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! The perfect Fish Soup recipe.
Italian Fish Stew
Italian Fish StewDo 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 very often, so I happened to get this recipe from another of my sister-in-laws quite a few years ago.
This is her mother’s recipe. It is easy, quick and so full of flavour, your house will smell amazing while this soup is simmering.
Italian Fish Soup was at one time considered a Poor Man’s Soup, all the leftover pieces of fish were added into a soup, at least that is what the Italian said.
Fish Soup
But I also read that it originated from when the fishermen would sell their fish and whatever was left was made into a soup or stew. Personally I like a thicker broth, more like a stew, than a soup.
More Delicious Italian Soups
Chunky Thick Italian Beef Stew
I used approximately 6 or 7 different types of fish and seafood. Mussels, shrimp, haddock, clams, perch, squid, a few cloves of garlic, fresh herbs, Tomato Puree
and of course some hot pepper flakes and with this you will have one of the most delicious Fish Soups.
Italian Fish Soup
With the arrival of Easter, Good Friday is the Biggest Fish eating day with Christmas Eve being a close second in Italy.
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.
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!
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
- hot pepper flakes to taste
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 3/4 cup tomato puree (passata)
- 1 1/4 -1 1/2 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
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 4 slices thick Italian crust bread grilled or plain
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, salt to taste and fresh parsley, stir to combine.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a low simmer for approximately 30 minutes and until thickened. Serve over grilled crusty Italian bread or with crusty Italian bread. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Karen Boml says
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..
Rosemary says
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 🙂
Sarah says
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!!
Rosemary says
Hi Sarah, thanks so much, love the fish you added. Take care.
Jade says
I am back again to make this delish soup and made this page a favorite. THANK YOU!!
Rosemary says
Hi Jade, thank you! I hope you enjoy the soup. Have a great weekend.
Leah says
I have made this soup recipe many times and it always turns out great. Thank you for posting.
Rosemary says
Hi Leah, thanks so much, so glad you enjoy it.
MARY KAY SMITH says
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.
Rosemary says
Hi Mary Kay, thanks so much, I hope you like it. Let me know. Have a great weekend.