This simple recipe for Julia Child’s filet of sole pairs tender filet of sole with a lemony, butter sauce for the perfect seafood dinner.
Welcome to the recipe I have decided is the most perfect seafood recipe of all time, and as the story has it, the one that Julia Child created after she had one of her first glorious dinners in France.
It’s the perfect easy elegant dinner, and here’s how it made its way to my kitchen!
One of the things the Southern husband and I actually love doing together is the weekly food shopping. (I know. But we do!). I make up the menu for the week before we go, and each week the Southern husband gets to pick out one dinner that he is longing for me to make.
Some weeks he picks a throwback recipe that I have made before (last week he wanted this Irish Grilled Cheese sandwich), but if he’s asking for something new, he always makes a beeline for the seafood counter.
Usually he zooms in on the scallops or the red snapper, but one fateful weekend he picked out…filet of sole. And I drew a blank in terms of what to do with it. I’d never made filet of sole before, and couldn’t remember having had it at a restaurant.
But that’s what he wanted, and he had this face on…
…so I bought some and off we went.
(Side note: that picture is from my brand spanking new iPhone 11 Pro, and since I finally have the phone that can shoot in portrait mode I am taking portraits of anyone who will sit still.)
Even if they refuse to look in the camera.
Back at the sole, when I got it home I started searching for filet of sole recipe inspirations, and the same thing kept coming up, which is that Julia Child’s way of cooking sole was pretty much perfection.
So I hauled out my copy of The Way To Cook and after much paging around I found her recipe for Sole Meuniere, which is otherwise known as that perfect recipe of hers for filet of sole.
Here’s how you make Julia Child’s filet of sole!
You start by sprinkling the fish with a little salt and pepper, and then you cook it ever so quickly in some butter (Julia of course made clarified butter, but I just relied on my trusty Kerrygold).
The sole cooks for 2 minutes a side, and then you carefully take it out and whisk in some lemon juice and parsley and chopped parsley and more butter. Julia loved butter, and she was right.
I added a few capers because the Southern husband loves capers, and I love him…and that was it.
5 minutes of prep time, less than 10 minutes of cooking time and I had a gourmet seafood dinner on the table.
So with heartfelt admiration for the brilliant Julia Child (and if you don’t have The Way To Cook, it’s a must-have for your cookbook collection),
Bon Appetit!!
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Julia Child’s Filet Of Sole
Prep Time: 10 minutes- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: French
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This simple recipe for Julia Child’s filet of sole pairs tender filet of sole with a lemony, butter sauce for the perfect seafood dinner.
Ingredients
- 4 boneless sole filets
- Salt and pepper
- ½ cup flour
- 8 tablespoons butter
- Juice from ½ lemon (cut the rest of the lemon into slices for garnish)
- ½ cup fresh chopped parsley
- 2 tablespoons capers
Instructions
- Season the fish with salt and pepper on both sides.
- Put the flour on a plate or a pie pan and press each filet lightly into the flour on both sides.
- Put 4 tablespoons of the butter into a large skillet over medium high heat. When the butter is melted and foamy, add the filets and cook for 2 minutes.
- Using a fish spatula or other large spatula, carefully turn the filets over. Don’t use tongs – sole filets are delicate and need to be turned with a spatula. Cook for another 2 minutes and place each one on a serving plate. Cover with foil to keep warm while you make the sauce.
- Add the rest of the butter to the skillet, along with the lemon juice and half the parsley. Whisk until the butter is melted.
- Drizzle the sauce generously over the filets, sprinkle on the capers and the rest of the parsley, add the lemon slices as a pretty garnish and serve!
Half the parsley in the sauce… does the rest go on top?
Yes! Thank you for catching that – I added it in. :)
Thanks for answering so quickly! I hope to make this tomorrow night.
Of course! Hope you love it as much as we do! :)
Is the flour for dredging the fish prior to cooking, or is it to thicken the sauce after adding the remaining butter?
Hi Terry and thanks for spotting this – it’s for dredging! I’ve added that to the recipe – happy cooking!
I didn’t know I could cook “French cuisine” that my very American husband would eat. *wink* This was fabulous- and I will be making it again soon. I served it atop rice pilaf (so I could use every drop of the delicious sauce) with a side of broccolini.
★★★★★
Terry! You are definitely now a French chef – what a lucky husband you have! :)
I love following recipes. even though Julia Childs filet of sole seems fast, simple and easy, why can’t you just formulate a real recipe ie: how much butter,
Lemon juice etc?
Hi Rita! The amounts are in the recipe card at the end of the post – let me know if there’s something I can help you with? Happy cooking! :)
Thank you!
Total WINNER dinner with fresh caught gray sole (witch flounder). Only mod was that I used less butter and some olive oil.
★★★★★
Hi Roger and hurray!! So glad you love this one as much as we do. :) :)
The recipe looks good but you don’t explain what we do with the flour?
★★★
Hi Maria! You dredge the filets in the flour. Hope you love this as much as we do! :)
Cooking Sole for tomorrow’s dinner. Love that the puppy is a Clemson Fan! My blood runneth Orange!
Sole Meunière is my husband’s favorite but I have never tried before at home as always presented to be deboned at the table in 5 Star restaurants.
Recently our fish market has been having fresh Sole Filets so now I think I can give it a try.
Thanks for the great looking recipe, will let you know how it turns out.
Well hey there, fellow Clemson fan! I hope you love this one as much as we do – it is so elegant and so easy! :)
Lovely recipe! I adore creamy flavors like butter and bacon and a heavily marbled ribeye, and for me, the first four tablespoons of butter in this dish were plenty if not more than enough. I also love capers and thought there were a bit too many. Maybe my dover sole filets were on the small side? You should make this ASAP and use your cook’s eye to adjust along the way. Incredible flavor that calls out for crusty bread and so easy to prepare. Thanks!
★★★★★
I’m so glad you liked it (and thank you for the adjustment advice!) :)
Best way to eat fresh filet of sole! Thanks for this. I had to add garlic and shallots to the butter, but otherwise perfect recipe. So delicious!
Love your additions, Bruce! Happy New Year!
Loved it!! I substituted a couple Tbsp. dried tarragon instead of parsley, and sprinkled paprika on them along with the salt/pepper
★★★★★
Thanks Evelyn! This is my favorite fancy dinner, and your variations sound delicious!
I had leftovers and reheated them 2 days later, wrappd loosely in foil at 350 for about 15 min. Tasted as good if not better than the day I made it. Yummy!
Sounds like the perfect leftover meal! :)