Classic lemon sole meuniere recipe: here is a delicious pan fried French dover sole in a quick and easy lemon and butter sauce! French cuisine at its best.
Sole meuniere.
Definitely one of those dishes that sounds fancy and complicated.
But is actually very simple and easy to make!
It is a traditional French recipe.
Just imagine: lightly floured sole, pan fried in butter. Bathing in a lush butter, lemon and parsley sauce.
So delicious and elegant!
And THE emblematic dish that made Julia Child fall in love with French cuisine.
Ever made a sole meuniere recipe?
I make this pan fried sole in butter sauce quite often actually if I can find a beautiful Dover sole.
Dover sole
That white sole meat is so soft, delicate and flavorful, so tacky and moist!
I can’t easily find common dover sole (or lemon sole) here in Spain.
What I can get at the fishmonger’s is a type of sole called ‘lenguado tigre’ or tiger sole.
This fish is very popular and very easy to find because lots of fish mongers sell this sole.
It is much larger than the classic dover sole. The prices are also sweet. I know that in Belgium the average price for a good quality sole is around 30 euros per kilo.
Here it is around 10 euros.
Best Sole Meuniere Recipe with Butter Sauce
Because the soles are quite large here, I mostly buy one big bugger for the hubs and me and then I cut it in half right before pan frying it. But when I am back in Belgium I like the smaller ones.
There is this type of small sole that is called sliptong (sometimes wrongfully written ‘slibtong’) and is a bit cheaper than the dover sole.
Are you not fond of fish on the bone?
Of course you can use fillets here!
Decide for yourself how many fillets you want, coat them in flour and then bake the fillets golden in butter. Same prepping and execution.
Personally I prefer whole fish over fillets.
Fish fillets
It is like with meat: bones give extra flavor to the food while cooking it.
So, my lemon sole recipe!
I chose to prepare it the classic way: sole meuniere. In a simple melted butter sauce. A tad of lemon juice and freshly chopped parsley in it.
Just perfect! Sometimes capers are also added, which is not a standard ingredient in a classic sole meunière recipe.
What to serve this lovely butter sauce fish with?
I suggest that you keep it simple: a crisp green salad and a bowlful of golden homemade fries!
Fries
Do you love fish recipes?
Then you should also check out my fresh skate wings recipe!
Enjoy!
Best Sole Meuniere Recipe with Butter Sauce
A classic sole meuniere recipe: here's a delicious pan fried French dover sole with a quick and easy lemon and butter sauce!
- 2 medium dover soles
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 3 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 tbsp plain flour
- pepper
- salt
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Rinse the dover soles under cold running tap water. Then pat the fish dry using kitchen paper.
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Add the flour to a deep plate. Season it with pepper and salt. Coat the fish on both sides with the flour. Shake off the excess flour.
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Add the olive oil and a tablespoon of butter to a large non-stick frying pan. Place it over medium heat until the melted butter starts to foam. Then add the soles to the pan.
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Fry the soles on one side for 3 to 4 minutes until golden brown. Then flip the fish over on its uncooked side. Bake the fish for another 3 to 4 minutes until golden brown on both sides.
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Then remove the soles from the hot pan. Transfer them to a clean plate. Cover with tinfoil. Discard the browned butter that is still in the hot pan. Wipe it clean with kitchen paper. Then add the remaining butter to the pan and place it over medium-low heat until melted. Add the lemon juice and half of the chopped parsley. Season with a dash of pepper and salt.
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Take the butter sauce off the heat. Place the fried soles onto clean plates and then drizzle with the lemon butter sauce. Sprinkle with the remaining chopped parsley. Serve hot.
