Cioppino, a fish stew with Italian flavors, makes a hearty meal you can make in about thirty minutes. It’s easy enough for weeknight dinners and makes hearty, comforting meal everyone will love!
Watch the How to Make Iodine Rich Fish Stew for Good Thyroid Health video
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Table of Contents
- A Fish Stew You’ll Love Making
- What is Cioppino?
- Ingredients
- How to Make Cioppino
- What to Serve with Cioppino
- Expert Tips
- More Soup Recipes
- Vital Choice Discount Code
- The Modern Pioneer Pantry
- Download Your Free 36-Page Pantry List
- Join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy
- More Kitchen Pioneer Videos
- Easy Cioppino Recipe (Italian Fish Stew) Recipe
- Shop for My Favorite Items
A Fish Stew You’ll Love Making
This Italian fish stew is full of fish and seafood cooked in a perfectly seasoned fish and tomato broth. It’s light enough to serve year round but is even more satisfying to serve when there’s a bit of a chill in the air.
This homemade, from-scratch recipe is so easy to make and I believe any level cook can prepare it with confidence. Looking for more soups or stews to enjoy? I highly recommend this beef and barley soup and my Italian pork rib soup with chickpeas. They’re both hearty enough for an entire meal.
What is Cioppino?
Cioppino is a flavorful Italian Fish Stew recipe developed by Italian fishermen living in San Francisco. It features a tomato broth infused with Italian herbs and a combination of fish and seafood. This seafood cioppino recipe is prepared using halibut, shrimp, and bay scallops.
It’s quick and easy to prepare and perfect to serve for a family supper but fancy enough for company.
Ingredients
Find the full printable recipe with measurements below for each of the cioppino main ingredients.
To make cioppino fish stew, you will need:
- Fat: I am using a combination of olive oil and butter for cooking the onions and garlic for a more complex flavor. I like the rich flavors you get from the butter and the peppery, grassy flavor of the olive oil.
- Aromatics: Onions, garlic cloves, and bay leaves lay down some base flavors to create a tasty fish stew broth.
- White vermouth: Adds another layer of flavor and the alcohol will cook off during cooking. White wine works well or if you prefer to leave out the alcohol you can use water. If using white wine make sure to choose one that has a crisp, dry flavor.
- Herbs and spices: A combination of Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper flakes, and fresh parsley give the soup it’s classic Italian flavor.
- Tomatoes: You will be adding cooked chopped tomatoes and tomato paste to the fish broth giving it a nice tomato flavor that works great with the herbs, spices, and vermouth.
- Fish stock: You can use a store-bought fish stock or make your own fish bone broth.
- Seafood: I am using halibut for the fish but you can use another firm, white fish if you prefer. Try to choose one with a mild flavor. You will also need shrimp and sea scallops, which are the larger sized scallops.
How to Make Cioppino
Making this Italian fish stew goes together in a few simple steps. Here’s some of the highlights but the full instructions are in the recipe card.
Step 1 – Cook the onions in olive oil and butter in a large heavy pot over medium heat until translucent. Then add the garlic and cook until fragrant.
Step 2 – Add the white Vermouth and cook deglaze the pan, by scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Cook for a few minutes to allow the alcohol to cook off.
Step 3 – Add the bay leaves, salt, Italian seasoning, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Mix them into the onions and garlic.
Step 4 – Add the chopped tomatoes and tomato paste. Stir until well mixed.
Step 5 – Add the parsley and fish stock. Stir everything together and cover with a lid. Cook on low for 10 minutes.
Step 6 – Add the halibut and allow to cook for three minutes. Add the shrimp and scallops, and cook until all the seafood is cooked through.
Step 7 – Ladle the fish stew into individual serving bowls and sprinkle fresh parsley over the top.
What to Serve with Cioppino
While, fish stew has plenty of vegetables and seafood to make it hearty enough for a full meal, you may want to serve it with some crusty toasted bread or baguette for dipping. Here are just a few of my favorites.
Serve up your San Francisco Cioppino with a bit of sour dough bread! You can make a classic sour dough bread using the stretch and fold method or opt for a no-knead sour dough bread. Both are great and you can’t go wrong.
Instead of bread, consider making a batch of these sour dough crackers or these easy slice and bake healthy crackers.
While not traditional you can also serve it with some soft homemade yeast dinner rolls or whole wheat biscuits.
Expert Tips
- Store leftover fish stew in the fridge for up to three days. I don’t recommend freezing it.
- The shrimp and scallops cook quickly so be sure you add them in last and leave the stew on the heat just long enough to completely cook them.
- Traditionally Cioppino is served with grilled sour dough bread! I highly recommend serving some type of bread so you can sop up every single drop of the delicious broth.
More Soup Recipes
How to Make Easy Beef and Barley Soup
Using a bone-in roast makes this an easy soup to make. Plus, it doubles as a collagen rich bone broth!
How to Make Rich and Gelatinous Beef Bone Broth
Discover which are the best bones to use to make the most gelatinous beef bone broth!
How to Make Chicken Bone Broth for Pennies a Jar
Make delicious and nutritious Roast Chicken Bone Broth for Pennies a Jar…And discover the secret ingredient to making the best broth ever!
Vital Choice Discount Code
I enjoy fresh seafood from Vital Choice to make my Cioppino. And if you’ve seen my Baked Salmon Recipe – How to Make the Most of Your Sheet Pan Suppers recipe video, I show you how to bake a whole salmon filet from Vital Choice.
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The Modern Pioneer Pantry
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Download Your Free 36-Page Pantry List
For an extensive list of the traditional foods you can make and purchase to stock your pantry, be sure to download my free 36-page Traditional Foods Pantry List. This comprehensive eBook is full of links to recipe videos, helpful articles, and more!
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Easy Cioppino Recipe (Italian Fish Stew)
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoon Butter
- 2 medium Onions, chopped
- 3 Garlic cloves, crushed
- ½ cup White vermouth can substitute white wine or water
- 2 Bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon Black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon Red pepper flakes
- 1 bunch Parsley, chopped stems removed, and reserve 1 tablespoon to top finished stew
- 2 cups Cooked chopped tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons tomato paste
- 4 cups Fish stock
- 1 pound Halibut pieces or similar white fish
- 1 pound Shrimp, cleaned and deveined
- 1 pound Sea Scallops
Instructions
- Heat olive oil and butter in a large heavy soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions and sauté for a few minutes until translucent.
- Add the garlic and cook one minute until fragrant.
- Deglaze the pan by adding the white Vermouth. Cook for a few minutes to allow the alcohol to cook off.
- Add all the bay leaves, salt, Italian seasoning, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Stir to mix with onions and garlic and then add chopped tomatoes and tomato paste. Stir.
- Add parsley. Stir to incorporate and then add fish stock. Stir, cover, and turn to low. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, add halibut and allow to cook for 3 minutes. Now add shrimp and scallops. Allow to cook for a few more minutes until fish, shrimp, and scallops are cooked through.
- Ladle into individual serving bowls and top with additional fresh parsley. Serve with crusty toasted bread or baguette for dipping. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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