• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
The Little Ferraro Kitchen logo
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Summer Recipes
  • Recipe Index
  • Cookbooks
  • About
  • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • Summer Recipes
    • Recipe Index
    • Cookbooks
    • About
    • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » Recipes » French Recipes

    Julia Child's Sole Meuniere

    Published: Mar 15, 2022 by Samantha Ferraro · This post may contain affiliate links · 8 Comments

    Jump to Recipe

    The unforgettable and classic recipe for Julia Child Sole Meuniere, simply made with lightly breaded fillets of sole that is served with a lemony caper butter sauce.

    Classic recipe for Julia Child's Sole Meuniere, simply made with lightly breaded fillets of sole and served with a lemony caper butter sauce.

    Julia Child's Fillet of Sole Meuniere

    Sole meuniere is one of our favorite Julia Child fish recipes (as well as Mussels Mariniere) and is unforgettably known as one of Julia Child's first dishes that she enjoyed in France. This simple dish has not only changed the future of her career, but also home cooks all over the world, including me! I originally made this recipe(with permission from Julia's publisher, Alfred Knopf), years ago in collaboration with her publisher to celebrate Julia's 100th birthday.

    Unlike the original dish that Julia had, which was served whole tableside, Julia's classic recipe uses prepped boneless fillets of sole, making the decadent recipe a breeze.

    Fillets of sole are lightly dredged in flour and cook in minutes. The fish is light and flakey but able to hold up in cooking. The sauce has a handful of ingredients, including clarified butter, a good amount of fresh parsley, lemon juice and capers.

    Clarified Butter vs. Butter

    Both clarified butter and regular butter are used in Julia's recipe. Clarified butter has a higher smoke point because the milk solids are removed. This gives the fish time to pan-fry until a beautiful golden brown crust forms without the risk of burning.

    Once the fish is done and the sauce is working, a few tablespoons of butter is added for texture and flavor.

    Instead of clarifying your own butter, you can substitute with ghee, which offers the same high smoke point as well as a delicious nutty aroma.

    To make your own clarified butter: Melt butter in a small pot and and remove the foam at the top. Line a sieve with cheesecloth and pour melted butter through sieve into another bowl, leaving any milk solids behind.

    A Few Tips on Making Sole Meuniere

    • Use paper towels to dry the fish fillets very well before cooking, this will help form a nice golden crust.
    • Sole fillets are thin and only need 2 minutes of cooking per side.
    • Because there are minimal ingredients, use the freshest you can find, such as fresh lemon juice.
    • Don't overcrowd the pan, depending on how wide your skillet and filets are, start with 2 fillets so they have room to brown evenly.
    Classic recipe for Julia Child's Sole Meuniere, simply made with lightly breaded fillets of sole and served with a lemony caper butter sauce.

    What to Serve with Sole Meuniere

    • Creme fraiche mashed potatoes
    • Sauteed asparagus with lemon
    • Boiled potatoes with butter and parsley

    More Julia Child Recipes

    • Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon
    • Julia Child's Salad Nicoise
    • Step by step instructions for Julia Child's Coq Au Vin, with stewed chicken in a rich buttery red wine sauce with sauteed mushrooms and pearl onions.
      Julia Child's Coq Au Vin Recipe
    • Julia Child's Cheese Souffle
      Julia Child's Cheese Souffle

    Julia Child’s Sole Meuniere

    Samantha Ferraro

    LittleFerraroKitchen.com

    recipe for Julia Child Sole Meuniere, simply made with lightly breaded fillets of sole that is served with a lemony caper butter sauce.
    3.94 from 48 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 10 minutes mins
    Cook Time 10 minutes mins
    Total Time 20 minutes mins
    Course Main, Main Course
    Cuisine French
    Servings 4 servings
    Calories 841 kcal

    Equipment

    • skillet
    • Fish Spatula

    Ingredients
     
     

    • 4-6 fillets of sole boneless and skinless
    • Salt and pepper to taste
    • ½ cup all-purpose flour
    • 3 tablespoons clarified butter or ghee
    • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
    • ½ lemon juiced
    • 2-3 tablespoons capers
    • 2-3 tablespoons fresh parsley hard stems removed, leaves finely chopped

    Instructions
     

    • Use paper towels to pat the sole fillets dry very well and season both sides with salt and pepper. Lightly dredge fillets in flour, shaking off any excess
    • Bring a wide skillet to medium heat and add clarified butter.
    • Place fillets in, not overcrowding the pan, about 2 fillets per skillet and brown on the first side, for about 1-2 minutes. Flip over and cook on the the side for 1-2 minutes or until fish is lightly golden brown.
    • Remove fish to a platter and in the same skillet, melt butter and add capers and lemon juice. Use a spatula to scrape any bits from the bottom and reduce heat. Stir in chopped parsley.
    • Spoon lemon caper sauce over fish and serve immediately.

    Video

    Notes

    • Sole fillets are thin and only need 2 minutes of cooking per side.
    • Because there are minimal ingredients, use the freshest you can find, such as fresh lemon juice.
    • Don't overcrowd the pan, depending on how wide your skillet and filets are, start with 2 fillets so they have room to brown evenly.
    Excerpted from The Way to Cook by Julia Child. Copyright © 1989 by Julia Child. Reprinted with permission from the publisher Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.
    This recipe was originally posted in June 2012 in collaboration with YC Media and Alfred Knopf for Julia Child's 100th birthday celebration. The recipe is excerpted from The Way to Cook with permission from Julia's published, Alfred Knopf and reposted in March, 2022 with added tips, updated food photography and nutritional info.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 841kcalCarbohydrates: 14gProtein: 114gFat: 34gSaturated Fat: 15gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 449mgSodium: 842mgPotassium: 1490mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 649IUVitamin C: 10mgCalcium: 201mgIron: 3mg
    Did you make this recipe?Let us know by leaving a comment and 5 star rating!

