Walleye Recipes

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Walleye is one of freshwater’s best-eating fish — mild, flaky, sweet, and low in bones, with no fishy smell when it’s fresh. It takes to almost any method: pan-fry or deep-fry fillets for a classic shore lunch, or bake, grill, or broil them for something lighter. However you cook it, pull walleye the moment the flesh turns opaque and flakes easily with a fork — an internal temperature of 145°F. Here are nine tested ways to put your catch on the table.

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.

~Author Unknown

Walleye Recipes at a Glance

Recipe	Method	Approx. cook time
Tasty Broiled Walleye	Broil	~10 min per inch
Grilled Pecan Walleye	Grill	8–12 min
Wayne’s Deep Fried Walleye	Deep-fry	~5 min
Blackened Walleye	Grill	~10 min
Italian-Style Walleye	Bake	20–25 min
Gratin of Walleye	Bake / broil	~20 min
Fillets of Walleye Mornay	Poach + bake	~25 min
Pan Fried Honey Walleye	Pan-fry	6–10 min

Walleye Cooking FAQ

 

How long do you cook walleye?

Until it flakes: about 3–5 minutes per side when pan-frying, 8–12 minutes on the grill, or roughly 10 minutes per inch of thickness when broiling or baking. Thin fillets cook fast, so keep an eye on them.

How do you know when walleye is done?

When the flesh turns from translucent to opaque and flakes easily with a fork — an internal temperature of 145°F. Walleye is lean and overcooks quickly, so pull it right as it flakes.

Do you leave the skin on walleye?

Most anglers fillet and skin walleye for its clean, mild taste. Leaving the skin on (as in the broiled recipe) helps hold delicate fillets together on the grill or under the broiler — either way works.

Is walleye good to eat, and is it healthy?

Yes — walleye is prized as one of the best-tasting freshwater fish: mild, sweet, and flaky. It’s lean, high in protein, and a good source of omega-3s. As with any wild-caught fish, follow your state’s local fish-consumption advisories.

Why is walleye so expensive?

A few things stack up. In the United States, walleye is a protected game fish — commercial harvest and sale are banned to reserve it for sport anglers — so almost all the walleye on menus and in stores is imported from Canada (much of it from Lake Erie and Lake Winnipeg), often frozen and shipped. That limited, largely imported supply meets steady demand from people who consider it the best-eating freshwater fish. Walleye is also hard to farm economically — it needs a high-protein diet and a year-round supply of fingerlings — so aquaculture hasn’t filled the gap. Small fillets and hand-filleting labor add the rest.

How do you fillet a walleye?

Cut behind the gill down to the backbone, run the knife along the spine to the tail, then separate the fillet from the rib bones and skin. The videos below walk through it, and a sharp or electric fillet knife makes quick work of it.

But first, seems like everyone has a favorite way for how to fillet a walleye. Here are just a couple of examples.

 

Tasty Broiled Walleye

 

Yield: 4 Servings

Ingredients:

1 lb Walleye Fillets

Combine the following to make a paste:

2 tb Lemon juice

2 Garlic cloves; minced

3 tb Soy oil

2 tb White wine

1 pn Fresh chopped sweet basil

Leave skin on and place fillet skin down on broiler. Brush fillet with paste. Dust with paprika. Broil one side 10 minutes per each inch of thickness. If sauce is desired, use marinade of fresh garlic, dijon mustard, lemon juice, mayonnaise and soy oil. Garnish with lemon wedges, chopped parsley or chopped green onion.

Grilled Pecan Walleye

 

Ingredients:

12 oz walleye fillets

1/4 cup pecans, chopped and toasted

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon fresh chives, chopped

1 teaspoon orange juice

salt and pepper to taste

Combine butter, chives, juice and half the pecans in a small bowl and mix well. Preheat grill. Take a 12 inch square piece of aluminum foil and cut 2 inch slits into it every two inches. Spray with a nonstick spray and place on grill.
Put the fillets on the foil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and grill for 8-12 minutes. The fillets are done when the fish flakes easily with a fork. One minute before the fish is done top with the pecan butter. Remove from heat and sprinkle the remaining pecan pieces over top before serving.

Wayne’s Deep Fried Walleye

 

Ingredients:

4-6 fillets

Drake’s crispy frymix

A bottle of your favorite beer

Cut the fillets in one or two inch chunks and set aside.
Mix one box of Drakes deepfry mix with 12oz beer and whisk until well blended. Put walleye pieces into batter and rotate until well coated. Drop into 375 degree oil and cook until they float and have reached desired crispness.

