Hot dips are one of my favorite comfort foods but this recipe sits at the top of my list! Creamy, cheesy, fishy, smoky, and a bit citrusy, this baked smoked trout dip is an easy way to impress friends or eat it by yourself and gain a few pounds. Your choice!
It was freezing outside and I knew I wouldn’t spend a lot of time on the grill this weekend. The wind hit 50mph, and I did not want to constantly come in and out of the house, but I had a craving for a fun grilled dish. Ginny had some leftover gruyere cheese, and I had some smoked whole trout that I had frozen. You know what’s coming, right? A deliciously rich and satisfying smoked trout dip.
This recipe passed the huge test! You know if you have read the blog for long, if our teenage son stands at the end of the island and doesn’t move so he can continue eating, it is a huge hit! This is passed that test! He said it was one of the best things we’ve ever made.
🛒 Ingredients
- Smoked trout (I had a blast smoking this when Ginny was out of town but you can definitely use store-bought)
- Onion
- Olive oil
- Sour cream
- Mayonaise
- Parmesan
- Gruyere
- Lemon juice
- Chives
- Salt
- Pepper
You can smoke your trout on the same day or well ahead of time. Freeze the smoked fish whole, double-wrapped in clingfilm, and it will keep well.
🔥 Instructions
This was super easy to put together.
👉Step 1: Sauté the onions in olive oil until they are a very rich, dark brown. You don’t want them to be burnt, but they should definitely be on the darker side of brown. I wanted that extra caramelized flavoring in the dip. Towards the end, toss in the minced garlic cloves and let it cook for one more minute.
👉Step 2: In a bowl, add the mayonnaise, sour cream, parmesan cheese, gruyere cheese, juice of 1/2 of a lemon and 8 oz of shredded smoked trout. Add the sautéed onions and garlic and mix well.
👉Step 3: Put it in an oven safe dish and bake in a preheated oven at 400°F for 20 minutes. I initially tried 15 minutes, but when I took it out, the top of the dip had not yet turned a golden brown. So I put it back in the oven, uncovered, for another 5 minutes. Once you take it out, sprinkle with chopped chives or green onions.
Sure enough, after the 5 minutes, it was bubbling and started to turn a golden brown. Definitely, spend the extra few minutes to get that nice coloring on the top. I could hardly wait for it to cool down before I dug in.
🍴 Substitutions
✔️Gruyere substitute – On a side note, we had trouble finding gruyere cheese. I kid you not when I tell you that there was a national cheese shortage. It sounds like the makings of a bad novel, right? I think everyone was buying it for the holidays and I didn’t go looking for it until it was too late.
The grocery store clerk recommended we try Raclette and even pulled up a YouTube video showing this cheese. The clerk pointed out that gruyere had won the 2018 award for the best cheese in Switzerland. (Dead serious!) How cute! You don’t find people helping out like this in stores anymore!
Fortunately, our other neighborhood store had a little bit of Gruyere left and we snagged it. Oh, I did buy the Raclette to combine with Gruyere in a potato dish! I’ll keep you posted.
✔️Smoked trout substitute – If you don’t have the smoked trout, you can try smoked salmon or a couple of cans of tuna or crab meat. Don’t let the lack of smoked trout deter you here! This dip is worth making!
📌 Serving Instructions
Definitely serve this baked smoked trout dip warm. It refrigerated extremely well for 3 days, but heat it up before you serve it. The cheeses melt so well and the taste of the smoky fish works just perfect.
I used plain old corn tortilla chips or sliced baguettes for the dip. I did try some toasted garlic bread chips, but they were way too salty. The tortilla chips hit the spot!
📌Note: If you’re trying to eat a bit healthier, you can substitute carrots, celery, and radishes for the chips. This isn’t a low-calorie dish, but you can’t go wrong by replacing the chips with something a bit healthier, right? You could also use one of those long thin baguettes sliced up and spread the dip on that.
This could be a meal by itself! It is so darned delish!
Baked Smoked Trout Dip
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb Smoked Trout
- 3/4 cup Onion finely chopped
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1/2 cup Sour Cream
- 1/2 cup Mayonaise
- 1/2 cup Parmesan shredded
- 1/2 cup Gruyere shredded
- 1/2 Lemon juice
- 2 tbsp Chives chopped
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium heat, heat olive oil and sauté onions until they become a darker golden brown. It should take about 5-7 minutes. Add garlic and sauté one more minute. Turn off heat and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the onion and garlic mixture with the smoked trout. Add all remaining ingredients including the sautéed garlic and onions. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Mix and transfer to a small oven safe baking dish. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until heated through and top starts to brown.
Notes
Nutrition
Jason’s been firing up the grill for over 30 years after graduating from the US Coast Guard Academy. His love of finely-grilled steak and chicken led him to buy his first Weber grill to put on his apartment patio in 1992. Each military move led to a new grill (a mixture of gas and charcoal) until he fell in love with the Big Green Egg in 2008. Since then, he has added another 4 grills to the collection. Yes, he has a problem. Jason loves smoking in the ceramic BGE with exotic woods including olive wood from Egypt and hard to find varieties such as sassafras and orange wood. Jason takes the term “foodie” to a whole new level, jumping at the chance to take food tours and cooking classes during foreign travels. These have provided inspiration to incorporate new ideas into recipes when he gets back home. He has been featured in Fox News, Parade, Yahoo News, Kansas City Living and more. After retiring from the military and moving to southwest Florida, he has focused grilling and smoking locally sourced meats and fish (read: he likes to catch his own fish!)
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