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Cioppino: The Ultimate San Francisco Seafood Stew Recipe

Cioppino seafood stew with crab, shrimp, and mussels in tomato broth
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Our homemade Cioppino seafood stew recipe is here to impress, with a flavorful tomato broth and loaded with your favorite seafood. Don’t forget to serve it with crusty sourdough, for dipping.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1/4 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
  • 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

1. 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 mussels on top (don’t stir) and cover pot. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until shells open up. Uncover, remove from heat and set aside.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. Serve: Ladle stew into bowls and serve with fresh lemon wedges, crusty bread, and extra bowls for placing shells in (and lots of napkins)!

Notes

Make Ahead Instructions: 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.

Seafood Variations: You could replace the crab with scallops (add them at the same time as the fish). Calamari would also be a great addition, and can be added near the end. I don’t recommend using oysters or salmon as their flavor may overpower the dish.

Crab: You can add the crab, in its shell, to the broth, if you want to serve it in the shell, but I think the shells help add rich flavor to the seafood stock.

Wine: Don’t use “cooking wine”, but instead choose an inexpensive dry white wine, like chardonnay, sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio. If you’re against cooking with wine, you can omit it, or add a little splash of white wine vinegar.

Seafood Stock: You could substitute 4 cups store-bought seafood stock, and add the clams and mussels at the same time as the shrimp and crab.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://paulakitchen.com/cioppino/