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    Home » Soup, Chili & Curry

    Cioppino (Fisherman’s Stew)

    Published: Oct 9, 2020 · Modified: May 11, 2025 by Zimmy · This post may contain Amazon and other affiliate links · 4 Comments

    Jump to Recipe Jump to Video Print Recipe

    I have to say that this Cioppino (Fisherman’s Stew) is the best soup/stew I’ve ever had.

    A soup pot and two bowls filled with seafood and a side of garlic butter toast.

    It has many of the usual suspects found in a Cioppino: onions, shallots, fennel, fennel seeds, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper, tomato paste, white wine, diced tomatoes, bay leaf, wild shrimp, clams, squid… but what took this over the top (for my humble taste buds) was the homemade lobster stock I pulled from the freezer!

    The last time I boiled lobster, I added the shells back to the pot with corn cobs, veggies and herbs and made a big pot of intensely flavourful stock and froze it. I was not sure how I’d use it, but now I think the other portion still frozen, is destined to end up in another pot of Cioppino!

    I also added fresh corn kernels and finished the soup with tarragon from our garden.

    A close up of a bowl of cioppino with more stew in a copper pan and served with garlic-herb toast.
    Jump to:
    • Ingredients
    • Instructions
    • Watch how to make Cioppino with Linguine here.
    • TIP
    • Variations
    • Equipment Used
    • Leave a Comment
    • 📖 Recipe

    Ingredients

    Ingredients for cioppino stew broth.
    Raw clams, shrimp and squid for cioppino.
    • Olive oil
    • Fennel bulb 
    • Onion
    • Shallots 
    • Celery
    • Fennel seeds
    • Salt
    • Garlic cloves
    • Red pepper flakes
    • Tomato paste
    • White wine
    • Diced tomatoes
    • Fish stock
    • Bay leaf
    • Corn
    • Littlenecks clams 
    • Uncooked large wild shrimp peeled and deveined
    • Squid 
    • Fresh tarragon leaves for serving

    See recipe card for quantities

    Instructions

    Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat.

    Add the fennel, onion, shallots, celery, fennel seeds and salt, sauté until the onion is translucent, about 8-10 minutes.

    Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, sauté 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, stir to combine, and cook for 1 minute. Add wine and cook for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes with their juices, fish stock and bay leaf.

    Sauté the onions and fennel until translucent.
    Add the tomato paste to the sautéed onions.
    Add the stock, tomatoes and bay leaf and bring to a boil.

    Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer until the flavours blend, about 30 minutes.

    Add the corn and the clams to the pot. Cover and cook until the clams just begin to open, about 5 minutes. Add the shrimp and squid. Simmer gently until the shrimp & squid are just cooked through, and the clams are completely open, about 5 minutes more (discard any clams that do not open).

    Season the soup, to taste, with more salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.

    Ladle the soup into bowls, sprinkle with tarragon leaves and serve with fresh bread or toast.

    Watch how to make Cioppino with Linguine here.

    TIP

    What takes this dish from good-to-great is the quality, flavour & intensity of the fish stock. So next time you make lobster, shrimp, shellfish, keep the shells and take the time to reduce down the flavours of the shells, with veggies & herbs, then freeze it for the tastiest Cioppino ever!

    Variations

    Switch up the seafood:

    • Cioppino with clams, wild Argentinian shrimp, fillet of sole, lobster and rock lobster tails. Watch the video here.
    Two bowls of cioppino with rock lobster tails.
    • This Cioppino (Fisherman’s Stew) was made with mussels instead of clams. It was made and served in my Hestan NanoBond Titanium 5 Quart Essential Pan.
    A top down image of a pan with Fisherman’s Stew with mussels.Toast, wine, lemons and crushed chilis surround this pan.
    • Cioppino (Fisherman’s Stew) with wild shrimp, clams, squid, mussels and linguine. Follow the instructions for the linguine as per the package. Watch the video here.
    A pot and two bowls of Cioppino served with linguine , tarragon, lemons and bread.

    Equipment Used

    The Cioppino (Fisherman’s Stew) with clams was made and served in my gorgeous Hestan CopperBond Induction Copper  3.5-Quart Sauteuse. Proud Hestan Culinary Ambassador. Opinions in this post are my own.

