Walleye, Eh?!
Have you ever fished for Walleye? I just returned from a family fishing trip in Canda where Walleye was one of our main targets. We caught HUNDREDS of fish when we were up there. We released most of the fish we caught, but each of us was able to return with a one day's limit worth of Walleye (amongst other fish species). Catching the fish is fun, but making Traeger Walleye and serving it to your friends and family is great too.
One of my favorite things about the Canada fishing trip was the copious amounts of fried fish we ate EVERY SINGLE DAY. On the drive home all I could think about was eating more fish. I was determined to cook some walleye on the smoker that tasted just as good as fried fish. I am pleased with the results this Traeger Smoked walleye recipe produced.
Preparing the Fish to be Cooked
I'll be talking about walleye throughout this post, but this recipe works well with other types of white fish too. Halibut, Pike, Ling Cod or Rock Fish would all be good using this recipe.
The first thing you need to do is chunk your fillets into 4 inch long by 1 inch wide pieces.
After you've cut the fillets into smaller portions, let the fish pieces soak in a bath of whole milk. While the fish is soaking you can get your smoker and any ingredients you'll be using ready to go.
Why Should I Soak Fish in Milk?
We would soak halibut fillets in milk when I was working in Alaska. According to this Lifehacker article, soaking fish in milk for a short period of time pulls a chemical out of the fish called Trimethylamine. That chemical is what is responsible for the "fishy" smell. A 15-minute bath in milk is all it takes to remove most of that chemical from the fish!
Add Some Flavor to the Walleye
Now that your walleye is "chemical free", it's time to prep the walleye fillets for your smoker. In a shallow bowl combine the following ingredients:
- ⅓ cup dried bread crumbs or panko
- ⅓ cup grated parmesan cheese
- ⅓ cup instant mashed potato flakes
- 1 tbsp Paprika
- ½ tbsp bbq rub - I used my poultry rub here
In a second bowl combine 2 eggs with a tablespoon of water.
Pull a chunk of fish out of the milk bath, dredge it in the egg, and then press it into the dry ingredients. Place each breaded chunk of Walleye on a greased baking sheet.
Cooking Walleye on a Smoker
This is the easiest part of the whole recipe. Set up your smoker to cook at 450 degrees.
Once the smoker is up to temp, put the baking sheet full of fish in the smoker and let the fish cook for approximately 20 minutes. They're done when the internal temperature of the fish is 145 degrees on a meat thermometer.
When the fish hits that internal temp, it's time to pull it off the smoker, and serve immediately!
Traeger Walleye Recipe
Ingredients
- 16 ounces of walleye fillets
- ⅓ cup dried bread crumbs or panko
- ⅓ cup grated parmesan cheese
- ⅓ cup instant mashed potato flakes
- 1 tbsp Paprika
- ½ tbsp bbq rub - I used my poultry rub
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbsp water
Instructions
- Chunk your walleye fillets into 4 inch strips
- Place the walleye strips into a shallow bowl and cover with milk. Let the Walleye fillets sit in the milk for approximately 15 minutes
- In one bowl combine your dry ingredients, in the other combine the egg and water.
- One by one remove the walleye strips from the milk bath. dredge in the egg wash, and then press each chunk of fish into the dry ingredients. Place on a greased baking sheet.
- Prep your smoker to cook at 450 degrees, using indirect heat. I have a Traeger Pro 34, and used the "high" temperature setting to get my temps where they needed to be.
- Once the smoker is up to temp, put the grill rack full of fish in the smoker, and let the fish cook for approximately 20 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the fish is 145 degrees on an instant-read thermometer.
- When the fish hits the internal temp of 145, it's time to pull it off the smoker, and serve immediately!
That’s baked not smoked!
You spelt Canada wrong eh!
If you get your smoker up to 450 degrees why not just do it on your grill? Smoking should be in the 175 to 225 degree range. I'd give the recipe a try because it sounds good. But I wouldn't consider it "smoked fish".
Thanks for the comment Jim.
I wouldn't recommend cooking the fish on a grill using this method - it will burn. Smoker's work similar to a convection oven, and provide much more consistent heat than a grill.
I understand your thoughts regarding "smoke", but have to disagree. Cooking anything in a smoker at any temp still provides wood-fired flavor. Maybe not the deep smoky flavor you'd get at a lower temp, but it's there, especially on a delicate piece of meat like walleye flesh.
I hope you do try the recipe. My family loves it and I'm sure you will too!
What kind of wood chips do you recommend? I just filleted 12 walleyes this morning and found your recipe I was looking for something "outside the box". Thanks
Apple or Alder work great with fish
Trying this in the oven tonight. Fingers crossed!
This was incredible! What I like is the fact that using my Traeger grill, I don't have to heat up the indoors with my oven in the Summer, yet if I don't want to weather the cold here in MI in the winter, I can use the same recipe in my convection!! Thanks for sharing!
I'm glad that I stumbled on this blog. The information has been quite helpful to me. Nice work.
I live on Lake Erie and catch a lot of walleye. With that said I eat a lot of walleye. I tried your recipe on my pellet grill today. Typically I do not post comments. However that was so good that I had to reach out and give you a ten out of ten.
This is the second time I have used your recipe with a few changes. Needless to say my wife and I enjoyed it. I agree with you that using the Traeger gives all foods cooked on it a smoked flavor.
Eager to try this recipe next time I catch some walleye or maybe some bass fillets I have in the freezer. Just curious about the potato flakes, what are their purpose?
I made this recipe last night and it was great. I substituted Kinder's Buttery Steakhouse rub for the paprika and poultry rub and it came out great. Slight smoke flavor from the apple and hickory pellets left from smoking some ribs last weekend.