Bouillabaisse is a traditional southern French seafood / fish soup recipe made with clams, fish, shrimp, saffron, fresh tomatoes, fish stock, and fennel.
Use Any Seafood For Bouillabaisse
This Bouillabaisse recipe is light and versatile. Use whatever white fish or seafood that you have on hand. Some ideas are:
- muscles
- snapper
- sea bass
- cod
- clams
- crab
- octopus
Add toasted or grilled bread for dippin' in the fish soup.
Use Clams That Are Alive For Bouillabaisse
Clams need to be alive when cooked and they should be closed.
Many places give you clams wrapped in a plastic bag which they should not. Clams need to breathe to stay alive. Immediately open the bag and transfer to a bowl of ice and keep in the refrigerator until ready to cook.
Rinse and scrub clams and put them back on ice. Discard any clams that are open before you start cooking and discard any that won’t open after they’ve been cooked in the Bouillabaisse.
Tips For Making French Bouillabaisse
Here's an easy way to peel tomatoes for this Bouillabaisse recipe:
- Bring a pot of water to a boil and make an "X" with a knife in the stem end (where it connected to the stem).
- Blanch tomatoes (toss in boiling water) for ~ 1-2 minutes.
- Cool with running water or in an ice bath and easily peel back the skin.
Saffron is the stigma or female part of the crocus flower. Rumor has it that saffron is more expensive than gold by weight. Don't want to spend a fortune on the world's most expensive spice? No problem - omit it or substitute turmeric to get a similar color. Fake it 'til you make it, baby!
Bouillabaisse is gluten free, keto, low carb, paleo, whole30, pescatarian and gosh darn delicious.
French Bouillabaisse Recipe
EatSimpleFood.com
Bouillabaisse is a traditional southern French seafood /fish stew recipe made with saffron. Fish stew is light and versatile and can be made with whatever seafood you have on hand.
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 6
- Category: Dinner, Lunch, Main Dish, Soup, Soup / Stew
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: French
- Diet: Dairy-Free, Gluten Free, Keto, Low Fat, Low-Carb, Paleo, Pescatarian
Ingredients
- ~ 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup fennel, thinly sliced
- 1 fennel frond (leaf), finely chopped as garnish
- 1 cup onion, sliced
- 2 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 9 cups fish stock
- 3 medium roma tomatoes, peeled, seeded, finely diced
- 1 big pinch Saffron
, crumbled
- 1 lb large shrimp, peeled & deveined
- 1 lb grouper / amberjack / or halibut fish fillets, skinned & cut into 1" cubes
- 18 clams, washed
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- pinch black pepper
- red pepper flakes - optional for spice as garnish
, crumbled
Instructions
- Bring a large stockpot to medium heat, add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pot
- Add the onions and fennel when hot.
- Turn the heat to low, cover and "sweat" for ~ 10 minutes. Sweating is cooking the vegetables on a low heat until they become translucent and not brown/caramelized.
- Add garlic and cook until fragrant ~ 1-2 minutes.
- Add fish stock, tomatoes, salt, and pepper.
- Crumble as best you can the saffron in your hands and add that to the mix. Stir, bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook covered ~ 15 minutes.
- Add fish, shrimp, and clams. Add more fish stock if you'd like a thinner consistency.
- Cover and simmer on low ~ 6-8 minutes or until clams have opened and fish is cooked through.
- Discard any shells that have not opened.
- Add salt to taste, garnish with chopped fennel fronds, and crushed red pepper flakes to taste.
- Toast some bread and get ready to dip. Happy eating! Beckie
Notes
- Clams need to be alive when cooked. Many places give you clams wrapped in a plastic bag which they should not as the little guys need to breathe to stay alive. Immediately open the bag and transfer to a bowl of ice and keep in the refrigerator until ready to cook.
- Rinse & scrub clams and put them back on ice. Discard any clams that are open before you start cooking and discard any that won’t open after they’ve been cooked.
- Here's an easy way to peel tomatoes. Bring a pot of water to a boil and make an "X" with a knife in both ends of the tomato. Blanch (toss in boiling water) for ~ 2 minutes. Cool with running water or in an ice bath and peel back the skin.
- Can't afford or find saffron? Cool - substitute a pinch of turmeric for that golden color.
Things In My Kitchen:
- Benriner Wide-Body Large Mandoline to slice the fennel thin.
- Shrimp Peeler & Deveiner This looks cheap but I've tried many and this is the best I've found.
- Saffron - a pretty penny for this special spice. Use turmeric as an affordable substitute
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Serving Suggestion
Serve this Bouillabaisse recipe with some Parmesan crisps, and maybe a bold salad, a light side, or as a starter for another classic French dish:
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