Minnesota Back Country Rainbow Trout Recipe
The rainbow trout is a beautiful fish commonly found in clean mountain streams in the West and in a few of Minnesota’s Northeastern and Southeastern Rivers. Introduced in the early 1800’s these fish have become a favorite of many anglers and fly fisherman. Today, I’ll show you how to cook a rainbow trout. This article is part of the Foraging Minnesota series. For more wild game and foods, check out our foraging page.
Finding Minnesota Rainbow Trout
Growing up in Minnesota, I learned to fish about the time I learned to walk. But it wasn’t until my thirties when I discovered the joy of the remote trout stream. I took advantage of my love of trout fishing with my first airline job based out of Denver, Colorado. With regular layovers in high mountain cities like Gunnison, Montrose, Steamboat, Casper, Missoula, Kalispell, and many others in between, I fine-tuned my fly fishing skills. Today, I try to get out to my local Minnesota rivers for a day or so at a time with my boys to bring back some fresh tasty trout. Basically, the whole eastern edge of Minnesota is full of trout streams if you look closely enough. For details, on where to find these fabulous fish visit the Minnesota DNR Trout Streams Page.
Backcountry Rainbow Trout Recipe
Any backcountry recipe must start with a good fire. Once you have a nice coal bed you are ready to start cooking your fish. A few years ago, I demonstrated this recipe on a grill in Montana and made this video. You can easily adopt this to a fire through. Below, I have a couple other videos from out West that are worth a lot. Nick Lawton, a fishing guide in Big Sky gives his twist on this recipe, and I share a layover on the Taylor River in Gunnison Colorado.
Gut the Rainbow Trout
To start, gut and remove the head of the fish. This is very easy with a rainbow. You can see the slit in the belly in the picture below. If you haven’t done this before, just cut through the skin with a sharp fillet knife from the anus along the middle of the belly to the pectoral fin, pulling out the guts in the body cavity. Remove the head.
Cooking the Trout
Once the fish is gutted, place it in tinfoil*, add some butter, salt, pepper, and lemon pepper to the inside and outside of the fish. Cook over the hot coals for 10 to 15 minutes spacing it far enough away not to burn.
*When it comes to the backcountry, I have noticed not many people out west carry cast iron. I believe it is because it is very heavy and they are on foot. However, in Minnesota, canoeing is very popular and weight is not an issue at all. In this case, a cast iron pan would be a lovely way to fry up the fish.
As always, the fish tasted great. Rainbow trout is a clean hard white fish. This simple recipe makes for a deliciously fast and easy meal. My two year old was sucking the meat off of the bones she liked it so much.
Save RecipeIngredients
- rainbow trout
- lemon pepper
- salt
- pepper
- butter
- tinfoil
Instructions
- Catch and gut your trout cutting off the head
- Sprinkle butter, salt and pepper, and lemon pepper onto fish
- Wrap in tinfoil
- Cook over coals 10-15 minutes until fish is cooked
Adopt This Recipe To Your Kitchen
If you happen to find some rainbow trout and bring it home after a day trip to a local river consider changing this recipe a little. I would have added slices of lemon on top and bottom of the trout and some fresh herbs in place of the lemon pepper.
Nick Lawton’s Twist on This Rainbow Trout Recipe
My Favorite Rainbow Trout River
Other Wild Minnesota Foods
- Foraging Minnesota
- Classic Minnesota Fish Fry
- Pheasant Poppers
- Grilled Rabbit Bites
- Ruffed Grouse Tenders
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