    More Classic French Recipes

    • Easy French seafood stew with shrimp, mussels, clams and halibut.
      Simple Bouillabaisse Recipe (French Seafood Stew)
    • Julia Child's creamy potato leek soup with fresh thyme and olive oil on top.
      Julia Child's Creamy Potato Leek Soup
    • Caramel eclairs with caramel sauce on top.
      Salted Caramel Eclairs
    • 2 small cooked pumpkin souffles.
      Spiced Pumpkin Souffle

    Sharing is caring!

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Email
    • Print

    Weeknight Mediterranean Shopping List

    Subscribe to get the Mediterranean shopping list and to be the 1st to get brand new recipes!

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Ed says

      March 17, 2019 at 9:20 am

      5 stars
      If you don't want to go thru the trouble of clarifying the butter you can use Indian Gee which basically is clarified butter. It is now widely available in stores of on AMAZON.

      Reply
    2. Kathleen says

      April 17, 2013 at 11:08 pm

      5 stars
      Ah, my apologies, I just looked it up... Sara Moulton's recipe was an adaptation, with a Grenobloise sauce... no zest, or pith, the sections of lemon are just like you'd section a tangerine to eat. It was a revelation for me. This was my first experience with the dish, so I didn't realize it was an adaptation, but I can tell you I love the sauce so much I make it about once a week.

      Also notable, Sarah just pan fried the fish in oil, so it was a bit crispy. I love the texture, with a bit of crunch. Cuts down on the butter. used canola, so I could cook the fish quickly and have it tender on the inside, crunchy out. The butter I save for the sauce, and since it's not clarified, it's a lot less hassle. In thinking about it, I guess she was simply updating the recipe. She used trout, I used Tilapia
      Here's Sara's recipe. Also on that episode, a souffle omelet I want to try. Have you done one of those? Thanks for making me hungry!!!

      http://saramoulton.com/2013/02/sauteed-fish-fillets-meuniere-with-sauce-grenobloise/

      Reply
    3. Kathleen says

      April 17, 2013 at 9:36 pm

      5 stars
      This isn't the way I learned it... I watched Julia;s assistant make this recently on PBS, a show called weeknight dinners or something. The lemon is supposed to be peeled, like an orange, and the sections added to the butter/caper/parsley in the pan. As they disintefrate, the lemon de-glazes the delicious fish bits in the pan. The parsley is not a garnish, it's an important flavor of the sauce.

      If you make it right, it is one of the best things you'll ever put in your mouth.

      Reply
      • Samantha says

        April 17, 2013 at 9:42 pm

        Hi Kathleen. I know I followed the recipe exactly as in her book, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". I don't remember peeling lemon, and I would because I LOVE lemon peel and zest. Perhaps her assistant made a different version? However, I would love to try that version as well.

        Reply
        • Julia says

          July 30, 2014 at 10:11 am

          5 stars
          I have been trained under a French 2 star and how we did it was to take out the fried fish, then melt the butter in the same pan, throw a ton of parsley in, then remove from heat and add a squeeze of lemon. This was because the lemon immediately stops the cooking and keeps the butter from browning! But I'm not going to challenge Julia Child! It looks delicious!

          Reply
          • Samantha says

            July 30, 2014 at 1:34 pm

            Hahah what an interesting technique! I have learned to never stray away from her instructions 🙂

            Reply
        • Dale Pfeiffer says

          October 27, 2019 at 2:33 pm

          5 stars
          There is no Sole Meuniere recipe in either volume of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, at least not in the books I have.

          Reply
          • e johnson says

            May 14, 2023 at 1:01 pm

            5 stars
            Page 98 of the 1974 edition, entitled Beurre Noisette instead of Meuniere.

            Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Hi, I'm Samantha! I started this blog for my love of world cuisine and cultural flavors! You’ll find everything here from Jewish recipes, Middle Eastern, Italian and more!

    More about me →

    Summer Recipes

    • Shish Tawook (Grilled Chicken Skewers)
    • It's Time to Grill Your Pizza
    • Mediterranean Watermelon Salad
    • Grill summers produce and make this grilled panzanella salad dressed in a tangy vinaigrette, grilled vegetables and charred bread.
      Grilled Panzanella Salad
    • Grilled Tomahawk Steak with Chimichurri Compound Butter
    • Cedar Plank Salmon with Creamy Dill Sauce and Fresh Lemon
      Cedar Plank Salmon with Creamy Dill Sauce

    Pre-Order My Latest Cookbook!

    One Pot Mediterranean cookbook cover
    Buy This Book Online
    Buy from Amazon Kindle
    Buy from IndieBound
    Buy from Barnes and Noble
    Buy from Amazon
    One Pot Mediterranean
    Buy now!

    Trending Recipes

    • Julia Child's Salad Nicoise
    • Creamy and easy tomato mascarpone sauce with parmesan and fresh basil.
      Creamy Tomato Mascarpone Sauce with Pasta
    • Steamed clams are cooked together with wine wine, garlic, a touch of butter and loads of fresh herbs. And have extra crusty bread ready to soak up the delicious broth.
      Steamed Clams with White Wine and Garlic
    • Pearled couscous with colorful roasted vegetables.
      Israeli Couscous Salad with Roasted Vegetables
    • Turkish Sumac Onions
    • Easy French seafood stew with shrimp, mussels, clams and halibut.
      Simple Bouillabaisse Recipe (French Seafood Stew)

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    Featured In

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Accessibility Policy

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2023 · Samantha Ferraro · Little Ferraro Kitchen · All Rights Reserved