the right place?! 🙂
catherine (FOOD SNOB)
Two words: NORTH SHORE.
(Dude, there’s a co-op in Grand Marais! You must eat at the Angry Trout!)
Emily
I know! I have been wanting to go up there, I just rarely have free weekends…and when I do…I kind of want to just hang out, you know? North Shore is definitely on my list though, I hear it is GORGEOUS!
I think I was spoiled growing up a mile away from Devil’s Lake State Park that has awesome hikes. 🙂
Erika @ Dr.TriRunner
Mmmm! Trout is one fish we *DONT* have at the restaurant… but it’s so good!!
Cait's Plate
I don’t think I’ve ever had trout – but it looks SO good. I keep wanting to try more fish (I pretty much stick to salmon, salmon, salmon) so perhaps I’ll venture out with this recipe and add trout to the rotation! 🙂
Dan
Love those toes
McKayla @ Green Groats
Great fish pics! Love how simple fish recipes can taste so flavorful! I don’t eat much trout, but I do enjoy it! I live on the coast, so the haddock is cheapest where I’m from.
Katie@Real Food Katie's Way
Great photos!!! It looks delicious!!
Sometimes it’s so refreshing to be outside without any technological distractions…In today’s day in age that is a rarity!
EA-The Spicy RD
I haven’t eaten trout I awhile, but when I do I always enjoy it! Your recipe looks easy and delicious. I love it with almonds too! The one summer I was in Minnesota, I had Walleye which I really enjoyed!
Jim
I always get frustrated when ingredients that are included in the list of ingredients but not included in the instructions. In this case, old bay seasoning and/or garlic are listed in the ingredients but void in the instructions
Emily
Super annoying, sorry about that! I updated it. Thanks for letting me know. 🙂
Barbara Arbutus
Followed recipe as is and it was delicious!!!
Emily
So glad you enjoyed it, thanks Barbara!