This Lemon Sole recipe has a buttery green olive sauce with bright lemon juice and it is a perfect weeknight dinner option! Cooked in a similar style to sole meunière, this recipe is perfect for a delicate fish dish.
Because this recipe is so simple, it is perfect for anytime of year. Make it in the summer for a light and bright dinner, or save it for the winter for a more decadent meal (plus, when lemons are in season!).
The sauce for this recipe, while not exactly traditional, was inspired by my viral Dirty Martini Pasta. It uses green castelvetrano olives in place of the traditional capers in the buttery lemon sauce.
Table of Contents:
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🥘 What you need for this recipe
Ingredients
This recipe uses very simple ingredients that you probably already have most of.
- Sole fish fillets - I used Lemon Sole in this recipe, which is a slightly cheaper option with a similar outcome to the popular Dover sole fillets. You could also make this with similarly thin fillets of white fish such as, tilapia, flounder, or red snapper.
- All-purpose flour
- Oil or Clarified Butter
- Castelvetrano Olives
- Olive brine
- Fresh lemon juice
- Butter
- Chives or Parsley
See recipe card for quantities.
📋 How to make Lemon Sole Meunière
Step 1: Prep the Fish
Heat a large skillet (stainless steel preferred) over medium-high heat, until it passes the water droplet test (see notes).
While waiting for the pan to heat, pat the fish filet dry with a paper towel. Add flour to a plate or sheet pan. Season the filet with kosher salt and cracked black pepper, then dredge the filet in the flour on both sides. Lift the fish and gently shake off any excess flour.
Once the pan in pre-heated, add the oil or clarified butter over medium heat. Place the flour-dredged filet into the hot oil and cook until lightly browned, about 2-3 minutes, then carefully flip the fish and repeat for 2-3 more minutes. Remove fish from the pan and set aside.
Step 2: Make the Sauce
Once the fish is removed, add the olive brine to the still-hot pan. Use the brine to deglaze the pan, using a wooden spoon or spatula to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Over medium-low heat, add the lemon juice and stir to combine, then simmer for 1-2 minutes. Add the chopped castelvetrano olives and stir.
Turn the heat off, then add the butter to the sauce and stir immediately to emulsify into the sauce. Continue stirring until the piece of butter is no longer visible.
Step 3: Finishing Touches
Place the cooked sole filet on a serving plate. Use a large spoon to spoon the olive butter sauce onto and around the filet. Garnish with fresh chopped chives or parsley. Place the lemon zest strips on the top for extra garnish.
Equipment
- Large stainless steel pan
- Sharp knife
- Cutting board
- Citrus juicer
- Wooden spoon or spatula
Storage
Because of the pan-fried method of this recipe, it will not likely store very well. The end result will likely be soggy. However, if you must store this, be sure to keep the sauce separate from the fish. Store in airtight containers for 3-4 days.
💭 Expert Tips & Tricks
- Using the water droplet test (also known as the mercury ball test) can make cooking with stainless steel so much easier. Simply warm the pan up gradually over medium heat. Then, drop a small amount of room temp water into the pan. If the water sizzles or evaporates, it is not ready. Continue heating and try again. If the water forms a clear sphere and rolls around the pan without sizzling, then the pan is ready to use. Discard the water and cook as usual.
- Be sure to not flour the filets too far in advance. If the fish sits in the flour for too long, the flour may moisten and become gummy, ruining the outcome. Only flour the fish JUST before cooking it.
- A traditional meunière uses clarified butter for the cooking oil, then makes a sauce using capers, browned butter, and parsley. This version is a bit different than that. However, you may feel free to use any of those ingredients in this recipe.
Recipe FAQs
Lemon sole is a fantastic option for a delicate flat fish. Despite it's name, it does not taste of lemon, though it goes well with it. Lemon sole is the more affordable version of Dover Sole, making it a perfect fish for serving at home.
