What to Eat with Trout – Potatoes, Greens and Sauces

How it works

What to eat with trout? Start with what goes on the fish: brown butter with parsley and lemon, or toasted almonds. These 38 sides add potatoes, rice, green vegetables, salads, partners for smoked trout and drinks.

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Butter, lemon and almonds

Trout is a close relative of salmon and is usually cooked the same way, often smoked. Meunière is a French way with fish, most often sole or trout: brown butter, chopped parsley and lemon. Trout amandine adds almonds, and both are standard dishes of New Orleans Creole cooking. Green beans and asparagus are often served with almonds too, so the vegetable can match the fish.

Keep the plate light

Trout is mild, so plain partners serve it well: a soft potato or rice, one green vegetable, and something sharp such as lemon, capers or a tart salad. Smoked trout is saltier and wants bread, eggs or horseradish.

Trout is a little bonier than salmon, so choose sides that sit beside the fish, not on top of it.
Brown the butter while the fish rests and pour it over at the table, with the almonds last so they stay crisp.

Questions and answers

What sides go with trout?

Boiled new potatoes, green beans with almonds and butter lettuce with lemon dressing make a full plate. Wild rice or brown rice with herbs can stand in for the potatoes.

What vegetables go with trout?

Green beans with almonds, asparagus with butter and peas with mint. Warm cucumbers with dill, fava beans with butter, glazed baby turnips and skillet corn are less usual choices.

What sauce goes with trout?

Brown butter with parsley and lemon, which is the meunière sauce. Hollandaise, sorrel sauce and crème fraîche with chives are creamy choices, and capers or lemon wedges add sharpness.

What to eat with smoked trout?

Buttered brown bread or oatcakes, horseradish cream and pickled beets. For breakfast, serve it with scrambled eggs, on a toasted bagel with cream cheese, or on small buckwheat pancakes.

What do you drink with trout?

Without alcohol: lemon barley water, rhubarb syrup with sparkling water, or sparkling water with lemon. Something tart and not too sweet suits a mild fish.

All 38 sides

Butter, almonds and sauces 9

Brown butter with parsley and lemon Pour it over the fish at the table while it still foams.
Capers Warm a spoonful in the butter for a salty, sour bite.
Crème fraîche with chives Cold and tangy beside hot fish.
Crisp bacon Cook it first and fry the trout in the same pan.
Hollandaise Rich and lemony, for trout that was poached or steamed.
Lemon slices and herb sprigs Tuck them inside a whole fish before it cooks.
Lemon wedges One for each plate, to squeeze over the skin.
Sorrel sauce Green and sharp, spooned under the fillet.
Toasted sliced almonds Scatter them over last so they stay crisp.

Potatoes and rice 6

Boiled new potatoes Tossed in butter and chopped parsley.
Brown rice with herbs Plain and nutty, with parsley and chives stirred in.
Rice with mushrooms Earthy and soft. It suits a fish from a stream.
Roasted fingerling potatoes Halved and crisp, with salt and lemon.
Skillet potatoes with onions Sliced and fried until the edges brown, the camp breakfast.
Wild rice Dark, nutty and chewy under a soft fillet.

Green vegetables 7

Asparagus with butter Cooked until just tender and laid beside the fillet.
Fava beans with butter Slipped from their skins and warmed through.
Glazed baby turnips Sweet with a peppery edge, cooked whole.
Green beans with almonds The same butter and almonds as the fish.
Peas with mint Sweet and bright, with a little butter.
Skillet corn Kernels browned in butter, for trout cooked outdoors.
Warm cucumbers with dill Seeded, cut thick and turned in butter until just soft.

Salads 6

Butter lettuce with lemon dressing Soft leaves and a sharp dressing, nothing more.
Endive and walnut salad Bitter leaves and toasted nuts, a match for almonds on the fish.
Fennel and apple slaw Shaved raw and dressed with lemon.
Frisée with a poached egg The yolk becomes the dressing.
Orange and red onion salad Sliced thin, with olive oil and black pepper.
Pea shoots with lemon A light tangle beside the fillet.

For smoked trout 7

Buttered brown bread Thin slices, with the fish flaked on top.
Horseradish cream A cold spoonful beside smoked trout.
Oatcakes Crisp and plain under smoked trout and a dab of cream.
Pickled beets Sweet, sour and red against the pale fish.
Scrambled eggs Soft and barely set, with smoked trout folded in at the end.
Small buckwheat pancakes One bite each, with a dot of cream and a flake of fish.
Toasted bagel with cream cheese Smoked trout stands in for smoked salmon.

Drinks 3

Lemon barley water Cloudy, tart and cold.
Rhubarb syrup with sparkling water Pink and sharp, poured over ice.
Sparkling water with lemon Clean and cold. It leaves the fish alone.