Easy Seafood Stew with Mussels, Prawns and Fish

This easy seafood stew recipe brings together mussels, prawns, clams and chunks of fish in a rich tomato sauce, with baby potatoes and corn to soak up all that flavour. It looks impressive in the middle of the table, but the cooking is surprisingly straightforward. I use whatever looks good at the fish market, then serve it family-style with my garlic bread for mopping up the sauce. Add my mushroom risotto when you want to turn dinner into a proper feast.

Why seafood feels a little special

We eat seafood just as often as any other protein in our house, but somehow it still makes dinner feel a little more special. I can’t quite explain it. Maybe we think of it as something fancy, or assume a seafood dinner has to cost a fortune. Bring out a platter of prawns and mussels and suddenly a perfectly ordinary family dinner feels like an occasion.

The funny thing is, I find seafood easier to cook than meat. It cooks quickly, and when you’ve bought good seafood, there’s already so much flavour there. You don’t need a complicated marinade or half the spice cupboard to make it taste fantastic. Once it’s properly prepared, the biggest thing I want you to remember is don’t overcook it. Those beautiful prawns deserve better than being simmered into tasting like a rubber band.

What makes this stew worth cooking is the sauce. The tomatoes are rich and savoury, the sun-dried tomatoes give them an extra punch, and then the mussels and clams open up and release all those lovely juices into the pot. You get prawns, chunks of fish and potatoes coated in that sauce, with the corn and dill lifting the whole thing. I like to a bit of everything in my bowl, followed by enough garlic bread to make sure none of the broth goes to waste.

Best fish and shellfish for seafood stew

I designed this recipe to work around what looks fresh at the fish market. My version uses barramundi, prawns, black mussels and clams, but you don’t need to buy that exact combination. Freshness is where I’d put my attention, because it makes such a difference to the flavour. Ask your fishmonger what’s good that day, choose a firm fish that will hold together in the sauce, and adjust the cooking order to suit what you bring home.

If there’s one ingredient I’d really encourage you to get, it’s mussels, preferably the smaller black ones. I love their flavour in this stew, they’re a lovely size to eat, and the liquid they release turns the tomato sauce into something you’ll want to scoop up with bread. That’s a lot of flavour from an ingredient that mostly needs you to clean it and throw it in the pot.

They’re also often one of the more affordable shellfish options at my fishmonger. And there’s another reason to appreciate them: farmed mussels feed by filtering the water, without needing added feed. They can also remove excess nutrients and improve water quality.

So yes, I’m quite enthusiastic about mussels. They’ve earned it.

Ingredients for tomato seafood stew

For the sauce

• 80 g sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
• 1 tin chopped Italian tomatoes
• 1 rasher bacon, chopped
• 1 medium Onion, finely chopped
• 1 medium Carrot, finely chopped
• 2 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
• 2 pieces of anchovy fillets (canned)
• 30–50 g fresh pineapple, finely chopped, optional
• 300 ml water, plus a little extra if needed
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Olive oil

For the seafood

• 1kg Black mussels, cleaned and debearded
• 300g Raw prawns, shell-on or peeled
• 300g Barramundi fillet, checked for bones and cut into generous chunks
• 500g Live clams, cleaned according to your fishmonger’s instructions

For the vegetables and herbs

• 4-6 Whole baby potatoes, scrubbed
• 2 corn cobs, husks removed and each cut into thirds or quarters
• 3 sprigs of Fresh dill, roughly chopped

To serve

• Mushroom risotto
• Garlic bread

How to make seafood stew

1. Get the potatoes and corn ready

Boil the whole baby potatoes until tender when pierced with a knife. Cook the corn pieces until tender too, adding them later if using the same pot so they don’t cook for the full potato cooking time. Drain and set aside.

I get these cooked before the seafood goes in so there’s no waiting around for a stubborn potato while the prawns keep cooking. It’s a small bit of preparation that makes the last part much easier, especially if you’re getting garlic bread or risotto ready too.