Compared to other flat fish like flounder and tilapia, Lemon Sole does not have a very strong "fishy" taste, especially when fresh. It is very lean and delicate, making it a great fish for all guests.
Lemon sole is a lean, flat, white fish with a delicate flesh. Other fish that are similar to Lemon sole are Dover sole, tilapia, flounder, red snapper, or fluke. These would all be good options if you cannot find or source Lemon Sole.
Related Recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with Lemon Sole Meunière:
Love a recipe you've tried? Please leave a 5-star🌟 rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. Don't forget to tag me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook when you try one of my recipes!
📖 Recipe
Pan Fried Lemon Sole Meunière with Green Olive Sauce
Equipment
- Large stainless steel pan
- Sharp Knife
- Cutting Board
- Wooden Spoon or Spatula
Ingredients
- 1 filet Lemon sole
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon Diamond crystal kosher salt
- Black pepper
- 2 tablespoon Neutral oil grapeseed or clarified butter
- 5 Castelvetrano olives pitted and roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoon Lemon juice
- 2 tablespoon Olive brine
- 1 tablespoon Unsalted butter
- Lemon zest strips for garnish
- Chives or Parsley chopped, for garnish
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet (stainless steel preferred) over medium-high heat, until it passes the water droplet test (see notes).
- While waiting for the pan to heat, pat the fish filet dry with a paper towel. Add flour to a plate or sheet pan. Season the filet with kosher salt and cracked black pepper, then dredge the filet in the flour on both sides. Lift the fish and gently shake off any excess flour.
- Once the pan in pre-heated, add the oil or clarified butter over medium heat. Place the flour-dredged filet into the hot oil and cook until lightly browned, about 2-3 minutes, then carefully flip the fish and repeat for 2-3 more minutes. Remove fish from the pan and set aside.
- Once the fish is removed, add the olive brine to the still-hot pan. Use the brine to deglaze the pan, using a wooden spoon or spatula to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Over medium-low heat, add the lemon juice and stir to combine, then simmer for 1-2 minutes. Add the chopped castelvetrano olives and stir.
- Turn the heat off, then add the butter to the sauce and stir immediately to emulsify into the sauce. Continue stirring until the piece of butter is no longer visible.
- Place the cooked sole filet on a serving plate. Use a large spoon to spoon the olive butter sauce onto and around the filet. Garnish with fresh chopped chives or parsley. Place the lemon zest strips on the top for extra garnish.
Notes
- Using the water droplet test (also known as the mercury ball test) can make cooking with stainless steel so much easier. Simply warm the pan up gradually over medium heat. Then, drop a small amount of room temp water into the pan. If the water sizzles or evaporates, it is not ready. Continue heating and try again. If the water forms a clear sphere and rolls around the pan without sizzling, then the pan is ready to use. Discard the water and cook as usual.
- Be sure to not flour the filets too far in advance. If the fish sits in the flour for too long, the flour may moisten and become gummy, ruining the outcome. Only flour the fish JUST before cooking it.
- A traditional meunière uses clarified butter for the cooking oil, then makes a sauce using capers, browned butter, and parsley. This version is a bit different than that. However, you may feel free to use any of those ingredients in this recipe.
Tara S says
Emily, Thank you for this creative recipe. Adding green olives was a stroke of genius. It was a big hit with my not-easily-impressed husband. Normally I would hesitate to comment since I didn't follow the recipe exactly as written, but since nobody else has written yet, I figured it was worth weighing in. I omitted the flour-dredging, melted the butter, added the other sauce ingredients, poured the sauce onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, placed the fillets over the sauce plus spooned sauce over top of the fillets, baked at 425 until the sauce was bubbling/carmelizing just a bit. No flipping required. I just added your recipe to my regular rotation. Thanks again!
Emily says
Thank you so much for such a kind comment! I also usually freestyle recipes a bit, so I totally get that. Your method sounds great, I'll have to try it next time!