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From start to finish, garlic butter steelhead trout, cooked in foil is the easiest trout recipe in the world. Baking fish in foil with garlic, butter, and lemon is an easy, winning combo that yields a juicy buttery flavor. While the prep work takes minutes, the cleanup only takes seconds, making this a 25-minute recipe with cleanup included!
Steelhead trout is very similar to salmon in both flavor and appearance, however, steelhead trout tends to be a little milder. Not to be confused with rainbow trout, which tends to be lighter and color and milder in flavor in my experience.
The cook-in-foil method is incredibly easy because there is very minimal cleanup. I’m talking done-in-25-minutes easy. Because the fish is wrapped in foil, the fish is steamed, retaining the moisture, and rendering juicy and tender meat.
Looking for similar buttery and delicious recipes? Try my baked Triscuit-crusted cod, easy lemon butter scallops, and my delicious salmon bowls.
Table of Contents
Ingredients Notes and Substitutions
- Steelhead trout filet: look for a full longer portion of trout that hasn’t been cut into individual pieces. You can remove the skin but it’s optional. Once the fish is done cooking, the skin will easily separate from the meat. Salmon or sockeye salmon makes a great substitute.
- Butter: butter helps form the paste that coats the whole fish. It adds buttery flavor and texture to every bite. Use salted or unsalted. If using unsalted, you may need an extra pinch of salt on the fish.
- Lemon: I like to reserve lemon for just before serving as well. It’s hard to beat a fresh squeeze of lemon on finished fish. For even more flavor, incorporate lemon zest.
- Garlic: fresh garlic is a must. Do not substitute with anything pre-minced or garlic powder for best results. A microplane is my favorite way to finely mince fresh garlic into a paste.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities below.
Expert Tips
- There are a few methods when it comes to covering the fish in garlic butter. If you soften the butter into a soft paste, you can evenly spread it on top of the filet. It’s a great way to ensure the fish is entirely covered.
- This foil method will work for just about any fish and any topping. I’ve done it with cod, haddock, salmon, and of course, steelhead trout. If your fish is on the larger side, you can crimp together two pieces of foil so you have a larger surface area.
More Seafood Recipes
Enjoy this recipe? If you made this recipe, please leave a ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ star rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments!
Garlic Butter Steelhead Trout
Ingredients
- 1 pound steelhead trout filet, skin removed optional
- 1/3 cup butter, softend/room temp
- 2 cloves garlic, minced/grated
- small handful fresh parsley, minced
- small handful fresh dill, minced
- Lemon slices, to top
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Add softened butter to a small bowl. Stir in garlic, parsley, and dill. Mix until fully incorporated.
- Roll out a sheet of aluminum foil that is roughly 8 inches longer than the filet. If your filet is larger/wider, you can crimp together two pieces of foil so you have more foil to work with. They also make wider rolls of foil.
- Place the trout filet in the center of the foil. Fold up all 4 sides of the foil. Season trout with salt.
- Spread herb butter over the trout until evenly coated or top with 3 large dollops. Top with sliced lemon wheels.
- Fold the long sides of the foil over the trout, covering completely, and seal it tightly. Fold the ends over and seal into a closed packet. Place on a baking sheet and bake until fully cooked, about 15-18 minutes.
- Carefully open the foil packet when ready to serve. Steam will build up and may be hot when opening!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This was my first time coming steelhead trout, and it turned out delicious! I used a 2-lb fillet of trout, skin-on, and used 2x the recipe. I didn’t have fresh lemon, garlic, or parsley, so I used lemon juice, jarred minced garlic, and dried parsley and seasoned liberally with salt and pepper. The fruit was tender and flaky after about 20 minutes, and was perfect with the garlic butter on top. My family loved it, and they are not garlic lovers! As a bonus, this was the first time I’ve been able to cook fish without the house smelling fishy, which was fantastic!
This was our first time eating steelhead trout. This recipe made us a fan. I added some dill with the butter and garlic. This will def be my go to recipe. Thank you for sharing.
Fantastic recipe! I did not have parsley so I used some dried sage, and it worked really well. I also did not have any foil, so I ended up using some parchment paper – still worked! Overall, really moist and delicious steelhead.
So delicious!! I had a large 2 serving piece of trout and cooked it for 25 mins and its absolutely perfect.
I grew up in Idaho catching Brook and Rainbow trout. Friends and family went steelhead fishing further into the mountains. The State of Idaho is a large producer of farm raised trout in natural waters flowing from the aquifer to the Snake River.
This recipe allows me to taste those memories again. Thank you for it.
can you put it on a smoker/grill
This was absolutely a great recipe!!
This was excellent. It took minutes to make. I thinly sliced vidalia onions and topped the trout with them and the lemon garlic parsley butter sauce. I broiled it at the end for a few minutes. Will defintely make this again.
I will never bake steel head again – the method in this recipe makes a piece of fish that is really excellent. I’m going to try it with salmon…and other kinds of fish.
I have 2 fillets. Can I put them in the same packet or do they need to be seperate?
I may split them up for even cooking and best results.