Grilled Trout Recipe
This grilled trout recipe is one of my favorite ways to serve fish at home: minimal prep, quick cook time, and tons of fresh flavor. Whether you’re grilling for a weeknight dinner or entertaining, it’s a simple, foolproof recipe you’ll want to make on repeat.
We’re obsessed with trout.
We recently returned from a trip to Yellowstone, where we had some delicious red trout, and now we are all obsessed. 😊
This recipe for grilled trout was originally published about 7 years ago, but I hadn’t actually made it in a while…until we returned home from our trip, all wanting more trout. And it makes sense, it’s kind of similar to salmon, which my kids are obsessed with. It’s so similar (and I forgot about this), that we also sometimes use trout in our salmon sushi (it’s a long story, but we use two different types of fish depending on what type of sushi we are making). It’s…
🌞 Perfect for summer grilling: It’s light, fresh, easy, and can be cooked outside! No fishy smell inside (unless you fry up the skin like we do!).
🍽️ Restaurant-quality at home: Tender, flaky fish that’s cooked perfectly, no chef skills necessary.
🕒 Quick and effortless: Ready in under 15 minutes, no need to prep much or marinate ahead of time.
🌿 Simple ingredients: Just trout, olive oil, and salt lets the trout shine.
🥑 Healthy and nutritious: Naturally high in protein and omega-3s, as it’s an oily fish.
💰 Budget friendly: It’s often more affordable than salmon (which is why we sometimes use it in our “salmon” sushi).
It would be delicious in place of the salmon in this salmon Caesar salad! You’ll also want to try my shrimp boil, shrimp kabobs, and crispy panko cod.
Ingredient Notes
You’ll need some fresh ingredients and pantry staples: trout, olive oil (or butter), salt, and pepper.
- There are a lot of different varieties of trout to choose from. In Yellowstone, we had red trout, though I don’t see that much in the Midwest. Rainbow trout, lake trout, and brown trout are all common varieties and may be available farmed or wild-caught. My local co-op stocked farmed rainbow trout, but I’ve also purchased wild-caught at the farmer’s market. We’ve used fillets here as they are the easiest for me to manage, but you could use a whole trout that has been cleaned and butterflied.
Emily’s Tips & Tricks
- Cooking methods: You could also cook the trout on the stovetop, cook for a few minutes per side on a grill pan.
- Feeding Kids: If your kids like fish, I think the would enjoy trout! If it’s a new food, serve a tiny flake of fish and serve the meal with some other “safe” components like milk, fruit, and bread.
- Variations: Add some extra flavor! I love a touch of Old Bay seasoning on fish, not so much that it screams Old Bay, but just a hint. You could also put a pat of garlic butter on the fish after cooking to let the flavors soak in.
Grilled Trout Recipe
- Prep Time: 2 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 12 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Grill
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
This grilled trout recipe is quick, easy, and full of fresh flavor. Perfect for summer grilling with tender flaky fish and simple ingredients.
Ingredients
- 4 6–oz. trout fillets
- olive oil
- sea salt and flaky salt for serving
- fresh lemon
Instructions
- Preheat grill to medium-high heat.
- Season trout. Pat fillet with paper towel and place onto grill basket or foil basket. Spritz with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Grill for about 3-5 minutes per side, skin side down first, until fish flakes easily. Thinner pieces will only take 3 minutes.
- Finish with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and flaky salt to taste.
Notes
- Storage: Store leftovers in the refrigerator for 1-2 days. Reheat in a hot skillet or serve at room temperature.
- Ingredient notes: Virtually any variety of trout will work with this recipe!
- Special tools: A grill basket makes this super easy, without any worry of the fish sticking to the grates or having trouble flipping it. You can also make a DIY foil platter. Fold up the edges of the foil and be sure to put some olive oil or butter on the skin side so that you can easily flip the fish over. I also love using my olive oil spritzer to coat the fillets.
Serving Suggestions
Serve the fish with a simple side or two:
FAQs
Cook fish to an internal temperature of 145 degrees F, or until it flakes easily and is opaque in color. The best way to know when your trout is done is to use an instant-read meat thermometer.
You can definitely eat the skin; it’s more of a matter of personal preference. Fish skin is best when it’s nice and crispy, so I would recommend grilling or searing in a hot skillet until the crispy skin is golden and crunchy.
About the Author
Emily Dingmann is a recipe developer, nutrition expert, and founder of My Everyday Table. She specializes in creating easy, healthy recipes that help busy parents feed their families well every single day, without the stress. With a degree in Nutrition and over 20 years of experience, Emily shares family-friendly meals that are practical, nourishing, and full of flavor. Learn more about Emily’s approach to everyday cooking and nutrition here.
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That looks delicious. Can you believe I’ve never had Lake Trout? (And my dad is a MN fisherman through and through.)
Uh oh, you better try it! Can you get it in AZ?
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 🙂
I love trout!! This looks amazing!
I also LOVE the new look of your site! So pretty 🙂
It does remind me of salmon. Now I must try it to taste the difference!
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.
Thanks! 🙂 I’m loving the storyboard.
The recipe thing is a plugin – easy recipe – super easy to add and use!
What’s wrong with hiking in Minnesota? 😉
Ummm, I guess I just haven’t found the right place?! 🙂
Two words: NORTH SHORE.
(Dude, there’s a co-op in Grand Marais! You must eat at the Angry Trout!)
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. 🙂
Mmmm! Trout is one fish we *DONT* have at the restaurant… but it’s so good!!
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! 🙂
Love those toes
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.
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!
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!
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
Super annoying, sorry about that! I updated it. Thanks for letting me know. 🙂
Followed recipe as is and it was delicious!!!
So glad you enjoyed it, thanks Barbara!