With this steelhead trout recipe, we season and grill the trout until it is nice and flaky, then top it with a slightly spicy compound butter.
Total SHOUT OUT to my friend and neighbor, Matt. You know who you are.
Patty and I were invited to his house for dinner the other night. It's always fun to hang out with Matt and Jackie, sipping a few cocktails and enjoying each other's company.
Except when Matt pulls out the cedar planks and grills up perfectly seasoned grilled steelhead trout. It's a great weeknight dinner.
Boom!
Talk about a phenomenal meal. I've made steelhead trout in the past but Matt's meal has inspired me to work up something of my own, and we love how it turned out.
Matt grillled his on cedar planks. I, of course, had to run out and buy a good dozen planks for myself, though I didn't use them in this recipe.
I'm reserving them for a special occasion, or another blog post, whichever comes first. I did, however, grill these up for a crunchy skin. No need to go crazy on the seasoning. Steelhead trout has a strong flavor, very much like salmon.
Steelhead Trout Vs. Salmon
If you like salmon, you will probably enjoy steelhead trout. They're not the same fish, but they belong to the same family - Salmonidae - and both have the typical pinkish meat. It is quite similar to salmon.
Let's talk about how we make the recipe, shall we?
Ingredients Needed
- For the Compound Butter
- 1 stick butter
- 1 teaspoon chopped rosemary
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- Lime zest from 1 lime
- 1 teaspoon dried chili pepper flakes
- For the Steelhead Trout
- 2 6-8 ounce steelhead trout fillets
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
How to Make this Grilled Stealhead Trout Recipe - the Steps
First, make the compound butter. For the compound butter, soften the butter so it is malleable but not melted. Add it to a mixing bowl.
Add rosemary, lime juice, lime zest and chili flakes. Mash to combine. Set butter onto a large piece of plastic wrap and form it into a log. Roll into the plastic and refrigerate to harden.
For the Steelhead Trout. Heat a grill to medium-high heat.
Rub the fish fillets with olive oil, garlic powder and salt and pepper.
Grill skin sides down about ten minutes, so the skins get nice and charred. You may need a bit more time, depending on the thickness of your fillets.
Flip and grill another few minutes to ensure the trout is cooked through. You can check with a fork in a thicker section of the fish.
Remove from heat and set onto serving plates.
Top with slices of your compound butter and serve with extra lime slices and chopped parsley. The butter will melt over the hot grilled trout, making it moist and flavorful.
Boom! That's it, my friends!
Top it off with your own homemade Chili-Rosemary-Lime Butter and you're gold. You need to prepare the compound butter ahead, which is easy to do. Just some softening, mixing, rolling and cooling.
The butter melts down over the hot grilled fish, distributing all those chili flakes and rosemary herbs and lime juice. Tasty was the goal, and tasty was achieved. And then some. Keep it light by only using a bit of the butter. Or go crazy, like I did.
Recipe Tips & Notes
- Chili Pepper Flakes. You can use your typical chili or red pepper flakes you find in stores, or grind up some hotter dried pepper pods to make your own homemade chili flakes. I like to dehydrate my own garden grown peppers to make special chili flakes blends.
- Seasonings. I kept my steelhead trout recipe simple with the seasonings, using only garlic powder, chili flakes and a bit of salt and pepper. However, feel free to bring your favorite seasoning blends like Old Bay Seasoning or Creole Seasonings.
- Baked Steelhead Trout. Instead of grilling the fish, you can bake your steelhead trout fillets in the oven at 375 degrees F for 15-20 minutes to cook the fish, or until it is cooked through.
- Quick Version. If you'd prefer to skip the compound butter to save some time, just top your cooked fish with melted butter, lemon juice, perhaps a bit of lemon zest and chili flakes, maybe some fresh herbs as well.
Thanks again, Matt, for bringing us back around to steelhead trout. And you too, Jackie! Great fish recipe for us!
Patty's Perspective
It's crazy how something so simple can be so flavorful. Having the compound butter prepared ahead made this super fast to put together. Mike's version tasted MUCH different from Matt's because of the cedar plank, but I loved them both.
Try Some of My Other Popular Recipes
- Szechuan Salmon with Chili-Basil Rice
- Szechuan Salmon Tacos
- Grilled Salmon with Honey-Sriracha Sauce
- Baked Salmon with Cajun Lemon Butter
- Cajun Baked Salmon with Cajun Rice
- Blackened Salmon
If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you'll leave a comment with some STARS. Also, please share it on social media. Don't forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I'll be sure to share! Thanks! -- Mike H.
Grilled Steelhead Trout Recipe with Chili-Rosemary-Lime Butter
Ingredients
For the Compound Butter
- 1 stick butter
- 1 teaspoon chopped rosemary
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- Lime zest from 1 lime
- 1 teaspoon dried chili pepper flakes
- 2 6-8 ounce steelhead trout fillets
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- For the compound butter, soften the butter so it is malleable but not melted. Add it to a mixing bowl.