Blackened Walleye

 

Ingredients:

3 – 2 pound walleye fillets

1/2 lb. Butter

Cayenne Pepper

Fresh ground Pepper

Garlic Powder

Salt to taste

Lemon juice

Dip the fish into melted butter, then place walleye fillets on the grill. Season them with salt, garlic, black pepper and cayenne. Close grill and cook for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, loosen the fillets from the grill, but do not turn them. Baste them with butter and re-season if necessary. Cook for 5 more minutes. They are done when the meat can be flaked with a fork.

Italian-Style Walleye

 

Yield: 4 Servings

Ingredients:

Walleye fillets (about 1 1/2-pounds)

15 oz Tomato sauce

2 tb Fresh parsley, chopped

1 ts Italian seasoning

1/2 ts Dried basil

1/4 ts Salt

1/8 ts Pepper

4 oz Mozzarella cheese, shredded

Place walleye in a greased shallow 3-quart or 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish. Combine tomato sauce, parsley, Italian seasoning, basil, salt and pepper; pour over the fish. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake 5-10 minutes longer or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Gratin of Walleye

 

Yield: 4 Servings

Ingredients:

2 lb Walleye fillets

2 tb Parsley, minced

Salt and pepper

2 tb Capers (W/juice)

2 Green peppers

5 tb Cooking oil

1/2 c Bread crumbs

2 Cloves garlic, chopped fine

1/2 ts Powdered thyme

Roasted peppers lend a wonderful flavor to fish dishes. Prepare this dish in a shallow baking dish or baked in individual gratin dishes if available. Wash and pat the fillets dry, then dice into 1-inch squares. Season with salt and pepper. Wash, then dry the green peppers and roast them under the broiler, turning them as the skin blackens. Place the peppers in a paper bag, seal by twisting the top, and set aside for 5 minutes or so. Then remove and, with finger, push and pinch off most of the blackened skin. Cut in half, remove the seeds and stems and slice into thin strips. Put the oil in a big skillet and saute the garlic until it is translucent. Then scrape in the fillet squares from your cutting board, turn up the heat, and cook, stirring constantly for about 5 minutes. Off heat, add and mix thoroughly the peppers, parsley, capers, and half the bread crumbs into which you have mixed the thyme. Spoon into baking dish and sprinkle the rest of the crumb-thyme mixture over all, and place under the broiler for a minute or two to brown. Serve with tossed salad and baked potatoes.

Fillets (Or Steaks) of Walleye Mornay

Yield: 5 Servings

Ingredients:

2 1/2 lb Fillets or steaks

4 tb Butter

Salt

1 Onion, minced

Juice from 1/2 lemon

1/2 ts Tarragon OR

Pinch of cayenne OR dash

Of hot sauce

Marjoram

2 Egg yolks, beaten

1 c Cream

1 c Fish broth

6 tb Grated cheese

Place fillets or steaks in a saucepan, just cover with cold water, add salt, lemon juice, and cayenne, bring to a bubble, then turn down heat and simmer for 10-12 minutes. Remove fish, but retain the fish broth. Place fish in buttered baking dish. Stir together 1 cup fish broth and the cream. Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter and add minced onion, tarragon or marjoram. Cook just until onions are soft. Stir in flour and cook a minute or two. Then off hat, stir in 2 cups of the fish broth until smooth. Return to low heat, stirring until sauce begins to thicken. Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of the sauce into the beaten eggs, then stir the beaten eggs slowly into sauce. Add the cheese, stirring all the while and cook until uniform. Pour the sauce over the fish, dot with remaining butter, and bake in preheated oven at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes to brown the sauce.

Pan Fried Honey Walleye

Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients:

4 Walleye fillets; (1 1/2-2-lbs.) (up to 6)

1 Egg

2 ts Honey

2 c Butter-flavored crackers;-crushed (45-50)

1/2 ts Salt

1/3 c Cooking oil; (up to 1/2)

Lemon wedges; optional

In a shallow bowl, beat eggs; add honey. In a plastic bag, combine crackers and salt. Dip fish in egg mixture then shake in bag until coated. In a skillet, cook fillets in oil for 3-5 minutes per side or until golden and fish flakes easily with a fork. Serve with lemon wedges if desired.