Easy Cioppino (Seafood Stew)
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This easy cioppino is a cozy, hearty seafood stew, loaded with clams, mussels, cod (or halibut), shrimp, and scallops! Made in less than 1 hr!
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Why you’ll love this easy cioppino seafood stew
- Underrated stew that’s easy to make. Cioppino tends to be one of those underrated intimidating stews that’s actually really easy to whip up, making it on your dinner table in less than an hour.
- Packed with seafood. This is one of those dishes packed with all the seafood – little neck clams, mussels, cod (or halibut), shrimp, and scallops, which all gets cooked right in a garlicky, tomato-based broth.
- Flexible, giving recipe. Homemade cioppino can easily be doubled or tripled as needed (if you have a large enough pot, of course), making it perfect for when company stops by for dinner.
- Best served with crusty bread. All you need to round out this meal is some freshly toasted baguette (or sourdough or french bread) slices to sop and soak up this broth, leaving zero leftovers behind.
What is cioppino?
Cioppino is an Italian-American seafood stew that is purely a rich, garlicky tomato-based broth featuring various seafood such as Dungeness crab, halibut, cod, scallops, shrimp, clams and mussels.
What is the difference between cioppino and bouillabaisse?
While cioppino and bouillabaisse are both seafood stews, bouillabaisse is made with fish broth, saffron, and chopped tomatoes.
how to make cioppino
- Prep the seafood. Scrub the clams and mussels, cut the fish into chunks, and peel and devein the shrimp.
- Sauté the aromatics. Melt the butter in a Dutch oven over medium high heat, then cook the onion and fennel until the onions are soft and translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Simmer. Stir in the wine, diced tomatoes, vegetable stock, clam juice, and bay leaf. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer to allow the flavors to meld and marry, about 15 minutes.
- Add the shellfish. Stir in the clams and mussels, then cover with a tight-fitting lid, cooking just until they begin to open, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add the remaining seafood. Gently nestle in the cod or halibut, shrimp, and scallops in the broth. Cover and simmer for another 3-4 minutes until the fish is opaque and all the clams and mussels have opened. Pro tip: avoid any heavy stirring so the fish pieces do not break apart.
- Discard. Discard any clams or mussels that remain closed.
- Garnish and serve. Remove the bay leaf and stir in chopped fresh parsley, seasoning one last time with salt and pepper. Serve warm with crusty bread to soak up the rich broth.
PRO TIP
Be mindful of different cooking times.
The key to a great cioppino is serving right when the seafood is perfectly cooked through. Clams and mussels go in first, cooking until they just begin to open, then the fish, shrimp, and scallops go in last.
Tools For This Recipe
Easy Cioppino (Seafood Stew): Frequently Asked Questions
Not at all! Additional vegetable stock can be used for white wine as a non-alcoholic substitute.
You’ll want to rinse and scrub the clams from debris under cold running water. This will also give you a chance to check (and discard) clams that are cracked, feel hollow, or gaping open. All clams should be tightly closed.
You’ll want to rinse and scrub the mussels from debris under cold running water. This will also give you a chance to check (and discard) mussels that are cracked, feel hollow, or gaping open. All mussels should be tightly closed.
The mussels should already be debarded but if they are not, you can do so by removing the short brown strings that sprouts from the shell with your fingers or tweezers, pulling firmly until detached completely and discarding.
You can thaw frozen shrimp and scallops overnight, transferring it from the freezer to the fridge the day before. For a quick thaw, you can run the shrimp under cold water until completely thawed, about 5-10 minutes, and run the scallops under lukewarm water until completely thawed. Pat them dry as thoroughly as possible to remove any excess moisture.
Absolutely! The cioppino broth can be made 1-2 days in advance and stored in the fridge. To reheat, bring to a simmer before adding the seafood as directed.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 1-2 days, removing the clams and mussels from the shells prior to storing.
Easy Cioppino (Seafood Stew)
Video
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 medium sweet onion, diced
- 1 small fennel bulb, cored and diced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ¾ cup dry white wine
- 1 (28-ounce) can petite diced tomatoes
- 2 cups vegetable stock
- 2 cups clam juice
- 1 bay leaf
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 12 little neck clams, scrubbed
- ½ pound mussels, scrubbed and debearded
- 1 pound cod or halibut filets, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
- ½ pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 8 large sea scallops
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add onion and fennel. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3-4 minutes.
- Stir in tomato paste, garlic, oregano and red pepper flakes until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in wine, diced tomatoes, vegetable stock, clam juice and bay leaf. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until flavors have blended, about 15 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Stir in clams and mussels. Reduce heat to low; cover, with a tight-fitting lid, and cook until the clams and mussels are just beginning to open, about 3-4 minutes.
- Stir in cod or halibut, shrimp and scallops. Reduce heat and simmer until cod or halibut, shrimp and scallops are just cooked through and clams and mussels have opened completely, about 3-4 minutes. Discard any unopened clams.
