Baked rainbow trout fillets with garlic and lemon roasted asparagus is a sheet pan dinner that takes little effort but delivers a great flavor. With only 15 minutes in the oven, this dinner is fast, easy, and healthy.
PLEASE NOTE: The post below was made and tested for fresh-caught rainbow trout, however, the post was updated 3/26/2021 and new photos were added featuring farm-raised tilapia. Both fish work great with this recipe and I hope you enjoy.
Simple trout fillet recipes
With my husband fishing multiple times per week with our daughter or his friends I find myself cooking more and more rainbow trout these days. Especially since their kayaks entered the picture and they were able to find where the fish have been hiding in the center of the lake haha.
Trying to creatively come up with new ways to cook these things every time they enter the house is a challenge but one I am up to taking. Filleting fish is not a strong suit of ours, but with every new recipe, we get a little better at getting a good cut of meat. You can do this recipe with fillets or whole fish depending on what you’d prefer.
Simple recipes are my favorite because this rainbow trout whether its game raised or stocked has a mild flavor and it can taste great with just about anything. Not to mention, after taking all of the work to fillet a fish, you want dinner to be simple because the clean-up can be exhausting!
Baked rainbow trout ingredients
- Rainbow Trout, Fillets or Whole
- Asparagus
- Olive Oil
- Minced Garlic
- Salt
- Pepper
- Whole Lemon
What you’ll need to make this recipe
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Tips for cooking trout fillets
With larger rainbow trout, you’ll want to try and remove the skin or at the very least, descale it. With the smaller ones, the scales are so small that removing them is completely optional.
I personally like mine without the scales attached just because they’re resting on the asparagus and some scales can transfer during the cooking process to the veggies. That said, cooking them this way is a great way to flavor these green things and to elevate the fish while it bakes.
Baked Trout FAQs
You can if you want to however that is totally optional. Smaller fish have smaller scales and they get softer as they cook but larger fish have bigger scales with can still be a nuisance when eaten after baking.
I enjoy eating my asparagus and trout with something more savory like a white sauce pasta. A pile of parmesan alfredo noodles really helps to make this dish feel complete and light.
How to make baked rainbow trout
Preheat your oven to 400F degrees and line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.
Place your cut and cleaned asparagus on the baking sheet in a neat row in the center of the pan.
Drizzle olive oil over the top of the asparagus making sure to get most of it coated. Don’t drench them.
Sprinkle half of the salt and pepper over the asparagus to taste. Squeeze a little lemon juice from some slices and then lay remaining slices around the pan and on the asparagus.
Lay your rainbow trout fillets over the top of the asparagus.
Spread some minced garlic over the top of the trout fillets and follow with a little more salt and pepper over the fish.
Bake for 15 minutes in a preheated oven or until the meat flakes easily with a fork and the internal temperature reaches 145F degrees with an instant read thermometer
Check out these other great recipes!
- Not So Smoked Rainbow Trout Dip
- Smores Pie
- Wild Rice Pilaf
- Baked Beer Butt Chicken
- Easy Cornbread with Cake Mix
- Cheeseburger Pasta Skillet
Baked Garlic Rainbow Trout with Lemon Roasted Asparagus
Ingredients
- 2 lb Rainbow Trout, Fillets or Whole Descaled
- 1 lb Asparagus
- 3 tbsp Olive Oil
- 2 tbsp Minced Garlic
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Pepper
- 3 whole Lemons, Sliced Thin
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400F degrees and line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.
- Place your cut and cleaned asparagus on the baking sheet in a neat row in the center of the pan.
- Drizzle olive oil over the top of the asparagus making sure to get most of it coated. Don't drench them.
- Sprinkle half of the salt and pepper over the asparagus to taste. Squeeze a little lemon juice from some slices and then lay remaining slices around the pan and on the asparagus.
- Lay your rainbow trout fillets over the top of the asparagus.
- Spread some minced garlic over the top of the trout fillets and follow with a little more salt and pepper over the fish.
- Bake for 15 minutes in a preheated oven or until the meat flakes easily with a fork the and internal temperature reaches 145F degrees with an instant read thermometer.