Our homemade Cioppino seafood stew recipe is here to impress with its rich and rustic tomato-based broth and mix of fresh seafood. It’s the best healthy comfort food, served with crusty bread.
If you’re a seafood lover don’t miss our Salmon Tacos, Crawfish Étouffée, Clam Chowder, Seafood Pasta, and Shrimp and Grits!
Cioppino is my favorite seafood feast!
I would fly to San Fransisco just to order a big bowl of my favorite Cioppino at the Wharf, with warm homemade sourdough! But seeing as that’s not a normal option, our homemade Cioppino is an amazing alternative, and really easy to make.
I’m so proud of the flavor in this recipe, and the extra detail of making our own quick stock with the seafood shells. This is a beautiful dish for a special dinner or holiday, that will easily impress guests. Make your own sourdough bread if you’d like, or go for my easy shortcut artisan bread! It has the same crusty exterior and only 4 ingredients!
Tips for buying seafood:
With all seafood you buy, make sure you smell it! There should not be a strong fishy odor; It should smell like nothing, or like the ocean. If you don’t live near the ocean, frozen seafood is great and accessible, just be sure to thaw it in the refrigerator overnight before using.
How to make Cioppino:
Quick Seafood Stock: Use kitchen shears to cut open the crab legs and remove the meat, placing cracked shells in a stock pot. Remove shells and tails from shrimp and add to the stockpot. Pour enough water in the pot to cover all of the shells by an inch. Sprinkle a pinch of salt in the water then cook over medium high heat until water is simmering. Place mussels and clams on top (don’t stir) then cover. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until shells open up. Remove from heat and strain broth into a countainer using a fine mesh strainer with a cheesecloth over it to catch any sand or small shells (if you don’t have a cheesecloth, just don’t add the bottom Tablespoons or two of liquid.
Tomato base: Pour oil in a large Dutch oven and heat over medium heat. Stir in onion, fennel and 2 teaspoons kosher salt. Cook until onion is soft and translucent, 8-10 minutes. Stir in garlic and red pepper flakes then cook for 1 minute. Add tomato paste and stir well then add wine and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in crushed tomatoes, bay leaf, and oregano. Taste and add more seasoning as needed.
Add Seafood: Pour 4 cups of the seafood stock into the pot and simmer on low, covering the pot for 30 minutes. Cut the fish into 1 inch pieces and drizzle fish and shrimp with olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper. Just before serving Cioppino, bring soup to a simmer, add fish, cover, and simmer for 3 minutes. Stir in crab and shrimp and simmer for 2-3 minutes, just until shrimp are pink. Add steamed clams and mussels and sprinkle with fresh parsley.
Serve this Italian fisherman’s stew in a bowl with lemon wedges and extra bowls for empty shells. Don’t forget the crusty bread and lots of napkins!
Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions:
To Make Ahead: Make the tomato base and seafood stock a few hours or up to a night before serving.
Freezing Instructions: I don’t recommend freezing cioppino with the seafood, as the seafood will overcook when rewarmed. But any leftover tomato broth could be frozen and used another day, with fresh seafood.
Recipe Variations:
- Seafood: Feel free to swap out the crab for scallops, just add them the same time as the fish. You could also toss in calamari near the end. I don’t personally recommend oysters or salmon since the flavor could overpower the dish.
- Crab: The crab can be added in it’s shell to the broth if you want it served in the shell, but I think the shells help add rich flavor to the stock.
- Wine: Make sure not to use “cooking wine”. Instead choose an inexpensive dry white wine like chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, or pinot grigio. I personally don’t drink alcohol, but I like to cook with it since it adds a depth of flavor you can’t get otherwise (most of the alcohol cooks out). If you don’t want to cook with wine, leave it out or add a little splash of white wine vinegar.
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Cioppino
Equipment
- Dutch Oven or large stock pot
- Cheesecloth optional
Ingredients
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 bulb fennel , chopped
- 1 onion , chopped
- 3 shallots , diced
- 4-6 cloves garlic , minced
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes , or more to taste
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup dry white wine*
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
- 2 28oz cans San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes , or use crushed tomatoes
- 1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley
- Lemon wedges , for serving
- Sourdough or crusty artisan bread , for serving
Seafood:
- 1-2 lbs dungeness or king crab , in the shell
- 1 pound large raw shrimp , with shells and tails
- 1 pound fresh white fish , like halibut, cod, sea bass, cut into 1-in pieces
- 1 pound fresh mussels , debearded
- 1 pound fresh clams , rinsed
Instructions
- Make Seafood Stock*: Use kitchen shears to cut open the crab legs and remove the meat, then place the cracked shells into a stock pot. Remove shells and tails from shrimp then add to the stockpot. Add enough water to the pot to cover the shells by about an inch. Add a pinch of salt. Cook over medium high heat until water reaches a bare simmer. Add clams and mussles on top (don’t stir) and cover pot. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until shells open up. Uncover, remove from heat and set aside
- Tomato Base: Add oil to a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Stir in onion, fennel and 2 teaspoons kosher salt. Cook until onion is soft and translucent, 8-10 minutes. Stir in garlic and red pepper flakes then cook for 1 minute. Add tomato paste and stir well. Add wine and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in crushed tomatoes, bay leaf, and oregano.
- Strain Stock: Set clams and mussels aside and strain seafood stock through a fine mesh strainer with a cheesecloth over it (if you don’t have a cheesecloth, just don’t add the bottom tablespoons of liquid, that may have sand in it) into a measuring cup. Add 4 cups seafood stock to the pot. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat, cover pot, and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Add seafood: Just before you’re ready to serve the stew, bring to a simmer, stirring. Cut the fish into 1 inch pieces and drizzle fish and shrimp with a little oil, and season with salt and pepper. Add the fish, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 3 minutes. Stir in shrimp and crab and simmer about 2-3 minutes, just until shrimp are pink. Stir in steamed clams and mussels. Taste the sauce and add more seasoning, if needed. Sprinkle with fresh parsley.
- Serve: Ladle stew into bowls and serve with fresh lemon wedges, crusty bread, and extra bowls for placing shells in (and lots of napkins)!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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I originally shared this recipe April 2022. Updated September 2024.