- Add rosemary, lime juice, lime zest and chili flakes. Mash to combine.
- Set butter onto a large piece of plastic wrap and form it into a log. Roll into the plastic and refrigerate to harden.
- Heat a grill to medium-high heat.
- Rub the fish fillets with olive oil, garlic powder and salt and pepper.
- Grill skin sides down about ten minutes, so the skins get nice and charred. You may need a bit more time, depending on the thickness of your fillets.
- Flip and grill another few minutes to ensure the trout is cooked through. You can check with a fork in a thicker section of the fish.
- Remove from heat and set onto serving plates.
- Top with slices of your compound butter and serve with extra lime slices and chopped parsley. The butter will melt over the hot grilled trout, making it moist and flavorful.
Nutrition Information
Mauro Walden-Montoya says
I grilled 4 fairly large trout and used this recipe tonight. It came out great! My husband loved it, said it's the best grilled trout I've made yet. Next time I'm going to smoke the trout instead of grilling it but using the same ingredients. Thanks for the recipe!
Mike Hultquist says
Wonderful, Mauro! Glad you both enjoyed it!
Lori says
100% agree with all the posts. This is delicious! This will be a staple this summer. Thank you for creating and sharing this fabulous recipe! I can't wait to try your others. You have a lifelong fan fan from this one recipe.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks so much, Lori! Super happy you enjoyed it.
darren saunders says
I made this for a Good Friday meal for my family. This turned out fantastic, i knew the butter was going to be the star based on prior reviews, so i doubled the portion size on the butter and kept half in reserve.
i served mine with asparagus, roasted corn on the cob and chorizo infused rice.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Excellent, Darren! We love this dish. So good. Very happy you all enjoyed it.
David Martin says
It's just Steelhead, you don't need to add the word trout. I mean Steelhead Trout as opposed to Steelhead Halibut? It's just Steelhead. And this compound butter would work great on grilled Oyster's too.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks for your input, David.
David McDonough says
I'm a keen fisher (and eater) of Steelhead (and other fish). Steelhead are simply sea-run (or lake-run) rainbow trout. They live most of their life in the sea or lake and then run up rivers and creeks to breed. Because they spend so much time in the sea or lake they usually get much bigger than your typical rainbow trout which spends its entire life in the river or creek. I'm cool on calling them "Steelhead Trout" because they are trout, just like "Brook Trout", "Brown Trout" and "Cutthroat Trout" etc. "Steelhead Trout" is more descriptive and avoids confusion that people may have with salmon. To be precise the fish should really be called "Steelhead Rainbow Trout".
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, David. I'm learning much about this wonderfully-flavored fish! I do appreciate it.
Providence says
David, you will never see this, but that was unnecessary. Not everybody knows as much as you, and wow- I can tell that is A LOT. Some people may need the confirmation. Better to be thorough when hosting a website to avoid answering simple questions, but... you probably already know that.
This was a wonderful recipe. Period.
Lori says
This looks and sounds amazing. Do you use dry or fresh rosemary?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
I used fresh for this recipe, Lori.
Cindy says
This was delicious! The butter is the bomb and we also put it on our sweetcorn!!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Outstanding! Thanks, Cindy!
Nina M. says
I bought steelhead trout a few weeks ago by accident thinking it was salmon and found this recipe online and it was AMAZINGLY delicious! This was definitely a crowd pleaser! The entire family gave it rave reviews! (The compound butter is SOOO good - even to slather on some sourdough bread and there was plenty leftover in the fridge for making fish again tomorrow!) Served it with Mexican Quinoa the first time and will be making it with baked potatoes tomorrow. The recipe is so versatile that it can accommodate so many different side dishes. LOVE IT!!!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
This is AWESOME to hear, Nina. Glad you found my recipe! I LOVE LOVE LOVE this one. Need to grab myself some more trout!
Lisa R. says
Fantastic!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Glad you enjoyed it, Lisa!
Jim says
Awesome! wife AND kids loved it! I'll be following for more recipes! thx!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Jim! Super happy you enjoyed it!
theresa f says
We're big fish eaters and when my husband brought home a steelhead I immediately went to the computer to try to find a light but tasty idea for grilling this beautiful fish. I found your recipe and boy was it tasty! We only used one fillet in case we didn't like it but we're hooked and the compound butter is already sitting in the fridge for the other half! Thank you!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Excellent, Theresa! Glad you enjoyed it! Yeah, the compound butter really ups this dish. Very delicious. I appreciate the comments!
Yali says
I've made this several times now, and sometimes I change up the herbs to whatever's at hand. Great every time! Thank you for sharing.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Yali! It's one of my favorites as well. Glad you enjoy it.
Damien C. says
I could eat this every single day. Picked up some steelhead trout last week and it's been so sad and lonely in the freezer. This recipe is awesome!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Damien! Glad you enjoyed it. I'm a big fan of steelhead trout. YUM.