Recipes for Rainbow Trout - The Grill, Oven, Stovetop and Smoker

Personally, nothing is better than returning home with the day's fresh catch of Rainbow Trout. Well, I suppose there is one thing better than the fresh catch, Eating it! With many people unsure of how to cook rainbow trout and others tirelessly searching for good recipes, I want to offer my assistance. I'll clear everything up by sharing my personal favorite rainbow trout recipes for the grill, oven, stovetop and smoker. Whether you're working with the whole trout or just the fillets, I've got a recipe for you. These simple recipes for rainbow trout are tried and true in my kitchen and I hope they will be in yours too!

I'll go ahead and get my favorite method of cooking rainbow trout in here first. Why is grilling my favorite way to cook trout? I'll tell you why! You just can't beat cooking over an open flame. This style of cooking rainbow trout is easy to master and imparts a natural smokey flavor to the meat! A real winner in my books. Below are my favorite two recipes for rainbow trout on the grill. They're uniquely fresh and will marinate six twelve inch fillets.

Grilled Mint Pesto Rainbow Trout:

• 1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/4 Cup White Wine Vinegar
• 1 Cup Fresh Mint
• 2 Cloves Garlic
• Salt & Pepper

Preparing & Grilling Directions:

1. Start off by preparing your marinade 1 hour before you plan to cook. For each of the marinades above, process all ingredients in a food processor, blender or by pestle until smooth. Using gallon size freezer bags pour marinade over trout, seal and refrigerate for 45-50 minutes.

2. When ready, spray grill racks with cooking spray and turn grill on to low heat. Once the grill is warmed up, place trout fillets skin side down on racks. Be sure to shake off any excess marinade before placing on the racks.

3. Cover and let cook for about 7-15 minutes depending on your grill. Your target doneness is 140 degrees F. The fillets should be juicy and packed full of flavor.

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I'll be honest with you here, although I cook a lot of trout, not too many of them get the oven treatment. I guess I'm just not too much of a fish in the oven kind of guy. But when I do cook a trout in the oven, I sure do it right. For my recipe, I like to keep the fish whole minus the heads. Keeping the fish whole holds all the juices that you are striving to keep in the meat. Here's my top recipe for oven baked trout:

Herb Stuffed Rainbow Trout:

• Three Whole Trout (descaled)
• 1/2 Cup Fresh Parsley
• 1/2 Cup Fresh Thyme
• 1/2 Cup Fresh Mint
• Zest of One Lemon
• Salt & Pepper
• Touch of Olive Oil

Preparation and Baking Directions:

1. Start off by preheating your oven to 350F.
2. For the fish, start by drizzling each fish cavity with just a little olive oil. Follow with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Divide equal amounts of herbs and stuff inside the fish cavity.
3. Once the fish are properly stuffed, wrap tightly in aluminum foil and bake for 15-30 minutes depending on the size of your fish. Normally a twelve inch fish will take around 20-23 minutes.
4. When cooked properly, the bones should pull out easily and the meat will easily flake from the skin. The taste should have the fresh herbs and lemon zing that you can really appreciate.

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Who doesn't love fried fish? I know I can't resist the persistent calling of fish and chips. I'm not much of a fan of heavy batters though, so you can guarantee that my batter is light and flaky. The key to my batter is the baking powder and beer. For this recipe, you want to use de-boned and de-skinned fillets. My recipe will work for six fillets, enjoy.

Pan Fried Ranbow Trout:

• 1 Cup All Purpose Flour
• 1 Tbsp Baking Powder
• Light Beer of choice
• Salt and Pepper
• Vegetable or Peanut Oil

Preparation and Frying:

1. In a large skillet add enough oil to coat the bottom. Turn burner to medium high heat and let warm up.
2. While the oil is heating up, mix flour, baking powder and a generous amount of salt and pepper. Begin adding beer until the mixture just barely becomes runny. You're looking for a batter that coats the fish evenly, but also is not too thick or too thin. You'll have to experiment for yourself here!
3. Coat the fillets of rainbow trout evenly shaking off any excess batter and fry in pan. The fillets should take 5-8 minutes per side depending on the thickness.
4. The fillets should be crispy and golden brown on both sides. Serve with a fresh dill tartar.

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If you've tried every other means of cooking rainbow trout and you're still looking for more, smoking your trout is the way to go! Smoked rainbow trout definitely takes more time to cook, but the added flavor is worth the wait. I love to eat flaked smoked rainbow trout meat in fish cakes, salads or just by itself. It's delicious! I like to use a unique Asian style marinade that pairs perfect with the smoke flavor. Once again, its good for six fillets. Here's my recipe:

Asian Twist Smoked Rainbow Trout:

• 1/4 Cup Olive Oil
• 1/4 Cup Soy Sauce
• 2 Cloves Garlic
• 1 tsp Ground Ginger
• Pinch of Cilantro
• Squeeze of Lime

Preparation and Smoking Directions:

1. A day in advance, get your wood chips soaking in water and your fish marinating. Any fruit or Alder wood is perfect for fish.

2. To prepare your marinade, blend all ingredients until smooth. Add to the fish and seal in freezer bag. Refrigerate overnight.

3. The day of, start off by preparing your smoker for a hot smoke. There are a lot of different smokers on the market, so just follow the directions or your normal technique. You'll want to shoot for a temperature of 150-175F to start.

4. Once the smoker is prepared, lay the rainbow trout skin side down on the racks of the smoker and let smoked untouched for 60- 90 minutes.

5. At the 60- 90 minute mark, rotate racks in the smoker if needed. You'll also want to raise the temperature in the smoker to 200-240F to finish the smoking process. Cover and wait 1-3 hours longer or until the internal temperature of the trout has reached 140F. All in all, the process should at maximum take four hours to complete.

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The journey through my best recipes for rainbow trout is finally over. I hope that you've found a recipe that excites you to get cooking! If you'd like more reading, check out my article on the best baits for catching rainbow trout: