You can’t visit San Francisco and not sample the cioppino recipe. It’s a classic stew dish created by the San Francisco Italian fishermen of North Beach in the late 1800s using the seafood that was left over from the day’s catch.
But if you can’t travel to San Francisco, my Cioppino Stew is the next best thing to being there!
Cioppino comes from the Ligurian dialect of Italy, coming from the word โciuppinโ. The literal translation means chopped and torn to pieces. But in the culinary world, it translates into delicious seafood stew….sigh
You’ll find versions of my Cioppino Recipe with less seafood and others with squid, but this dish’s main ingredients are shellfish. Anything else that finds its way into the pot is a bonus!
If you like seafood stews, you’re going to love my Spanish Seafood Stew!
What ingredients do I need to make Cioppino?
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make San Francisco Style Cioppino. In Chef Speak, this is called the “Mise en Place,” which translates to “Everything in its Place”.
Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed up the cooking process, but it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
Over the years, I’ve worked and dined at restaurants with Cioppino on their menu, but it was rarely the real thing, being more of a Fugazi-style representation of the dish. The big difference between the Italian-style Cioppino recipe and a San Franciscan Style Cioppino recipe is how the sauce is made.
Made with simple ingredients
- olive oil
- fennel bulb
- sweet onion
- shallots
- garlic
- sea salt
- tomato paste
- whole plum tomatoes
- dry white or red wine
- chicken stock
- small clams
- mussels
- shrimp
- sea scallops
- Dungeness crabs
- fish
- bay leaf
- red pepper flakes
Do I have to use Dungeness Crab to make Cioppino?
No, you don’t need to use Dungeness in your cioppino recipe but don’t be scared off by the Dungeness crab. You can actually find them at some of the big box stores, frozen, already cleaned, and ready to go.
Of course, you can use blue crab, king crab, or leave the crab out altogether.
How tomake Cioppino
Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot or sauteuse (deep skillet) over medium heat. Add the fennel, onion, shallots, and salt. Saute the vegetables until the onion becomes translucent, about 5-7 minutes.
Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and continue to cook for 2 more minutes.
Add the tomato paste, plum tomatoes, and all juices, wine, chicken stock, and bay leaf.
Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer and allow to cook for one hour, stirring occasionally.
(you can use crushed tomatoes instead of whole tomatoes in juice and fish stock instead of chicken stock)
While the sauce is simmering, using another saute pan, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sear the shrimp, scallops (and fish pieces if used) on both sides, but do not fully cook the seafood.
Remove the seafood from the pan and place it on a plate until needed.
*If you did use the fish pieces, you can add them to the sauce now. (do not add the shrimp or scallops at this time)
In the same pan you used for the fresh seafood, add a little more olive oil, then add the clams and mussels. Cover and cook them until they open up.
*If any of the mussels or clams are open before cooking, discard them. They’re dead and aren’t safe for consumption.
At about the 45-minute mark of simmering the sauce, add in the crabs, and the mussels and clams with all the pan juices. Continue to simmer.
Five minutes before you’re ready to serve the Cioppino, add the shrimp and scallops to the sauce and let them finish cooking for five minutes.
Risotto, rice, or pasta are usually served with cioppino. You want a plain version of those accompaniments, so they complement the sauce and don’t fight with the flavors. This seafood stew also goes well with a tossed salad and of course, crusty bread to dip in the sauce.
If you’ve never thought of making Cioppino, I urge you to try this recipe. It may contain many ingredients, but it is a very simple dish that Italian Americans have enjoyed for years, and I promise you’ll have one delicious dinner on your table that will impress your family or friends.
Lynndee
Dang, I am literally drooling! We are huge fans of seafood over here so I am definitely going to try this. I bet it is as delicious as it looks.
Tasheena
My family loves seafood. I can’t wait to make this recipe for them. I know that they’re going to love it.
Chubskulit Rose
Oh my gosh, this is my kind of food! I grew up in a coastal area and I ate a lot of these back in the day. Now I miss it very much.
Ruth I
I’ve been wanting to taste a seafood dish, this is perfect! I’ll ask my sister to cook this.
MELANIE EDJOURIAN
I really do love seafood. Thi sounds like a wonderful recipe full of flavour with a good range of healthy ingredients.
Lisa Martin
Oh my goodness this looks so yummy! I am putting these ingredients on my list right now!!
Amber Myers
I am sure my kids would love this. They are big on their seafood. I wish I liked it!
Pam
I really like the sound of this. I have never had cioppino before but I love trying new and interesting recipes! I have just developed a taste for fennel so it was nice to see this recipe. I have been wondering what to do with fennel beyond the one roast chicken recipe I know that calls for it.
Kita Bryant
That is a lot of ingredients but the end results is whoa. I love different flavors and different foods so I gotta try this!
Melanie
I have never heard of this recipe before. It definitely looks tasty and like something that I would like to try out.
Alli Smith
I’m over here drooling! I’ve never attempted a dish like this but I’m going to try my hand at it. It looks amazing!
Candy
I will be a super star in the kitchen. Well we will see how this turns out for us
Olga Lucia
It’s amazing, I hope my recipe is the same as yours, my family has loved it.
Diane Layman
How do I change the amount of servings to 28
Chef Dennis Littley
I would make it in double batches, this really isn’t something you can mass produce outside of a restaurant with industrial equipment. In any case you need to multiply the amounts by 10 to get 30 servings.
Tom Acquistapace
I think most recipes do not cook (sear/saute) the seafood first and add into the simmering cioppino sauce base (tomatoes, wine, broth, vegetable base, etc.) at the correct timing point relative to the total expected cooking time thus that the “flavor melding-time” and the “doneness” of the seafood is simultaneously achieved. This, based upon size of seafood selected and time of addition to the pot. So there is some skill in getting this method cooked just right. I struggle with this every single year on Christmas day when I prepare this dish for my family. I think the results of the two approaches are different.
Your approach more guarantees success due to par-cooking of seafood and is a traditional restaurant method for the dish. However, if seafood in broth cooks longer then the cioppino sauce will have more of a “seafood stock” flavor which is quite fragrant. Both approaches are valid and like any Cioppino, it is just about the best thing you will eat and a memorable dish. My wife’s Sicilian-American Grandfather fished the delta east of San Francisco bay for his whole life and made this dish often. I do not know his recipe and will have to continue to develop mine.