This Steelhead Trout Recipe features a simple yet flavorful combination of lemon, garlic, and fresh herbs, baked to perfection for a moist and tender dish. Serve on salad or with a side of roasted vegetables for a healthy and satisfying meal.
This blog post is sponsored by Best Foods Facts and the United Soybean Board. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting A Paige Of Positivity.
You’re going to love this Trout Recipe
My approach to developing recipes is comfortability and convenience. Especially recipes that might be out of your comfort zone. I received a common response from my Instagram Stories when I posted about cooking fish: most don’t feel confident cooking it at home.
I’m here to assure you it’s not as difficult as it seems! In fact, it may even be easier than cooking meat so I encourage you to try this delicious fish recipe because I think you’re going to love it.
Before we get into the Trout recipe, Let’s recap my recent trip to Idaho and California, learning about Aquaculture!
I love my job for many reasons (seems obvious to say). Specifically, I love working with others who are passionate about what they do! I’ve had the privilege of working closely with the Center For Food Integrity (CFI) and we teamed up on this initiative to learn more about Aquaculture!
When CFI presented me with this Aquaculture focused trip opportunity, I wasn’t sure what to expect because I really didn’t know what aquaculture was (other than what I briefly learned in my high school AP Environmental Science course, andddd…retention of said information is questionable at best).
But as a consumer, I feel passionately that we all have the responsibility to learn about where our food comes from! Sometimes that’s hard to do when there is a lot of noise & marketing around our food.
If you’ve read or enjoyed my Enchilada Stuffed Peppers recipe, you know that 1) it’s delicious, but 2) it uses Ground Beef and recaps my experience with Best Food Facts about America’s Cattle industry (another educational experience). Check out all of my Farm trip highlights over the years on Instagram. SO, let’s get into it!
Where we went
Riverence Farms – Boise, Idaho: Rainbow and Steelhead Trout. Located in beautiful Idaho where they are uniquely positioned to utilize an abundant aqueduct. Their vertically integrated process creates a traceable story that starts with their own brood stock, continuing through egg hatch, grow out, processing and distribution.
TransparenSea – Los Angeles, California: Prawns. TransparentSea is producing shrimp that is local, sustainable, and of superior quality. A prawn that is born in the ocean has a 2% survival rate, whereas a prawn that is born at TransparenSea has a 65-70% survival rate.
Key take aways: Aquaculture is efficient, it’s better for the fish, and its sustainable!
Basically, it’s farming in water. It’s the breeding, raising, and harvesting of fish, shellfish, and aquatic plants.
FACTS TO ABSORB:
– Aquaculture is INCREDIBLY efficient
– Genetics, environment and nutrition are the 3 essential pillars for a fish to thrive.
– “Oceans are tapped” to keep up with the food supply. This means we can produce a fish where wild fish can not survive and it as clean, healthy or even better than wild.
– Focused on Sustainably doing MORE with LESS. Consider (fish poop) as a resource, not waste. Aquaculture allows you to capture all processes and continue to make them as efficient as they can be. Always fine-tuning and doing more with less.
– Their body structure is different. Prawns are about half the size of their body
– Reproductive strategy — Prawns hold inside of their body and shrimp hold outside of their body
– Most of the nutrition is in the head of the prawn (wow!!)
– 3.5 months here vs 9 months in the wild (30-50 years of science behind it)
– 1-2% of total shrimp/prawns make it in the wild, 60-70% of shrimp/prawns make it when sustainably farmed
DID YOU KNOW: I ATE THE FOOD THEY FEED THE TROUT. Why? To show you that it’s safe and they care about the nutrition of the fish. It needs to be good for them AND us! One of the main ingredients in fish food is Soybeans. Fish that eat soy-based feed release less phosphorus and nitrogen than fish that don’t eat soy!
Similar to last trip, I left learning SO much and looking forward to supporting these incredible fish-farming operations. I feel more confident as a consumer and food blogger knowing the science and education that goes into these processes.
Don’t get fish of me yet, there’s more recipes coming to help Americans include more seafood in their meals!! Once the footage is posted, I’ll link it here for you to learn more. As always, thank you for supporting A Paige Of Positivity and our sponsors.
Recipe Ingredients
- Trout – I used one large filet, but two smaller steelhead trout filets will also do. This is a tasty, lean protein perfect for such a simple recipe.
- Lemon – We will use whole slices that’ll penetrate their flavor into the fish as it cooks.
