Cioppino (Italian Seafood Stew)
Cioppino is a fish stew descended from the various regional fish soups and stews of Italian cooking. It was developed by the fishermen who settled in the North Beach section of San Francisco. Originally it was made on the boats while out at sea and later became a staple as Italian restaurants proliferated in the city. The name comes from the Italian ciuppin, a word which described the local fish stew in the regional…
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced
- 6 ounces onion, chopped
- 8 ounces of celery, chopped
- 3 large shallots, chopped
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
- ¾ teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes, plus more to taste
- 6 ounces tomato paste
- 2 pounds diced tomatoes
- 1 ½ cups dry white wine
- 5 cups water
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 pounds crabs (any type), cut into pieces
- 2 pounds mussels, scrubbed and debearded
- 1 pound scallops
- 1 ½ pounds tilapia (or other white, firm-fleshed fish), cut into 2-inch chunks
- 2 loaves of San Francisco sourdough bread or any other bread with a chewy crust
Steps
- Heat the oil in a very large pot over medium heat.
- Add the fennel, onion, shallots and salt. Sauté until the onion is translucent.
- Add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Sauté 2 minutes.
- Stir in the tomato paste.
- Add the tomatoes with their juices, wine, water, crabs, celery and bay leaf. Cover. Bring to a simmer.
- Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, covered, about 30 minutes.
- Add the mussels. Cover. Cook about 5 minutes until the mussels begin to open.
- Add the scallops and fish. Simmer gently about 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally, until the fish and scallops are just cooked through and all the mussels are open.
- Discard any closed mussels. Remove the bay leaf.
- Season to taste with more salt and red pepper flakes.
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:Cioppino (Italian Seafood Stew)” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2026-04-12, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo. Cioppino.jpg by Kelly Sue DeConnick, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia. Resized; otherwise unchanged.