- Stir in parsley; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately.
Equipment
Notes
- Choose a wine you will drink. A dry white wine (pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc) is great here – it does not have to be anything fancy or overpriced. Just something you don’t mind sipping on since you will have an open bottle.
- Use a blend of seafood and shellfish. A mixture of clams, mussels, white fish, shrimp, scallops, squid and dungeness crab are all great options.
- Soak the clams. This is key to clean off all the sand and grit from the clams.
- Check over the mussels. Rinse and scrub the mussels, and debeard as needed. Although farm-raised mussels will already come debearded, it’s still a good idea to do a once-over, discarding any mussels that are open or have cracked shells.
- Avoid storing the mussels in water prior to cooking. Uncooked mussels should not be stored in water or in an airtight container as they need to breathe. The uncooked mussels can be placed in a bowl, covered with a damp dishtowel, in the fridge for 1-2 days.
- Prep the scallops. Although safe to eat, gently peel away the small side muscle from the scallops as it is tougher and chewier than the rest of the scallops. Rinse and pat dry.
- Use dry scallops. Dry scallops are generally preferred over wet scallops as the latter is treated with preservatives, retaining excess water.
- Add the seafood in stages. To avoid any overcooking, add the shellfish first (clams and mussels), then finish with quick-cooking fish, shrimp, and scallops.
- Make ahead of time. Cioppino is a great dish to make ahead of time, cooking the broth just before adding the seafood and storing in the fridge.
- Serve with crusty bread. Serve with all the homemade crusty bread for dipping, sopping and dunking!
Did you make this recipe?
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Didn’t have all the ingredients but very tasty. Used canned clams instead of clam juice, fizzled out champagne instead of white wine, and butterfly shrimp. Will definitely make this again.
Easy and delicious!
Hello! I’d love to make this for friends coming over this week, but was hoping to get it ready the day before. Is it possible to do that with this recipe? I was thinking I could make the broth the day before and then just cook the seafood before we were ready to eat? Thanks!
Was wonderful family really enjoyed it.
Nutritional information would be helpful.
This recipe was enjoyed by all!
Ill share a picture if allowed.
We love hearing that, Rose! Please tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious so we can see your creation! 🙂
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Excellent!
I’ve made this several times, and it’s been delicious every time. As someone who likes a little extra heat with their seafood (oh, who am I kidding? I like a little extra heat with just about everything except ice cream!), I add a few shakes of Tabasco sauce to my portion. It’s a little touch of Louisiana in this quintessentially San Francisco dish, but I think it goes perfectly, and lifts the stew to an even higher level.
I was craving a seafood stew and googled recipes for hours. I finally came upon this recipe. I cooked it for my husband and I we both fell in love with this dish. OUTSTANDING!!!! The broth itself was amazing! However, I did add crab legs as we are crab fans and now my family and friends request this dish constantly. Thank you Chungah for sharing!
Excellent recipe for Cioppino! I have been making Cioppino for over 40 years, using my old Fisherman’s Warf recipe, but somehow misplaced it. I was looking for an easy, similar recipe, which would not take too much time, and still deliver on the flavor and content. I stumbled on to this recipe and made it last night. Wife and I both thought this was very delicious, especially with garlic toasted sourdough!
Absolutely damn delicious. In lieu of fresh seafood I used a frozen seafood medley, frozen shrimp and cod and a can of clams. Came out outstanding. The broth makes it! Thank you!!!
Delicious. So quick and easy. Just what I needed on a cold winter night. I made it even easier by using frozen seafood mix and adding frozen scallops.
I want to make it,can I add uncooked crab?
Made this for our anniversary. It was delicious! Didn’t have mussels so used calamari. It was delicious will be making again! My husband loved it
Can I us purée instead crushed tomatoes?
Love love love! This seriously tasted like restaurant quality.
We made this for our anniversary last night to go along with our seafood tower. It was absolutely perfect, paired with a fresh, homemade, bread. So good.
Thank you!!
Excellent recipe, easy, quick and delicious. Better than anything Ive ordered at a restaurant.
I made this Cioppino soup today and it was so delicious. I will definitely make it again.
no clam juice in major supermarkets in aus so used fish stock worked well. Served with some delicious sourdough stunning
It’s so tasty.i change up a few things
I don’t like clam juice so I toss a couple clams and mussels in when I’m making the broth to add seafood flavor and it’s sweet and lovely.
Celery not fennel because can’t find it here but add about 5-10 fennel seeds to give a hint of flavor.
Add a table spoon or two if cornstarch slurry when reheating broth before adding my seafood for a bit more hearty thick broth. And make the broth the day before and then strain the onion garlic veggies…. out for a perfectly velvety smooth finished once all put together…. ohh and sear the scallops in a cast iron and set them on top as garnish instead of adding to the stew while simmering.
Excellent recipe easy and delicious!