Cioppino – Seafood Stew

Cioppino is a delicious Italian-American seafood stew with a rich tomato base and loaded with all your favorite seafood like white fish, clams, mussels, and shrimp. This is an easy seafood soup to make at home!

What is Cioppino?

• This is an Italian-American fish stew that was first created in San Francisco in the late 1800’s by the local Italian immigrant fishermen.
• Originally, Cioppino was created as a way to use all of the day’s leftover catch, that’s why it often uses a medley of seafood.
• Usually Cioppino would include seafood like like fresh fish, shellfish like shrimp and crab, clams, mussels, and scallops.
• While this seafood stew is somewhat customizable, I’ve found my own personal favorite blend of ingredients with this recipe.
• The broth is rich and boldly flavored, which perfectly compliments the vast amount of seafood at play. And remember, you can play around with your own combination of seafood at home!

What Seafood To Use In Cioppino?

• Traditional seafood in Cioppino included a combination of shellfish, white fish, and mollusks. Today, you will most often see mussels, manila or littleneck clams, jumbo shrimp, and white fish.
• White fish: could be tilapia, cod, bass, grouper, or another white fish of your choice.
• Of course, you could also toss in tasty additions like crab or scallops!
• Types of clams will mostly likely be dictated by your location. While littleneck clams are the best choice and the tastiest, they are hard to get on the East coast. So check out your local markets.
• Keep in mind that this list of ingredients can be altered to best fit your needs!

How to Make Cioppino

• This is a bit of a quick moving recipe, so prepare all of the ingredients before starting.
• Tip: make sure the shrimp is de-veined. Remember to scrub mussels and clams first as well.
• First step it to sauté the vegetables in olive oil. Then toss in the garlic and cook just until it’s fragrant.
• Pour in the wine and bring it to a simmer.
• Next, toss in the tomatoes, tomato paste, seasonings, and fish stock. Mix everything together.
• Let the soup simmer over medium-low heat for approximately 20-25 minutes. Taste as you go to see if you need any more seasonings!
• Add the mussels and clams to the broth and submerge them. Cover and cook for 3-4 minutes.
• Finally, add the chopped white fish and shrimp to the broth, fully submerging them as well. Cover and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
• Serve right away!

Tips for Best Cioppino

• Use fresh seafood when possible!
• Scrub the clams and mussels before adding them to the soup.
• Decide if you want to keep the shells on or off of the jumbo shrimp. Leaving the shells on will give the soup more seafood flavor, but taking them off will make the soup easier to eat.
• Use fish stock or seafood stock. Lobster or vegetable stock is also an option, but it should be treated as a last resort.
• Don’t skip out on the white wine! It’s traditional and does wonders for the overall flavor of the soup.
• It’s important to know when to add the seafood. Some seafood will take a little longer to cook than others. So give the shrimp in shells and mollusks (clams, mussels) a few extra minutes of cooking time. They’ll need a bit longer than fish and shrimp without shells.

Storing and Reheating Instructions

• You can store your leftover Cioppino in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. You can store it in the original pot you cooked it in, just make sure that it has a tight fitting lid. It can also be transferred into a food storage container with a lid.
• To reheat this seafood stew, I highly recommend using a sauce pot and reheating it on the stove rather than a microwave! Reheat the desired amount in a small sauce pot over medium-low heat until the soup is just heated through.

Other Great Seafood Recipes

• Creamy Spinach and Peas Seafood Pasta
• Lobster Pasta
• Family Favorite Paella
• Shrimp Roll
• Pecan Crusted Salmon

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Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in October 2021.