Easy Homemade Italian Fish Soup
Easy Homemade Italian Fish Soup, full of big pieces of all your favorite fish, such as haddock, shrimp, mussels and clams all combined in a perfectly spiced tomato broth. A delicious comfort dish, a little bit stew, a little bit soup!
Do you ever make something and while you are eating it think “Oh Wow this is so good, I have no idea why the heck I don’t make it more often”? Well this is exactly what I said while I was eating this Italian Fish Soup.
I don’t remember my mother-in-law making Fish Soup, so I happened to get this recipe from a sister-in-law. This is her mother’s recipe. It is easy, quick and so full of flavor, your house will smell amazing while this soup is simmering.
Where did Fish Soup originate?
Apparently it originated from the time when the fishermen would sell their fish and whatever was left over was made into a soup or stew. Every town overlooking the sea, will have its own recipe.
What are the ingredients?
- Assorted Fish
- Olive Oil
- Garlic
- Hot Pepper Flakes – optional
- White Wine
- Tomato Passata – also known as puree or conserva. It is just pureed tomatoes with nothing added.
- Water
- Salt – Careful with the salt, fish can be very salty so it is best to add it towards the end of the cooking time.
- Spices – oregano, basil
- Fresh Italian parsley – chopped
- Bread – thick slices of Italian bread – optional
Italians like to eat this Easy Italian Fish Soup with a piece of grilled Italian bread placed at the bottom of a bowl and the soup poured on top. The bread can also be eaten with the soup rather than in it. It’s totally up to you.
How to make fish soup
In a large pot add olive oil, garlic and hot pepper flakes, heat on medium for one minute and then flatten with a fork.
Add the cut up assorted fish, cook one minute. Add the white wine and cook on medium-high for a few minutes. Add the tomato puree, water, oregano, basil, salt to taste and fresh parsley, stir to combine.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a low simmer until thickened. Serve over grilled crusty Italian bread or with crusty Italian bread.
I recommend adding the salt towards the end of cooking time, as fish can be quite savory in cooking. You can vary the dose of water according to the consistency you want, if you want a thicker soup add less water, and more, if you prefer a thinner and more liquid soup.
If you don’t have time to grill the bread or like me you forget, a nice thick slice of Italian crust bread is delicious also but if you do have some extra time this delicious Easy Focaccia Bread would be perfect.
Or my favourite, just serve the bread on the side for easy dunking and soaking up all that amazing tasty leftover sauce in the bowl. Buon Appetito!
More Delicious Italian Soups
Easy Homemade Italian Fish Soup
Ingredients
- 1 pound cut up assorted fish (eg. shrimp,prawns, cod, haddock, calamari, mussels, clams etc)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2-3 cloves garlic chopped
- 1-2 dashes hot pepper flakes (optional)
- ¼ cup dry white wine
- ¾ cup tomato puree (passata)
- 1¼ -1½ cups water (depending on how thick you want it, more soup or stew)
- salt to taste* I added a pinch
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon basil
- ¼ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 4 slices thick Italian crust bread grilled or plain
*Depending how salty your fish is it's best to add the salt at the end of the cooking time.
Instructions
- In a large pot add olive oil, garlic and hot pepper flakes, heat on medium for one minute and then flatten with a fork.
- Add cut up assorted fish, cook one minute. Add white wine and cook on medium-high for approximately 3 minutes. Add tomato puree and water, oregano, basil and fresh parsley, stir to combine.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a low simmer for approximately 30 minutes until thickened (after about 20 minutes taste for salt and add if needed). Serve over grilled crusty Italian bread or with crusty Italian bread on the side. Enjoy!
Recipe calls for 1lb… Is that 1 lb total or 1 lb each type of fish?
Hi Jan, 1 pound total. I hope you enjoy it. Take care!
This also works well with canned/tinned fish like mackerel, sardines or even sprats. Just add the fish a little later, with the tomato.
I also prefer to chop the garlic rather than flatten it. Use the oil the fish was sold in when cooking.
Hi Arthur, I have never seen or heard of an Italian using canned fish, and it’s something I would not do either. If you like it, great. Take care!
Excellent meal. delicious recipe. I used cod, shrimp (removed shells, tails and vein), calamari (bodies cut into rings and heads / tentacles), scallops and octopus. I also sautéed anchovies with the onion and garlic – no salt needed! No left overs to be concerned about!
Hi Dominic, thanks so much, so glad you enjoyed it. Take care and Happy New Year!
Just made the stew – so easy. I used Cape Hake Fillets, Cod Fillets, Prawns, Calamari and, Mussels. I added tomato purée.
Hi Lynda, thanks so much, glad you liked it. Take care!
All your recipes are always so good and tasty and easy to make Italian meals
Hi Michael, thanks so much, glad you enjoy the recipes. Take car!
Doesn’t the fish get overcooked with 30 minutes at simmer?
Hi Amy, no it doesn’t. It turns out perfect every time. 🙂
This looks so good. Is it possible to substitute chicken broth for the white wine?
Hi Carol it might be better to use fish broth instead of chicken but if you prefer chicken it would work. Let me know how it goes.
If we want to use mussels and clams – How do we prepare them? Cook the first , then take out of the shells and combine with other fish?
Hi Grace, I would do it that way, cook them first. Let me know how it goes.
Excellent, quick and delicious!
Thanks so much Sue, glad you enjoyed it. Have a great week.
Rosemary, this soup was amazing! I didn’t have wine but had everything else and it was still WOW . Can’t wait to make it again but with the wine to see the difference. Thanks for sharing the recipe with us and once again, amazing!
Hi Greg, thanks so much, so glad you enjoyed it. Have a wonderful Sunday.
I;m clueless on exactly what fish to put in the soup….(easy homemade Italian fish soup)…how would I get the clam out of the shell, ditto for mussels? Is the shrimp fresh and just cut up, tails removed? You could tell I don’t eat fish nor know much on how to cook them, lol…but I do make a darn good crabcake..
Hi Karen, I usually get the fish already cleaned, I am sure you can get (even frozen) clams or mussels out of the shell, the same with clean shrimp, sometimes I make it even without the mussels and clams, I use shrimp, cut up halibut, salmon etc, faster and easier. I hope that helps. I haven’t had crab cakes in ages 🙂
This soup was super simple to make an I made some simple substitutions to use what we had in hand (diced tomatoes instead of whole, and I also subbed vegetable broth plus a little white wine vinegar for the clam juice). For fish, I added in these amazing wild Alaskan pollock bites I get from Wild Alaskan, and some wild caught shrimp.
I didn’t feel like there was quite enough liquid, so I did add in some vegetable broth and adjusted spices to taste.
We have a little leftover broth that doesn’t taste fishy so my picky eaters can serve themselves some broth over leftover chicken and rice.
This is definitely a keeper, according to my husband. Thanks!!
Hi Sarah, thanks so much, love the fish you added. Take care.
I am back again to make this delish soup and made this page a favorite. THANK YOU!!
Hi Jade, thank you! I hope you enjoy the soup. Have a great weekend.
I have made this soup recipe many times and it always turns out great. Thank you for posting.
Hi Leah, thanks so much, so glad you enjoy it.
KNOW THIS WILL BE DELICIOUS – LIKE ALL YOUR RECIPES
REALLY APPRECIATE THEY ARE SO EASY TO PRINT. CAN’T WAIT TO TRY IT.
THANKS FOR ALL THE WONDERFUL RECIPES.
Hi Mary Kay, thanks so much, I hope you like it. Let me know. Have a great weekend.