2. Prepare the seafood

Scrub the mussels under cold running water and remove their beards. For live mussels and clams, discard any with cracked shells, and any open ones that don’t close when tapped. Follow your fishmonger’s directions for purging clams if they need it.

Check the fish for bones and cut it into generous chunks. Tiny pieces are more likely to break apart in the sauce.

I like leaving the prawn shells on for the flavour they bring to the broth, and I don’t mind a bit of peeling at the table. In-fact I like to have my kids dig in with their hands, it teaches them how food ‘feels’ like. If you’d rather have dinner ready to eat with a spoon, peel and devein yours beforehand. It will still be lovely, and you get to decide how many napkins your evening requires. Keep the prepared seafood chilled until you’re ready to cook it.

3. Build the sauce

Heat a little olive oil in a large, wide pot with a lid over medium heat. Add the bacon and fry for about 30 seconds to get it started.

Add the onion and carrot and cook until softened, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic towards the end so it becomes fragrant without burning.

Stir in the anchovies and chopped sun-dried tomatoes and fry for another 30 seconds, breaking up the anchovies with your spoon. Add the finely chopped pineapple, if using, followed by the tinned tomatoes.

Bring to a gentle simmer and cook until the carrot is tender and the flavours have come together. If the sauce thickens too much before the carrot softens, add a splash of the measured water.

4. Cook the seafood gently

Add the remaining measured water and bring the sauce back to a simmer. If you’re looking at the pot thinking it needs more liquid, hold off for a moment. The mussels and clams will release their juices as they cook, which is exactly what I want in the sauce. You can always add a little more water afterwards if it needs it.

Add the fish and the prawns first, then add the mussels and clams, dill, cover and let them begin to steam open. Once the mussels and clams open, then your fish and prawns will be too.

Cover and cook at a gentle simmer, checking frequently. The fish should be opaque through the centre and flake easily, the prawns should have opaque flesh, and the shellfish meat should be cooked through. Lift out pieces as they finish if the rest need longer, rather than leaving everything in the pot waiting.

Use those cues rather than automatically cooking all the seafood for 15–20 minutes. The time will depend on your quantities, the size of the pieces and how quickly the pot returns to a simmer.

For this recipe, discard any mussels or clams that remain closed after cooking; don’t keep simmering the rest of the seafood into mush to wait for them open.

5. Finish with a bit more dill, potatoes and corn

Add the dill during the final few minutes of cooking. Gently fold in the cooked potatoes and corn and heat through.

Taste the sauce before adding salt. The bacon, anchovies and shellfish have already brought plenty of seasoning. Add black pepper and a little extra water if you’d like a looser broth.

6. Bring everyone to the table

Transfer the stew to a large, deep serving platter or shallow serving bowl that can hold all that sauce. Arrange the fish, shellfish, potatoes and corn across it, spoon over the broth and take it straight to the table.

Serve with my garlic bread and, if you’re making a bigger feast, my mushroom risotto alongside. Put out a bowl for empty shells, a big serving spoon and plenty of napkins.

I much prefer putting this in the middle of the table to dividing it neatly between individual plates. Everyone can choose what they fancy, go back for another mussel or scoop up a bit more sauce. Spoon some broth over the potatoes, get a piece of fish onto your plate and keep the garlic bread moving around the table. This is a family meal, and I want it to feel like one.

If you’re putting the whole meal together, my garlic bread recipe is the one to have ready for mopping up that tomato and seafood sauce. I wouldn’t want to leave the best bit sitting at the bottom of the platter, and bread is a very good excuse to go back for more.

Add my mushroom risotto and you’ve got the sort of generous spread I’d happily serve when our friends come over. I love the combination of creamy rice, savoury mushrooms and that rich seafood sauce. The potatoes and corn already make the stew substantial, so smaller portions of risotto work well. Put it in its own serving dish and let everyone help themselves.