- Dill – A bright herb that pairs perfectly with the trout.
- Seasoning – Just salt and lemon pepper!
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Substitutions and Variations
Optional: Make a lemon butter sauce to drizzle on top. To do so, you’ll need a half stick of butter, fresh garlic (minced) or garlic powder, juice of 1/2 lemon, lemon zest, salt, black pepper, parsley and optionally red pepper flakes.
Melt butter in a glass bowl, then mix in remaining ingredients. Pour this on top of the fish once it has finished baking. I love adding this sauce for extra richness, especially when I am serving this tasty fish with pasta topped with parmesan cheese and a glass of white wine.
How to Make This Recipe
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place a piece of aluminum foil on a baking sheet and spray with cooking spray. Gently pat the fish dry with a paper towel to remove any excess moisture. Place the steelhead trout filet on the pan with the fish skin against the foil. Spread lemon pepper, fresh dill, and salt evenly all over the fish. Place lemon slices on top of the trout.
2. Let the trout bake for 15-22 minutes (depending on thickness) in the pre-heated oven or until the center of the fish is cooked through and flakes easily with a fork. The thickest part of the fish should have an internal cooked temperature of: 145°F.
While the fish cooks, prepare the side salad. Serve with a summery orzo salad (as pictured), fresh salad greens, or brown rice. Squeeze a bit of lemon juice over the trout before serving.
PRO TIPS
Pat your fish dry with clean paper towel at the start of this recipe. This will:
- Allow the seasonings to absorb into the fish, giving it more flavor!!
- Give better texture to the cooked fish (with a crisp skin)
Recipe FAQs
Store the cooked fish in an airtight container for up to three days. Reheat slowly in the oven at 250°F for 10-15 or the microwave for ~60 seconds. The oven method is recommended if you have the time, as it keeps the fish’s moisture and texture.
If you have a frozen trout filet, you can use the quick thaw method which entails submerging the frozen fish in it’s plastic packaging (or put the fish in a freezer bag if it’s in paper) in a large bowl of cold water. This method should take less than 30 minutes. Once thawed, remove from the packaging and pat dry.
Rainbow and steelhead trout are actually the same species.Rainbow trout are known to stay more in freshwater, whereas steelhead will typically migrate to the ocean. The other subtle difference is that rainbow trout may have pink or red stripes with black spots. Ultimately, they are the same type of fish!
Serving suggestions
I served my Steelhead Trout over a version of this lovely Summer Orzo Salad. The sweet summer veggies just WORKED with the herby lemon trout. To make this version just toss together the following ingredients:
- 1 cup orzo, cooked
- 1 peach, sliced and diced
- 1 red pepper, sliced and diced
- 1 cup corn
- ½ cup fresh mint or basil, finely sliced
- ¼ olive oil
- 3 tablespoons hot honey
- 1 ½ teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 ½ teaspoon red wine vinegar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
This trout would also be mighty delicious instead of salmon on my Mango Salmon Salad. Or serve on it’s own with a side of Baked Smashed Potatoes and Parmesan Carrot Fries for a delicious, healthy meal.
More Recipes You’ll Love
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Steelhead Trout Recipe
Equipment
- Baking sheet
- aluminum foil
- Meat Thermometer
Ingredients
- 1 large trout filet, 12-16 ounces
- 1 lemon, sliced
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp lemon pepper
- 1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place a piece of aluminum foil on a baking sheet and spray with cooking spray.
- Gently pat the fish dry with a paper towel to remove any excess moisture. Place the steelhead trout filet on the pan with the fish skin against the foil.
- Spread lemon pepper, fresh dill, and salt evenly all over the fish. Place lemon slices on top of the trout.
- Let the trout bake for 15-22 minutes (depending on thickness) in the pre-heated oven or until the center of the fish is cooked through and flakes easily with a fork. The thickest part of the fish should have an internal cooked temperature of 145°F.
- Serve with a summery orzo salad (as pictured), fresh salad greens, or brown rice. Squeeze a bit of lemon juice over the trout before serving.
Nutrition
Notes
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I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. It’s my passion to create dishes that can be shared with others. Tell me something you loved or just say hi!
I didn’t realize how simple trout is to cook! This has been my go-to over salmon lately and I’m loving it! I also like adding a little smoked paprika on it. Thanks for sharing, Court!
The recipe is good. If you are really interested in sustainability, you would not drink water from a disposable plastic bottle.
I love this recipe! super easy to follow and tasty.