    Leave a Comment

    If you get the chance to try this Cioppino (Fisherman’s Stew) recipe please drop back and leave us a comment and rating here. We would love to know what you think! Thanks Elaine & James

    📖 Recipe

    A soup pot and two bowls filled with seafood and a side of garlic butter toast.

    Cioppino (Fisherman’s Stew)

    It has many of the usual suspects found in a Cioppino: onions, shallots, fennel, fennel seeds, garlic, red pepper flakes, s&p, tomato paste, white wine, diced tomatoes, bay leaf, wild shrimp, clams, squid… but what took this over the top (for my humble taste buds) was the homemade lobster stock I pulled from the freezer!
    The last time I boiled lobster, I added the shells back to the pot with corn cobs, veggies and herbs and made a big pot of intensely flavourful stock. I wasn’t sure how I’d use it, but now I think the other portion still frozen, is destined to end up in another pot of Cioppino!
    5 from 2 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 20 minutes mins
    Cook Time 55 minutes mins
    Total Time 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins
    Course Main Course, Soup
    Cuisine Italian
    Servings 6 people

    Ingredients
      

    • 3 tablespoons olive oil
    • 1 fennel bulb thinly sliced
    • 1 onion chopped
    • 3 large shallots chopped
    • ½ cup finely chopped celery
    • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
    • 2 teaspoons salt
    • 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
    • 1 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes
    • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
    • 1 ½ cups dry white wine
    • 1 can diced tomatoes in juice (28-ounce )
    • 6 cups fish stock homemade or store bought
    • 1 bay leaf
    • 1 corn on the cob – kernels removed reserve cob for broth (or 1 cup frozen corn)
    • 1½ pounds littlenecks clams scrubbed and soaked in cold water for 20 minutes
    • 1 pound uncooked large wild shrimp peeled and deveined
    • ¾ – 1 pound cleaned squid bodies sliced into ½-inch rings, tentacles halved lengthwise if large
    • Fresh tarragon leaves for serving

    Instructions
     

    • Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat.
    • Add the fennel, onion, shallots, celery, fennel seeds and salt, sauté until the onion is translucent, about 8-10 minutes.
    • Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, sauté 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, stir to combine, and cook for 1 minute. Add wine and cook for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes with their juices, fish stock and bay leaf.
    • Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer until the flavours blend, about 30 minutes.
    • Add the corn and the clams to the pot. Cover and cook until the clams just begin to open, about 5 minutes. Add the shrimp and squid. Simmer gently until the shrimp & squid are just cooked through, and the clams are completely open, about 5 minutes more (discard any clams that do not open).
    • Season the soup, to taste, with more salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.
    • Ladle the soup into bowls, sprinkle with tarragon leaves and serve with fresh bread or toast.

    Rate this Recipe

    • If you make this, please leave a review letting us know how it was!

    Video

    Notes

    Switch it up!
    1. Cioppino with clams, wild Argentinian shrimp, fillet of sole, lobster and rock lobster tails. Watch the video here.
    2. Make it with mussels instead of clams.
    3. Add linguine and mussels. Watch the video here.
    Tip
    • What takes this dish from good-to-great is the quality, flavour & intensity of the fish stock. So next time you make lobster, shrimp, shellfish, keep the shells and take the time to reduce down the flavours of the shells, with veggies, cob of corn & herbs, then freeze it for the tastiest Cioppino ever!
    Keyword cioppino fish stew, cioppino seafood stew recipe, fish stew recipe italian, italian cioppino, italian seafood stew recipe
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Dina

      November 20, 2021 at 7:53 am

      5 stars
      We can’t wait to try this!!!

      Reply
      • zimmysnook

        November 22, 2021 at 2:13 pm

        Thanks for stopping by friends!
        Have a great day!
        Elaine & James

        Reply
    2. Shanley

      July 23, 2024 at 9:36 pm

      5 stars
      This was so delicious! great summer meal!

      Reply
      • Zimmy

        July 24, 2024 at 9:11 am

        Thanks Shanley,
        We are so glad you enjoyed it!
        Have a wonderful day!
        Elaine & James

        Reply

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